
1/13
Tour a Bright, Boho-Chic New Jersey Home Designed on a Budget
This article features an interview with Cara Irwin, the blogger behind Goldalamode, offering a tour of her home in Brick, New Jersey, which she shares with her fiancé Mike, their three dogs, and numerous plants. Irwin discusses her journey into home and design blogging, which began shortly after she and Mike purchased their home in 2013. Initially, she started decorating and fixing up the house, sharing her progress on Instagram for fun, eventually realizing her passion for home design due to positive feedback from her growing audience.
Irwin describes her aesthetic as bright and minimal, with a clear lean towards midcentury modern style infused with boho elements. She emphasizes keeping spaces fresh and incorporates plants extensively in her decor. Her design process, initially spontaneous, evolved into a more structured, room-by-room approach after experimenting with different wall colors, ultimately settling on white walls to allow furniture, patterns, and colors to stand out. She also uses black accent walls, considering black a neutral that helps bright elements pop.
When it comes to sourcing decor, Irwin highlights Home Goods and thrift stores as her top choices, valuing the "hunt appeal" of discovering unique pieces. She believes these sources provide distinctive items that are not commonly seen elsewhere, and she advocates for budget-friendly decorating. Her tips for affordable design include shopping second-hand from platforms like Craigslist, Letgo, and Facebook Marketplace, and fixing up items herself. She also recommends stores like Home Goods and Target for their affordable home decor, especially during clearance sales, emphasizing that good design doesn't require expensive items.
Irwin shares her passion for plants and art, crediting her mother for these interests. She finds mature plants at estate sales, Craigslist, and other selling apps, often rehabilitating distressed plants. For art, she supports local artists and Instagram creators, in addition to finding pieces in thrift and antique stores. Her favorite room is the dining room, which she uses as her workspace, followed by the living room, due to the company of her dogs. She draws inspiration from diverse sources, including beach aesthetics and vintage decor books from the 1960s to 1980s.
The role of her fiancé, Mike, in their home design is also discussed; his handiness enables many DIY projects. Irwin notes that Mike's willingness to build and execute her design ideas, even when unfamiliar with a task, has been instrumental, mentioning a significant DIY project where they installed a window in their dining room to enhance natural light. Her favorite memory in the home is Mike's proposal in their backyard, a moment she cherishes despite the then-undeveloped landscape. Irwin also explains the bold choice of painting their front door blush pink, driven by a desire to embrace a design idea that initially felt scary, believing such choices often lead to amazing results. She expresses appreciation for tassels and fringe in her decor, finding them fun and effective for adding texture. Ultimately, Irwin values the community and relationships she has built through blogging, aiming to help others create more enjoyable homes.
#HomeTour #BohoChic #BudgetDecor #DIYHomeDecor #MidcenturyModern #PlantDecor #ThriftStoreFinds #HomeDesignBlog #NewJerseyHome #HomeTour #BohoChic #BudgetDecor #DIYHomeDecor #MidcenturyModern #PlantDecor #ThriftStoreFinds #HomeDesignBlog #NewJerseyHome
0 comment in total
No comments yetYou may also like
































































