A husband and wife team customize their new-build home in Utah with DIY projects for their own take on boho farmhouse style.
The goal of this new build remodel was to replace the builder-grade features with materials that speak to Kaycie’s boho farmhouse style.
Making a house feel like your home is attainable on your own if you have stamina and a willingness to learn. When homeowners Kaycie and James Chiampi moved into their newly-built home in Herrimen, Utah, in 2016, they jumped right into updates.
Though the home was new, it wasn’t custom, so there were a lot of builder-grade elements they wanted to replace. “We are the original homeowners, and we planned to remodel it ourselves,” says Kaycie, who is also an interior designer and blogger at Grey Birch Designs. Except for some help in the kitchen, the couple turned their builder-grade home into their dream modern farmhouse with a positive DIY mindset.
Textures make the upstairs loft a cozy and inviting space. The layered rugs, leather sofa, pillows and greenery bring this neutral space to life. “This is the space in our home that has gone through the most transitions,” says Kaycie. “It was all full of baby toys originally, but now that our kids are older, it’s their hangout area.”The stacked stone of the fireplace was originally tan and stopped at the mantel, so they decided to continue it up to the ceiling to make the fireplace a stronger focal point. They painted the wall and mantelpiece black to help the fireplace pop. “The mirrors give it a vintage touch,” says Kaycie.There’s a time for DIY and a time for buying new, and Kaycie had to weigh that option in her primary bedroom. “The doorway to the bathroom was just a drywall opening, and we were going to build a barn door to cover it. But when we went to Lowe’s, they had the size we needed at the same cost it would have been to make it, so we chose to buy it,” she says.A DIY board and batten wall under the staircase is the key feature of the entryway. “Because the wall was flat, we used MDF boards to create the look,” says Kaycie. Wood laminate flooring covers the entire main floor, and black-and-white family photos line the wall along the staircase. “My favorite family photos are candid,” she says. “It gives them natural character, and the black-and-white makes them fit into any décor.”
DIY Remodel for Boho Farmhouse Style
It can be overwhelming to tackle a remodel on your own, but Kaycie has a background in interior design, which gave her the confidence she needed. Not only did she graduate from the Interior Designers Institute, she also opened up a brick-and-mortar shop that sold home décor and furnishings. “I designed homes as an extension of the retail business, but after I had my second daughter, I turned to influencing, and that takes up all my time now,” she says.
Hollowed-out wood beams give the look of genuine ceiling beams in the living room without the weight and cost. “It was an easy DIY project,” says Kaycie. “We ordered them already manufactured, then we stained them and installed them on our own.” The art on the wall was a DIY as well.
The goal of this new build remodel was to replace the builder-grade features with DIY touches and materials that speak to Kaycie’s preferred boho farmhouse style. “We ripped out the carpet on the main floor and replaced it with wood laminate, we created a mudroom out of a hallway and we completely stripped the primary bathroom, keeping only the original footprint,” she says.
The original basic kitchen underwent a transformation, but Kaycie and James tried to work with what they had when possible. “We had a painter refinish the cabinets,” she says. “They were an off-white with a yellow/brown glaze, and we wanted them to look more modern and streamlined.” They replaced the granite countertops with white quartz and added a farmhouse sink, subway tile backsplash, pendant lights and a wallpaper accent. “With the bright white cabinets and backsplash, I wanted a way to complement the color we painted the island and break up all that white,” says Kaycie. “The wallpaper did that.”The sunroom features unlined woven shades to help light filter in. “We chose not to put lining on them, because there isn’t a privacy issue in this room,” says Kaycie. The black corner cabinets were a DIY IKEA hack. “I designed them to look like an $1,800 cabinet I had seen online, but the materials only cost $200 each,” she says.
Along with replacing the lackluster builder-grade materials, Kaycie and her husband James also enjoy DIY furniture projects. They designed custom cabinets in their sunroom out of IKEA bookshelves, turned a TV console into a sideboard, installed faux wood beams onto their living room ceiling and even built a fireplace in their bedroom. “By doing it ourselves, we saved a lot of money,” Kaycie says.
Modern, Boho Farmhouse
Kaycie’s style is a mix between modern farmhouse style and boho accents. “I am 100% all about neutrals,” she says. “When there’s too much color, it’s too much for my soul. It feels distracting, whereas neutrals are calm, warm and welcoming.” But you’ll occasionally catch a glimpse of color on an accent wall or on their kitchen island. “I like adding in dark, moody colors that accent the overall neutral feel, like black, greens and blues,” she says.
The primary bedroom has a sophisticated feel with an upholstered bed frame, raw wood nightstand and black shiplap accent wall. “This is the first shiplap project we did,” says Kaycie. “You couldn’t buy premade shiplap at the time, so we ripped it from plywood and painted it.” They opted for wall sconces instead of table lamps for a cleaner look that leaves more room on the nightstand.
On to the Next Adventure
For professional enthusiasts like Kaycie, the designing is never finished. With this house completed, the Chiampi family has already started making plans to move to another home in the area. “We fell in love with a new model that our friends had, and they recently started building the same model in the next neighborhood over from our current house,” says Kaycie.
A black-and-white color scheme in the primary bathroom creates an elegant feel. “It used to have small tan tiles along the bathtub, shower and floor,” says Kaycie. “We ripped all that out and replaced it with marble tile on the bathtub and shower and matte black hexagon cement tiles on the floor. The shower tiles go all the way to the ceiling for a grand feel, and we chose a custom frameless shower door.”The Chiampis’ youngest son’s room features a black accent wall made from reclaimed wood laid in a herringbone pattern. “The wall is sophisticated, but we included the moon wall art and Peter Pan quote print on it to give it a childlike touch,” says Kaycie. “I also added touches of blue on the fan and bedding to give it some color.”Abstract wallpaper and a geometric accent wall work together to create a modern, yet feminine look in one of their daughter’s rooms. “She’s my more feminine daughter,” says Kaycie. “She loves pink and frilly, but she didn’t want it super girly, and I thought the wallpaper was a fun way to incorporate that.” For her signature pop of moody color, Kaycie went with a deep green vertical shiplap above the primary bathroom vanity. Thankfully, they didn’t have to buy everything new during the refresh. “We had the cabinets refinished, added the hardware and replaced the standard builder-grade mirror, lighting and faucets,” she says.
“Our kids were young when we moved into this house, and the new one is laid out a lot better for our family now. Each kid will have their own room, and they won’t have to change schools.”
For her twin sons’ room, Kaycie kept it simple with matching iron bed frames, a vintage-inspired rug and an airplane wall piece. Each bed has a bench at the end for extra seating and surface space.
A DIY spirit is always up for the next challenge, and Kaycie will continue to stretch and define the modern boho farmhouse style she loves.
Kristin Dowding is a freelance writer, contributing articles to both print magazines (American Farmhouse Style, Cottages and Bungalows and Atomic Ranch) and websites. She enjoys editing novels, reading and flipping old furniture.
