Century-Old Farmhouse Becomes New Forever Home | Episode 4

Written by Jenny Marrs on November 19, 2019. Posted in Fixer to Fabulous.

Last week’s episode featured a beloved family farmhouse that has been in Lisa’s family for generations. Her dad was (literally) born and raised in this home and Lisa spent her childhood visiting her granny right here. Preserving the nostalgic significance and essence of the home was of utmost importance during the renovation. I absolutely loved being able to keep original elements of the home, incorporate family keepsakes and maintain the serene and welcoming feel of this special place. I know, I say it every week, but this one was truly special. This family is endearing and we absolutely fell in love with them and their robust family history in this place. Dave and I were honored and humbled to have been entrusted with the keys to this family home and we prayed for our work to be life-giving in this place for generations to come.

Exterior

BEFORE: a farmhouse with potential.

The outside of the existing house had the potential to be adorable — it just needed a little sprucing up! After we stripped and stained the doors, added new cedar shutters, power washed and stained the deck, and spruced up the landscaping, the exterior was almost completely transformed. We also installed new brick steps and a new brick chimney and, most importantly, we extended the front porch in order to create a new, expanded outdoor dining space for the Crowder family.

AFTER: a charming modern farmhouse.

Sources

Landscaping | John Zito Landscaping LLC

Brick | Antique Chicago – Ryder Brick

Cedar Window Shutters | Custom by Dave Marrs

Exterior Siding & Trim Paint Color | Benjamin Moore Super White

The Dining Room/Kitchen

BEFORE: a cramped space with poor functionality.

The existing kitchen was teeny-tiny! Although it somehow managed to ﬁt the bathroom vanity, there was no room for the refrigerator — which sat out in the dining room. We were able to knock down the dividing wall in order to combine these two spaces to create one large eat-in kitchen (and we moved the vanity to its rightful place in the bathroom :)).

Lisa’s Granny was the matriarch of the family and spent a lot of time in this space (I displayed a photo of her in the original kitchen on the new open shelving). When she wasn’t in the kitchen, she was tending to her garden or in the root cellar pickling vegetables. In honor of her — Dave built a “pickle shelf” in the kitchen for the family to store canned goods, preserves, baking supplies — and of course, pickles. We stained the cabinetry in a pickled finish as an ode to Granny, incorporated an old awning as the range hood for an unexpected pop of farmhouse character, added in a free standing island and moved the adorable vintage-looking refrigerator to it’s rightful position IN the kitchen.

AFTER: an open and adorable farmhouse cottage kitchen.

Sources

Island Pendant | Avenue Design – Link

Cabinetry | Premier Wood Concepts – Link

Range and Dishwasher | Metro Appliances

Refrigerator | Smeg USA

Faucet | Signature Hardware – Link

Cabinet Hardware | Top Knobs

Cabinet Paint Color | Pickled Stain + Benjamin Moore White Dove

Wall Paint Color | Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray HC-173

Dining Table & Chairs | Avenue Design Company – Link

The Living Room

BEFORE: an out-dated, stuffy room.

This living room was cramped, hot (literally – we renovated in the summer and the one wall mounted AC unit didn’t function well at all!), and very out-dated. I knew that we needed to open up the entire floor plan of this small home in order to make it feel larger and to give the Crowder family space to relax and entertain.

After removing the wall separating the dining room and living room, we discovered original rough-sawn oak boards that Dave was able to reuse as a photo frame for a foil-pressed print I had made out of a page from Lisa’s granddad’s journal.

When Lisa had showed us her grandpa’s journals, I knew I had to incorporate them into their home. He had written a journal entry EVERY SINGLE DAY of his adult life. Lisa and her family have dozens of these precious family heirlooms. I was so inspired by this tangible legacy he left for his family.

This gold foil-pressed print of the journal entry from Lisa’s dad’s 4th birthday was the perfect addition to the restored farmhouse walls and when Papaw saw it and exclaimed “well, all be!” Dave and were brought to tears.

We were also able to restore the original mantle and create a working fireplace for the Crowder family (something that was of utmost importance to them). Now, this space will be super cozy in the wintertime! I can’t wait to see it decked out for Christmas!! (The original mantle still contained generations of stocking nail holes so it is the perfect place for stockings to be hung).

AFTER: an open space with sentimental pieces throughout.

Sources

Fan | Kichler

Foil-Press Print| Minted – Link

Sofa & Chairs | Avenue Design Co

Wall Paint Color | Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray HC-173

Bathroom

BEFORE: a very rustic bathroom.

To call this bathroom “rustic” is a very nice way to explain the existing condition of the space. It needed a complete overhaul! We reframed the room in order to give us more space to work with, added a tiled shower (I don’t know how but I didn’t get a single photo of the shower!), and skimmed the walls with the original rough-sawn oak boards discovered under the wall separating the living and dining room. (And, don’t worry – we sealed the boards with a clear sealer to protect them from water damage).

I wanted to incorporate the “farm” aspect of this farmhouse and decided a concrete trough-style sink would be the perfect modern addition to this space. Although Chase and Dave thought they could handle the project, we ended up bringing in a concrete professional who did an absolutely outstanding job with this sink! This bathroom was transformed and now fit in with the modern farmhouse feel throughout the rest of the home.

AFTER: a modern farmhouse bathroom with industrial touches.

Sources

Concrete Bathroom Sink | Forever Design LLC – Link

Bathroom Lights | Kichler

Faucets | Signature Hardware – Link

Frosted Glass Spray | Lowe’s – Link

Wall Color | Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter HC-172

Master Bedroom

BEFORE: a small dark room.

The master bedroom wasn’t part of our original plan but we just couldn’t bear to leave it as the only unfinished room in the house (not featured were the other two bedrooms where we stripped and sealed the floors, painted, added new lights and new windows). This room had original hardwood flooring that was in great condition underneath old carpet. We were able to restore it and match the stain to the rest of the home for a seamless look and feel.

The big find in here was the backside of the original fireplace! The brick was still in tact and created a gorgeous focal point for this room – making it a cozy haven for the Crowders.