PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHADMELLON STYLING BY VICTORIA VAN VLEAR AND KRIS CHRISTENSEN
With some careful curation and skillful distressing, even a brand new home can be country comfy. When blogger Heather Tartaglia of The Morning House moved into the Rancho Mission Viejo home with her husband and three boys, she had one primary goal in mind. “When I walk into someone’s home, the main thing I want to be is cozy,” she says. “I want to be able to plop down on someone’s couch, watch TV and feel at home.” So when she took on the task of decorating her own house, she battled the challenge of making new and modern feel vintage and farmhouse by filling the space with beloved hand-me-downs and antiques. “If it looks like it’s falling apart, then I like it,” she says. And the results are well worth the effort.
Natural wood and drop-cloth curtains bring warmth to the bright space. Heather says, “You can still have the white, clean farmhouse look, but it makes it cozier.” Her curtains only cost her about $10 and broke up the all-white look, which Heather admits was just “too stark” for her.