Today we are excited to share Morgan Trinker’s beautiful bungalow with you! We got our first peek at her space via Instagram and fell in love with the hand-stamped strawberry wall in her laundry room (so cute!!). Morgan and her husband, Jamie, renovated this home to make it super bright and inviting, and that’s exactly what it is. 🙂 Ready to see more?
“My favorite room in the house is for sure the main living room because of the wall of windows that look out onto trees and receive the most glorious golden sunset light in the evening. There’s no better spot for curling up with a good book and a cup of coffee and waving at neighbors walking their dogs or kids playing right outside.
“One of the things that bummed me out the most about the house when we first bought it was the bathroom. It had clearly been remodeled sometime in the 90s, and every ounce of 1925 charm was replaced with beige tiles and a walk-in shower and contemporary fixtures. Determined to restore it to its original glory, we took it down to the studs and brought it back in classic finishes like the white hexagon tile floor, shiplap walls, a claw foot tub found on Craigslist and refinished, and schoolhouse fixtures. One of my favorite projects in the bathroom is actually the ledge I built to display pretty bottles of nail polish and hang towels to dry. All in all, the space is just so much brighter and happier!
“Even in our relatively short time in this house, there have definitely been lots of things that changed and that I had to figure out through trial and error along the way. For example, I clearly love color and am not afraid to use it, but with such open spaces and being able to see into many of the rooms of our home at once, I had to adopt more of a whole-house color palette and make sure that all the rooms played nicely with each other, which sometimes meant owning that I had made a mistake with a color choice and being willing to repaint or recover or swap it with something else. Also, because we had a lot of large white wall space to contend with, I had to learn about scale and how to fill space without causing visual clutter and chaos, which is how, after going through a couple of different gallery wall configurations in the main living area that just never looked quite right, I landed on the idea of the long ledges to display photographs of friends and family.
“I think the thing that makes me so proud of this home is all of the love and manual labor that’s been poured into it. From dyeing the white slipcovers on our IKEA Karlstad sectional a beautiful shade of turquoise to hand-stamping cheerful strawberries on the walls of our laundry room (using A Beautiful Mess’s tutorial!) right down to the less glamorous updates like polishing and restoring the wood floors, I don’t think there’s an inch of our space that hasn’t been touched and (hopefully!) improved upon during our time in this house. I hope that I continue to push myself to learn new skills and take risks and create spaces full of love and life and really, really good memories.”
Thanks for sharing, Morgan! You can find more of her via Morgan Trinker Photography and on Instagram. xo.
Credits//Author: Morgan Trinker. Photography: Graham Yelton.
75 Comments
I love that bathroom! And it’s amzing how that IKEA bed changes with a little bit of painting!
xx,
E.
http://www.theslowpace.com
I love the bathroom!
Abbie E.
http://abulouslife.blogspot.com/
LOVE XXOO
Such a sweet home. I love it!
I love it all.
Where oh where did you get the campells soup cans?
I think we’re style twins. I recently purchased a home and in that time, bought the same fridge you have, am buying a very similar chandelier for the DR, similar rug style, same IKEA couch only in a royal blue custom cover, same ideas for SO many things. Love your home and your style!!
Amazing home!
I love seeing a home from Birmingham! That’s where I live! We have some creative people and beautiful homes. I love how light and airy this home is. Great choice on the mint cabinets. I would love to see a view from the outside.
I recently bought my first house in May and have been painting and redoing ever since. I know it takes time but I can’t wait for it to be done! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
This home looks amazing, there are so many good ideas I just pinned up a storm!
These were sold at target a few years ago. I think they were limited edition, though.
Great house! What color white did you use?
I was sold as soon as I saw the bathroom here..but the whole space is amazing! Great job!
Oh my word this house is awesome!! I love everything. From the strawberry wallpaper to the vintage campbell’s soup cans to the hair brush and bobby bin prints! Fabulous place!
♥ Heather
Yay, Birmingham!
That strawberry wall is the cutest!
