When Natalie Papier and her family found their Oak Park home eight years ago, she wasn’t looking for a typical Oak Park home. From the outside, the cheery yellow Victorian that caught their attention seemed the quintessential Oak Park home. Welcoming front porch? Check. Tree-lined street? Check. Painted wood exterior? Check. On the inside, though, the house was missing a few things.Â
“When you come into Oak Park homes, you often get unpainted woodwork and charming old built-ins, but this house had already been stripped of that, which gave me a little more leeway to do what I wanted,” Papier said.
A little more leeway to turn the blank canvas of her 1886-era house at 226 Home Ave. into a work of art that not only housed her family for years but also launched her career. Over her tenure in the house, Papier partnered with friend Kim Daunis to form Home Ec., a home design firm that has been helping local homeowners make their homes more colorful.Â
Along the way, her home was her own testing ground. As she filled it with vintage finds, fun paint treatments and bright wallpaper, she created her own work of art.
Every room in the house was touched
“For me it was like a canvas, and it spiraled into a specific look,” Papier said.
That look was covered in popular design blogs like Apartment Therapy and Design Sponge and earned Papier and Daunis a few shout-outs in design magazines as well.
On the first floor, Papier undertook a mild kitchen renovation, painting the cabinets and walls and adding new countertops and lighting to create a modern Victorian feel.
The dining room received what would become a signature makeover, with a painted ceiling and painted stripes in lieu of wainscoting. Cheerful poppy-printed wallpaper greets guests in the entry, and a former playroom became a lounge complete with trapeze and record player for fun for children and adults.
Papier says that paint is one of the first thing she and Daunis recommend to clients to personalize a space and bring life to older homes, and she has utilized the technique throughout her own home.
On the second floor, she painted the traditional textured wainscot wallcovering a bright blue and lined the walls with pages from a coloring book of Victorian houses, colored in by family and friends. The L-shaped master bedroom sports wallpaper behind the bed, and the kids’ rooms have custom murals and colorful paint jobs.
Two bathrooms, an upstairs laundry space and an art studio, currently known as the Barbie room used by Papier’s daughter, round out the second floor.
The third floor was unfinished attic space when the Papiers bought their house. Armed with a vision to make the room an interior treehouse-like space, Papier turned to local architect Tom Basset Dilley and Prairie Construction Co. to transform the space into a rec room for the entire family.Â
They added a dormer, and a kitchenette to the space and built in plenty of storage for toys and games. Now the family use the attic for kids’ play dates, football parties and book club gatherings.
“We wanted it to be a multi-purpose space,” Papier said. “We used salvaged stuff wherever possible. We used the old sub-floor as an accent wall, and even the floors are reclaimed.”
The family loves the space and Papier says they tend to gather there at all times.
 “In these old houses where everything is so chopped up, it’s nice to have an open space,” she said.
Through showcasing her work on her own house, Papier heard from other young families who were looking for help with their old homes, and she and Daunis realized there was quite a market for their design services among like-minded locals. Â
“There’s a lot of transition here,” Papier said. “People are moving from the city where they had a modern house or condo, and they’re not knowing what to do with this big, old house. We show them that you can be respectful of the old house but still make it you.”
With a job change for her husband, Papier and her family are transferring to a new state. She says they are looking forward to the move but sad to say goodbye to the house and village they love.Â
“I love this street of Victorians,” Papier said. “It’s so walkable to downtown Oak Park, and we can walk to the Metra. Across the street, we have Mills Park and Pleasant Home. The kids on the block are running through everyone’s backyards. It’s bittersweet. We’re excited for a new adventure, but also sad. It will be hard to leave our cute little yellow house with the white picket fence.”