When Oksana and Vitaly Silchuk moved into their 2,207-square-foot ranch-style home in Sioux Falls, it was 2008 and they were newlyweds.

“[The house] was getting foreclosed on, so we snatched it and just saw potential in it,” said Oksana. “That’s how my passion started. It took us a decade to give new life to each corner of our home.”

Her “mission to create a cozy home, one corner at a time” is the theme to Oksana’s blog, Silchuk Nest. The photos from Oksana’s blog and social media give a glimpse into the couple’s “moments” they’ve created in their clean and modern aesthetic through remodeling and décor.

“It was definitely not an overnight thing,” she said. “That’s why my whole blog is about focusing on one corner at a time, because you’re going to get overwhelmed and you’re going to get burnt out and super disappointed if you don’t because house stuff sucks.”

Oksana and Vitaly also share their family life with son Zion, 4, and daughter Chloe, 2. The family is expecting a new addition to the family this fall.

“Another [baby] is coming soon, so we’re in the process of shifting everyone

THE LIVING ROOM

Walking into the living room, it’s noticeable right away that the Silchuks love neutrals.

“When we first moved in and I decided a color scheme, I just went nuts. That’s why i learned my lesson the hard way. I was young. I’m pretty sure i was 20” – Oksana

“If I described my style, it’s really simple, like minimalistic simple. But I always like a pop,” said Oksana. “I like sticking to neutrals because I’ve learned it the hard way. When we first bought our house, every room was a different color, and it only took me about a week before I got sick of it. I’m not ever making that mistake again.”

Her favorite thing in the entire home is in this space.

“My favorite by far is this fireplace my husband built me,” she said. “I saw something similar online, and clearly with our house it’s not possible for us to have a real one, so he built me the frame, and we put in some birch logs.”

She stood back still smiling at it.

“This is a piece that if the house is burning, I will want to carry it out,” she laughed. “The rest can burn.”

The antlers above the mantle were recently placed and were another project for Vitaly.

“Yeah, I had to beg him to put those up. They’re not light,” she said.

In the corner is a hanging rattan chair from Serena & Lily that isn’t just for looks.

“It’s the cutest, comfiest little spot for us when we have newborns,” said Oksana. “We don’t really own any rockers. We try to not to buy a lot of baby things because they grow out of it so quick. This actually is our ‘sick chair.’ Anybody that’s sick, I put a bunch of blankets in there, and we rock them.”

She also mentioned some items are from brand partners from her blog, like a print from The Poster Club.

“They allow me to pick pieces that I love from their site or whatever that they offer, and then they usually send it to me,” she said. “Then I photograph them and bring awareness, and then they do the same for me.”

It’s in this room that you find the first of many baskets. This one is used to store blankets.

“If there’s one thing I collect, it’s baskets,” she said. “I’m a hoarder when it comes to them, and my husband just laughs at me because he’s like, ‘Don’t tell me you got another basket.’”

Last, but not least, by the entrance is one of the most statement-worthy corners, with wall hooks and a dried palm tree leaf.

“I’ve wanted one of these forever, and I wanted to have someone from California ship me a dried-up palm,” said Oksana. “Then we went to Okoboji, and they have a restaurant that happened to have real palm trees. I was like the crazy lady that walked up to the guy, and I was like, ‘Hey, can I have this dead branch?’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, sure.’”

THE KITCHEN

“This is ever-changing. I swear, this place changes out the most depending on the occasion,” said Oksana of the dining area. “I can’t say we use our dining set too much, which is why I think that I’m able to keep it a little bit more tidy, but, I mean, we eat here.”

Oksana chose the dining table from Crate & Barrel since it wasn’t “too bulky” and because of the color.

“Honestly people always steer away from this glossy material, but it actually wears so nice,” she said. “You can see a little bit of scratches, but this wears better than a traditional hardwood table. It really does.”

Looking down at the area rug from World Market, Oksana explains she used the texture to contrast with the simplicity of the room’s color palette.

“The feel i’m going for with my house is really earthy, but simple. I don’t like Too Many Things” – Oksana

The dining room opens up to the kitchen, which is still original to the 2004 home.

“This is the one area that is a dream of mine to redo one day,” she said. “We haven’t touched it at all since we’ve moved in, so this is the original kitchen. The only thing that we had here was there was a cabinet hanging, and we removed it and it opened up so much.”

They also added an area of open shelves where she has a variety of knickknacks that include gifts and items from brand partner Mint + Basil.

“There are a lot of things that I get from thrifting. I always go in somewhere with an open mind,” said Oksana.

OKSANA’S 5 CENTS ON DESIGN:

  1. FOCUS ONE CORNER AT A TIME
    To avoid feeling overwhelmed, try to stick to one room or corner at a time. My husband and I quickly realized we didn’t have the time nor the finances to redo our entire house when we purchased it, so we worked in stages and project by project.

  2. LESS IS MORE
    Having too many things overwhelms me. There have been a lot of moments where I had to redecorate my home only to put back pieces that bring joy or things I truly love.

  3. STICK WITH NEUTRALS
    At one point we went color crazy and regretted it almost instantly. When in doubt, I now stick to neutrals as it allows me to match things with little effort.

  4. DISPLAY THINGS THAT MAKE YOU “YOU”
    I’m a lover of nature. I love displaying dried flowers from our adventures with the kids. They spark such meaningful memories. Incorporate things that are unexpected, but portray who you are as a person. Examples are antlers, a hanging chair, a palm branch, raw wood… you get the point.

  5. MIX TEXTURES
    One of my favorite things to do is to mix and match. Pair something super rustic with something extremely simple. Mesh warm and cool tones. Pair something flat with something with a groovy surface. I love how it gives me the control of making something “pop” or tone down a piece that stands out too much.

NURSERY

At the time of 605’s tour, Zion and Chloe shared a nursery. This will soon change, as one bed will swap out with a crib for the new baby.

Chloe’s toddler bed has a hanging net that can wrap around her when she goes to sleep. This, Oksana says, has helped her with transitioning out of a crib. It also helps for other things.

“I love this because they’re super naughty when they’re going to bed, so you just put the curtain up and they don’t talk to each other. At least you hope they don’t,” she laughed.

There are also more baskets strewn across the room and in the (very organized) closet.

“I’m telling you, if I put my baskets all together it’s probably going to be a room full,” she said.

Many of the toys are thrifted from places like Goodwill, and Oksana says they’re fans of wooden toys, in particular. A pair of dolls are from an Etsy store.

MASTER BEDROOM

Oksana and Vitaly’s room is across the hall and is the only room painted gray.

“Yeah, it’s because my husband threw a fit. He demanded we do something other than white, but believe it or not actually this room was bright purple before,” said Oksana.

The wall lights next to the bed are from West Elm.

“I’m so thankful for [the lights]. While they look awesome, they are also so practical,” she said. “We’ve had them probably eight years, and they were so nice when we had newborns. They were just the perfect amount of light.”

Above the bed is a wall hanging from Sunwoven.

“That’s by a gal who did wall hangings way before wall hangings were cool. She inspired me so much,” said Oksana. “She’s also a mom of two kids and this is her business. People like that inspire me because maybe I hope to one day create something. I just haven’t thought of what.”

END

The tour comes to a close on the open deck in the backyard.

Reflecting on all of the hard work and changes, Oksana said, “I think it’s just a place that we’ve learned to grow, and we’ve had moments in our house where things are breaking, falling apart, and I feel like in 10 years if you can go through a couple basement floods, projects, and survive through all of that in marriage, your marriage is going to be fine. You’re going to make it.”

For more information, visit silchuknest.com.

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