Emily Henderson
How Megan Hopp Stretched Her Design Budget To TRANSFORM Her Three-Story Townhouse (You HAVE To See The Before & Afters)
By Megan Hopp
I last left you with my tale of how I ended up buying this house in Alexandria VA, and what my plans were to turn this space around in a big way without a super big budget. Working on this new (old) house I had a lot of goals…
To fully finish the common spaces, kitchen, and bedrooms (bathrooms I would leave for another day).
To turn these rooms around as quickly as possible! With a newborn baby and all the changes happening in life, now was not the time to dilly-dally.
To use as much of the house “as is” without compromising my overall satisfaction with the design.
To work with as many of my favorite vendors as possible on collaborations so as to represent the pieces and materials I love and use often in work. And to keep it real, help out with the overall budget.
To round out furnishing and decorating the space with as many second-hand or outlet pieces as possible – if you’ve ever read or seen a drop about me, you know I am a second-hand, previously owned, thrifting gal about town. Not only was this element of working on my home ESSENTIAL to actually finishing the scope in budget, but it’s also just fundamentally who I am. I adore fancy furniture, but at this time in my life purchasing a fifteen thousand dollar sofa is not in the cards.
With that-welcome to my home! I live in this three-bedroom, three-story brick townhouse with my husband and 18-month-old son. Join me as I take you through the house and design journey that unfolded as I built each room balancing style, budget, and practicality every step of the way!
THE ENTRY/STAIRWELL
SCOPE: WALLPAPER, RETILE FLOOR, NEW LIGHTING, FURNITURE & DECOR
This space started off so dark, and nondescript with a black floor and door, and a teeny tiny light fixture. The goal here was clear, go big and go BRIGHT. Blue and white stripes are my go-to pattern/color combination and I knew I wanted one of the more dramatic prints used to be in the entry and stairwell as the first impression. I fell in LOVE with a print by Wallshoppe called Roman Holiday Grid (in grasscloth), and boy oh boy does it make a statement in the best way. The particular shade of blue strikes just the right tone, and the pattern proves super classic, with a tiny twist of vertical and horizontal lines, making it feel fresh and interesting. If you’ve ever encountered grasscloth, you know it completely elevates a room, changing the physical feel of the environment dramatically. After making my wallpaper selection, I knew I wanted to update my existing front door to a shiny blue, so I turned to Clare Paint (who makes paint shopping the absolute easiest), and selected the color Frozen. A big design mistake I see people make is matching colors too literally. I didn’t want an identical match in shade between the door and wallpaper, but rather to strike a complement of hues in the same universe to create a monochromatic harmony.
For the floor, I opted for a low price point classic Carrara 2” hex tile that I picked up myself at the local Floor and Decor for $13/sq ft. (now $15-inflation!). It’s not the tile of my dreams by any means, but the white marble added a much-needed light reflective surface, and the texture of the natural stone packs a punch design-wise higher than its actual cost. I used a dark gray grout to contrast the white in the tile and make it pop that much more, darker grout is also a more practical selection for a high-traffic area like an entry space. I am a big believer in big lighting, and so my personal rule is if you’re over 6’2”, you may need to duck. I don’t have high ceilings in this space, but opted for a rattan cone pendant that was just about as tall as I could manage to fit. What is an entry space without a superstar mirror right? I was lucky to partner with Shades of Light who have a great selection of mirrors, and for the entry I went with an ultra sculptural white textured option that holds its own as a real centerpiece. I rounded out the space with a slim simple console I’ve had for years prior from CB2.
KITCHEN
SCOPE: WALLPAPER, MOVING LIGHTING/NEW FIXTURES, PAINTING CABINETS, NEW HARDWARE, CUSTOM RANGE HOOD, FURNITURE & DECOR
Taking a sharp left into the kitchen, this was a space where I really felt a challenge ahead of me. I myself am not super into modern kitchen design. My dream kitchen was probably built circa 1930, has original cabinets, tile countertops, a vintage stove, and quirky built-ins galore. I also like a kitchen that feels light, clean, and neutral, like the window is always open with a summer breeze blowing through…BUT I don’t want a boring white-on-white design. The kitchen was my greatest challenge budget-wise because I was going to be doing what I call “heavy decorating” (this is a term I would actually use to describe the nature of the work throughout the entire house), but I really wanted to make this space feel different. The kitchen had some modern updates (granite countertops, gray backsplash, and a stainless steel/glass hood) that felt really disjointed to me with the older features like the original cabinetry. I knew for better or worse we were keeping the counters and backsplash, so the task ahead was to adjust everything around them to make the entire space feel less…gray.
