The Farmhouse Project - The Final Chapter
Hello there friends! I am writing to you from a nice 80 degree day here in Iowa, which is actually pretty nice considering it was 100 degrees all last week. I am not sure what is up with Iowa lately, but I guess 2020 has taught us to be ready for literally anything.
We just wrapped up a 9+ month renovation, the farmhouse project, and we are really excited how it turned out. We have a lot of new visitors here, so I will give a super quick recap.
Last October, we bought a tired but sturdy c.1900 home in the heart of our community. When I say tired, I mean it showed it’s age and was missing some modern amenities. Since then we tore off a section of the home, rebuilt it with added square footage, put in all new windows/doors/siding/sheeting/roof/hvac/electrical and added central air and a large deck. It took a little longer than planned, due to 2020’s challenges (complete with a ‘derecho’), but in the end it was all worth it.
Let’s get right to the photos (roughly in chronological order)
Photo from the listing when we bought it
Tore the back section off that needed new trusses
New Foundation!
Putting a large Addition Back On
Tearing off the siding and sheeting from the original section of the home
All put back together, complete with new windows
A very cold day! (view from front porch)
The kitchen ceiling no longer droops!
Vertical siding for the win!
As you can tell, we replaced almost everything at this home. Here are a couple fun before and after shots, I tried to take the ‘afters’ at the same angles for easier reference.
Let’s start with the kitchen…
Sink and stove in same position
There’s really nothing the same about this kitchen other than a few of the appliances, everything else is new. We kept the kitchen the same size and roughly the same layout, but this new space is much brighter with an added window and lots of lighting!
Here’s another before and after set…the upstairs bedrooms!
Bedroom 1 before…
Bedroom 1 after
Bedroom 1, second angle
Bedroom 1, second angle
Bedroom 2 Before
Bedroom 2 After
These bedrooms both received new windows, flooring, paint, doors, trim, electrical, and some drywall. The photos from the first bedroom show the new set of stairs and new railing as well. New stairs were essential, as the previous stairs were no where near the correct size, but there weren’t building codes 120 year ago!
The living room was part of the original structure that was kept intact during demolition, and we really wanted to keep as much of the home's character as possible. We tore off multiple layers of ceiling, added all new drywall, windows, electrical wiring and fixtures. We also took up the flooring and sanded down decades of carpet glue and stain. These next photos show the transformation of the living room, which is one of my favorite parts of the home.
We kept the same door in the same place, for reference.
Next up is the main bathroom, which was also serving as the laundry room. We moved the laundry into the (newly added) master closet, and this room got to return to single function status after it was torn down and rebuilt, of course.
Last but not least, the exterior. You might notice no window air conditioners in the after photos….that’s because this home finally has central air. I’m not sure how previous owners managed the sweltering Iowa summers for 120 years with no air!
Front view
Back View
New Back view, with deck! (and central air!)
It was a long 9 months, but it was all worth it in the end. Throughout the renovation process, we had neighbors stop by almost every single day and express how happy they were to see this older home in the heart of their community get the help it needed to see its next 120 years. We even had a person stop by that used to live in the home in the early 2000s, she was amazed at how far it had come since then.
These encounters with the community members were so heartwarming, and often the motivation we needed to get through another 16 hour or 100 degree day (or both!).
Last week it was time to see this house off to its new owners, and while it was almost sad to pass the keys along, it was also very rewarding. It’s in good hands.
Our ‘inspector’ even gave her final seal of approval!
What’s next for us?
Well as you can imagine this project took up most of our free time, but now that it’s completed we have a few other small things in the works, along with some storm damage repairs from our most recent natural disaster. In October we officially will own our acreage, which will bring on another list of projects. It’s going to be a down-to-the-wire finish for us to complete everything before winter but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Stay safe out there and we will chat soon!
-Rachael
Rustic Home Accents
Hello friends!
It’s a hot and humid 1000 degree day here in Iowa, and I am suddenly finding time for all of my indoor tasks, such as updating this website! You will notice quite a few big changes to our site in the coming weeks, but for now most of the layout is remaining the same. I am not very skilled in the tech world, and don’t have a large budget for a website person, so it’s just me figuring things out by trial and error :)
Anyway enough on that, I wanted to pop in and put together a post about the most asked about items of my home, the various rustic home accents. I have several locally sourced items, and they are often the talking points of conversations with visitors. Now you might be wondering why any of this matters, and I will explain…
Adding a unique home accent can be both functional and decorative, all while setting your home apart from the rest…
-Have you ever driven through a neighborhood of similar style homes and had one stand out?
