Character Study

An imperfect house with excellent details provided the ideal canvas on which this DIY blogger is creating her dream home.

- Devlin Smith

Though there’s much from the ’80s we view fondly today—the movies, the music, the fashion—the era’s interior design rarely ranks. Gaudy colors and synthetic finishes are just a few of the style missteps we’ve happily left in the past.

When Rachel Bousquet and her husband found their home two years ago, much of the interior was still trapped in the ’80s. Every room was painted canary yellow, the dark-brick fireplace had no mantel, the kitchen had dark cabinets and the rooms had popcorn ceilings, but she saw beyond all that and pictured the rustic cottage she longed to create.

“I knew right away when I saw it, ‘This is the house,’” Rachel says. “I loved the tall ceilings in the living room. There was this little opening that went into the hallway and I thought, ‘Yes, this is where the barn door is going.’”

STEP BY STEP

Since purchasing the home, Rachel and her hus band have been transforming it room by room and tracking their progress on her DIY and style blog, beautifultreasuresblog.com, and her Instagram account, @rachel_bousquet. Freeing the home from its canary yellow walls was a priority, with shades of gray selected for the walls in the living room, dining room and master bedroom, as well as the paneling found in the dining room.