Our third Home Sweet Home Tour takes us to Cambridge, MA and the home of Jill Bent and family. Jill creates bags and pillows made from vintage and all natural fabrics (some which you will see incorporated into her home) and which are also available online in her shop here. I love the laid back vibe and lived-in feeling, a definite cozy family home filled with beautiful antiques and handmade furniture, natural textiles and meaningful art. Here's Jill's take.

My husband and I and our two children, ages 10 and 8 live and work here in this late 19th century Victorian house in Cambridge, MA. Only one other family had owned the house when we bought it 7 years ago, and it needed a lot of cosmetic work. We spent three years steaming off ancient wallpaper, patching and re-plastering walls, and painting everything in sight all by ourselves. After all that, we hired a professional to gut and rebuild the kitchen. Money well spent.

Our house is a mix of furniture built or restored by my dad, with flea market and antique shop finds thrown in. Our couches and armchairs come from Crate and Barrel all bought at least 10 years ago and re-slipcovered at least once since then. My favorite things are the pieces of furniture my dad and I have worked on together. I design them and he builds them from antique boards and pieces of old furniture. Most of what hangs on our walls is artwork by family (our two kids included) and friends, and old landscape paintings I've found at the flea market. Since I love textiles, especially vintage ones, there are many pillows that I've made floating around on the furniture too. They migrate with the seasons, I switch from wool and velvet in the fall to cotton and linen in the spring. I switch around artwork from season to season too. Things rotate a lot here!




Living room:
Sofa and armchair are from Crate and Barrel, although they don't make these models anymore :(
Oriental rug is from Istanbul, in Turkey. We bought it on our honeymoon there, bargaining for it in the back room of a tiny rug shop over cups of mint tea.
Sheepskin rug is from IKEA.
Lamps are from Crate and Barrel, here and here (similar, we have a cheaper version that they don't make anymore)
Coffee table is a hand-me-down from my aunt and uncle. I painted the bottom white.
Kilim pillows are from istanbul, ticking pillow and grain sack pillow are from my shop.




Kitchen:
The kitchen is new, about three years ago we gutted it, redesigned and rebuilt it with the help of a professional contractor. Big bucks, but totally worth it.
Cabinets by Brubaker
Pear painting is by my grandmother.
Vintage tins are from little byrd vintage
Stainless steel shelving is from Pottery Barn. They don't make that exact shelf anymore, but here's something similar.
White painted shelf was made by the carpenter who built our kitchen
White china is a mix of old ironstone i've found at flea markets over the years and newer things that have the same look.
Pig cutting board was made by my dad



Dining room:
table is from European Country Antiques in Cambridge, MA
chairs are from Walker Creek Furniture in Essex MA
chandelier is vintage. it came with the house!
painting is by my mom
pendants are made by me out of vintage fabric.
dining room with kid's art: we are not afraid of painter's tape. we rotate the artwork on this "gallery" wall, so the tape works great.



Small living room:
couch and lamp: crate and barrel
pillows: big kilim pillow from istanbul, floral and ticking from my shop.
book shelf is a built in




Bedroom:
Our bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers, and bedside table are all made or restored by my father who is a cabinet maker and restores early American antiques.
Painting on top of wardrobe is by my grandmother, lamp is from the Door Store
Duvet cover is from Anthropologie, pillow cases are from IKEA
Lamp on bedside table is from Target a few years back, find a similar one here.
Mirror and landscape painting on dresser are flea market finds
Rug is handwoven by my mother
Wall color is Benjamin Moore Yarmouth Blue, trim is Benjamin Moore Linen White






My daughter Lucy's bedroom:
bed: vintage hand-me-down from my husband's family
bedding: garnet hill outlet store in Franconia, NH
striped cafe curtains are made by me out of old 1940's dishtowels from the flea market
dresser: antique-hand-me down from my family
bookshelf: from an unpainted furniture store, I painted it white
globe: vintage from my childhood
paint color: Jamaican aqua from Benjamin Moore. use at your own risk. it's bright, but my daughter LOVES it.