My favorite at home with by far! So much love and color in this house…we have an old bungalow too and there is just something so cozy about them. Great inspiration 🙂
Seeing those wooden beams painted over makes my heart hurt. And the tv over the fireplace? I can’t. I’m all for white but …..those beams. I want to save them. 🙁
Such a beautiful bright house; I really love those vibrant pops of colour!
All the colours and character so reminds me of Elsie’s old house! Super cute!!
Wow Beautiful home, I just love spaces that bring in a lot of light. Feels very cozy, and I especially love the lights about the dining table. Those are becoming really popular thiese days
What a lovely home! I especially love your bathroom Morgan – gorgeous!!
Especially love the bathroom http://www.hannamarielei.com
This is a cute house. I love the strawberries on the wall and I’m curious about the hanging sign in the kitchen. It’s cut off but I’d like to see more of it. I’m assuming it’s a vintage find?
I need those soup cans! I really like this home. So many great details. ♡♡
xoxoBella | http://xoxobella.com
This post is so inspiring! I’m so glad you shared your home here – I have a few new ideas for my home now, Thank You! I especially loved your happy little corner of the mustard chair with the gallery of prints – what a great and simple way to transform an other wise empty or boring corner. And the DIYs of the floating night stands and the green painted light! Again I love that they are simple changes (and inexpensive!). Could we get a play-by-play for those floating night stands? I would love that!
Shout out to the Knoxville, TN Market Square Farmer’s Market print in the kitchen! I have a similar one and I love/miss Knoxville!
How wonderful is this place? I am in love with the details and this floor is amazing!
https://www.makeandmess.com/
This house is such a happy place! Wow! Well done! I LOVE the strawberries on the wall!
So inspired by your home! By any chance … do you remember the shade you used for the mint green cabinets? It really is the PERFECT mint!
SO beautiful! I love how open and bright everything is. And that strawberry wall is so CUTE!
Where/when did you get the bed. I could not find it at Ikea:( Beautiful home!!
Wow, such a wonderful home. I love the kitchen ans the bathroom. And, of course, the strawberry diy stamp wall! Such inspiring spaces.
Oh my, your house is absolutely charming and precious!! It is a wall-to-wall breath of fresh air, full of creativity, and there is not a single detail that I did not ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ over. Fantastic job, Morgan.
That Dolly wallhanging is perfection. Was it a DIY?
I’m dying to know where Morgan got that Dolly Parton art! Is it a DIY?
aw yay I live in Birmingham! <3 it's nice to see us on the map 🙂
Looks so cosy and simple! I love it!
Hi Toria! It is a DIY– just an engineer print! I think ABM has done a couple of posts on them in the past so I would search the archives! 🙂
Thank you so much, Misty! 🙂
Hi Olga! We actually got the bed a few years back, so that particular style may have been discontinued. I think they have some other iron bed options now though! And thank you!
Thank you so much Shehla! 🙂
Hi Laura! Thank you so much! The mint color I used is Benjamin Moore’s “Reflection.” I love it!
Thank you so much Amy!
Yes! Knoxville and Yee-haw Letterpress forever!
Thank you so much Nathalie! That gallery wall was born out of wanting to get all my sentimental treasures out of boxes and onto walls where I could enjoy them every day. The floating nightstands were super simple. I just cut down 4 scrap pieces of 1.5 in thick/12 in wide wood, then screwed them together in the box shape, then mounted the whole thing to the wall with L-brackets. Super easy! Weirdly I just don’t love nightstands so these were a great space saver!
Hi Erika! Thank you so much! Yes, the sign was a Craigslist find! It’s an original French sign that says “BOULANGERIE” and it’s a whopping 8 feet long! We didn’t get any photos of the whole thing (probably because it’s so huge) but it’s one of my favorite finds. 🙂
Thank you so much Peta Louise!
Elsie is clearly a huge design inspiration to me. 🙂 Thank you!
