sweater. (from last year. similar here and here.) jeans. (my favorite skinnies.) boots.
Okay guys, I know I’ve been promising it and here it is, the first (very rough) tour of our new (very old) farmhouse. Let me just preface this whole post by saying that this is very much a before post. We moved in just over a week ago and still aren’t even all the way unpacked. Things aren’t even that tidy yet, because I’m still figuring out where everything is going to go, and we sold a bunch of furniture that I didn’t like anymore before we left Seattle. It’s also a bigger house than we’ve lived in before, so a lot of the spaces are pretty empty right now while we decide what we want to do with each room, but I wanted to give you a peek at our little New England Farmhouse.
The first thing you have to know about this house is that it is old. Very, very old. Like the ink had only been dry on the constitution for 3 years when our house was built (in 1790), but it has amazing bones. This house is solid, well built and so pretty. Seriously, everyone that comes in the door says something about how pretty it is. I think it’s just so rare to find a home this old that’s in such good shape, and that has been preserved so well.
That being said, there’s lots of “character” and plenty of quirky little things about the house, we’re going to have our work cut out for us, that’s for sure and I cannot wait to dig in and get started. This is seriously my dream house and I love that it’s so old and needs a lot of love and elbow grease. I love to work and this is my favorite kind.
If you scroll to the bottom of the post I’ll show you what I have in mind, and what I’ve been pinning away like a mad woman on my pinterest board.
Okay so, let’s get started.
The Front.
I have always loved white houses and I fell head over heels the first time I saw ours. Isn’t she pretty? I’ve been going back and forth about whether I want to keep the front door red or paint it black, but I think it’ll stay red for now.
My favorite part is our little side front door. It has a little storm area you walk into before you walk into the house and it has the neatest old doorbell right on the door. It also keeps the house so much warmer.
I love our little est. 1790 plaque. That’s another favorite.
Our red barn is up the hill behind our house. Can’t wait to get a horse! Eeek!
Okay the first room you walk into from the side front door is the family room. (See the little doorbell in the middle of the door, the ring is so cute!)
This is a long skinny room and right now Craig and I are trying to decide what to do with this space. The table was left here when we moved in. I’m thinking of doing something cool with it.
And this is the other side of the room. It’s a really long room and I can’t wait to get my hands on it, I’ll share more of our plans for the room in a later post.
The family room lead directly into the formal dining room. (We don’t have a table yet, didn’t have a formal dining in our last house.) It houses the smaller set of stairs, (which are super steep and a little nerve-wracking with kids- so of course everyone uses them the most) and the wood stove.
I want to put a big white farmhouse table in here, but right now it’s just garnished with boxes. ;-)
The dining room leads into the living room (and also the kitchen- more on that in a minute) Could you just die over those original wood beams? This house you guys… anyway, right now I call it the gallery, because all our art and nicknacks are just hanging out on the floor. We sold our old living room furniture before we left Seattle so this room is a blank canvas. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what I want to do in here… It also has our piano (which I am definitely going to paint this year.)
And the more formal set of stairs which are wider, less steep and way easier to climb. (Which means, of course no one uses them.)
On to the kitchen. We’re going to do a complete overhaul in here, in the future, but for now, it’s a nice bright open space (although that fan needs to come down ASAP). There are definitely going to be some tricky design aspects to overcome, but that just comes with having an old house, and I love the challenge.
This breakfast nook is one of my favorite spots in the house. It’s so bright and there are windows with views of our property the whole way around.
I have two swinging doors in my kitchen and I am obsessed with them. I mean, look how cute!
Also off the formal dining is a nice office. Pretty with lots of windows. And I’m intentionally not showing you the corner because it’s got a ton of boxes in it. I want to turn it into a library.
It has some cute french doors too.
If you go down the hallway from the kitchen, you get the laundry/mudroom. Guys this room alone would have sold me on the house. It is HUGE! It’s every mother’s dream come true and I can’t wait to give it an overhaul and some serious personality.
Don’t mind the laundry mess. ;-)
Downstairs/kids bath.
The master bedroom is over the family room, which means it too is nice long room. Right now it doesn’t have a bath, but there’s plenty of square footage to add one and a larger closet, which we plan on doing down the road. For now, it’s just such a pretty bright space. Lots of windows, pretty wood floors…
still haven’t found my bedskirt BTW. Ah the joys of moving.
I love all the halls and doorways upstairs. Lot’s of character, original doors and my kids have a lot of fun with the old latches.
Look at that awesome original floor vent. It lets heat from the wood stove upstairs. Character…
There are three more bedrooms, all a nice size, with lots of windows. The girls share this one, the boys are in another, and the fourth is going to be a guest room.
Upstairs bathroom: this is mine and Craig’s bath until we remodel our room.
And there you have it! Our farmhouse!
What I want to do with the house is honor it’s history and update it so it feels fresh and modern. I’m obsessed with Modern Farmhouse style and luckily we bought the perfect house to bring that style to life.
