I really like a home that feels comfortable,” says Jessica Davis, sitting in the great room of her charming Spokane Valley renovation. “I love a home that feels inviting.”

Those feelings pervade the five-bedroom, five-bath home situated on a serene property located in earshot of Arbor Crest winery. It’s always been a remarkable location, but in the recent past the home itself has been completely transformed. It was first purchased about a decade ago by Jessica’s husband, Mike, when he was a bachelor. As time went on, they thought about what they’d like to see it become, making a mental list of priorities.

The renovation more than doubled the home’s square footage and took care of all of the musts on their list, which included a laundry room near the primary suite, a bedroom for each of the couple’s three children—eight-year-old Charlie, six-year-old Beau, and two-and-a-half-year-old Avery—and an ADA guest suite for out-of-town visitors. The couple hired Rippy Homes as the contractor; Jessica was the interior designer and Mike was the project’s electrical contractor. Rippy was ideal to work with, Jessica says. “You truly can get as custom as you want with them.”

The renovation involved taking out all of the interior walls, rethinking the orientation of the space—the kitchen moved into what was formerly a covered patio, and the great room fireplace is now located on the wall where the kitchen once sat, to name a couple—and building up to add the three children’s bedrooms and two bathrooms on the second story, where previously there was only a bonus room. The main floor is the location of the primary suite, guest suite, “kids’ den,” laundry room, and the kitchen and great room.

The home brings together an inviting mix of materials and finishes, creating a layered but cohesive palette. “I would say I dabble in all of the design styles,” says Jessica.

The home combines many timeless elements, like the vintage brick in the entryway, which was harvested from old Chicago buildings and serves as a callback to Jessica’s Midwest roots. Wide plank white oak floors run throughout the majority of the home, contributing a bright and classic feel. Some of the design leans toward modern farmhouse—shiplap and penny tile, whitewashed solid wood doors, an array of barn doors. That look is complemented by plenty of vintage nods, with everything tempered by modern choices like skipping upper cabinetry and installing windows flush with the countertops in the kitchen, and opting for black window casings. Enlivening the spaces are pops of color and pattern in elements like wallpaper and statement-making tile. 

While the home’s aesthetics are obviously important, they’re not the most critical element of the design. “Functionality is where it starts and ends for me,” Jessica says. A prime example of this is in the pantry, where they hung a slat wall that attaches to wire baskets filled with kid-friendly, grabbable snacks. The room is “like a little mini mart” for the kids, Jessica says.

Equally child-friendly are the kids’ bedrooms, which are some of the most friendly and charming spaces in the home. Beau’s room has a board and batten wall treatment set behind two twin beds; with leather accents and pops of green, the décor gives a nod to a summer camp aesthetic. Just down the hall are bedrooms for the two girls, which attach to a jack-and-jill bath decorated in a blue and white scheme with statement tile; they have a tub, walk-in shower, and dual vanities most adults would envy. The girls’ bedrooms include statement wallpaper for toddler Avery and peachy pink wainscoting and a lofted reading nook for oldest daughter Charlie. Walk-in closets were added to the kids’ spaces to allow for as much concealed organization as possible. Further minimizing kid clutter is the laundry chute, centrally located in the upstairs hallway.

Back on the main floor, the grown-up bedrooms have their own moments of color, with a tranquil blue gray wall anchoring the guest bedroom. The attached guest bathroom is one of Jessica’s favorite rooms in the home, with its gridded glass shower door, textural black and white wallpaper, and a wood beam that pays homage to the original home. “Nothing stayed in the interior except the guest bath beam,” she says. 

In the primary suite, the bed is centered on a feature wall of soft green shiplap. The stunning primary bath includes a deep soaking tub and a walk-in shower that brings together penny and chevron tile, with inset shelving that’s lit for ambient lighting and serves well for toiletry display. The walk-in primary closet has a place designated for everything, with shelf lighting contributing both function and visual appeal. 

Just off the primary suite is the spacious main floor laundry room, which boasts a second refrigerator and plenty of counter space that works as well for folding laundry as for prepping food when entertaining since it’s located in close proximity to the kitchen.

Pieces collected from many sources give the home its layered character, like one set of barn doors scored from the Ugly Duck (updated with new hardware from Amazon) and another set sourced from an old farmhouse in Arizona. Jessica has picked up décor and furnishings everywhere from Serena & Lily to Walmart to favorite local vintage shops like Blue Cat Vintage, The Bohemian, Lucky Vintage, and Pine Street Market. A lover of fine art, Jessica has used wall space, open shelving, and even the custom hood in the kitchen as places to hang or casually prop up artwork. (One of her favorite tricks is downloading printing, and framing pieces in the public domain from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.)

Jessica posts about the renovation, décor, and styling, and her favorite finds on her Instagram account,
@shedoesitonabudget. “I really try to do everything within reason,” she says of trying to find the look she loves within the budget she’s set for any given space. She’ll put together a mood board for a room she’s designing, then spend “literally hours… trying to get the same look for less money.” 

“Budget conscious” is a key term, and she’s careful to note something crucial about it: “Being cheap and being on a budget are two different things.” Finding “the look for less” doesn’t mean skimping on quality. She’ll prioritize where to spend more and where to save. Often, that means spending more on furniture, which she knows will have a place in the home long-term, and saving when it comes to décor. 

Besides being outside in their beautifully landscaped outdoor space (“my husband and I are kind of yard nerds,” she says), her favorite spot is in the great room. “From this central point here,” she says, sitting on a comfortable chair near the fireplace, “you can see down every corridor.”

“I can sort of have ears on what everyone is doing.”

Jessica says she loved the process of designing the home. While it was tiring, it also showed her how much she loves the world of home interiors. “I’m ready to do another house,” she says. “I really have enjoyed it.”