A Home Built on Love, Salvaged Treasures and DIY

This North Carolina Lake House, belonging to Emily and Michael Knotts, is a testament to how you don't need huge amounts of money or designer pieces to create a beautiful and stylish home. Using a keen eye, DIY ingenuity (we Kiwi's love that!), and a bit of hard work, the house has become a mecca for salvaged treasures and bargain buys.

This table was a friend's castoff, and the two windows, in place of artwork, were $5 each
- "I love seeing the beauty in unloved things" explains Emily.

Stair numbers bought from the local hardware store and painted.

A simple lampshade which Emily découpaged herself with pages from the dictionary.

A second hand chair, a vintage map won on eBay, and a piece of driftwood supported by $2 brackets.

The pendant lamp is made from a garden lantern with a $4 socket. Some gorgeous vintage items,
such as the ladder and wooden crate, were finds at a local antique shop.

Emily's jar collection - $5 is the most she has paid for one.

Michael's home made dining table, teamed with second hand chairs Emily painted,
and a bargain find in the pendant light hung with sisal rope.

Simple shelving with baskets bought from Target.

The kitchen makeover cost a grand sum of $31
-  a gallon of paint and putty to fill holes left from taking off the upper cabinet doors.

The track alone on sliding barn-style doors can cost hundreds of dollars,
but Emily cleverly fashioned her own using caster wheels and plumbing pipes.

The bedside table was going cheap because it's top was missing.
A slab of $10 reclaimed oak solved that problem.