My Houzz: A 1941 DIY Cottage Update — Aided by a Lending Library
Using borrowed tools, a handy homeowner makes her Northern California home both functional and charming
Lynn McCarthy’s dream home was a fixer-upper in Sonoma County, California, that needed improvements in every room. She moved forward with making some changes herself, with the help of a local organization that hooks up DIYers with the tools they need. “It is a large investment and too impractical to own all of the power tools I need for household projects,” says McCarthy, owner of a catering and event company. “So I borrowed them from a local tool library, even the gardening tools. It is an incredible resource that we are very lucky to have here.”
The Santa Rosa Tool Library is a nonprofit lending library run by volunteers. The equipment can be borrowed free of charge for seven days. “Most of the tools are brand-new,” McCarthy says. She checked out everything she needed to update her 1941 cottage, including table saws, tiling trowels, soldering irons, levels and clamps.
The Santa Rosa Tool Library is a nonprofit lending library run by volunteers. The equipment can be borrowed free of charge for seven days. “Most of the tools are brand-new,” McCarthy says. She checked out everything she needed to update her 1941 cottage, including table saws, tiling trowels, soldering irons, levels and clamps.
Everything in the kitchen was redone except the cupboards. “Open shelves are great for someone who cooks for a living,” McCarthy says.
“I searched for an island or counter, but I couldn’t find anything, so I designed and built something myself,” McCarthy says. The base is made from pallets, and the top is a piece of maple butcher block stained and cut to fit. Open shelving below lets light pass through to the breakfast nook.
The breakfast nook, in the same room as the kitchen, is furnished with thrift store furniture.
An antique Victrola case, which McCarthy uses as a bar, was painted with chalk paint, sanded to distress and waxed for a durable finish.
Chalk paint: French Linen, Annie Sloan; wax: Briwax
Chalk paint: French Linen, Annie Sloan; wax: Briwax
In the center of the house is the living room, filled with warm wall colors and flea market furniture. McCarthy made a number of furniture repairs herself, such as replacing the rattan webbing on a wooden chair. The hardwood floors are newly refinished red oak.
McCarthy decorated with meaningful items like a framed AAA map of the United States. “It was the map my father used for his bus ride from home in New Jersey to college in Berkeley [California] in 1946,” McCarthy says.
McCarthy updated this pine armoire by painting it a rich blue, then distressing and waxing it.
Chalk paint: Napoleanic Blue; chair fabric: Folk Shoe collection, Manuel Canovas via ILuvFabrix
Chalk paint: Napoleanic Blue; chair fabric: Folk Shoe collection, Manuel Canovas via ILuvFabrix
The framed posters on the wall of the dining room are from the restaurant that McCarthy owned and operated in Sun Valley, Idaho.
McCarthy added string lights to a branch from the backyard to make a light fixture.
The room that is now the dining room used to be outside. Previous owners put in sliding doors and a roof to make it a useful enclosed indoor space.
McCarthy uses a room in the back corner of the house as a den, complete with a comfortable sofa and chair.
“Vintage Fan” painting: David Dauncey via Overstock; wall paint: Cappuccino, Restoration Hardware
“Vintage Fan” painting: David Dauncey via Overstock; wall paint: Cappuccino, Restoration Hardware
“I took off the closet doors and added floating shelves,” McCarthy says about the space that houses the media equipment and storage. The baskets are filled with paperwork and extra bedding.
Baskets: Cost Plus World Market; Ekby Laiva shelves: Ikea
Baskets: Cost Plus World Market; Ekby Laiva shelves: Ikea
The master bedroom walls are painted bright blue, and the nightstand was painted to closely match.
Chalk paint on nightstand: Aubusson Blue, Annie Sloan
Chalk paint on nightstand: Aubusson Blue, Annie Sloan
There’s a view from the master bedroom down the hall to one of the guest bedrooms. The built-in closet with mirrored doors in the room is original to the house.
One of the two bathrooms is attached to the master bedroom, and the other one is off the guest bedrooms.
After: McCarthy sanded the inside of the rusty cabinet and spray-painted it black. The cabinet is metal, so jewelry can hang from magnets.
A guest room, located at the front of the house, is warmed up with chocolate-colored walls.
An old melon crate was bolted to the wall, turning it into a bedside table. McCarthy’s father’s suitcases are stored under the crate.
A third bedroom, tucked in the back of the house, has a lovely view of the large backyard.
McCarthy painted the ceiling of this bathroom blue to match the existing blue floor tile and to tone down the vibrant orange walls. Mexican coconut masks, tins and crosses accent the walls.
Tibetan orange paint: Home Depot
Tibetan orange paint: Home Depot
“The garage was too small to hold my car, so I built shelves against one wall to hold my catering equipment,” McCarthy says. The new stainless steel sink was found on eBay.
After: The back deck, which sits off the dining room between the kitchen and den, gets plenty of shade in the summer. New French-style patio doors with wide rails and stiles give the outdoor living area a polished touch.
The brick patio is an ideal outdoor entertaining area.
After: She used reclaimed wood from a hut in her backyard for the facade and added drawer pulls made from an old leather belt. A bronze-finish faucet fed by the yard hose was added to the piece, and old soup wells were turned into sinks.
The wood-fired pizza oven is McCarthy’s most-used appliance. She roasts meat and vegetables, and bakes 90-second Neapolitan-style pizzas.
McCarthy enjoys the shade of a tree while relaxing in her backyard in a blue Adirondack chair.
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
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My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Who lives here: Lynn McCarthy of Cottonwood Catering & Events
Location: Santa Rosa, California
Size: 1,465 square feet (136 square meters); four bedrooms, two bathrooms
Year built: 1941
There were plenty of changes McCarthy wanted to tackle in her home, starting with the kitchen. “The challenge in the kitchen was work flow,” the homeowner says. “I needed space I could work on.” The addition of the kitchen peninsula was one of the homeowner’s DIY woodworking projects.