cabinets with it. The local home improvement store is their source for all
the wood, and they always paint it white. The range hood features pullout
slats to reveal hidden storage. The fireplace wall’s board-and-batten
detail is made up of thin slats adhered to the wall with adhesive picture-
hanging strips. “I tend to change looks often, so I figured this would be
the easiest way to get them back down,” Cynthia says.
A typical workflow for the couple’s DIY projects begins with Cynthiahaving an idea, which she then sketches out and researches online.
Sketches, links, and tear sheets pass to Chris, who then brainstorms his
way through a building plan. “I always say ‘we’ built it,” Cynthia says,
“But it’s really just him doing the building. I assist.”
Cynthia can claim all the glory for her sophisticated black-and-whiteinterior color palette, which grew out of her sizable enamelware
collection, which she began amassing as a newlywed. “I’m not sure I
was even conscious of it at first,” says Cynthia of riffing off the design
OPPOSITE The dining room contrasts
textural primitive finds with sleek
modern chairs from Inmod. ABOVE
LEFT Cynthia stalked this thrift store
table until it dropped from $135 to $35.
The live-edge wood bench came from
a local auction. “I brought it home
and refinished it,” she says. ABOVE
RIGHT The couple installed this
floating desk between two new black
filing cupboards for a built-in look. The
woven desk chairs made of teak with
an oak finish are new from Safavieh
Bandelier. Cynthia won the vintage
Persian rug from a giveaway promotion
at Jean Palmer Home.