We are excited to welcome Tanya from Dans Le Townhouse to the blog today to share a bit of her home with us! 
This townhouse was the first home my husband (Handy Hubby) and I bought, so it’s pretty special to us. We saw past the salmon pink bathroom, stained carpet, and general disrepair, and envisioned a bright and modern space. We replaced carpet with hardwood, updated the bathrooms, installed a herringbone tile backsplash in the kitchen, and painted (almost) every wall a crisp gallery white. So much is handmade, including the curtains, throw pillows, both of our desks, our headboard, bedside tables, and more. We have a small budget, but we’ve made it work (and had some luck). We bought our cream leather sofa previously-loved from the classifieds, the teak sofa tables were $20 for the pair at an estate sale, and my beloved Pyrex collection is largely thrifted. We’ve also gotten inventive and made a lot of our own “art” and accessories. Some of my favorites include the discarded bathroom mirror we antiqued and stenciled with a Hungarian poem (above the fireplace), the framed agate coasters (in the dining room), and the abstract triptych I painted for our bedroom.
I’ve really tried to make sure the townhouse is a space that reflects both of us. The mid-century furniture is my thing, but the wood kitchen cabinetry (that I stripped and refinished) is Hubby’s preference. 
I think the most unusual décor pieces are the three 1960s posters in the kitchen. I brought those back from Hungary, where I did research for four months. They are ads commissioned by the Communist Party to get people to go shopping in nationalized stores! 
My favorite thing in our space is the metal sculpture in my office (beside the silhouettes) that my grandfather made. He was a professional artist at one time, but he no longer wants to create art. This is one of the last sculptures he made, and he made it for me. He also welded our giant headboard and bedside tables, which my Mom and I designed. I think Handy Hubby would say his favorites are his grandpa’s art, including the painting in the dining room and the pair above the sofa. We really love art, but we don’t really have the means to buy much, so we’re so grateful to have artistic family members. To fill in gaps, we get creative. 
We DIY a lot, so having a garage was a must-have. We even gave it a makeover with icy blue paint and shelving we built. We have been DIYing together since we started dating as teenagers. Back then we refinished a desk for me, upholstered a chair for him, and then painted my ’92 Dodge Colt lime green. Now tackling a project—whether it’s tiling or refinishing furniture—has become a hobby we share. The garage and backyard get a lot of use (and see a lot of spray paint). I work from home, so I also spend a lot of time in the office. We turned an old treadle sewing machine base into a desk for me, and it’s a good think we live in our own townhouse now, and not an apartment, because I treadle when I’m thinking. Squeak, squeak, squeak. Our most used room is our living room. We love kicking back and relaxing for movie night!
Thank you so much for sharing your space with us, Tanya! You can find more of Tanya over at her blog Dans le Townhouse. xo.
46 Comments
So many interesting prints! I really like a home with color or color pops. Seems lots of people are going to the all-white motif these days, but I love a good bit of color!
And while I know this is about the home tour— dat dress tho! <3
http://cuddlyasacactus.wordpress.com/
So sweet! I love all of the different wood shades! What a darling home! Thanks for sharing!
http://sometimesgracefully.com
What a lovely space, Tanya! I love that both you and your hubby are such die-hard DIY-ers 🙂
I adored all the family-made art. I think handmade and items with stories are far more precious to have on your walls than a designer (expensive) piece. I adore your home, and as a gal on a budget, appreciated all your finds/creative uses of space!
That looks really nice. Great inspiration. Have a nice day.
http://www.fashiondenis.com
Its so weird to read her blog and then see this since she has been out of the townhouse and in the lake house for a while now, but her pyrex collection is to die for.
Oh, wow!! I do not know what to do with myself! I LOVE the all 60ies furniture!! The kitchen is beautiful!! Sorry about all the exclamation marks, but I’m in love 😉 Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful space, Tanya 🙂
xo
Camilla
http://kapteinmoe.blogspot.no
Just gonna lay it out there that the must frustrating thing about these posts is that the images NEVER correspond with the text. It would be so helpful if you edited these posts to have the correct image go along with corresponding paragraphs, so your readers don’t have to scroll back up and through blog posts trying to find the art they are talking about, or pyrex collections, or whatever else they mention. It would be a huge help.
Gorgeous home! I love that bed frame!
xoxo
Taylor
Beautiful home, love her bed and furniture! xx
http://love-aesthetics.nl
Lovely home!
♥ Naomi Starry Eyes + Coffee Cups
I want everything! This house is so my style. Love it!
I love the pictures in the kitchen! They’re so playful! 🙂
http://everydayingrace.blogspot.ca/
love the photos!
I adore that bed frame!
This is such a lovely home, now wonder you love it so much! You’ve put in a lot of hard work and it’s really paid off 😀 x
http://www.madeleineslittleblog.blogspot.co.uk
I love the house and all but I am totally loving that blue dress with the bow in the back! That is adorable. My favorite part of the house is the pink highlights and splashes of color in the bedroom. It lends the entire theme a really sweet look.
