Sometimes Nancy Storey will make changes to her home overnight.
“My husband will get up and I’ll ask him, ‘Can you tell what I did last night?’” she said.
Sometimes he’ll be stumped until she shows him the decoupage lampshade project, recovered or repainted chairs, or new uses for old furniture and curtains. In the 32 years they’ve owned the home, she’s repainted every room and ceiling at least three times and the kitchen cabinets four times. Nothing in the home is beige, and even some tables are multicolored.
“I just like real colorful things,” she said. “We don’t ever, ever plan to leave this house so therefore I feel like if I want to do one room one color and another room another color, as long as it doesn’t totally clash, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Snapshot
Residents: Edward and Nancy Storey, who are retired from Delta Air Lines
Location: Fayetteville
Size: About 1,550 square feet, two bedrooms, two bathrooms
Year built: 1888
Year bought: 1982
Builder: James Davis
Architectural style: Farmhouse
Favorite architectural elements: High ceilings and original wood ceilings in living room and dining room.
Type of renovations: Added a second bathroom in 1985, extended the deck in 1994 and built on a sunroom in 1995
Interior design style: Totally eclectic
Favorite interior design elements: The DIY projects throughout the home. Favorites include a coffee table made out of a pallet, the living room ottoman made out of a wooden TV stand and upholstered in a zebra fabric, and the master bedroom headboard. “It makes me feel good, especially if I’ve felt like I’ve done a good job,” Nancy said.
Favorite artwork: A painting of a watermelon slice (in the kitchen) by the late Conrad Bell and a contemporary artwork in the master bedroom painted by Edward’s aunt, Martha Johnson, when she was 85 years old.
Favorite outdoor features: The front porch and the rock wall behind the home, which Edward built.
Resources: Furniture not made by the homeowner includes pieces from Pier 1 Imports and accessories from TJ Maxx.
Paint colors: Canton Jade and Tropical Dream by Behr (master bathroom) and Glidden’s Dandelion (dining room), Sun Rays (living room), Frill (guest room), Precious Jasper (kitchen walls) and Shy Blossom (kitchen cabinets).
Decor tip: Rearrange your furniture and accessories to make the home look new and different. For example, an old secretary in the master bathroom now holds towels and other items. “What I love to do is to redo something and find everything I want to redo it with in my house so I don’t have to go out and spend any money,” she said. “It’s a challenge.”
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