Matt Armato and Beau Ciolino, darlings of TikTok and Instagram, make interior decorating look easy.
The domestic DYI duo behind the Probably This blog and #yourgayuncles closed on an Algiers Point fixer-upper in late June 2020. By the end of 2022, they had transformed the house and garden, doing most of the work themselves, all while living in the home, planning their wedding, buying and appointing a second home in rural Tennessee, and writing a popular book, “Housewarming: A Guide to Creating a Home You Adore” (Abrams, 2022).
For their tens of thousands of followers online, the couple documented the renovation they undertook via thrift, DYI and creativity.
“We were just excited to have a space of our own to do with as we wanted, without the constraints of renting,” Ciolino said.
The two men separately tackled what would have once been the two front parlors in the converted 1880s Victorian shotgun double. The vibe they sought was modern Victorian with a strong undercurrent of “anything goes.”
The office, designed by Armato, pairs a deep blue paint color with a plum madras plaid fabric on the ceiling. Blush velvet backs the bookcase shelves.
“Historically, Victorian homeowners kept things slightly more formal in the front rooms of the house,” Armato said. “It was a form of architectural subordination.
”We stuck with that practice for this house, so it becomes more casual as you move to the rear.”
Ciolino tackled the living room. Armato took on the adjacent room that would become the office from which they hope to grow their exploding lifestyle design business.
In keeping with the Victorian feel, Ciolino converted a rectangular cased opening between the living and dining rooms into a graceful, curved opening. He added ornate crown molding from Ekena throughout the room to trim the new opening.
A Victorian feel was restored by changing rectangular openings between rooms into arched openings and adding ornate crown molding.
A coordinating ceiling medallion accentuates a modification on the “Octavia” chandelier from Sazerac Stitches. He added inexpensive picture molding to walls to further enhance the Victorian feel and add visual interest, then painted the room Sherwin Williams’ Intimate White, a complex, pale hue with a strong blush undertone that casts a rosy glow under ambient light.
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