Love and Luck,
Laurali Star
http://www.thesecretsurprisinista.com
Although I love the design of this home, I am just wondering where the pics of their “office” is? You speak highly of an art piece that you grandfather made just before retiring from his art.. it would be nice to actually see a picture of it. (yes, I did look it up on your blog) but still.. let the pictures reflect the words written! <3
With that being said, your furniture && that headboard!! - to die for!!
Oh I’m loving everything about this beautiful space from the artwork to the vintage wares and beyond… also loving those framed agate slices, very inspiring!. Tina 🙂
Your home is lovely! I’m curious…are you Hungarian? I was pleasantly surprised to see the piece above your mantle. 🙂
jaj nagyon szep!
es aposzterek csodalatosak!!!!
thanks for sharing
The Pyrex!!! #LOVE
xo.
http://dropsofjupiterBLOG.com
Thanks for all of your kind words and thoughtful comments. It was such a pleasure to share my townhouse with fellow ABM readers. It was especially sweet because since submitting my photos I’ve moved to a new place and am still a little sentimental about our first home. Thanks for having me, it means a lot.
Sorry for some confusion; not all of the photos I sent along with the text were used so some of the things I was yammering on about aren’t seen here. There’s a full tour on my blog.
The dress is from Dressbarn, but it’s not available online anymore. It was a bit short for me, so I added the white eyelet fabric. If you track it down on a clearance rack, it will look a little bit different.
Tanya from Dans le Lakehouse
(formerly Dans le Townhouse)
I LOVE this space! That dining set in the first pic is KILLER. And the triptych by the bed, so so beautiful. Sigh.
Love the blue agate photos!
Beautiful! So personal, with the background stories behind most pieces. Thanks for sharing…
So excited to see my two favourite blogs come together!!! I love Tanya’s renos, especially now that she’s got a whole new space to work with!
The Marimekko throw is fantastic!
I love these features so much, and I’d like to point something out- sometimes the articles accompanying these photos will mention something they especially love in their home, but a photo is not included! For instance, in this article a metal sculpture is mentioned in the office, but unless I missed it, it’s not in the article. I wish small details like that would be considered and added!
Is she hungarian like me??
<3
I definitely noticed the same thing! Tanya’s Granpa’s sculpture is mentioned but not pictured. Hard to connect the words to the pictures if it’s not set up well! Plus I’m an avid reader of Tanya’s blog and they sold the Townhouse and are renovating their new space, I expected that to be explained so that when people check out her blog they aren’t confused!
I am beyond impressed that they came up with such unique pieces as the mirror above the fire place. What a great way to keep some of the home’s history and give the new space a hit of meaningful artwork!
I love those posters in her kitchen!
http://brittannytaylor.com/blog/
i adore the color scheme throughout this home!!
http://wethinkthereforewecreate.blogspot.com
I was looking for the sculpture too! I scrolled up and down twice- I thought I missed something…I’ll go check out the blog 🙂
what a super lovely house… thnks for share.
Sorry folks!! I sent along the photos when I sent the text but the office photos weren’t used in the post. I know that must be frustrating.
When I submitted my photos we hadn’t moved, so that’s really not the fault of ABM. Luckily, before this feature I changed some things around on my blog to make it clearer that we’re in a new space.
So sorry Debbie and C.B. I sent along photos of the office to accompany the text but they weren’t chosen. Thanks so much, though, for coming to my blog to take a peek. There are lots more photos of the townhouse, including the office and my favorite sculpture, in my “townhouse tour”:
http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.ca/p/house-tour.html
Apologies that you have to click over, but I’m happy you’re stopping by!!
Hi Allison,
Good eye!!
My Mother’s side of the family is Hungary, they came to Canada in the 1960s. I speak Hungarian and my PhD dissertation was on a Hungarian women’s magazine. I’ve always been fascinated with my Hungarian ancestry. Are you of a Hungarian background as well?
Köszönöm!!
Thanks Amy!! It’s funny running into you here 🙂 I’m so honored to have my townhouse tour here.
I know, I’m so sorry HH. You’re not missing it. The office photos were sent along with my text but they didn’t include them in the feature for some reason. If you look at the townhouse tour on my blog, you can see the whole office including the artwork I dithered on about. I’d love for you to stop by 🙂
http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.ca/p/house-tour.html
Igen!
Well, sort of. I am Canadian but my mother’s side is Hungarian so I speak the language, but I’m also of Finnish ancestry. I feel a stronger connection with my Hungarian ancestry, though – I even took up Hungarian embroidery:
http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.ca/2013/07/my-embroidery-now-pillow.html
Üdvözlet Magyarországról!
Gyönyörű a lakás és külön imádom a szocreál reklámplakátokat!
Greetings from hungary,
Your home is wonderful. I especially adore the socialist-realist ads.
it’s super weird to come across things related to my little country on a foreign website, like ABM. it melts my heart that people know we exist! and i love those posters in the kitchen! i wish i knew where to get one! or two. or more. x
I was surprised to see Hungarian posters and the text. 🙂 This is a beautiful poem! I read your blog from Hungary. (sorry my bad English)
Love your work, you are amazing!! 🙂