Houzz Tours
My Houzz: Family’s Personal Style Warms Up a New House
A Northwest family seeks out a kid-friendly neighborhood and makes a ‘development home’ their own
Carrie and Freddy Arredondo had lived in plenty of older homes, enjoying their authenticity and charm. That changed when they moved to Wenatchee, Washington, with their two young children. Here, they found themselves on the hunt for a kid-friendly neighborhood, and bought in a new development despite its rows of houses with unfinished yards and tan walls. “We decided we wanted the benefits of a neighborhood like this, where the kids all run around together,” Carrie says. “For us, it worked.” So faced with a generic house, the Arredondos set to work personalizing their “development home.”
Strategic furniture placement and warm colors hit the right notes in their new living room, which is now intimate and conducive to conversation. Heavy curtains were replaced by light and airy white curtains with gray-blue pompom trim. “They remind me of what you might find in France; there’s something about those simple, tiny details,” Carrie says.
Curtain panels: Nate Berkus Mini Fringe, Target; carpet: Hampen, Ikea
Curtain panels: Nate Berkus Mini Fringe, Target; carpet: Hampen, Ikea
For the Arredondos, a large gathering place was key. The family loves to cook, entertain and taste wine — no surprise since Freddy is a winemaker at Cave B Estate Winery. The new layout fits their lifestyle.
The off-white paint chosen by the builders was a less-than-exciting backdrop, and the peaked ceilings made doing a DIY paint job on the entire wall challenging. Their solution was to paint one wall a bold color to set off the family’s photos and use fabric to pull together the hits of color found throughout the home. Carrie says she wanted the wall in the dining room “to be like a frame within a frame — molding felt too stuffy. We came up with the idea of painting a square and hanging fabric panels with a colorful abstract design on either side.”
The family also opted to remove the TV from above the fireplace. “Most homes in the neighborhood have their TV there. It’s designed for it,” she says. “But we like the TV away upstairs. If you’re around food, I want you to be present. I want people to talk.” The mantel instead displays a painting from a local Goodwill.
The off-white paint chosen by the builders was a less-than-exciting backdrop, and the peaked ceilings made doing a DIY paint job on the entire wall challenging. Their solution was to paint one wall a bold color to set off the family’s photos and use fabric to pull together the hits of color found throughout the home. Carrie says she wanted the wall in the dining room “to be like a frame within a frame — molding felt too stuffy. We came up with the idea of painting a square and hanging fabric panels with a colorful abstract design on either side.”
The family also opted to remove the TV from above the fireplace. “Most homes in the neighborhood have their TV there. It’s designed for it,” she says. “But we like the TV away upstairs. If you’re around food, I want you to be present. I want people to talk.” The mantel instead displays a painting from a local Goodwill.
They turned a china hutch on a side wall into a wine cabinet. Carrie covered the brown paneling on the back with striped blue and white contact paper to brighten the hutch, and make the wine bottles and glasses stand out. Located between the kitchen and dining table, it’s easily accessible for impromptu wine tastings.
“We always knew we wanted a large table,” Carrie says. As a result, a new oversize table from Ikea stretches through the new dining room. It’s become the home’s hub: a place for entertaining, family meals, games and homework. “We’re always, always here now,” Carrie says. An easily cleaned indoor-outdoor rug on top of the wall-to-wall carpet frames the table area.
Seen beyond the table is a spacious entry that serves as the family’s music room, complete with drums and a piano the couple bought at a thrift store for $50. The upholstered piano stool was a gift from a neighbor.
Trim paint: Divine White, Sherwin-Williams; upholstered chairs: Pier 1 Imports
Seen beyond the table is a spacious entry that serves as the family’s music room, complete with drums and a piano the couple bought at a thrift store for $50. The upholstered piano stool was a gift from a neighbor.
Trim paint: Divine White, Sherwin-Williams; upholstered chairs: Pier 1 Imports
Small, colorful vignettes like this one on top of the piano bring life and warmth to the rooms that still sport the paint applied by the builders. “We don’t necessarily have the time or money to paint every room,” Carrie says. “So we’ve tried to bring color in other ways.”
The kitchen’s size and layout allow for any future changes without the need for expansion, something the couple appreciates about the home’s design. The raised-panel cabinets provide ample storage. The materials palette includes cherry flooring, a tumbled stone backsplash and laminate counters.
In the master bedroom, Carrie replaced the lampshades on the two secondhand bedside lamps. They sandwich a formerly faux-weathered-bronze bed frame that has been repainted a sunny yellow. A framed cabin painting by Freddy’s aunt brings back fond memories, while posters found in France remind the family of their every-other-year world travels.
Carpet: Ross Dress for Less; chaise: Fred Meyer
Carpet: Ross Dress for Less; chaise: Fred Meyer
Carrie and Freddy’s teenage son’s love for rock bands can be seen in his collection of framed band posters, which contrast nicely with his dark blue walls. Since the house doesn’t have a guest room, the family put a queen bed in the room with a bed frame built by Freddy’s grandfather. When guests are in town, they use this bedroom, and the son camps out in the family room. “It’s worked out very well for us,” Carrie says. “Most of the time, he gets to use a queen bed, and when guests come, they get privacy.”
Their teen daughter’s room is an homage to her love of dance. The cheerful blue accent wall is dedicated to her ever-growing collection of dance photos and awards. A dresser from the Salvation Army got a new look with a fresh paint job and colorful glass knobs.
Accent wall paint: Island Oasis, No. HDC-MD-09, Behr
Accent wall paint: Island Oasis, No. HDC-MD-09, Behr
The upstairs family room contains a battered coffee table from the Salvation Army that Carrie painted turquoise and repurposed as a TV stand. Cherished copies of the colorful hardcover magazine Art Culinaire lean against the wall as both a design feature and inspiration.
The home’s exterior features wood siding, a composite roof and stone-wrapped columns. For Carrie, finding the right pieces and plants to use on the porch and in the surrounding landscape has been a challenge, even with the advantage of being able to source items from her business, located in a historic Victorian. “I’ve brought over items from Dondo’s to try them out here, and many times they just don’t work,” Carrie says. “The winners seem to be filled with color — whether through painted furniture, colorful accessories or, in the spring and summer, through lots of flowers and plants.”
Their neighborhood development is in the beautiful and dramatic Wenatchee Valley. With the Cascade Range foothills immediately west and south, the neighborhood feels cocooned and protected.
Their neighborhood development is in the beautiful and dramatic Wenatchee Valley. With the Cascade Range foothills immediately west and south, the neighborhood feels cocooned and protected.
The family feels that their decision to bank on a new neighborhood has worked out, thanks to rethinking how to best use each room, being willing to switch things up and devising low-cost, colorful solutions.
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
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Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style:
Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Who lives here: Carrie and Freddy Arredondo, their two children, and their dogs, Betty and Bob
Location: Wenatchee, Washington
Size: 2,300 square feet (213.7 square meters); three bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
Year built: 2008
After living in the home for several years, the Arredondos realized that there was no reason to stick with the builder-designated dining room and living room spaces. The original living room connected directly to the kitchen. “It was fine, but we barely used it,” says Carrie, owner of Dondo’s WA Wine House. Meanwhile, a large dining table and benches swallowed up the available space in the original dining room, leaving little room for guests to circulate. So they swapped the rooms. After making the change, it finally felt like their house had become a home. “It now suits the way we live,” Carrie says.
Carrie found the coffee table on the side of the road in Seattle, and gave it a new life by sanding and painting. “There are a lot of found and thrifted items in the house, mostly because I like to work on them. I like fixing things up,” she says.
Table paint: Popped Corn, No. W-B-200, Behr