My Houzz: On Top of the Worldly in Florida

First-time homeowners Finley and Jonathan Acosta-Rubio, website designers and owners of Hatch Design Shop, are often inspired by their travel mementos and vintage finds. When decorating their 1959 home in St. Petersburg, Florida, they made sure it offered opportunities to showcase some of their prized pieces. They converted a brick nook into a lounge area accented with pieces from Saudi Arabia, and carved out space on a wall-to-wall media unit to display everything from Middle Eastern dolls to a collection of vintage cameras.

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Finley and Jonathan Acosta-Rubio, son Benicio (15 months old) and dog Falcor
Location: St. Petersburg, Florida
Size: 1,368 square feet; 2 bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms
Year built: 1959

The living room is bright and decorated in an earthy palette. A corner tepee allows imaginative play for their toddler.

“Our living room is our favorite part of the house, because it is open and lit up beautifully by five windows,” says Finley. “We assume they were built to slant so that light would not come in directly and make the home too hot.”

Sofa: American Signature Furniture (discontinued); area rug, side table: Crate & Barrel (discontinued); coffee table storage cubes: Hol, Ikea; armchair: Poäng, Ikea; tepee: HearthSong, Amazon


The couple created a second lounge area in the back part of the living room. “I decided I was going to make it into another sitting area by upholstering cushions custom made to sit on the protrusions,” says Finley. She purchased fabric and foam from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft, and cut the foam to size with Jonathan’s help using an electric carving knife. Lenhart’s Custom Upholstery put together the custom cushions for a total of $275.

The seating nook is accented with a coffee table, an area rug and woven baskets from Saudi Arabia, where Finley lived with her family for more than a decade.

Artwork: T.J.Maxx; starburst mirror: The Home Depot (no longer available); throw pillows, floor pillow, wall mirrors: Target


One wall of the living room is filled with bookshelves used to showcase travel mementos and vintage finds, including cameras, a record player and records. “In the evening we usually turn on music through our television and have a family dance session with our very musically inclined son,” says Finley. “It’s moments like that that definitely sum up the vibe and energy of our home.” Most of the vintage cameras were scored at an auction in Kentucky.

Bookcases: Billy, Ikea


Dolls from the Middle East and wooden clogs from Sweden are just a few of the childhood mementos Finley displays on the bookshelves. “The only continent I haven’t been on is Antarctica,” she says.


The home’s breakfast nook is accented by a brick wall that transitions into the living room sitting nook. The couple splurged on a painting by Todd White. An antique ice chest, formerly in Jonathan’s grandmother’s New York antiques shop, now serves as a makeshift bar.


The master bedroom is decorated with family heirlooms. “The chest at the foot of the bed belonged to my grandfather, who was a merchant marine and brought it over from Hong Kong,” says Jonathan. The bedspread is from Saudi Arabia, and the prayer flags were purchased in Tibet by Finley’s mother. The area rug is a wall tapestry that belonged to Finley’s grandmother.

The couple spray painted their Ikea bed brown.

Bed: Leirvik, Ikea; side tables, baskets, lamps: HomeGoods


This tufted leather armchair is a treasured $10 garage sale find. The pillow and wall hooks are vintage.


The dresser in the master bedroom showcases a tray with a knife holder crocheted by Jonathan’s grandfather. The round crochet piece is an unfinished work started by Finley’s mother while she was pregnant with Finley. The artwork with the couple’s last name was a gift from a friend. “She traveled throughout Europe and took photographs of letters in our name to create this wedding gift collage for us,” FInley says.


The nursery’s dresser was found in an alleyway; the couple repainted it gray. Finley turned a vintage suitcase into a coffee table by adding legs and covering the top with fabric from Ikea. The sofa has a pullout bed, so the nursery doubles as a guest room.

Area rug: Pottery Barn Kids (no longer available)


The bathroom features the original 1950s tile countertop. The previous homeowners installed the wallpaper, bringing a contemporary element to the space.

Wallpaper: Spanish Tile, Allen + Roth, Lowe’s


The kitchen was renovated by the previous owners. Finley and Jonathan added a chalkboard wall on which they change the artwork frequently. Currently, it’s a “home” for Falcor; when the weather gets colder they’ll draw a fireplace.


The front door leads straight into the dining room. Finley’s sister gave the couple the vintage tension pole floor lamp in the corner.

Dining table: Crate & Barrel (no longer available); curtains: Henny Rand, Ikea; storage unit: Expedit, Ikea


Finley turned a dining room wall into a gallery with family photos.


For the exterior, Finley says, “we invested in small items, such as yard plants and pebbles.”


Here’s Finley with the family’s mixed-breed dog, Falcor.

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