A modest DIY budget refreshes a 1939 Cape

The bright green paint, and the hues she chose for the rest of the house, comprise a key design element in the house. "I grew up 10 minutes from the water, so those soft marine colours are very important to me. The house may not sit on the beach, but I like to imagine that it does." Turquoise in pale tones, light blues, cool yellowy greens... all of the shades are breezy and clear. "Like summer and ice cream," she adds.

Furnishing the house with character came easily to Stacey, who has such a passion for yard sales, flea markets, warehouse sales and thrift stores, she'd shop there even if she didn't need to find a bargain. "I still remember the day we moved into the house. My parents had come down from Canada to help," she recalls. "They'd been here about 10 minutes before my mom and I took off to check out the local yard sales."

Among the finds in Stacey's house is the dining table, a piece she spotted in street-side trash. "I'm amazed at what people throw away," she says. "I love old things, and in my experience, white paint makes anything look great." Also in the dining room is a corner cabinet that a friend, pregnant at the time, spotted for her. "All she said was, 'I found something for you, but I can't lift it myself!'" It now houses dishes and linens.

The changes they've made to the house over the past eight years have been a process, Stacey admits. "When you're not a designer, you make mistakes—you choose the wrong paint colour, or pick a table that's not quite right. But when it hasn't cost much, it becomes half the fun! Besides," she adds with a smile, "what better excuse could there be to head to a yard sale and try again?"