Historic Homes – This is my hobby.

Some of the best pieces in Liz Schoettel’s Lake Worth Beach home were found at Goodwill or on the side of the road.

Liz and her family discovered the cozy, artsy, coastal town of Lake Worth Beach during the pandemic, when they were looking to escape the Chicago suburbs to sunny South Florida and discovered almost everywhere else was booked up.

This town wasn’t their first choice but quickly became one of their favorite places in the world.

They rented a house on M street and completely fell in love with the community — the neighborly feel, proximity to the water, delicious food, and iconic Lake Worth Beach cottages.

Liz was bidding on houses on their flight back home.

She wound up making offers on at least 20 homes, flying back and forth from Chicago only to lose out again and again before finding her current house in a stunning historic neighborhood.

The yard was overgrown, the fences were falling down, the a/c and roof needed replacing, and the property just hadn’t been loved in a long time.

Liz and her friend Alicia, a former coworker from her retail days in New York, collaborated on redesigning and styling the house into the beautiful jewel box it is today.

They drove a truck around to different thrift stores and on Facebook Marketplace runs — sometimes finding pieces on the side of the road.

Liz refurbished and repainted, giving each piece new life and creating high end designs with materials that were anything but.

The house has become so beloved by Liz’s entire family that her daughter chose to get married in Florida and wedding festivities were hosted in the backyard.

Artifacts from that special day can be found throughout the house, many created by Liz (did I mention she’s an artist?) — the watercolor guest list hangs in a bedroom, a massive painted flamingo in the garage, and little pink touches here and there were all part of the celebration.

This Lake Worth Beach house tells several stories: of Liz and Alicia’s friendship, of a daughter’s wedding, and of an escape from daily life in Chicago to a tropical dream.

I love that this home represents Liz’s journey from knowing nothing about my community to becoming a Lake Worth Beach resident. It’s a place where friendships have deepened, family milestones are celebrated, and new roots are planted.

There are many more stories for that house to come.

Our cookie cutter 2020 home has all the amenities of modern living — a garage, a laundry room, and ample closet space.

All things we didn’t have in our first home, which was full of historic charm but had little convenience.

When we chose to leave our first family home, I was initially devastated to sacrifice the charm, but quickly grew accustomed to not having roof leaks, rats in the attic (a horrific chapter of my life), roots growing through old pipes, etc. etc. etc.

New build homes have their own version of charm — the charm of a lifestyle devoid of constant home repair.

At least, not major ones. *raps knuckles against forhead*

As new build home owners, we quickly learned of the term “builder grade” and its true meaning when the appliances that came with the house started falling apart, along with the cabinets.

So, we’ve found ourselves in a state of constant cabinet repair. Which is not as big of a deal as rats in the attic, so it’s okay.

This last repair round, we decided to finally add knobs to our cabinets!

I have no explanation for why we didn’t have knobs for six years. This is a safe space, I know you’d never dream of judging me.

For someone who cares deeply about design and aesthetics, I was oddly pretty hands off with the knob choosing. Vince wanted knobs that could be delivered next-day, which limited our options, so I picked out of a set of Amazon links he provided and I think they look great!

While we were at it, we installed a fan on the lanai (fancy word for porch) and added shelves to the boys’ room due to our increasing number of house plants that need surfaces to live on.

I shall not provide photos of the boys’ room — you’re welcome.

The knobs might be six years late, but they’re an example of how incremental tweaks over time make a house a home.

While I still miss the charm and character of our first home, I certainly do not miss squeaks that echo in the night or the scrabble of taloned paws overhead.

For now, I’ll happily take my builder grade cabinets, Amazon knobs, and structurally sound roof, and I’ll layer the charm on with my thrifted wares.

Speaking of thrifted wares, I finally styled some of my finds around the house last weekend: