10/17

At Home with Michelle Gage in Havertown, Pennsylvania

At Home With..., Home Decor
By A Beautiful Mess

At Home with Michelle Gage Today we are welcoming Michelle Gage to the blog to share her lovely home with us! One look at that infamous flamingo wallpaper and you’re sold, right? Her home also has amazing artwork, detail, and charm.

At Home with Michelle Gage “My home is located in Havertown, PA (right outside of Philadelphia). My husband (then boyfriend) and I started house hunting in the summer of 2013–a year after graduating college. We weren’t exactly sure of the neighborhood we wanted to be in. We had lived in the area for over a year and felt informed enough to start looking. We thought we found a great place–good location, recently renovated–but ultimately realized that we wanted to be the ones to customize the home. Our house hunt was called off for the next few months. Then, on a random snowy Saturday in February, I was looking at listings online. We had no plans that day, so figured we might as well check it out. We got there and fell in LOVE. The home needed work, but it had great bones.

At Home with Michellle Gage “The living room definitely houses some of our favorite pieces. We love that space because it gets the best light. It’s really the show space of the house–displaying all of our thrifted finds! The best part of gathering is the hunt. I remember where I got each and every piece in our home, which means I remember the times my husband and I spent together searching. If you love vintage items but either don’t live near markets or don’t enjoy the hunt, Chairish is a great resource. I sell some of my extra goodies on there. It really just enables my vintage shopping addiction. 

At Home with Michelle Gage “The sofa pillows and coffee table situation are Ikea. With print on print, the pillows help to calm down the crazy sofa. We used to have a big bench in front of the sofa, but it was feeling too bulky, so we switched it up. We simply painted two end tables and placed them side by side to get a more open look.

At Home with Michelle Gage “I think we’d both agree that the kitchen is our favorite space. It was a labor of love. We waited nearly two years to renovate it, so it’s been a long time coming. We did all of the work ourselves, so we were able to splurge on some of the special details (ones we might normally have to skip due to budget constraints). This is the space we were able to customize the most. We knew we wanted a light and bright space to inspire creative cooking. White cabinets were an obvious choice. Next, we landed on the finishes. The brushed brass hardware really POPS against the clean cabinets. The backsplash was a totally customized treat! We worked with Mercury Mosaics to create a one-of-a-kind design that mimicked ocean waves.

At Home with Michelle Gage“My husband wound up making the live edge table for two out of some wood we snagged at a garage sale! The amazing chairs from Wayfair completed the look. The original kitchen was a nightmare to put it lightly. We gutted the entire space and started with a blank slate. Living without a kitchen sink is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, so I think the struggles that we went through makes it all the more special.

At Home with Michelle Gage Wallpaper/Cole & Son.

“The entryway table was just some worn piece taking up space in my parents’ basement. It used to house the fax machine, which tells you how neglected it was. The teal legs were intact, so we scooped it up when we bought this house. It fits perfectly in the entryway.

At Home with Michelle Gage “I don’t believe in bringing generic items into your home. Your home should be a reflection of your personality. It should be a space that you truly enjoy and miss when you leave it. I love all of the art. We recently counted up over 200 pieces in our whole home, many of which are in the living room. I find art everywhere–Goodwill, estate sales, flea markets. I am way too into portraits these days. I have collected dozens of oil portraits of strangers and sprinkled them throughout the home.

At Home with Michelle Gage “Our home is always evolving. Since we are out hunting nearly every weekend, something new is always coming into the home. You can tell I’ve been hunting when the Chairish shop becomes full—in with the old, out with the even older! The living room is always changing. It’s the space that is the fullest, so I’m constantly rearranging it to find better homes for everything. We currently joke that we are fresh out of walls to fill. We’ve wallpapered what we can and hung art everywhere else. BUT somehow, we always find more room for a new favorite find!”

Love your home, Michelle! You can find more of Michelle on her interior design website, Chairish, and on Instagram.

Author: Michelle Gage. Photography: Kyle Born. Kitchen, powder room and swan wallpaper by Homepolish. 

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