Tour the Busy Alberta Home of The DIY Mommy and Her Family

Christina Dennis and her husband bought the land for their future family home in 2007, and spent the next seven years living in a garage on the property that had been converted into a tiny home. “I was skeptical that we could make it habitable.” says Christina of the temporary home, but it allowed the couple to take the time they needed to design what would be their dream home. In 2013 the Dennis family moved into their new home, a 2,200-square-foot classic foursquare with four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a spacious walkout basement. It was a labour of love that has continued to evolved through Christina’s design and DIY blog, The DIY Mommy.

When asked to describe her home, Christina calls on a few different styles (which she expertly layers throughout her home). “It has traditional bones, but I love to decorate in a modern country style with boho accents.”

Christina pulls a lot of inspiration from the outdoors for her living spaces, and you can see it all throughout the home, particularly in the decor. There’s not a single room in the home without a planter or flowers, and every room is expertly styled with a balance of colour and textures. Christina’s known for her tabletops, from artfully arranged coffee tables to elegant dressers, and she explains her approach quite simply: “One fail proof formula for styling a coffee or side table is to find a stack of books, greenery (real or faux), and an interesting object like a small sculpture. Arrange everything on a tray and you’re done!” You can

The kitchen is Christina’s favourite room in the home. It encompasses an L-shaped working area with a large square island, and a cozy breakfast nook. It’s also where the busy mom of three spends most of her time, so it features comfortable chairs, cheerful curtains and colourful florals. These are the little design choices that can go a long way to making a busy “working” room feel more like a welcoming family area.

A typical day for the DIY Mommy starts by helping her older children off to school, and then playing with her youngest outdoors or doing crafts. After lunch, “quiet time” gives Christina a chance to focus on work while her kids play. Dinner is enjoyed as a family at the breakfast nook or in the dining room, and evenings are spent doing chores and playing together as a family.

Christina carefully balances a mix of modern furniture and vintage finds to decorate her home. “There are a couple of amazing antique stores out in the country nearby! I love to mix things up with vintage and antique finds.”

We couldn’t get enough of the wallpaper in Christina’s powder room, and we were surprised to find out she’d ordered it from Amazon. She’s all about finding low cost materials online.

With each changing season we’ve come to anticipate The DIY Mommy’s new home tour. Every fall, Christmas and spring, Christina shares a new peek into her home, showcasing her seasonal and holiday styling. The budget conscious decorator relies heavily on pillows, blankets and drapes to transform much of the look, along with season flowers and festive decor for the holidays.

Christina’s master bedroom is an elegant little oasis for the mom and dad of three. It’s styled with layers of cozy textures, neutral bedding, and an eye-catching barn board ceiling.

Christina admits that she and her husband don’t always agree on design, “He favours function and I favour form.” but they always try to find a balance.

This upbeat bathroom is shared by Christina’s three daughters, so she found a happy medium between kid-friendly colours that could grow with the girls.

Christina worked with each of her daughter’s to help them design their bedrooms, and all three are unique. We love the dreamy quality of the ruffled curtains and canopy in this perfectly pink bedroom.

What little girl wouldn’t love a mini closet made just for princess gowns?

Before each of her daughters were born, Christina made beautiful quilts for them. They make up some of Christina’s most favourite pieces in her home.

We love the playful nature of this three-tone dresser. That wonderful thing about DIY projects is that you can plan them to match a space perfectly.

With three young girls, you can imagine the laundry that builds up in the Dennis house! Christina took organization to the next level, to avoid clutter in her small laundry room, and installed a peg board that stores cleaning tools, an ironing board, a drying rack, and bins for sorting clothing. Christina built the peg board wall with her husband and finds it not only adds visual interest to the laundry room (we love how she matched red cleaning tools to her red washer and dryer), it makes it easy to grab supplies as she’s rushing through chores.

When bad weather prevents the Dennis family from playing outside, they have an epic home theatre to enjoy. A massive sectional allows the entire family to cuddle on the couch, and Christina still managed to inject the room with a few colourful and playful touches of decor.

While Christina and her husband begin plans for a back patio and a camper van renovation, they enjoy their front patio which Christina’s styled with a sectional, accent tables, lanterns and loads of planters. The result is a charming and cozy space, perfect for the parents to enjoy while their daughters play outside.