Baker-turned-blogger Meg lives in Wisconsin with her family. Amid the chaos of caring for her kids, dogs and plants, she has created a calming space full of thrifted chairs and Parisian-looking chalkboards. We love how European it feels, even though many pieces were less than $20. Let's take a look inside...

What's it like to live in Madison?
We had a tough time deciding where to live: My husband is from the East coast, I'm from the Midwest. We wanted to raise our kids in a place that was walkable, safe and "country." Madison is amazing. We can walk to the library, church, grocery store, thrift stores, parks. Our backyard is a postage stamp; that's the one thing we had to give up.

How's the weather?
Wisconsin is very, very snowy.

What brought you to Madison?
My husband's job is based in Chicago, but he can work over the computer. I used to be a baker and chocolatier. In Madison, there are a few very nice chocolate places that I'm hoping to go to once my kids are school-age.

Can you tell us about your family?
My daughter is two, and my son just turned one. We have two dogs--big, fluffy and dumb. We used to love them. Now I pawn them off to anyone. We can't take care of anything more than our kids. Even new plants are a burden.

But you do have plants.
I have ferns and spider plants, things that you can barely kill. My sisters have green thumbs, so they give me advice. Hanging plants are genius when your kids start crawling and walking.

Where did you find this dining table?
IKEA. My family lives far away, so when they come, they all come at once, so we needed a big table. Also, after living in apartments forever, when you move into a house, you feel like "Oh, my gosh, we have all this space!" So having a table where you can read the paper and do crafts is amazing.

How cool that the chairs are all different.
They're all thrifted. Some came from before I met my husband; some were his; one I got from the trash in Chicago.

What color are the walls?
Dophin Fin from Home Depot. I love that gray, I want to paint the whole house that color.

Why did you go neutral in the living room?
Toys add a lot of color, so I wanted neutral walls in the living space. We used a creamy white here.

Where did you get the sofa?
In college at place called Le Junk Boutique for $30. I don't want it anymore. Just watching my children rub their stuffy noses on the couch...I try to clean it but it's so gross!

Hilarious. Is the coffeetable more loved?
Yes, we got it on sale from Target. It's great for kids since it just wipes clean. It has been colored and slobbered on.

Do you ever build fires in the fireplace?
It's actually completely fake! It never worked, so I don't know why it's here. I like having a mantle, though; when you switch it up, it makes the space totally change.

What is this little toy?
A vintage children's stove. I found it at a thrift shop in Minnesota, where I grew up. I feel so lucky to own it. Someone made it and put a lot of thought into it. My kids love it. I try to rotate toys to keep their interest, and I took the stove away once and that was unheard of, that was not cool. My daughter was so angry that I brought it right back out.

Who's handprints are those?
My daughter's from a year ago, right when my son was born. I think of this as her little space.

Let me guess--you got this chair at a thrift store.
Yes, I loved the shape and fabric. I spent $20 on it, which is more than I usually spend. The farther you get from the city, the less things cost. I made the pillow from a Amy Butler pattern.

What's the toy on the side?
It's a cradle for dolls. My daughter loves it. I made a little mattress and pillow. My son uses it for a boat. He sits in it and rocks and rocks.

What an amazing chair!
It's the best thing I've ever found. I carried it around the thrift store with my son on the other arm.

Can you tell us about these two spaces?
They're two tiny shelves above my kitchen sink. You can't put much on there--your dish soap maybe, but then you'd just stare at your dish soap. I don't naturally do things like this, but when someone gives you chattering teeth, where do you put them?

How did you gather together the other items?
My husband is from the east coast and the shell came from eating oysters one night. We take walks and my daughter picks things up, since that's what two-year-olds do!

I love this basement studio. What does it mean to you to have your own space?
When you're home with kids, you have to challenge yourself to do things that don't involve children and snotty noses and peanut butter sandwiches. Cooking used to be a creative outlet for me, but timing is key there, so I can't do that with babies around. But with sewing I can put it down and pick it up and work on it slowly. With children, there are so many demands, you have to find yourself at the end of the day. This is a personal space where I can do as I please. It's been amazing for my mental state.

What do you make here?
I make softies for my etsy shop. My daughter was obsessed with construction sites for a while, and there were no girly construction toys. I thought it would be nice to make a soft front loader. I came up with a pattern and it worked really well.

How did you choose this blue?
My friend's blue living room inspired me, so I picked this one. When I painted, it was incredibly bright. When I went back to see my friend's living room, it wasn't even close! I knew my kids would be sharing a room, and I wanted that a girl and boy would both like.

What a great elephant mobile.
It was a very lucky gift from a friend with good taste. It's really simple and hangs on fishing wire. Both my kids love it. Mobile from The Museum Store Company.

What do you draw on the chalkboard?
My daughter scribbles shapes, and we draw about upcoming holidays. I found it on freecycle.org. You sign up for your area's list, and people post the craziest free stuff: Half a box of tostidos, a ton of bricks. We've gotten old car seats, swings, even cribs.

Free is good.
I'm even into track picking. Once you start, it's hard to stop. I found the orange rocking chair in the trash; I had to sand it and paint it a ridiculous number of coats. It was just the right time for my daughter to get a rocking chair, and she was just the right size.

How did you decide on this bold green for your bedroom?
When you move somewhere, you stare at the crappy walls and finally can't do it anymore. I saw a green bedroom in Domino magazine and thought it looked great, so I went right out and bought green paint. It was completely spur of the moment.

What did your husband think?
He was taken aback! He has strong opinions, but for these crappy walls, I just couldn't hack it anymore. He grew to like it.

What advice do you have for new decorators?
Have patience. You don't have to get everything right away. It's depressing to see rooms in magazines where everything was bought at the same time; it doesn't really say anything. And don't be afraid of picking stuff out of the trash! It's ok. Add a bit of soap and water. I like things that have stories behind them. I have so many sisters that I don't get hand-me-downs; they got dibs on the good stuff! But if you can, get things from your family. The things in your house should have stories behind them.