My Houzz: DIY Creativity Lights Up a Cozy Pennsylvania Home

Denise Sabia loves repurposing roadside throwaways to furnish her family's 1955 multilevel home just outside Philadelphia. She has turned pages from thrift store books into charming wallpaper for the stairwell, an old wagon into a kitchen shelf and a dresser into a suitcase-filled storage unit. "If you are drawn to something, bring it home," says Sabia, a blogger for The Painted Home. "With a little creativity, you'll be surprised what you can come up with."

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Danny and Denise Sabia; their children, Camille, Lucy and Jonas; and dog Bubba
Location: Ambler, Pennsylvania
Size: 4,000 square feet; 5 bedrooms, 3½ bathrooms

What was once a large family room now serves as the home's main dining space. All of the dining room chairs are roadside finds that Sabia refreshed with spray paint. In fact, nearly every piece in the space was either found or repurposed, including the farmhouse table, hand made from reclaimed barn wood and old porch columns.

Decorating on a budget requires Sabia to dream up creative solutions. For example, she used thick rope as crown molding in the dining room. She also created custom window treatments using a combination of drop cloths and inexpensive fabric from an online retailer.

Toile fabric: Fabric.com; brown curtain panels: Sanela, Ikea; light fixture: Sea Gull Lighting, Lowe's


Always a hit at dinner parties, this open suitcase on a refinished cabinet stores spirits and bar accessories, including custom wine bottle stoppers Sabia crafted using gold statues from old sports trophies.


The family gathers on this screened-in porch filled with vintage finds during warm months. A chicken coop out back houses three chickens that provide eggs for them.


Sabia installed the foyer paneling and painted the ceiling stripes herself. The wallpaper above it is dark burlap; pages from thrift store books paper the stairwell.

Paneling paint: Swiss Coffee, Benjamin Moore; runner: Home Decorators Collection; door paint: Provence, Annie Sloan


Sabia renovated the kitchen from top to bottom for less than $20,000. Her nephew built the undercounter cabinets, which Sabia had fitted with seeded glass, then she painted them with her own blend of Annie Sloan chalk paints.

An old red wagon that Sabia found became a shelf in the kitchen.

Wall paint: Ethiopia, Behr


Sabia bought this hammered copper apron sink with a skirt made from an old burlap sack on eBay.

Appliances: GE


She attached yardsticks and rulers she found at flea markets to stair risers that lead to her husband's man cave on the ground level.

More creative ways to use vintage rulers


In this camp-style powder room, vintage suitcases act as drawers inside a dresser Sabia found on the side of the road.


Sabia describes the style of this second-floor guest room as "Grandma's attic." She bought the brass bed from a thrift store and painted it with glossy black spray paint.

She painted most of the interior doors black and hung metal house numbers on the outside of each bedroom door for a bed-and-breakfast feel.

Rug: Thyme Ticking Woven, Dash & Albert; curtains: Lenda, Ikea: blinds: Overstock.com


Formerly the main bedroom, this sunny space is now a family room on the home's second floor.

Maps and globes recur frequently throughout the home. Sabia made the pendant in the corner here out of an old globe, and repurposed another globe half as a pedestal bowl nearby.

Wall paint: Nimbus Cloud, Martha Stewart Living; pillows, quilts: HomeGoods, Target


A bunk bed, earthy colors and plenty of toys reminiscent of summer camp make up Sabia's son's bedroom. She scored the bunk bed for $15 at a yard sale and spray painted it black.

Sabia's collection of maps and globes started with these vintage Alaska road maps, which she bought for her husband as a Father's Day gift. They're displayed on clipboards from an office supply store.

Rug: Dash & Albert


Sabia repurposed this closet outside her daughters' bedroom when she realized the only things stored inside were snowsuits. With the addition of a desk and electrical outlets, the closet became a homework station for the kids.

How to turn your closet into an office

Chair paint: Mustard Seed Yellow, Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint


Daughters Camille and Lucy share this bedroom. Matching quilts give the space symmetry although each girl has her own unique combination of pillows.

Sabia made the "You are my sunshine" artwork by painting on a piece of wood found on the side of the road. She also hand painted the Union Jack on the wooden toy chest below. Simple open shelves lined with metal buckets are a clean, simple and inexpensive way to keep the girls' things organized.

Wall paint: Nimbus Cloud, Martha Stewart Living; chevron curtain fabric: Fabric.com; galvanized buckets: Socker, Ikea


Sabia cuddles outside with the family dog, Bubba, in front of an autumn vignette she put together on the fly. "My vignettes change whenever I find something at an auction or flea market," she says. "It's really trial and error."

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