I hear you, Miranda! Painting over beams and TVs over fireplaces are both super divisive issues, I know. In our case, the beams were stained and lacquered to a glossy almost-black finish when we moved in, and it just felt like way too much for the room. That was all the eye could focus on, was the dark cage-like effect of the beams. I suppose we could’ve attempted to strip down and refinish the beams, but honestly I just prefer the look of painted white beams and I’m a big believer that your home should reflect what *you* like. As for the TV, it truly was the ONLY place a TV could’ve gone in that space (it’s all open and most walls are covered in windows and doors with no room for a console or anything like that), and as much as I hate looking at the black box too, I’m not about to give up my Netflix addiction. 😉
Thank you so much Andrea! So kind!
Thank you Heather! 🙂
Hi Rachel! The shade of white I used on EVERYTHING (per Jenny Komenda’s recommendation) is Ben Moore’s “Chantilly Lace.” It’s the perfect not-too-cool, not-too-warm, clean, classic white!
Ah! Thank you so much Mollie! And yay Birmingham! I do have outside photos posted on my Instagram account at @morgantrinker (and/or the hashtag #trinkerhomerenovation)!
Ah yes!! I love meeting kindred spirits! And my husband’s name is also Jamie so the similarities just continue. 🙂
Thank you Michelle! 🙂
Amazing! Where did you find the image for printing?
I love those shiplap walls in the bathroom!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Morgan your home is so cute! I love the bathroom, it looks so inviting.
As I was examining your beautiful gallery wall I was thinking……
Just thought I would share an article on swimming with dolphins, as lots of people don’t think twice about it. There are tons of articles online to do some thinking before you go on vacation.
http://dolphinproject.org/take-action/orcas-and-dolphins-do-not-belong-in-captivity
https://www.thedodo.com/swim-dolphins-caribbean-1094674999.html
The movie Blackfish I think touches on dolphins as well as the captive orcas. I hope everyone lives their lives thoughtfully and compassionately, especially when it comes to animals:)
Omg strawberry wall. I want one!! I love this house.
Hi Alicia!
Thank you so much for the kind words! I appreciate your input on the dolphins. We actually are huge animal lovers (if my husband had his way, we’d have 7 or 8 rescue pets running around by now), and we have seen Blackfish as well and do try to be aware of situations that are harmful to animals. However, this photo is special to us as it’s one of the only photos we have from our honeymoon, and at the time we were barely 22 years old and certainly not as aware as we are now about the dangers of captivity for sea animals. 🙂
I just Googled vintage photos of Dolly Parton, I think? It was a fairly low-res image but that doesn’t really matter so much for prints like these. 🙂
Morgan is such a fun and sweet person and great photographer! I love seeing photos of her home!
Every time there’s a new “at home” post, I scroll through hoping to see a person of color as the homeowner. I believe this has happened once. Please consider adding some color to your blog!!
Amazing. Thanks so much!
Morgan, is there any chance you can tell us the name of the green paint you used on the bedframe? Thank you!!
Hi! Was wondering if you are able to share the name of the color used on the bedframe? LOVE IT, and I happen to have the SAME exact IKEA bed 🙂
What colour and type of dye did you use to dye your couch? Have you found the dye to be pretty colourfast or does it transfer onto lighter-colorer clothes when you sit on it? I absolutely love the colour!! (And also Dolly. Love Dolly!!) Beautiful house!
Hi Megan,
Can you share what color of green paint you used on the bed? It’s lovely!
Thank you so much,
Chritine
I love the sofa. I have the Ektorp in white but would like to have an alternate colour other than what Ikea offers. Did you do it yourself or have it professionally done?
Did you dye the sofa covers yourself or have them professionally done?
Would love to know how your shiplap walls have held up to the bathroom atmosphere. Thanks!
The turquoise couch and the green bed are amazing!
I just bought the same Ikea bed off Craigslist for my guest room and plan to paint it a similar color. (The exact if I knew what it was. Details please! ;))
The whole house is sweet and filled with charm and personality. Well done!
Do you know the model name of that IKEA bed? They don’t seem to sell it anymore so I wantto try to find a used one, because I love it with that paint.
Super late to the party but WOWWWWZA. I love every single space in this home. That’s rare for me. I feel my style is very similar and I am dreaming of owning a home and redoing everything with my husband- hopefully next year! Love love love this home tour ????
The bathroom looks amazing! I love all the natural light!