decor – This is my hobby.

An Old Radio Station Becomes a Fresh Start

Jamie Davis was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, the product of two 80s spring breakers who came down to party and never left — she calls herself a “spring break baby.”

Her presence lives up to that title in the best way. Jamie is energetic, laughs easily, and loves to entertain.

When traffic started getting bad in the big city, she moved to North Palm Beach.

Her then-husband found her current house, and when they visited for a walk-through, she immediately burst into tears and offered full price.

The house was built in 1952 — a concrete building that used to be a radio station (major South Florida perk: it’s hurricane-proof).

After an unpleasant divorce, Jamie remained in the home with her daughter and itched for a fresh start. Her plans were to sell.

But in the meantime, her daughter wanted to redo her bedroom, so Jamie figured she could give her that after all they’d been through.

She hired Renee Pollack of House of Zen and was blown away by the room transformation she created on a budget.

Before Renee, Jamie had no idea stunning home design could be so accessible and affordable.

Renee convinced Jamie to hold onto the house and promised they could make incremental changes — on a budget! — to transform the entire space into a safe place for her and her daughter.

Room by room, they are getting rid of the bad energy and bringing in immaculate vibes.

A major inspiration for Jamie’s home design is her summers spent as a teen with her uncle in Hawaii.

When she thinks back to those times, she remembers the lush landscaping, bright plumeria flowers, fresh fruit, sunshine, and peace.

She and Renee have brought that feel into her spaces, illustrating that home design is about much more than aesthetics. It’s about creating a feeling.

A curated and well-designed space can be the difference between holding onto the regrets and bad energy of the past and creating a home where you feel safe and able to build toward the future.

Now, Jamie and her daughter are thriving and sharing a home that feels exactly right for them.

Enjoy Jamie’s home tour on YouTube:

An Airbnb Refresh

Vince and I purchased our first home in 2017 — a tiny, historic Spanish Mission style house with a cottage behind it.

We had our two boys and lived on top of each other but absolutely loved that little house.

Vince used the Florida room as his office, we knocked out a closet to put in a stackable washer and dryer (a lot of old FL homes don’t have laundry hookups indoor or in the main house), and I filled each space with thrifted finds.

So many sweet memories in our first home as a family.

Had so much fun styling and sharing with my friends.

Love, love, love this piece and will never get rid of it.

The hardest thing about living in this house was that our headboard was right against the boys’ bathroom, so they were constantly waking us up!

I had a blast making style choices for the boys’ room.

Was obsessed with this bird chandelier we ordered on Etsy but had to eventually dismantle because of our cats.

We filled the cottage with thrifted finds.

We moved to our current home just as the pandemic started — it couldn’t have been better timing. I can’t imagine us weathering lock down and virtual learning on top of each other in that small space.

Our new house is much bigger, but it’s a cookie cutter new build, so we sacrificed the historic charm of our first house for modern comforts as our family grew.

It was fun and special to watch our new house being built.

We did keep our first place, though, and now rent out both the main house and cottage.

With my hectic schedule, I hardly drive by the house and haven’t been inside in over a year, maybe longer. With all the amazing thrift finds I’ve come across recently and left behind, Vince asked me to consider snagging some and saving them for an airbnb decor revamp.

The current styling of the airbnb is much more modern, neutral and less eclectic than my house — it needs to appeal to broader tastes — so my challenge is finding ways to update decor that fit within as specific palate.

I went out over the weekend and came away with some starting points:

At Goodwill, I found four matching pillows to brighten up the couch, a basket that can be used on the kitchen counter or maybe living room coffee table, some artwork for the kitchen, and a woven trunk.

I’m thinking the woven trunk would be good to double as a table and extra storage in the secondary bedroom of the main house.

We are in desperate need of a new couch (maybe leather this time around?), so I’ll be visiting the Nearly New Shop in West Palm Beach weekly to see if I can find the perfect piece.

What do you think? I’m open to all suggestions for sprucing up the place. I’ll share styling details here as I go!

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:

Shirt thrifted and passed on from a friend, Madewell jeans (my fave) from a Goodwill Boutique in Boca

Baskets for a Better Life

My husband is the type of person who likes things in extremes.

For example, if he finds a pair of shorts he likes, he gets them in every color.

He’s really into baseball caps, so we have a plethora. He buys them everywhere we go.

Right now, he’s having a major sunglasses moment.

He discovered that for about $40, he can get an entire box full of sunglasses on Alibaba.

I don’t know anything about this site and am not endorsing it — y’all know I’m a thrifter/secondhand champion, so this sunglasses-in-bulk business is not my vibe.

I prefer to source cheap sunglasses from Goodwill.

We are aligned, however, in the general concept of cheap sunglasses for him, because he’s lost several expensive pairs, including on airplanes and in the ocean.

When the sunglasses box arrived, I immediately knew I was in danger.

With each pair Vince tried on, the previous was tossed to the side, and my kitchen counter was soon covered in sunnies.

A future flashed before me that was full of sunglasses — surfaces throughout my home covered in them — all the same pair in different colors.

The horror.

BASKETS TO THE RESCUE.