Kathleen Day moved to Columbus about six years ago. After a night at Betty’s Fine Food & Spirits, she decided she loved the city and thought, “yeah, I could live here.” She came across a lovely Cape Cod style cottage in German Village that she fell in love with. Yes, it was a bit on the smaller side, but at the time, she was a single lady. The hustle and bustle of Whittier Street reminded her of living in San Francisco, so she bought the 1200 square foot, 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath cottage. The seller told her she might get lucky – each of the previous two owners had also lived there as single women at first, then met the love of their life and got married, hence why the place had been on the market again. Kathleen laughed at the idea, but the story had the same ending for her.
When you first walk through the door, you are greeted with a happy and cheerful kitchen. Kathleen has done her kitchen in beautiful wood and red accents. One of her style tips – if you have an item in a room that would be difficult or expensive to change, why not work with it? That is what she did – her kitchen sink was red. Rather than replace it, she chose to add more red accents throughout the room and the result is a very put together look. She also made small changes such as changing out the cabinet hardware and lighting fixtures; the chandelier over the dining table was a splurge. It makes quite a statement in the room. The living room is off of the kitchen on the first floor. This room contains one of her favorite items – a huge old pharmacy cabinet.
The first floor also has a guest bedroom and the full bath. The inspiration for the guest bedroom was a pair of coral curtains she found at Anthropologie. She loved them, and after hanging them in the room, the rest of the room came together pretty easily. White-washed wood floors and bright colors make the room a fun place for guests to stay. The bathroom is bright and clean white. She designed a wall of cabinets to work around a couple of quirks in the layout and they add a lot of character to the room.
The stairs off of the kitchen lead upstairs to the sleep loft. Kathleen also painted the wood floors upstairs white and did the bed linens in white to make it a peaceful, clean and quiet place to rest. The sink base in the upstairs bathroom is actually a dresser she found and had retrofitted for the sink. She loves to shop at antique stores and thrift shops to find special things to decorate with. We didn’t check out the basement, but she assured me that that is where all of her secret thrifting finds were! She also has some special items from Turkey to honor her husband’s heritage. They add a personal touch to her quirky and eclectic style. Some of her favorite places in Columbus to find things for decorating, besides the thrift shops, include Collier West, Anthropologie and Grandview Mercantile.
Kathleen Day also does interior design work through her company KVDeco.com, if you would like to contact her for advice or a style session. Recently, she made-over an entire room for a friend on a budget of only $300.
At Home is a monthly column on Columbus Underground. If you would like to have your home featured in our At Home series, please send an email to Anne at [email protected].