Artist and designer Kat Wise didn't know what she was getting herself into when she first purchased this 1840-built Upstate N.Y. farm house in 2009. Instead, charmed by its "patchwork" facade—the product of many unwieldily additions over the years—and lakeside locale, she and her partner bought the place with only a vague understanding of how thoroughly renovated the rundown home would have to be. A glance at the totally bonkers, technicolor finished product, though, shows that Wise and her team of extremely handy friends and neighbors more than met the challenge—going so far as to cover literally every inch of the exterior in murals, and outfit each room with wacky, DIY furniture. Called Calico, the home is now such a fixture in town that strangers reportedly flock to the place to get a closer look.
In terms of the "Bollywood regal" interiors, some of the most substantial projects involved splurging on a large picture window and carving out space for a sunny breakfast nook, tearing up seven layers of linoleum to get to the wide plank flooring beneath, and, of course, assigning each room its own glamorous identity—including a blue ballroom, a "Bedouin bordello," and a "Jungle Room" foyer. Amidst all the craziness, though, there's also exactly one all-white bathroom—says Kat, "even I need a little break sometimes"—and a pale blue, mostly unfurnished meditation lounge on the top floor. "This is just the first coat," says Kat of her mural-coated home. "It will only get weirder." Find more before and after photos at Kat Wise's official site, this way.
· The Real-Life House of Oz. [Messy Nessy Chic]
· About the House [Kat Wise]