INSTANT PICK-ME-UP

LAUNDRY

KITCHEN

DINING ROOM BEDROOM

BATHROOM

LIVING ROOM BEDROOM

THE FLOOR PLAN The house is only 884 square feet, with rooms running into one another, so a unified palette was key to a cohesive look.

Dining Room

This central room is the home’s main hangout area, so RS set it up with ample seating: industrial stools, plus curvy bentwood-style chairs in metal, to balance the boxy wooden table. Soft neutrals call for a bold rug. This graphic blackand-white one has a flat weave, which won’t trap crumbs. Painted a bright mint green, the kitchen door pops. But the biggest wow factor comes from a lighting switchup: clunky ceiling fan out, gorgeous globe lights in.

BEFORE: DINING ROOM (FOREGROUND) AND LIVING ROOM

TO BUY: Saxon stools by Ampersand, $80 each, bedbathandbeyond.com. Vintage Inspire side chairs by TMS, $135 for two, wayfair.com/RSbentwood. Reade Stripe dhurrie rug, $495 (5 by 7 feet), serenaandlily.com. Brass City Chandelier 7, $295, schoolhouseelectric.com. Go-Cart carbon rolling cart, $129, cb2.com. Limoncello drinkers (on cart), $55 each, glassybaby.com. OXO Good Grips Pro cookware (on pegboard), from $35 a piece, oxo.com. Enamelware kitchen set, $90; and ladle (on pegboard), $30: kaufmann-mercantile.com. The LBA apron, $150, salthousemkt. com. Creo mixing bowls (one shown, on table), $70 for four; Real Simple round dinnerware (on cart), $25 for a four-piece place setting: bedbathandbeyond.com. TO BUY (opening page): Paidge sofa in Blue Stone linen weave, from $1,099; Arrow Border cotton kilim rug by Steven Alan, $749 (9 by 12 feet): westelm.com. MidCentury Modern Balance 3-arm floor lamp, $375, shadesoflight.com. Boja bamboo pendant lamp, $60; Storsele black rattan chairs, $119 each: ikea-us.com for stores. Janlyn pillow, $44, luluandgeorgia.com. Fiberclay prism pot, shopterrain.com for similar pots. Elizabeth Chapman art, etsy.com/shop/MElizabethChapman for info.

POT PEGBOARD

Limited cabinet space? Max out a blank wall by hanging everyday cookware.

COLOR PLAY

It’s better if the artwork doesn’t match the rest of the room. Unexpected hues keep a room from feeling one-note.

DIY TO TRY The homemade dining table uses recycled plywood and other scrap woods. Total cost: $125. For the how-to, visit realsimple.com/ABM.

DIY TO TRY

Giving counters a concrete finish costs less than $200 and takes just a few days. For the how-to, visit realsimple.com/ABM.

FAUCET FLIP

You don’t need a whole sink overhaul to upgrade your kitchen—just trade a dinky faucet for an elegant gooseneck style (from $200 at hardware stores).

TILE TRICK

A mini version of classic subway tile gives the illusion of a larger cook space. Use white grout for a luxe look.

Kitchen

The original hardwood flooring extended into the kitchen, and the sisters left most of it exposed. But other original features needed help. Cracked, dated Formica counters were swapped out for plywood and dressed up with a coating of concrete—a project that entails sanding, mixing and spreading the concrete, more sanding once the layers dry, and adding a sealer. “Applying the finish takes time, but it’s a surprisingly easy DIY,” says Larson. “We’ve even done it over existing Formica counters.” Instead of replacing the dull plywood cabinets, which would have cost thousands, the sisters jazzed them up with crisp white paint and modern brushed-nickel pulls.