Welcome to the farmhouse! I thought I’d do a fun little tour of what our house looks like on an average summer day. Other than making sure it was clean and fluffing a few pillows, I didn’t do any “staging” before snapping the photos. Meaning, if you came for coffee, this is what it would look like, though there may be a few more things on the kitchen island (keeping that cleared is a never-ending goal, lol).
So maybe coffee or tea sounds like a good idea? Grab your favorite drink and come on in - I’ll remind you of some of our before-and-after videos if you’d like to check them out and I’ll talk a bit about what I like in the rooms, what I hope to change, and how they are working for us (after remodeling from scratch in a few of them).
Lesson #1: If you have a choice of a dark wood finish or light wood finish for a front door, GO WITH THE LIGHT, no matter how cool the dark would look contrasted with white. I think there were scratches, nicks, and paint smears within the first month after installing it (the little finish crayons they sent with the door do nothing). I learned with this floors and I’m so happy with our light colored floors that show nothing - I wish I had remembered that when I picked out the door.
The living room is still pretty much the same from it’s before and after video, other than the dark green couch we got a couple years ago to replace our aging white, slipcovered sofa. I do wish this room were bigger, but it is what it is and we can use the entry and part of the dining room for bigger groups when needed.
The only thing I change seasonally in this room are the throw pillows and sometimes the plant on the footstool. The pillows in the photo are all covers I’ve gotten from H&M Home, the couch has cotton pillows and the chairs linen (it’s an affordable place for home decor that hardly anyone talks about).
On the wish list: Lined pinch-pleat curtains to replace the temporary Ikea cotton panels I put up when we first moved in.
The other side of the living room holds the dining room, with the entry area between them. In the living room video linked above I talk about adding this wall to create this area and while occasionally it would be nice to have more room, daily I’m glad for an entry where we can keep coats, leashes, and shoes. I love having the wall for the bookcase and decor, too - one big open room just didn’t seem right in this 120 year old house.
Seasonal changes: The dining room runner and flowers (right now two mason jars with a mixture of flowers that are blooming in the yard) and the top of the bookcase (that orchid has been blooming for 4+ months now, though it is finally on it’s way out).
I’m sharing a couple of different angles of the kitchen than I usually share, just to spice things up here, lol. The kitchen is probably the most dramatic change from before in the whole remodel (though the main bedroom is a close second), so do take a look at the before-and-after-video if you haven’t seen it.
I worried about lack of storage, just from the confines of the layout we had to choose, especially the pantry (which is half a furnace), but it all has worked out great for both entertaining and all the cooking I do. The island is the real workhorse which I’ve completely filled in busy cooking and harvest seasons. The microwave had no other place to live and it’s been fine here - I actually like not having it front and center.
I keep a seasonal flower arrangement on the island all the time - it brings me great joy to clip flowers, add them to a pitcher or jar, and enjoy them from all sides when in the kitchen. That’s not to say sometimes I don’t get tired of having to come up with one and that’s when I go with a potted plant or a faux flower that I don’t have to change out every 4-5 days!
On the wish list: Shhhh, don’t tell Brian, but I’m kind of tired of the black scones over the windows and would like a smaller white-shaded sconce that coordinates with the other fixtures - and he’d have to install them, ha!
This shot of the kitchen is from the door to the new side porch (yay!) where you can see how I use the space at the bottom of the stairs for a small desk. Any type of table would fit here, but a desk has been great for me - as someone with a food blog having the computer near the kitchen is a must. (And yes, I’m still using my vintage mason jar water bottle at home - I love it!)
Speaking of the side eating porch, I had to show what it looks like with the door open from the kitchen because the highlight of the summer has been being able to eat and relax out there now! It’s really everything I dreamed it would be when I first saw out the little window that was where the door is now. We still need to install the ceiling, paint, add steps to the lawn, and do more little things but I’m already enjoying it so much.
The area to the right of the door is our coffee bar and much needed storage - I keep the slow cooker, instant pot, and other small appliances in these cabinets (as well as a printer for the desk computer- we made sure to install an outlet before adding the cabinets!).
