When it comes to color, newlyweds Julia and Lance Cain aren’t shy: Their two-story Dutch Colonial home in the Bevo neighborhood is a treasure trove of it, perfectly accented by the couple’s humor and personality.
House occupants and occupations? (Please include pets!)
Julia and Lance, plus our three pets: Cap’n Crunch and Count Chocula, the American bulldogs, and Yogurt the cat. I run the blog OhJuliaAnn.com and work in marketing. My husband is a fireman with St. Louis City.
How would you describe the decor in your home?
Is it weird to describe your home decor as ‘funny?’ We’re constantly drawn to items with a sense of humor, like our walrus-in-a-pool-tube plate or Abraham Lincoln wearing sunglasses bust. Why have a boring house? We think the combination of new and secondhand makes for a more dynamic, one-of-a-kind home.
What was your inspiration behind your decor and home organization?
We both enjoy collecting, so much of our home is showcasing our oddest finds. We have the wall of plates and vintage toy shelf in the dining room, the collection of retro suitcases in the office, the shelf of birds above the television, the vinyl figurines and blindbox toys peppered throughout all rooms … We’re constantly fighting to stay ‘creative’ and not ‘cluttered.’
We’ve tried to find aesthetically pleasing storage solutions, and I’m very happy with our results thus far! Since we like vintage and industrial pieces, we’ve looked at storage options in those themes. Industrial wire shelving gives us extra kitchen and pantry storage in our mudroom, and our stacked vintage suitcases store craft and office supplies upstairs. Anything used even less frequently—holiday items, party supplies, rarely used tools, etc.—goes in clear plastic bins lining the walls of our basement.
What are some of your favorite places to purchase home decor items?
We love shopping secondhand, so we really enjoy checking out the home finds at Revive Thrift Shop and The Future Antiques. For smaller pieces like vases and decorative plates, I enjoy the aesthetics at Anthropologie and West Elm, and we’ve found some great items, like our bar stools, at Target. I try to DIY when I can and we’ve had some great luck dumpster-diving in years past.
What is your favorite part of your home and why?
We love the archways in our home. The house was built in the early 1900s, and it is great to see some vintage character in the largely updated space.
Do you have a favorite individual piece of furniture, decor or art? Why is it so special?
We have so many special pieces! Looking at our smaller items, a piece of art in our living room is one of my all-time favorites. My friend and local artist Caitlin Winkler created the cheeky portrait of our pets that hangs above the couch, and above it is an arch floor lamp Lance bought me for Christmas years ago at the now-closed Good Works furniture shop.
The buffet by our front door is a beauty, and I actually sprinted to it when I spotted it 20 yards away next to the dumpster. It fits our space and design perfectly, and no one can ever believe we found it in the trash. Who would throw that away? Their trash is our treasure!
For more tips for the home, view our guide on how to determine your decorating style, plus the three easiest houseplants to care for.
Photos by Megan Magray.