Designer and contractor Chip Wade is the host of the show “Elbow Room,” and he doesn’t just DIY for HGTV. When he and his wife Pauli bought their house in Atlanta a few years ago, it had been foreclosed on before construction was finished. With only the framing finished, he went to work on the rest of it himself.
HGTV Magazine reports he did everything “from cutting beams for the 20-foot ceilings to designing light fixtures.” His house is featured in their September 2015 issue, and I found a video tour of it that I grabbed a few screenshots from, too.
Chip’s Home Office:
Chip has a degree in mechanical engineering and is certified in residential construction. He first appeared on HGTV in 2007 as a carpenter for “Designed to Sell.” Since then he’s appeared on “Curb Appeal: The Block,” “HGTV’s Showdown,” “Design Star,” and has been the host of “Elbow Room” since 2012.
The Music Room:
The magazine says, “With a family full of music lovers—Chip himself has been playing the guitar for 25 years—he knew he had to designate part of the great room as a spot for singing and tinkering on the piano. Sheet music blown up and printed onto canvases serves as artwork. Chip wired iron garden ornaments to turn them into one-of-a-kind light fixtures.”
This screenshot I took from the video tour shows how the sheet music artwork covers most of the wall:
The Family Room:
The family room has 20-foot-high ceilings with tall windows overlooking their 2.5 wooded acres. He says, “It feels like we’re in the middle of nowhere even though it’s just a short drive to any store.”
The Kitchen:
He created a secret playroom for the kids:
A Dutch door acts like a safety gate for the little ones:
Chip and Pauli have three young children: Mac, 6; Mara, 4; and JT, 1.
There’s another hidden door on the other side of the range that leads to a pantry. The island is 12 feet long with a terrazzo countertop. “It’s our entertaining epicenter,” he says.
The Butler’s Pantry:
Chip made his own “wood tile” for the butler’s pantry by cutting walnut boards and lacquering them.
Chip’s 2,000-Square-Foot Workshop in the Basement:
Chip tells the mag, “We’ve shot scenes for HGTV here, plus I’m always having friends over so I can help them build things.” His son Mac “likes to draw up plans for submarines and stuff, and then we make them together.”
Covered Patio with Fireplace:
Check out the September 2015 issue of HGTV Magazine to see more, including the rec room Chip designed so they could hold ping-pong tournaments at home (photos by David A. Land; styling by Courtney De Wet).
There’s also a video tour of the house where I took some of these screenshots here. More info about Wade on his website and about his show “Elbow Room” at HGTV.com.
I still remember when Chip was part of the carpentry team on “Designed to Sell.” I miss that show! A reader spilled all the deets on what it was like to have her house featured on it that you can read here. 🙂
P.S. Visit my HGTV page for more, including…
wowie kazowie! and it must be so neat to have your hands truly on everything being built and done on your own house! btw, love dutch doors . . anywhere, anytime!
I do, too, Sharon! 🙂
Like the exterior a lot. Interior looks too generic and new for my taste and not a fan of the exposed wood beams in the living room.
Hey Julia-I know you’re still probably working out the kinks in your new blog format/design and there’s one minor layout aspect that I find kind of “off”–It’s how the photos and pretty much everything else bleeds on the left. Even the text runs right up to the edge of the page. It’s a minor thing, but from a design and layout perspective it feels like the content is shoved up on the left, while the right has space between the ads and the page edge. Just something you may want to think about … or not 🙂 …maybe it’s just me … or my computer.
Hi Dean! That’s strange that it’s so close to the edge of the page for you. I’ve got lots of white space on both sides of my screen. I guess it’s different for every browser and screen size? This kind of tech stuff hurts my brain. Ha. I’ll ask them what could be causing that — thanks! 🙂
I am noticing the same thing with the content pushed to the far left edge and did not notice that previously (with the new layout).
I am using Safari in iPad in the wide layout format. It looks fine in the vertical narrow layout but that is not my usual layout view.
Websites are tricky these days because there are so many different views.
I know they changed something to make it possible to read it on iPads in horizontally/wide. Before it wouldn’t work at all. Sounds like now it’s working but doesn’t look great with the content pushed to the edge! It is tricky trying to make sure it works for all kinds of screens and devices. I remember my old site never worked right with Internet Explorer, no matter what we did. We had to come up with all kinds of weird work-arounds. Makes me glad I’m not a web designer! Ha. 🙂
I had a feeling it might be specific to certain browsers or screen size (and I’m probably of the minority it does this with.) Not to worry, no big deal–It won’t prevent me from my regular visits. 🙂
What a great house for a young family. It’s full of those clever touches you’d expect to see from him, based on his shows. Seems like he could tackle a “honey-do” list in no time flat, too, not that his house needs one. 🙂
Did anyone else notice the shallow sink on the island, right behind a regular sized sink? I can’t imagine what the purpose of it is!
Beautiful house. I especially like the wood beams in the family room. However, when I see a home with such open high ceilings, I cannot help but think about the cost to heat such a space.
BTW, what is the purpose of that small drain thing going on behind the kitchen sink? Seems like a long way to reach to wash/drain stuff in.
I had a two-story family room once and you’re not kidding. Our heat bills were insane.
Chip talks about that area with the drain in the island in the video tour. He said he designed it because they entertain a lot and put ice out for drinks. When it melts, it drains out, and the faucet turns around so you can rinse it all down.
The decor of that house looks as though someone went to a huge fire sale of everything trendy and unlovely in home design.
I like the house overall. It seems like a great family home. Decor seems a bit masculine to me, but I like that he has done so much of the work himself. That probably makes living there all the more special for the family.