My Houzz: Vintage Furnishings With Stories to Match

We’ve all had some kind of luck — whether good or bad — shopping for furniture on Craigslist. Kristen Parker has been on a lucky streak with the online classifieds site since she began furnishing the 1920s Tudor-style apartment she shares with her husband, Michael. What with landing a free leather sofa from a pirate-themed house and finding a pristine burlwood table, this creative couple shows what’s possible in furnishing a stylish place on a budget.

Along with creating a stylish home, Kristen, a wedding photographer, and Michael, a musician, have also found a way to carve out personal dedicated spaces. Michael can retreat to his music corner to work on songwriting, while Kristen has a home office where she can edit her work and meet with clients.

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Kristen and Michael Parker
Size: 600 square feet; 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Location: Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle

Kristen and Michael designed their living room around the 1950s burlwood table they found on Craigslist for $40. It was one of the first pieces they purchased and has been the anchor in the room over the years.

The couple also found a pair of 1930s tufted leather armchairs, their favorites, for $100 through the online classifieds. “They were sold to me by a woman who was trying to divide up her parents’ estate,” says Kristen. “They’d been bleached by the sun, and you can tell one of them was really well loved, perhaps even a favorite reading chair.”


Living in a rental means the couple can’t remodel, so they have decided to invest their money in furniture and decor. “Nearly everything in our apartment we’ve very intentionally purchased on a budget through thrift and antique shops and Craigslist,” Kristen says. “I didn’t want to have to spend more than $400 for a certain piece in our home, because we prefer to save money for traveling and business expenses.”


This approach to decorating means that each piece has a story. “Our couch was found free on Craigslist after months of searching,” Kristen says. “I show up to the place to pick it up, and it turns out it was inside a pirate-themed house. The front lawn was covered in sand and pirate novelties, and the house itself was made out to look like a ship.”

She adds, “We’ve been rotating pieces in and out as we search Craigslist. Each piece has slowly been incorporated in over time, as we realize the need for pieces that have a specific purpose, whether it be for more storage or to create more contrast from all of the dark wood details in our apartment.”


Because Michael’s extensive record collection had been stored in various places throughout the apartment, Kristen strayed from her usual approach of finding appropriate pieces and had a record shelf built for his birthday so, as she says, “he could have all of his records and player in one place without having to walk to different rooms to find a record he wanted to listen to.” The custom piece was built by Timshel Woodworking.


Michael, who is a member of the band Pickwick, uses this corner of the living room for his songwriting and as a place for his organ and Gibson guitar.


The alcove between the living room and dining room houses a special treasure. “The ship was made by the grandfather of my best friend,” Kristen says. “She moved to New York and couldn’t take it with her, so she left it with me.”

The silhouette cutouts of the boy and girl are a $4 Goodwill find that they originally intended to use as part of a collage wall.


They’ve also filled their space with a wide array of houseplants. “Friends will come over and make comments about how many plants we have,” Kristen says, “and it’s always surprising, because I forget how much it can look like a jungle in here.”


“I’ve seen a lot of Parisian sunrooms that were full of plants and fell in love with the idea of a plant room,” Kristen adds. “It turns out, our dining room is where we get the most light, so it’s the perfect place to keep them.”

She loves the light that comes through this room on sunny days. “It really makes working back here that much more enjoyable,” she says.

Afghan rug: ecarpetgallery


The bentwood bistro chairs were once used in a waterfront restaurant in the Northeast during the 1920s. The marble-topped table was purchased from a man living in a beautiful mansion overlooking Puget Sound. Kristen says, “It was his first ‘grown-up’ apartment purchase from an antique shop when he graduated law school in the ’70s.”


Kristen’s office was originally set up in a walk-in closet. “I had a small desk and mostly worked with the door open, but it was still so confining,” she says. “I eventually just sprawled everything out in the dining room and haven’t moved my office since.”

The only pieces that they didn’t find on Craigslist or via other thrifty ways are Kristen’s West Elm desk and file cabinet, which help define her home office area in the dining room.

Desk, filing cabinet: West Elm


When Kristen and Michael first moved into the apartment, they quickly realized there would be a few challenges in furnishing their bedroom, due to its small size and the large amount of bright morning light coming in through the windows.

They made a king-size bed in a room of this size work by being strategic about its placement. They also added blackout curtains to curb the amount of light coming in, but ultimately took them down. “As time has gone on, we decided to wake up with the sun in a bright room,” says Kristen.


This midcentury modern highboy dresser in the bedroom is a recent Craigslist find.

The top of the dresser displays one of Kristen’s favorite art pieces: a midcentury oil painting portrait from one of her favorite antiques malls in Seattle, Pacific Galleries.

Small green trunk: Homestead Seattle


The couple collects vintage sketchbook pieces and has a few on display throughout the apartment, like this one from an antiques shop that hangs in the bedroom.


Kristen and Michael take advantage of the generous light in the bedroom to grow a fiddle leaf fig at their bedside. They also keep a bundle of palo santo wood next to the bed, which gives off a sweet vanilla aroma when lit.


Kristen and Michael Parker pose for a portrait in their living room.

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