Couple uses bargains, personal momentos to transform ROOTS program home

CEDAR RAPIDS - It's a house mantled in a soft sage green shade, sitting in a modest neighborhood on 34th St. SE, traditional appearing on the outside but inside, popping with a reflection of the imagination and verve of the young engaged couple who call it home.

They are Craig Byers, 29, a commercial Realtor with GLD (Gibbs Lamb Drown or GLD Commercial Real Estate Advisors) and his fiancee, Kaitlin Oswood, 27, director of development for Iowa Startup Accelerator.

The end result of tradition and quirkiness vividly demonstrates another intriguing point: It's what one can do with a house in the city's ROOTs program, one in which the city replaced houses lost in the Floods of 2008 with new construction, and assisted income-eligible buyers with down payments in acquiring the houses. Byers, in the infancy of his career in 2010, qualified and was enthused after apartment living to move in with a male roommate. Time passed and he met Kaitlin, who moved in 2013.

'As a first time homebuyer, I felt the ROOTs program was a great opportunity to own and build a brand new house. With plans to remain in Cedar Rapids, it made sense to move from an apartment into a home,” Byers says. He modified the floor plan to his own preferences, with a lot of helpful input from his dad, Scott Byers, a longtime Cedar Rapids Realtor.

When Oswood moved in, however, she could see immediately that the house, uh, needed some decorating. The two talked and felt they could have a warm, inviting home with the stamp of their own personalities while still maintaining a budget.

Money was not the sole determining factor for that budget, though: It was the challenge for Oswood, who was brought up with a do-it-yourself dad (Jon) and a penchant-for-decorating mom (Michele). Oswood 'prowls all over town for bargains,” relishing finds at flea markets, garage and estate sales, foreclosed homes, restoration and discount stores - and in this day and age: Craigslist and overstock.com - then transforming them into striking pieces for the house. She's even brought home items she found on the side of a road.

'I see decorating and interior design as a form of art and I don't believe you need a large chunk of money to make a space look and feel great,” says Oswood, who has studied, traveled and worked abroad in Europe, South America, Guatemala, China and Southeast Asia.

Byers, too, has studied and traveled in Europe and South America, and the couple like to bring photographic memories of those journeys into their home, as well as remembrances from U.S. sites.

Hence in their living area you will see a photograph Oswood took in an area of China where she taught, a photo she had imposed on canvas to resemble a painting. On another wall is a large piece, a colorful contemporary print entitled 'Piano,” from New Orleans, a jazzy gift from Byers' parents and Craig's favorite. It's made of blocks of colors within the silhouette of a piano.

On the home's lower level is an outsized wall map, pins locating countries in which the two have traveled. In an adjacent gambling area a wall displays a large piece of old plywood that Oswood found and recycled, decoupaging it with an image of Grant Wood tilted at a saucy angle.

The house is surprisingly roomy, embracing three bedrooms and three baths, a spacious kitchen and a finished lower level that holds living and game areas, a guest bedroom and another bath. Upper and lower levels total about 2,100 finished square feet and the house is assessed at $146,800. They have a patio and fenced-in backyard on the quarter-acre lot.

The home exemplifies how well suited the gregarious couple are to each other, both loving travel, and jointly enjoying music (speakers carry music throughout most of the house), community activities (they've both been in Theatre Cedar Rapids, among numerous other groups), cooking - and entertaining (they have someone over for dinner at least weekly.) This is to say nothing of parties for 20 to 50 people, or their 'Friendsgiving” dinners for friends during the Thanksgiving season. Last year, 'we deep-fried three turkeys and had a blast,” Byers says.

They readily admit that theirs is not a case of 'going it alone” in bringing the new house around to what they wanted. Both their families gave generously of their time and abilities, joining in to paint the entire interior, install engineered flooring and light fixtures, plus speakers and electronics. Oswood's dad donated a lot of the 'how-to,” with Byers' dad and cousin and husband pitching in, as well as Oswood's brothers. Her mom was good for decorating ideas and Byers' mom created a four-panel abstract headboard for the master bedroom.

Wall and carpet colors throughout the home are largely neutral, with the exception of the bathroom walls in bold Chinese red. Neutrality allows the furnishings and accessories to speak for themselves, and you will see pops of color in paintings and bedside tables.

The couple favors sectionals for their seating capacity in entertaining. Upstairs the sectional in the 16-by-12.5 foot living room is cocoa-colored; downstairs, a deep chocolate brown. The upstairs living area looks into the 13-by-12 foot dining area featuring a high table and lattice-back chairs from Penney's. The kitchen, 17.5-by-13 foot, has eye-soothing honey maple cabinetry and Formica countertops that are a granite look-alike. A maple island stands atop engineered tile flooring.

A king bed centers the 14-by-12 foot master bedroom, highlighted with cabinets from Craigslist that Oswood painted a vibrant Chinese red, then mated with elegant pulls from the Habitat ReStore shop, painting these in turn a contrasting white. Results: A knockout high-end look with low-end cost.

'Creating a beautiful, meaningful home starts in your head,” says Oswood. ' ... We hope that our home is a place ... people want to come back to.”