Emily and Michael Knotts home is a home that has been re-invented on a budget. The couple relied on tag-sale finds with a DIY attitude when renovating their North Carolina lake house.

Emily Knotts shows us all that designing and decorating a home doesn’t have to cost a bundle. Country Living reveals that Emily would always rely on the catalogue finds in the past, but this time they had to get creative, and they surprised themselves with what they could do on their own.

After moving in with her husband, Michael, into his bachelor pad lakehouse, Emily wanted to fix everything all at once. Country Living walks us through step by step how they made over white beauty without spending thousands…

Emily’s thrift store scores are impressive. Paint and new upholstery can save you a ton. Consider making your own curtains like Emily did, and work with your husband to transform plumbing pipe into a new desk. Emily’s husband was also able to make a rustic look-a-like Restoration Hardware styke dining table for next to nothing. I love that they painted their plywood flooring a beautiful gray until they can install planks. Talk about saving a great deal of money. Emily’s house can look magazine worthy today, and it doesn’t have to cost a bundle. Look at saving money by keeping an eye out for rusty wood salvage. Her sliding barn doors were cast aways. With hardware from Home Depot, she saved herself thousands. Emily featured beautiful white, gray or wood collections in her home, which gave her home a clean appearance. It looks as if she took her cabinet doors off in the kitchen to display white dishes and color coordinated accessories. Borrow Emily’s look by looking for containers or storage in raw wood, – either making your own, or by using vintage wire containers, such as the ones storing her onions. Make your own island from used dressers, and invest in a new stone countertop. Paint your cabinetry the same color as your appliances, to give that built in look, and distress the wood to show the quality materials underneath.

Don’t be afraid of tackling things yourself. Here we see a couple who did exactly that, and worked with a budget. Oh, what inspiriation!

Emily’s Dining Room

In the dining room, you would think the couple spent thousands on their furniture, but it came to be a surprise that most of what you see is either bought second hand or made by hand.

The Dining chars were found at a yard sale for $150 for six chairs. A quart of Annie Sloan Paint in Paris Gray gave them a refined, upscale look.

– Buy this exact chair- Napoleon Style Dining Chairs, Set of 2 $117 on Amazon

Emily’s husband made their dining room table from following free building plans online at ana-white.com. The $3,000 Restoration Hardware table she admired in the catalog was made with lumber found on the property. The couples matching shelving was found for $100 at the end of the International Collectibles and Antiques Show.

Petra Bindel for British Elle Decor from style-files.

Seen on La malle ô Bidulles

Arlon Antique Dresser- Buy it from Kathy Kuo Home

18th Century Swedish cabinet Marston Luce Antiques.

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