-On the contrary, have you been to several open houses or showings in a row and then been unable to recall what the inside of the home looked like the next day?
Let me show you what I am talking about…
This beam pictured is on my front porch and came from a barn that was taken down several years ago. It serves as a decorative item, and it also functional and holds up the front porch to my house.
Here are a few photos of other rustic home accents I have throughout my house…
An old window frame above my kitchen sink! In an ideal world there would have been a real window here, but since the floor plan of the house didn’t allow for one, this is the next best thing!
Is a home even complete without a giant rusty pig? :)
Floor to ceiling barn wood flag…because, America
Spare bathroom light fixture, and you can see the barn wood mirror beneath!
The pantry door is an old trap door to the attic space of a c.1920 carriage house
Our custom kitchen cabinets are new, but they were made to look old by using wood with imperfections
Ok, that’s not even all of them, but y’all get the idea! Unique items really make a home stand out in a crowd, and while some of these items were expensive (hello cabinets!), many of them were thrifted, free, or purchased for very minimal cost. Budget friendly is my way of life :)
That’s all I have for you today! Do you decorate with rustic home accents? Feel free to shoot me a message, I would love to see them!
Until next time-
Rachael
The Kitchen Reveal You Don't Want To Miss!
Sometimes there are home improvement projects that linger, for years. This would be one of those projects. Our kitchen was 95% finished for the last two years, all but for some 6 or 8 back splash tiles and decor. Well, since this winter is approximately 15 months long, we had time to finally get a few things done around here and this project was one of them!
A little background info:
the home we currently live in was designed on a piece of notebook paper by my husband. We eventually had to have an architect develop the house plans off of our drawing (because let’s face it, we know nothing about truss systems for roof structures) but the floor plan stayed the same. Now we had previously built additions to homes, and remodeled existing structures, but building the entire home from scratch was a new endeavor. Oh, and did I mention we had never designed a kitchen… (yikes!).
So off we went with our notebook paper drawing to meet a local cabinet maker and have him help us come up with something. He told us what worked logistically for wiring and plumbing, and showed us some basic layouts he had in production. I knew I wanted something different and unique and by the time we left our first meeting I am pretty certain he thought I was nuts.
Fast forward to that next summer, and we were laying tile and painting the walls in preparation for the cabinet maker to bring and assemble the cabinets. I don’t have many pictures from this point in time (maybe because we were literally building our home during the night and working during the day), but this photo below shows you the basic outline of our cabinet system (excuse the contractor lighting and pizza box).
The next step was to add counter tops and appliances, which then made this kitchen functional. We were on a time crunch, so finishing touches and decorating took the back burner. We just needed our kitchen to pass the final building inspection and we could worry about the rest later.
Originally, I was interested in concrete counter tops but my husband talked me out of it. We cook A LOT at our house, and he was afraid that we needed a stronger material that could take a beating without showing any signs of wear. I am happy to report that after three years of constant use, these quartz counter tops have held up perfectly and have zero imperfections.
We did add a stainless steel back splash behind the stove area pretty early on, and then gradually finished the rest of that wall with subway tile, as you can see pictured below.
One of the first comments people usually make when they see our kitchen for the first time is that our cabinets look ‘beat up’. Well, I think this is where our custom cabinet maker thought I was nuts, but I wasn’t going to budge on the distressed look. The material is knotty alder, and we chose all of the wood that had the greatest amount of natural knots and ‘imperfections’. Then, combined with black glaze and iron knobs and pulls, this kitchen has the appearance that the cabinets are older or re-purposed, when in fact they are brand new. I know this is a unique look, and it’s not for everyone, but it really came together in the end and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.
Ok, fast forward a couple of years to present time, and the last of the subway tile was installed over the kitchen sink. During the notebook paper design phase, I had pictured a window for this space but it was not feasible since the garage was on the other side of the wall. I still decided to put a window in this space, but just had to be a bit more creative.
I found an old farmhouse window at a salvage barn for $5, and I immediately knew it would work for this space. All of the glass was removed, which was perfect since it would make cleaning a breeze. This window frame is very light, and thus I was able to install it easily with command strips. Plus, I didn’t really want to drill into the fresh tile! (yikes!) And while I love our sink, I would have preferred a copper farm sink but that just wasn’t in the budget for this house (maybe next time!).
Here are a couple more photos/angles of our kitchen:
Well I could go on and on about this kitchen, it really is the focal part of our home and I am so excited that it is finished. This was a huge lingering project that I can finally cross off of our list, all thanks to our epic long winter this year. If you have any other questions about the materials or process, feel free to leave a comment here or catch me on Instagram. As always, thanks for stopping by the blog today! We really appreciate your support!
