About Us

Welcome to Centsible Chateau! I’m so glad you’re here. I’m Heather and that’s my husband, Mike. We are remodeling and decorating our Upstate, NY home one budget friendly project at a time. If you’re obsessed with DIY, decorating, and design but don’t think you can afford to create your dream home, I’m here to tell you that you can do it!

If you love Pinterest, Houzz, and watching endless hours of HGTV, but still have a hard time making decorating decisions you are not alone! I love all of these things, too.  But you might be surprised to know that I didn’t paint the walls in my old house for eight years. It felt like such a big decision I lived in fear of getting it wrong.  I was pinning thousands of projects and doing very few of them! I mean, we can’t all be Joanna Gaines. (But we do love Chip and JoJo!)

My decorating fears were pretty common. I was scared to make any decisions because doing it over would cost time and money. I feared committing to a design because I was worried I would change my mind.  The biggest hesitation, that so many of us have,  I didn’t think I could afford to decorate on my limited budget. Over time I have learned so many  tricks to help me overcome these obstacles and tackle projects. Plus, I’ve found amazing ways to make those projects affordable. I hope by sharing  ideas I can help you overcome any fears that hold you back.

Now, here are some fun facts about us!

1.) We are a blended family.
I have one son and Mike has two boys. We met when our youngest two boys were five and soon we were a family , although it took us a few years to make it official.. We’ve now been together almost 18 years, married for 12, and our boys(men) are 27, 22, and 22 (No, they aren’t twins. One is mine and one is Mike’s).

2.) We have day jobs that don’t involve home remodeling.
I’m in marketing and Mike works in software sales. We started remodeling with small projects in our last home but, now that we’re empty nesters, remodeling our home has definitely become our biggest hobby.

3.) Mike didn’t tell me he was even remotely handy for the first nine years of our relationship.
Seriously, not a word!  I was going to hire someone to do a project and suddenly the truth came out. Can you believe he can build this bedroom, family room,  bathroom  and dining room, but didn’t confess his skills? Since then I’ve discovered there’s pretty much not a thing the man can’t do. He renovates our house and builds furniture, and loves doing it. Lucky me!

4.) Bargain hunting is my jam.
I’m totally obsessed. I cannot buy things unless I truly believe I’ve found the best deal possible. Overall this is a great way to shop, but sometimes it can hold up projects. I don’t just bargain hunt for my home…I do it for clothing, food, travel, cars and anything else we buy. You can find my favorite places to shop here.

5.) I’m an Air Force Brat.
I moved a bunch of times before we settled in upstate NY when I was in the middle of high school. My favorite home was in England, where we were stationed on Lakenheath Air Force Base. We also spent time in Alaska, Michigan, New Jersey and other parts of New York.  As a brat we didn’t get to decorate our homes too much, since we could move at any moment, and I think that’s part of the reason I love interior design so much now.

6). We started this blog because  friends and family kept telling us to share our projects.
They meant Mike’s projects, really. 😉 There’s nothing more exciting to me than when we make one of our design ideas happen without spending a fortune, and I truly love sharing those tips so others can save money, too. I finally listened to our friends and in November 2016  we launched Centsible Chateau.

7.) Our house is only about 1/3 done.
One of my biggest fears about blogging is giving the impression that my house is perfect, or finished. The pictures of the pretty areas can be deceiving! My kitchen is stuck in 1986 and we have many other areas that need to be updated. We also have furniture and fixtures that I’m dying to get rid of.  DIY takes time and we should all celebrate our accomplishments as they come, one by one.

8) We’re a little obsessed with our dogs, Zeus and Zoe.
This is what happens when your kids leave you to go adulting. Zeus and Zoe are Westies, and you’ll see them on the blog a lot. Sometimes I forget to take pictures of projects and just take pictures of my dogs.

9. Our favorite project is…
We both agree that overall our favorite project so far is the master bathroom but we also love our dining room. We’re about to reveal our guest room and  a new office, so that may change!

That’s a little about us! I would love to hear what brought you to the blog. What are your design goals and fears?  Take a look at some of our projects so far, and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter below!

Want to contact me? Email me at Heather@CentsibleChateau.com