Our 1930s Farmhouse

Hi, friends! It’s been a while! Thank you all so much for being so patient while I took a little break as we transitioned to life with two kids and got settled into our new home. We’re not entirely unpacked yet, but enough that we are starting to find our new routine and that I am feeling ready to get back into the swing of things. I have craved doing a project for so long, and the wheels in my head have been turning with so many ideas since the second I saw the real estate listing for our new house! Someone please put a paint brush back in my hand STAT! Today, I’m going to show you a little bit of our new house and tell you about the first few projects we have planned. 

Ever since I was a little girl, I have wanted an old farmhouse... long before "farmhouse" was a decor style. I grew up in Louisiana, and my favorite field trips as a kid were always when we went to tour plantation homes. I was always fascinated by the beautiful details of the buildings and hearing the history of each house. All old homes have a story to tell. 

We eventually moved to Maryland where there were a lot less plantations, but plenty of old farmhouses. In high school, my dad and I used to drive by this one old farmhouse and daydream about it out loud to each other. Then, we were lucky enough to tour it when a family friend ended up moving into it. I think that’s when my obsession with the idea of buying an old farmhouse really began. 

The first home my husband and I bought was certainly no farmhouse. It was a very traditional split foyer house. We poured a lot of love into it and tried to add lots of character to it. We really loved our first home, but we both always knew it wasn’t our forever home. It was also right outside of Washington, DC, which we both quickly learned was a little too much hustle and bustle for us. When we got the opportunity to move to a more rural area, we jumped at the chance even though it was crazy timing with a newborn.

As we were looking for houses in the area, it seemed like there was absolutely nothing that met our needs, and there was a stagnant real estate market. Then one day, a house popped up, and the second I looked at the listing, I knew it was meant to be. It was a 1930's farmhouse on an acre of land. All of the major renovations (plumbing, electrical, etc.) had already been done, but it still had plenty of farmhouse charm. I was in love. When we went to tour it, we both fell even more in love, and then lots of coincidences started happening that convinced us it was destined to be our home. Thankfully, the homeowners were on the same quick timeline that we were, and before I knew it, I was standing in the driveway, with a newborn strapped to me in the Baby K’tan, watching movers unload all of our belongings. We bought our dream home.

Moving with a newborn and a toddler is tough. There are still boxes everywhere. There are piles of things we haven’t found a place for. There are toys and laundry and dishes that I don’t have time to keep up with. There aren’t enough hours in the day, not enough energy to get anything done. But when I walk into a room and imagine what it used to be like 90 years ago, or when I look out the window at the field behind us and think about watching our boys running around outside getting to know nature when they’re older, or when we drive 15 minutes and look out over the big ocean and instantly feel at peace, I know that all of this chaos right now is for the best. We made the right decision. We found the right place for us.

Enough chit chat. Let me show you a little bit of our new house! I totally wanted to take before pictures of every room when the house was empty, but when you are moving a long distance, you're at the mercy of the moving truck. By the time I was able to arrive at our new home, the movers had half of the truck unloaded! And like I said, unpacking with kiddos is slow moving, and we have a lot of work ahead of us, so for now, I’ll show you the exterior and just the rooms we plan on tackling first.

This is the "front" of the house. When the house was renovated, they closed in the original front porch and added a front porch to the side of the house. So the road you are looking at here is actually the driveway, and the front of the house looks out over the property.

We would love to remove some of those bushes and widen the walkway to the front porch to make it more inviting and open. 

This is the view of our property from the front porch. (Pardon the overgrown landscaping... who has time for weeding with a newborn and a toddler?! 😬) There are several storage sheds, and there is an out building to the left that we plan to convert into a guest cottage. We also have a lot to do in terms of landscaping and brush clean up. The back of the property is very overgrown with shrubs, trees, vines, grasses, etc. 

The patio area is nicely shaded and has a firepit. In the evenings, we love looking out over the field and watching the deer graze. I also never really realized before that watching the wind move in waves over a field is just as relaxing as watching ocean waves crash on a beach. And watching a storm roll in over the field is even cooler. Another cool thing-- that's a magnolia tree on the right. Remember how I said I grew up in Louisiana? The magnolia is the Louisiana state tree. I love that we have a little piece of my past right here in our yard.

As far as exterior plans go, here are some of the things we would like to accomplish over the next few years:

• Redo landscaping
• Clean up brush
• Widen front walkway
• Install perimeter fence
• Repair/replace old decking
• Paint tin roof a different color (neither of us are big fans of the red color)
• Install craftsman style window trim
• Convert outbuilding to guest cottage

Here are some of the little farmhouse details we love inside and out...

The rustic fence. There is a little fencing in front of the house and then along the road. We would like to install a different fence around the whole property to keep our kiddos safe, but we will be keeping the section in front of the house. It's so perfectly aged and beautiful!

Black Eyed Susans are the Maryland state flower, so it's also very fitting that we have them in our yard. They are so beautiful and happy looking. Plus, this momma loves low maintenance plants!

The house is full of industrial light fixtures that fit our tastes. And check out the exposed rafters of the kitchen ceiling 😍

There are two stair cases in this house, and this one is part of the original farmhouse (there was an addition to the back of the house at some point). I love the detailing and the painted steps. It makes me want to restore some of the character that has been forgotten over time... like the old brick chimney we discovered in the attic that has been hidden by drywall downstairs. I am so excited to discover little things like that and to let this old house's story unfold, all while building our own new story.

Not all of the house is so beautiful right now, and we definitely have our work cut out for us. Since we plan for this to be our forever home, we have no need to rush. Right now, our focus is on basic function and small-ish updates that make it fit our style. We'll get into some bigger reno projects later down the line... as in, when there are no toddlers running around 😉 We've decided on our first few projects, so here's what we're up against...

The first space we plan to tackle is the pantry. Not gonna lie, I’m going to miss our huge walk-in pantry from the old house. Maybe we’ll add that to our to do list eventually, but for now, we have this small closet pantry to work with. After having such an organized pantry before, the current setup feels like such a mess! I can't function like this. My brain won't even let me do any real grocery shopping until everything has its place. I crave organization. We plan on installing new, deeper shelving so that we can get back to using our woodburned pantry crates. I’m brainstorming some other small pantry ideas too to make the most use of the space.

The room that needs the most love is the powder room. It already has some industrial light fixtures, but it is currently yellow and mirrorless with an old laminate sheet floor. I'll be sharing my exact design plans with you soon, but it includes, paint, a new mirror, some more skinnylap, updated flooring, and my favorite color. I can't wait!!! Here's what it looked like when we moved in...

Next up is the future playroom. As I mentioned, the original front porch was closed in and turned into a room. It's right off of the living room, so we think it would be a great place for the playroom. And since a play area is a pretty high priority these days, we have decided to tackle it for the fall One Room Challenge this year. I don't want to share too many details about it just yet, but if all goes according to plan, it's going to be a huge transformation!

I can't even believe I'm showing you this mess, but here it is. We are in serious need of toy and book storage. The bookshelf that the toddler has been climbing has got to go. There are a few other safety issues in the room and some serious cosmetic issues! There is a lot of work to be done, but I am so excited and wish I could get started now!!!

Well, until we unpack a little more, that's all I can share for now. But stay tuned for lots of design plans very soon! I hope you'll follow along as we transform our new home sweet home :) Join me on Instagram for some sneak peeks of our progress!

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