This Birmingham Bungalow Is a Love Letter to Rom-Coms and Classic Southern Design

When it comes to finding diamonds in the rough (and on the cheap), there is no better place to start your search than Facebook Marketplace. The proof lives in content creator and social strategist Lindsay Miller’s Birmingham, Alabama home, which she just so happened to discover on Facebook Marketplace. Yes, the Southerner discovered her actual house on the platform, in addition to many of the unique treasures within its rooms. “I thought it was a scam at first, but I ended up making an appointment to tour this beautiful space, and immediately fell in love with it,” she admits.

Photos by Perry Hancock

What she fell in love with was the potential because the home was, for the most part, completely white when she initially laid eyes on it. Her first order of business was splashing the walls with color. In fact, almost every space is assigned a specific color, including the lilac living room and moody chocolate-brown dining room. “I couldn’t really do any major renovations because I rent, but I felt like paint was the easiest way to make the biggest impact in this space.” So, on her first day in her new home, she got to work, paintbrush in hand.

Below, explore the creative’s vision for her Southern home where, as Miller notes, “every room has its own personality.”

White-Washed Sunroom

Ironically, the only room in the whole house without a bright or saturated color is the sunroom, where the white walls further accentuate the effect of the sunlight streaming through. She left the exposed brick as she found it and decided to pump the space with personality through furnishings and accessories, including the cow-print ottoman she found on Facebook Marketplace for a mere $15. “You’ll never find another ottoman like this,” Miller says. “It was from some older lady’s house, and I think she was just thinking, ‘I don’t know who’s going to want this,’ but I did!”

“Lizzie McGuire-” Inspired Bedroom

Generally speaking, a bright lime green is a bold choice for any room, especially a bedroom, where plenty of people tend to go more muted and serene, but not Miller. “This has been the happiest and most complimented room that I’ve had in my house,” she notes. “It is also the most controversial.” Every friend and family member to whom she offered a sneak peek warned her against the shade, but Miller trusted her gut and swathed all of her bedroom’s walls with it—Sherwin-Williams’ Edgy Gold, to be exact. The color, Miller adds, reminds her of her favorite television shows she enjoyed growing up, such as Lizzie McGuire.

Her pups, Charlie and Honey, enjoy the room as well.

Dark and Moody Dining Nook

Most of the other rooms’ color stories involve light and sunny colors, but the dining room is a bit more moody. It was, Miller says, a trust-the-process moment. “I went with a dark brown in this space because it kind of masked a lot of the weird architectural elements that were inconsistent or wonky in this room,” she says. The best part, though, is that they tie in the pieces that garner the most compliments in her home: the antique chairs. “I got all four of these dining chairs for $150 from a local antique store,” she adds. “I managed to fit them all in my tiny Ford Focus, and I looked like a clown.”

Antiques and Vintage Finds

Antiques and one-of-a-kind decor are in every room—in spades, no less—but some of the most interesting ones live in the smallest nook: the sunroom. In addition to her cow-print ottoman, there’s also an antique Chinese urn that’s been repurposed into an end table, various mirrors, and, of course, Miller’s growing collection of Staffordshire dogs.

Playfully Purple Living Room

The living room is arguably the pièce de résistance of the home, with its lilac walls and playful take on patterns-on-patterns. There are also more Staffordshire pups poised in this sumptuous room. “I love a gallery wall, and I used to have a lot of them when I was growing up,” Miller explains. “I’d just collect all this random stuff, but what I found is I really love mixing tones with each other,” so each piece of art includes some shade of purple.

The fan is also a major design moment in Miller’s living room, and it also serves a pretty crucial function: It covers the oddly placed door behind it. “It’s a storage closet for my holiday decorations, so every year, I have to move the sofa, remove the fan, and pull everything through this little door.”

Personality-Packed Pillows

Where Miller likes to have some fun is on the bed, by way of her pillows. “A lot of where you’re going to see a lot of texture and pattern play is in my pillow collection,” Miller says. “I feel like when I was just beginning to do anything design-related, even in my early 20s, the first place I played was with my pillows. “A lot of where you’re going to see a lot of like texture and fun pattern play is in my pillow collection. I feel like when I was just beginning to do anything design-related, even in my early 20s, the first place I played was with my pillows,” she admits.

The “Focus” Room

As much as Miller loves a brightly painted room, even she’ll admit when it’s too much, and in the case of her office, she was the first to admit that a soft white worked better. Originally, it was a Barbie pink, and though it was happy and fun, it wasn’t conducive to getting work done. “This room is probably the most neutral in my whole house, and here’s why: This room is where I learned my hardest lessons,” Miller starts. “You might not believe it, but not too long ago, it was actually hot pink. That was a really bad decision, and I tried to make it work, but I couldn’t for the life of me.” So, she started over, but with a much quieter hue.