Home Tour // A Historic Colonial Revival in Delaware full of Charm and the Best Thrifted Finds

When Leigh and Ben Muldrow bought their 1924 Colonial Revival in Milford, Delaware, it was largely untouched. The house has previously belonged to a friend’s father, so they had been it many times before and knew what a great spot it would be to raise their kids. Over the past 3 1/2 years, Leigh and Ben have updated the home, filling it with family antiques, furnishings made themselves, and the best thrift-store finds you’ll find on the internet.

It’s no wonder that this is one of my favorite old houses on Instagram (@house_1924)!

Photography by Stacy Zarin Goldberg, Styling by Mike Grady, as seen in Country Home Magazine (unless noted otherwise)

The couple have 5 kids and a dog so undoubtedly the mudroom sees a lot of action. The room, an addition, came clad in knotty pine and carpet (you can see the before here). Unfortunately there was quite a bit of water damage in the cladding so the couple chose to “piecemeal multiple boards and trim together to fake the original” and then painted it all, Leigh wrote on Instagram. It’s stunning!

Let me just pause here and say that the library (the next photo) is one of my favorite rooms, of all time! I’ve come back to it a million times for inspiration. The space was originally the dining room and Leigh says that converting it was “impactful in terms of adding an extra every day room (versus a holidays only room). We use it for everything from hanging out, to homework, to project space and big holiday dinners!” I love the idea of reimagining rooms to make use of them every day.

You’ve probably noticed that Leigh and Ben have amazing antique and thrifted finds in their home. “It’s my favorite way to shop,” Leigh says of thrifting. “We have kids and a dog, so living with thrifted furniture really works with the season of life we’re in right now.”

I asked for Leigh for her best find and she pointed me to the Restoration Hardware linen sofa in her living room, which she bought for $65. Sixty five dollars!

I love when kids rooms are fun and imaginative. These seem like rooms my own kids would love to have!

Leigh and Ben’s home came with a large covered porch, which was a big draw. Leigh says of their home purchase, “We loved the neighborhood, the traditional style of architecture, and it was the perfect size for our family, but I think we can all agree the large back porch sealed the deal for us.”

Leigh was decorating for the holidays while we chatted about this post, so I begged for a few of those photos of that as well. And she kindly agreed! Leigh’s holiday decor (4th of July, Halloween, Christmas…) always leaves me in awe. It’s festive, gorgeous, imaginative, and slightly unexpected. Have a look…

In the library, Leigh covered the shelves with a porcelain berry vine (cut out of a cedar tree), dried hydrangeas from the summer, and silk ribbon dyed with red onion skins. Like I said…festive, gorgeous, imaginative, and slightly unexpected!

Holiday photos by Leigh Muldrow

Thanks to Leigh and Ben for showing us into their beautiful home! And if you guys liked this tour, I HIGHLY recommend you check out their beautifully-curated Instagram page: @house_1924.