Chelsea Lipford Wolf keeps busy sharing her DIY skills as co-host of the nationally syndicated Today’s Homeowner TV series and creator of her own home lifestyle and décor blog and web series Checking In With Chelsea. Here she talks about what she loves about work and how she puts her skills to work in her own home, which she built with the help of her dad, co-host and founder of Today’s Homeowner Media, Danny Lipford.
Chelsea Lipford Wolf: My husband and I live with our 3 small children in Mobile, Alabama. Since our house is small (especially with 3 kids!), we prioritize playing outside to give them room to run around and be kids!
CLW: Our house is in a part of town that is very walkable. We’re able to walk or ride bikes to the grocery store, pharmacy, pizza place, coffee shop, library, childcare, toy store, bakery, fine dining, bank, and even a hardware store!
CLW: Our backyard is an essential extension of our living space. Sounds cliché, but it’s true. The kids have free reign to play between our sunroom, back deck, and backyard (with the gate closed). Happy, safe, and self-entertained kids is what I’m all about these days!
CLW: Having defined areas is key to function and beauty. And that’s true for indoor or outdoor spaces. But the details of those defined spaces vary with each family. If a family loves to eat outside, their outdoor spaces will emphasis an outdoor dining table. Whereas my family just needs a few seats and lots of space for my large kid toys.
CLW: It’s cheesy but true, most days don’t feel like work. Sure, I have to shower and get dressed. But it just feels like I’m hanging out with my Dad. We have so much fun together playing practical jokes and making home improvement magic happen! I honestly never thought I’d work at Today’s Homeowner beyond office work during my summer breaks. Not until Dad hired me out of the blue after I graduated from college.
CLW: I love trying new things, doing projects that wouldn’t necessarily work in my house. Making homeowners’ visuals a reality and pushing myself creatively to make a space look better than before and different than the last project we worked on. And even though I’m an introvert, I love meeting and hanging out with the homeowners we work with too!
CLW: The project I’m most proud of is the master bathroom we added onto our house in 2019. Though I wasn’t able to do much hands-on work since I was 7 months pregnant when we started, everything about it was my brainchild from start to finish.
I found the location for it off our master bedroom (this dilemma held us off for over 2 years), designed the layout and found a way to incorporate all of my very picky “must-haves,” picked out all of the building materials and was able to squeeze enough energy out to stain and install the vanity myself. The toilet was installed the day I was induced to have our third child. Talk about perfect timing! We came home from the hospital to a beautiful, functional bathroom of my dreams! And when it comes time to sell our house, we should get back every penny in property value!
CLW: Ugh! Unfortunately there is always a project that could be worked on. But that’s because when you have time you don’t have the money. And when you have money you don’t have the time! There are a few rooms in my house, though, that I’m satisfied with and call “done”!
CLW: I love kids running and laughing in the grass or swinging on their playset while I’m in my cozy chair sipping wine from a stemless glass.
