For many, the excitement of buying a new home can quickly turn to panic. How do you fill all this new-found space? Well, first-time buyer Olivia Flach, 26, knows this feeling and knows it well. She had just purchased a three-bedroom townhouse in San Jose and couldn’t wait to show it off. Olivia sent out invites to family and friends for a housewarming party. The date was set for just a few short weeks after the moving boxes arrived.

“I realized I had one month before the party to have everything perfect,” Olivia said. And so began her mission to create a home to entertain in that was warm and welcoming — and distinctly her own.

Olivia, a project coordinator at SanDisk, didn’t want to spend a fortune or hire a decorator. But she wanted a youthful, contemporary look with a European flair. She was confident that with some hand-me-down pieces from her parents and the right kind of shopping — even at home improvement and discount stores — she could pull it off.

The first purchase came from Home Depot. An area rug that is now in the living room. “It had all the colors I love. I love the browns and greens,” she continued. “It became the inspiration for the room.” Leather sofas were purchased two years prior. “They were very reasonable for chocolate leather,” she said, “but I wouldn’t say cheap.”

A lot of her larger pieces came from her parents’ home. “The timing was great. They were doing a huge remodel and I needed stuff,” said Olivia. She ended up with an antique dining table with five chairs and a matching china hutch. Olivia wanted to freshen it up a bit, so she recovered all of the seats in an apple green and fuchsia toile. The fabric was actually a tablecloth she found on clearance at Williams-Sonoma for $39.

“The first attempt at recovering was very frustrating, but it worked out and I still have two-thirds of the tablecloth left,” she said. “If something gets stained, I can recover again.” Now that’s a great bargain, five chairs plus extra fabric for $39.

Olivia has found a lot of great deals at TJ Maxx, Target and Pier One. The green trunks that doubles in a pinch for extra seating were found at Pier One for $80 each. She also likes to visit Home Consignment Center in Saratoga. “I’ve gotten a couple small things there. When the budget permits, they sometimes have really fun patio sets and beautiful iron gates which would be fun to restore,” she said.

One of her favorite finds was the black wire wall hanging that looks like a chandelier. She got it for a steal at Pier One.

It’s obvious that Olivia loves to entertain and be surrounded by her loved ones. The framed photos of friends and family adorn the hutch. Notes and mementos fill a framed corkboard that actually hides the electrical panel. (That’s a great idea.)

The housewarming party went off with out a hitch. “I’m like my Mom. I love to entertain,” Olivia said. “If the food is good and the people are having fun, then I’ve done my job.”

Related stories:
Modern Cocktail Lounge Party
Los Gatos: Modern Nursery with Vintage Flair
A few Etsy Ideas for your home gallery
A Decorator’s Daughter
From Ranch to Craftsman in Saratoga
Craftsman in Los Gatos
Tract Home Extraordinaire

Update:

This post is featured in the San Jose Mercury News Home and Garden section here.

Here’s the complete slideshow:

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 11:20 pm and is filed under Decorating, Desiree, Home Decor, Interior Design, Peek of the Week, San Jose. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.