I met Renee, the owner of this week’s Styled in South Florida home, in a Goodwill aisle — how perfect is that?!
I believe we met in the shoe aisle to be exact, because I usually have my daughter with me when I’m thrifting and she always wants to try on the sparkly stilettos during our shopping trips.
We can unpack Elaine’s life as a showgirl in a future post.
I’m sure Renee paused to smile and laugh at my silly girl, and we struck up conversation, as thrift sisters often do in the wild.
There’s a camaraderie in thrifting — any fellow thrifter knows exactly what I’m talking about.
Renee had a lot of pink in her shopping cart, which prompted her to share that she was collecting more decor items for her pink-themed home, which she lists on Airbnb.
So, of course, I was intrigued.
How pink is this pink themed home, I wondered.
I soon learned that she painted the entire house to match her favorite nail polish color.
Obsessed with that. What a diva.
She invited me to come film her space for my new show (I had, of course, immediately pitched her) — a generous diva!
When I pulled up to her house to film, I was greeted by Renee in a pink Lilly Pulitzer outfit and her three dogs, all of whom accompanied us on the entire tour — one in her arms as she shared about her life as the owner of an interior design firm, shop owner in Northwood, world traveler, mother, and more.
My uncontrollable thrift habit has really dropped unexpected blessings into my life.
The kitchen pendants came with the house and aren’t Renee’s preference — she will eventually replace them with something more aligned with the tropical theme established throughout the house. Renee found this gorgeous piece on the side of the road and rehabbed it.The brown leather couch came with the house — it wasn’t Renee’s first choice for the space, but she has made it work by tying in the lighter colors she prefers and balancing it all with more dark, statement pieces.Renee thrifts her pillow collections from Goodwill.The bedroom upstairs has a French West Indies influence.The back yard is the crown jewel of the property — a true tropical oasis.
What a treat it was to get to know Renee, to share about her home that she’s poured so much heart into and now shares with guests from around the world, and to meet her poodle Winston, the calmest and most distinguished boy I’ve ever seen in a lei.
One unexpected conversation in a Goodwill aisle turned into a fabulous home tour. I hope you’ll enjoy getting to know Renee — and her unforgettable pink paradise—as much as I did. Watch the full tour below or on YouTube.
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.
Vince and I purchased our first home in 2017 — a tiny, historic Spanish Mission style house with a cottage behind it.
The charm!!!
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.
I miss that ceiling so much. So many sweet memories in our first home as a family.We both look like babies!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.
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.
The cottage
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 BocaSweater from Goodwill West Palm Beach
This is my hobby. 