House Tour: Black, White and Red All Over

Emily Yeates isn’t color-phobic. But in 2012, to make her family’s bungalow in Phoenix, AZ seem larger than its 968 square feet, the interior designer pared down her palette. Doing only neutrals with red accents “gives the rooms a cohesive look, so they feel bigger,” she says. Low-key hues let the rustic-industrial pieces she makes—marquee letter signs, barn door shutters—shine. Emily shares this two-bedroom house with husband Tanner, son Bowen, daughter Lydia, and their two shih tzus Mylee and Penelope.

To refresh the 1945 house, Emily painted the front door Raw Cinnabar by Behr, then added instant character with barn-style X-trim and a cast-iron Welcome sign. Also boosting the charm: all-weather curtains from amazon.com and string lights from The Home Depot. A bike, spray-painted white and upcycled into a planter, is a nod to the Yeates’ shared passion for cycling.

Emily used black and white paint (Black and Swiss Coffee, both by Dunn-Edwards) to add bold stripes to the entryway.

Since the house lacked any dedicated dining space, Emily turned a corner of the living room into a cozy meal spot. A wall-spanning linen-blend banquette and a table topped with subway tiles—she built both!—can seat eight. Another Emily original: a framed mosaic of penny tiles pointing the way toward nearby Oak Street. The wood and metal stools are from World Market and the hoop chandelier is from lampsplus.com.

The high-traffic hub of the house, the living room is all about multitasking durability. The six-year-old leather sectional from Natuzzi is immune to kid- and dog-inflicted damage, and the cotton lattice-pattern rug from HomeGoods is barefoot-soft and stain-hiding. Emily commissioned the bike sculpture, based on an 1800s model, from a local ironworker. She crafted the Farmers Market sign herself with pine boards, zinc letters from Anthropologie, and finds from a local decor store.

“The turnkey kitchen sold us on the house,” says Emily. With white cabinets, black soapstone countertops, and a space-smart layout, the only update it needed was a new backsplash. The foot-long subway tiles “really highlight the gray grout,” she says. She found the 1930s match-light Magic Chef enamel stove at an antiques shop for $180 and had it restored to like-new condition.

"For extra storage, we hung stainless steel IKEA shelves," Emily says. "They're sleek, and they force us to keep clutter under control."

Emily’s DIY handiwork is on full display in the first-floor master bedroom. Unwilling to pay big bucks for a dramatic overhead light fixture, she cobbled together her own by popping a vintage-look chandelier inside a metal orb from an antiques store: “I can’t believe how perfectly it fit!” The upholstered headboard is plywood covered in batting and DwellStudio for Robert Allen fabric, then trimmed with nailheads in an X pattern. The polka-dot black and white pillows are from Anthropologie.

Rehabbed and painted Pistachio Ice Cream by Dunn-Edwards, an 1890s claw-foot tub is now the showpiece of the space. Barn door shutters, painted the same green as the tub, cover an internal window Emily discovered during the bathroom remodel, which also revealed the brick wall. The round mirrors and striped shower curtains are from Target. Birch tree wallpaper from Cole & Son reminds the family of summer mountain biking trips in Utah.

A soaring iron canopy bed—designed by Emily—and a flouncy Anthropologie duvet cover set a princess-y tone in Lydia’s bedroom. For the gallery wall, squares and rectangles cut from Home Depot chalkboard panels were framed and hung in a loose grid.