My House

After living in a cute 1940’s cape cod in Pennsylvania for 11 years (you can tour that home HERE), we moved to a 13-year-old suburban home in Rochester, Minnesota, in the summer of 2017. The way this move came about is a pretty awesome story! You can read all about it HERE.

It’s a beautiful, spacious home with an amazing floor plan and thoughtful design details, but it is beige! So, we’ve been working since day one to inject our personality into this home. Here’s the progress so far…

Foyer

I’ve always said, “I have no interest in owning a home with a two story foyer. It’s such a waste of space and they are so hard to decorate.” Well, look at what we have here! It’s a two story foyer. And, it’s actually growing on me. I love the light that streams in and how the staircase is a real feature right when you walk in the door.

Here’s the view from the front door when the stairs were all decked out for Christmas.

…and the view from the home office…

The stairs are one of my favorite things about the house, because they are split stairs! There is a “back staircase” that goes directly to the kitchen, which is handy.

Other than decorating, we haven’t don’t anything to the foyer. We will be painting it soon and, eventually, would like to replace the carpeting on the steps and perhaps the tile in the foyer. Neither of those are a high priority, though, since everything is neutral and in good condition.

Dining Room

The dining room is off the left side of the foyer (from the front door.) It’s a square-ish shaped room, so it’s a bit of a head-scratcher when it comes to furniture arranging, but I’m slowly figuring out how to best use the space.

So far, we swapped out the modern-style fixture for one of my antique chandeliers (which still needs a cord cover), painted the walls and trim, and had hardwood floors installed to match the existing birch floors in the kitchen and eating area.

Chandelier: $4.00 yard sale find (I know!)
Primitive Hutch: $400 on craigslist, painted in a custom mix of MMS Milk Paint Trophy and French Enamel
Oak Table: $150 on craigslist (I’ll be refinishing and painting this table soon!)
French oval-back chairs: $300 on craigslist, painted in MMS Milk Paint in Ironstone, custom-made skirts (you can find the tutorial HERE)
French barrel-back chairs: $150 each from craigslist
Wall color: Pearly White by Sherwin Williams (mixed by Benjamin Moore to match in Aura, matte finish
Trim color: custom match to Farrow & Ball’s All White (mixed by Benjamin Moore in Advanced, satin finish)
Flooring – Birch with a walnut border, installed and finished by Wagner’s Wood Floors.

Home Office

This room is to the right off the front door and it is a great space for an office! I needed one of those, since I will be running my business out of the house.

As we did with the dining room, we took down the curtains, painted the walls, and had the carpeting replaced with birch floors.

Antique Teacher’s Desk: $200, Black Rose Antiques, Chambersburg, PA, painted in MMS Milk Paint Grain Sack
Antique step-back hutch: $300 D&L Treasures, New Oxford, PA
Antique bookcase: $250 off craigslist (came from a school built in the 1920’s in Wilder, MN)
Checked chair (read about that HERE)
Wall color: Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray (mixed at 50%, Aura, matte finish)
Trim color: custom match to Farrow & Ball’s All White (mixed by Benjamin Moore in Advanced, satin finish)
Flooring – Birch, installed and finished by Wagner’s Wood Floors.

Things still on the to-do list:

finish painting the trim and doors
find a rug
make curtains and seat cushion cover for desk chair
hang pictures
finish craigslist bookcase
find a filing cabinet to paint/finish for under the inspiration board

Living Room

This room is straight ahead through an archway that runs under the stairs. It’s our main hangout and I love that we made the decision to have it electronic-free (that’s all in the basement.) This room is flooded with light and we have enjoy the fireplace almost daily in the winter.

One of the first things we did after moving in was paint these walls and built-ins! I recently made and hung curtains for the space as well, to control the light and add some warmth and visual texture.

Wall color: Wickham Gray by Benjamin Moore, Aura, matte finish
Trim & Built-ins: custom match to Farrow & Ball’s All White (mixed by Benjamin Moore in Advanced, satin finish)
Sectional: Ashley Furniture
French chairs: $300 on craigslist (I upholstered them in antique hemp sheets, grain sacks, and vintage check fabric)
Cow painting (Eulalie): Cindy Austin Fine Art

Still on the to-do list:

Make pillows to coordinate/match the curtains
Finish hanging pictures on the wall (and I’m still figuring out the best furniture arrangement for this room!)
Install crown molding & box beams
Finish painting trim

Kitchen

Like the rest of the house, the kitchen has great bones, but it needed a lot of paint to make it fit my design aesthetic!

We replaced the modern pendants with some small spot/task lighting to accommodate the pot rack. We also painted the cabinets, walls, and trim, replaced the faucet and updated the appliances.

…and we built some simple open shelves in the awkward recess.

Wall color: Pearly White by Sherwin Williams (mixed by Benjamin Moore to match in Aura, matte finish)
Trim & cabinet color: custom match to Farrow & Ball’s All White (mixed by Benjamin Moore in Advanced, satin finish)
Doors & island color: Stonington Gray, Benjamin Moore, Advanced, satin finish
Bar stools: Restoration Hardware
Pot rack: Calphalon Stainless Steel Pot Rack
Faucet: Delta Cassidy Kitchen Faucet
Cabinet hardware: Hobby Lobby
Braided jute runner: Joss & Main
Applianced: Kitchen Aid (you can read about the “beefy range” HERE)