At Home With Kara Whitten

Today we are welcoming Kara Whitten to the blog to share her amazing space with us!

“We moved into this house about a year ago. We were looking for a larger space for our family and to run my business, Kailo Chic, out of. I love how this house is so open, and I love the backyard. Since we back up to a green space, it feels quite secluded even though we are right outside the city. My favorite feature though, has to be the two-story open living room and how the kitchen opens into this space. It is great for entertaining! A favorite piece of mine is the bar stools that I made from $2 thrifted luggage racks. I couldn’t find counter level stools that I liked, so I decided to try making my own. I think it is my most commented on DIY project.

“I have to say that my current favorite feature (and this changes quite often) are the new built-ins my husband and I added to our formal living room. We have several other built-ins around the house, but they are all functional to store our business items. This one is purely aesthetic and I can use it to display all my little treasures and pieces of collected eye candy. I also love my kitchen! We renovated the kitchen as soon as we moved in. It was dark and red and not my style at all. There also used to be a center island that took up space and was awkward to move around. The new layout lets so many more cooks in the kitchen so to speak and is a great open congregating space when we have parties. The white cabinets and light gray walls of the kitchen really add to the open feeling as well.

“One of the best thrifted scores I made was the buffet/console table I have in the dining room. I have plans to update it with some paint and stain, but for now, I am loving it just the way it is. And at $36 dollars, it was quite the deal!

“The bright pink crepe paper flowers that I made for my daughter’s birthday are also on my list of favorite DIY pieces. They are so bright and vibrant and large scale that they add a little fun to my fireplace mantel.

“The backyard has been updated to include a garden, playscape for the kids, and a fenced off courtyard/lounge to relax in. We still have many more things that we want to do in the future like retile the fireplace surround, update the master bathroom, and landscape the yard, but for now I am happy with what we have been able to accomplish in such a short time especially while running our own business and having two young kids!” 

Thanks so much for sharing your home with us, Kara! You can find more of Kara on her shop and on Instagram. xo.

Credits // Author and Photography: Kara Whitten.

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