Spring Farmhouse Decor Items on Amazon (Budget Friendly!)
Hi there!
I know it’s wishful thinking for most of us that spring will be here soon, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to de-clutter, disinfect, and decorate with bright colors. If you have been following for a while now, you know I love all things budget friendly and that includes decor. I frequently make my own decorations, but there are some times when a minor purchase can really make a difference to a space, and today I have brought you my top picks for budget friendly spring farmhouse decor items from Amazon.
*Note: This post contains affiliate links, for my full disclosure please click here.
Quick and Easy Updates
If you are like me, you might not have a ton of time to refresh your home for the next season, which is why I love simple pillow decor. Just bust these out of storage and pop them on the couch! Done!
Incorporate the Outdoors
Spring is a great time to start bringing your indoor and outdoor spaces together. This can easily be accomplished by decorating your front flower beds or starting your garden early indoors. Depending on your weather patterns, this time of year can be busy with planting. For us in the upper Midwest, we have a while to go yet before we can get our hands dirty outside so until then we bring the outdoors in!
Prep the Kitchen
With all the fresh food that will be coming in from the garden, I like to take time to reorganize the pantry. These hanging baskets will be perfect for fresh produce (we are going to try and do a ton of onions this year)!
Everyday Essentials
These last few items can be versatile for many seasons, making them worth the time and effort of installation!
Don’t forget to Pin this post for the future! Simply hover over the image below, and the Pinterest icon will show up, easy!
The Epic Barn Beam Bed Frame!
Hi all! We are in the home stretch leading up to Christmas and many of you are probably already on break for the holidays (this season seemed like it flew by faster than previous years). I have one final post for you before we transition into full Christmas mode at my house, which will consist of a few days computer-free to enjoy this time with family. So if you are sitting in an airport waiting to travel to your holiday gathering, or maybe need a 5 minute ‘break’ from all things Christmas, I have just the post for you!
Recently, we finished up a client project that turned out to be the biggest piece of furniture we have ever created, thus the title of this post. This bed frame required long hours of prep, assembly, take down, haul to its final location, and reassembly, but as you will see it was well worth it and turned out stunning!
The materials for this project included authentic reclaimed barn beams and these were SOLID 8x8 beams, which made them very heavy.
Prior to use, the beams had to be cut, sanded and assembled at our shop to ensure they all fit together properly and weren’t warped by the last 100 years of extreme temperatures of Midwest weather. a simple frame was assembled to keep the beams up off the floor in the client’s room.
Next, each beam was secured in place. To eliminate some of the weight of this piece, an alternate framing technique was used to comply with floor joist specifications and it was completely covered by the mattress and otherwise not visible once assembled.
Here the frame is being finished up and mattress added.
To show you just how big this bed frame is, the mattress pictured is king size!
Pictured below are some up close photos of the wood details on the headboard and beams, each of which are unique. There is just something about the look of authentic barn wood that cannot be recreated with other materials.
The finished project photos!
This bed frame turned out truly stunning!
I absolutely love how it all came together. A sincere thank you to the client who chose us to make this item for her!
The Friendship Fireplace Project!
Hey all, one week until Christmas Eve! Are you ready? (It’s OK, I’m not either!) I’m not too stressed about it either, there’s plenty of time left for that! All of that aside, I am excited to share with you a client project we recently finished up called ‘The Friendship Fireplace’. The street address for this home contains the word ‘Friendship’, thus that is how the project name was developed. We do a number of fireplace/mantel projects and have to keep them straight with unique titles!
The fireplace is often the focal point of the living room as well as the backdrop for family photos, and this homeowner wanted a total remodel of this space to bring it out of the 1970’s. To do that, we first had to start with a clean slate!
Aside from the fireplace itself, there was not any part of the original design that was worth keeping…it all had to go.
And as you can see we made a huge mess, but it was worth it!
Progress photos after some new framing, insulation, and cement wall board.
We needed to redefine this space, and the easiest way to accomplish that was to add a new texture or wall surface. The homeowner chose rough sawn weathered shiplap, which is pictured below. It’s a gorgeous light grey, and really makes this space ‘pop’!
These barn beam mantels are always my personal favorite. Every single one is unique, bringing a different century-old story into each home. This one was mounted with simple gas pipe wall plates and fittings.
And here’s a full length view, complete with fresh tile at the base of the new wall. This family will have a fresh new space to take all of their family photos and the mantel will surely be a talking point with guests for years to come!
We really appreciate the homeowner choosing our business to complete her fireplace remodel!
The fireplace insert remains in original condition, as the homeowner has plans to resurface that herself