From the kitchen a large hallway leads to the laundry/mudroom and the main bedroom (and the bath to the left that you can’t see). I had these cabinets added after we moved in when I could see how the kitchen storage was working. They hold canned goods, jars, baking equipment and other kitchen overflow. They were worth the extra expense for sure.
While the rest of the farmhouse was remodeled within the existing footprint, we did need to add 8 feet onto the back to create this main bedroom (and add a couple feet to the bathroom). It’s probably the room people like the most when they see the house, but like I mentioned in the before and after video I wish I hadn’t raised the ceiling to 11 feet - it added a lot of expense and headaches (that continue when we need to change a light bulb or wash windows) and our 9-feet ceilings are plenty high.
But it’s beautiful and full of light and warmth in the winter from the south-facing windows. Right now, though? We keep the curtains on the sides of the bed closed through the afternoon to keep the heat a little less.
I usually change the bedding twice a year - darker for fall and winter and lighter for spring and summer. And by bedding I mean the duvet, pillow covers, and small pillow (I do use flannel sheets in the winter and cotton percale in the summer). Right now it’s a sage green linen set I got from H&M Home awhile ago.
On the wish list: A new reading chair. The chair pictured was a ratty $35 chair we’ve had since our Portland days (so…20 years?) that I slipcovered with salvaged matelasse coverlets. It’s been great, but it is fraying all over the place and I don’t have the time to make a new cover.
Here’s a view of the bedroom I don’t show much - of the closet door wall. The walk-in closet was created from the addition, so everything from the right of it was here - and that narrow space was about the width of the original room.
My favorite thing still about bringing back the farmhouse character that had been “remuddled” out of it is the salvaged doors we found and had stripped in Portland. The nice man stripped all the hinges, knobs, and backplates, too, so we have wonderful, wonky old doors that everyone things are original to the house. Mission accomplished. And I love the contrast with the white walls.
I’m grateful for this bathroom every day - it’s pleasing to look at, has a window, and is way more functional than what it used to be. I found the dresser on FB marketplace but the top had major problems so I painted it to look like marble. It was supposed to be the white color of the wall (same paint) but when I added the water-based poly topcoat (non-yellowing…) for some reason it yellowed. Ugh. It’s grown on me, but I still wish it were whiter.
Our pothos plant in the shower is the happiest of any pothos I’ve had - it loves it there and I have to regularly trim it back.
Lesson #2: Choose a tile you will be able to live with for years and years and years. I thought I knew this. But for some reason I thought that this trendy flower tile would age with the house and it just hasn’t. The shower tile is hexagon and subway and I wish I had just continued the hexagon tile all through the floor. It’s okay, but I don’t think it will continue to age well at all.
Our upstairs is mostly finished except for the stairs and landing (cough, cough). I don’t really do seasonal changes up here, but thought I would include it in the tour just so you could see the whole house.
My office/workroom works so well for me! I have the desk and storage area, a sewing area, and the extra sleeping area. I’m SO glad we added this day bed-trundle, we’ve used it a lot and I’m happy to be able to host more people.
Dream wish list: I don’t really think this will ever happen, but the ceilings in this room and the guest room (above the living and dining rooms) are low and I’d love to be able to vault them. Wouldn’t that look amazing? Brian was horrified when I mentioned it, lol.
This is the guest room - both these rooms are really good sizes. We were able to restore the original fir floors upstairs which I think looks good. I think a lot of people would say that they weren’t salvageable because they have a lot of gaps, holes, and gouges - but I just call it character (and keep a good vacuum on hand, lol).
Do you spy the bench we made from two old chairs and the mattress cushion I made? Still one of my favorite DIYs!
We only finished the upstairs bath a couple years ago, so it still feels so new to me whenever I use it! We had to use a shower fixture with exposed pipes because of the gable roof, but it ended up being one of my favorite things about the whole space.
I don’t have a before-and-after video for this space, but you can see some of the before photos in this Good Things List. I wish we had been able to finish this years earlier, it’s been so great to have two functioning bathrooms.
So that’s it for this tour of the farmhouse as it is in July of 2026. Thanks for making it to the end - stay tuned for more additions, changes, and anything the future may hold!
