By Anna Grace Moore
Photos by Keith McCoy
Nadia Wilder knows how to stretch a dollar. The Shelby County native’s home is gorgeously updated with the majority of the house’s original blueprint staying the same as when she first bought it.
Nadia grew up in a log cabin in Vincent, Alabama, that was originally built in 1846 in Harpersville. Her parents relocated the cabin in the 1980s, and in May 2014 it was featured in Shelby Living.
“That ties into my story because what I always wanted as a grownup was a normal house like walls to paint,” Nadia says with a laugh. “My room was the loft. We moved there when I was 10. I couldn’t paint or decorate.”
Now as a full-time working mom, she says her dreams to decorate never changed, but she had to become thrifty in order to prioritize family.
The family lived in Meadowbrook for three years before deciding to sell their home. Amazingly, the house sold they day they listed it, prompting them to move quickly.
While driving her kids to school every day, Nadia says her son noticed a “coming soon” sign in one of the house’s yards. They looked up the listing for grins and giggles and found the home had both a pond and a pool. They bought it and got to work.
Despite the house’s three-story layout, Nadia felt she could work with what she had. She says she was determined to achieve her dream home.
“I wanted to be the hangout house,” Nadia says, chuckling. “Boy, did I get what I asked for.”
Four years after moving, Nadia transformed this home into one people expect thousands has been spent on in renovations. The irony is clever, however, when guests realize Nadia achieved her dream home on nickels and dimes. How did she do it? Facebook Marketplace.
“Fixtures and paint and marketplace furniture is how I’ve done it all,” she says. “I’ve always bought and sold on there. So, once we moved in here and I needed different stuff, [I] was like let me see what I can sell.”
Nadia estimates she’s bought and sold more than 100 items on Facebook Marketplace. “All my friends are like, ‘teach me how to do it,’ and I always say, ‘It’s really one-part tenacity and one-part luck. You have to stay on it. You have to be consistent. You have to act immediately.’”
While buying anything online can be a gamble, Nadia admits that a buyer can always sell something back if it doesn’t work out.
“It’s hard for me to pay retail for anything,” she says. “There’s a lot of things I could sell for more than I paid for it.”
Nadia says she’d saved thousands of dollars from trading on marketplace, which has allowed her to fund her children’s college tuitions and family vacations.
“Also, having a house full of teenagers and pets, I just didn’t want to worry about things getting worn or damaged. I wanted a home that looked and felt lived in but still [was] aesthetically pleasing. I always joke that I’ll have nicer things when my kids are grown.”
When talking about her kitchen, she says, “That’s probably the third or fourth table I’ve had in there. Because I’ll see something on marketplace that’s better. I’ve gone from square to smaller round to bigger round, so I’ll immediately as soon as I see something I want just go ahead and buy it because I know I can sell it. My whole dining room looked completely different six months ago.”
Just because someone may not have a ton of money doesn’t mean she can’t have nice things. Nadia encourages anyone wanting to redecorate to find her style then find how she can achieve that look for less.
“I always tell people to follow Instagrammers and look on Pinterest for ideas. My kitchen is almost identical to a kitchen that I saw on Pinterest. You find things you like, and then you go to marketplace and start looking for those specific things.”
While a couple of rooms in her house are still a work in progress, Nadia says she hasn’t given up on creating her dream aesthetic that she wanted as a child. Through hard work, determination and teaching herself how to do things, Nadia is proving to working moms everywhere that achieving their dream home is possible.
Face of the Home
This gorgeous three-story home is located in the heart of Oak Mountain.
Living Room
Nadia chose to use neutral colors with pops of blue to cool her room’s mood. Her sectional, for example, is a neutral beige that she happened to purchase from her neighbor. Her cherry wood hutch, too, is a thrifty find. She says she bought her hutch for $300 on marketplace when it normally would’ve retailed for close to $2,500.
Kitchen
Nadia says her kitchen is a work in progress. She plans to one day gut her kitchen and incorporate an open concept with a larger, cooking-friendly island. She also wants to restain her hardwood floors a darker shade and paint her cabinets a whiter, brighter color. For now, she decorates with Gerber Daisies and Sunflowers because they’re just “fun!”
Laundry Room
Nadia jokes that her laundry room is where all of her “farm stuff” went to die. She opted for a checkered black and white floor to allude to the farmhouse feel.
Dining Room
Nadia painted her corner chairs with fabric paint rather than purchasing new chairs. Her chandelier and statement painting are from marketplace. Most notably, her table and chairs, Nadia says, she paid for less than one fourth of what they would cost retail. The Restoration Hardware window treatments were her favorite find on marketplace. The table and chairs are actually the only furniture in any of the rooms photographed that didn’t come from Marketplace.
Office
Nadia says with working a full-time job and raising two kids, she relies on sprucing up second-hand buys to revitalize her home and prioritize spending money on her family. To make her office stand out, Nadia opted for bold hues paired with side railing and pole wrap wood garnishing on her walls to add texture and electrify this once bland-colored room. The deep teal on the walls is becoming a popular statement color in modern homes. The “Prairie Smoke” color is by Magnolia, which Nadia says is only available at Ace Hardware in Mt Laurel.
Master Bedroom
Not only does Nadia rely on lots of bright white and neutral colors to convey a comforting mood, but she also accentuates her furniture finds through highlighting statement pieces in the way she designs her rooms. This room’s vaulted ceiling is painted a different color for a dramatic flair.
Master Bathroom
Nadia never misses an opportunity to have a statement piece, such as this French country lace-beaded chandelier above her bathtub. The art, too, has eye-popping color in this neutral bathroom, which is unique because the colors in the painting draw all eyes to it, making the piece more artistically innate.
Family Portraits
Nadia says the best décor is showing off her family.
Sunroom
This sunroom, which rests above the beautiful view of Nadia’s estate, provides the perfect solace on a sweet midsummer’s evening.
Backyard
Nadia says her house was originally on a dairy farm, and her backyard’s pond was originally used as a spring-fed pond for the farm’s cows. The house’s pool, along with the pond, is what makes Nadia’s estate a staple home in the Oak Mountain community.
Backyard Bar
Nadia loves to entertain, so having a bar underneath her deck with a view of both the pool and the pond is essential. The bar is complete with an outdoor grill, firepit and cooking station, too.
