Our Farmhouse Renovation Tour: A Complete Look at Our Dream Home’s Transformation
Welcome to an exclusive, comprehensive tour of our ongoing farmhouse renovation! This marks the first truly complete walkthrough we’ve shared since our initial “before” tour, showcasing the incredible transformation and meticulous efforts poured into restoring and enhancing our beloved historic home. We are thrilled to finally bring you inside and reveal the significant progress we’ve made on this exciting journey.
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Join us as we explore what we’ve accomplished so far, pinpoint our current stage in this extensive remodel, and unveil some never-before-seen spaces. After years of tackling foundational work, intricate electrical systems, and essential insulation, we’re finally immersing ourselves in the most rewarding phases: finishing rooms, adding character, and seeing our vision come to life. In other words, the truly “fun stuff” is now underway!
Experience the Full Renovation: Year 3 Video Tour
While the photographs below offer a glimpse into our exciting progress, for the most immersive experience and a full, dynamic house tour, we highly recommend watching our in-depth video. The video provides a dynamic perspective, allowing you to truly appreciate the scale of our work, including a special visit to the upstairs – a space we haven’t showcased since day one – where we delve into our future plans and aspirations for those areas.
A Detailed Look: Our Farmhouse Renovation Progress
The Grand Entrance: Our New Front Door
Our journey begins at the heart of our home’s curb appeal: the brand-new front door. This particular door, a purchase made conveniently online through Home Depot, replaced the original, which was a challenging but ultimately rewarding decision. Interestingly, we discovered it was more cost-effective to buy it online than in-store – a handy tip for fellow renovators! If I were to offer one piece of advice from our experience, it would be to opt for a lighter wood color if possible; the dark finish, while elegant, tends to highlight every speck of dust and fingerprint. It’s a small detail, but one that impacts daily maintenance.
Many of you might recall the quirky history of this farmhouse: during the removal of the old vinyl siding, we uncovered evidence of two original front doors (visible in the “before” section of the photo above). This surprising discovery not only offered a fascinating peek into the home’s past but also elegantly explained why the existing front door was so oddly off-center, despite the perfectly symmetrical window placement. This architectural inconsistency was something that genuinely bothered us, making a complete redesign of the entry point a non-negotiable part of our renovation plans.
Reimagining the Layout: Living and Dining Areas
Moving beyond the entryway, you’ll immediately notice the significant structural change we’ve implemented in the living-dining area: a newly added wall. This strategic addition serves a dual purpose: it gracefully separates the two distinct rooms, creating a more defined and intimate living space, while also providing a dedicated entry wall area adjacent to the front door. Previously, walking directly into one expansive, open room felt disconnected and less authentic to an old farmhouse aesthetic. My intuition told me that introducing a wall would restore that classic, cozy farmhouse feel and vastly improve the functionality of the space.
Our design instincts were powerfully confirmed when we uncovered the faint outline of an original wall on the floor, precisely between where the two old front doors would have been. This discovery was a profound moment, affirming that our decision to reinstate a dividing wall was not merely an aesthetic preference but a restoration of the home’s historical integrity. We intentionally designed the opening within this new wall to be generously wide, ensuring a beautiful, unhindered flow between the living and dining rooms. This philosophy of enhancing flow extended throughout the house; we also significantly widened the doorways leading into and out of the kitchen. It’s remarkable how such a seemingly simple alteration can make such a profound difference in the overall spaciousness and navigability of an older home.
Artistry and Function: Our Custom Coffee Bar
Before we venture further into the main renovation tour, I simply must highlight this absolutely stunning custom cabinet, a true masterpiece crafted by my incredibly talented stepdad. This piece is a testament to bespoke design and clever functionality. It features clever pocket doors that smoothly retract, allowing us to reveal a fully equipped coffee station for morning rituals or entertaining. When not in use, these doors elegantly close, discreetly tucking away the coffee bar and maintaining a pristine, uncluttered look, especially important as this area will be visible from the front rooms of the house.
What makes this cabinet even more special is that it’s part of a thoughtfully designed set. These particular cabinets are custom-built with a narrower profile, perfectly tailored to fit beneath the stairs. We collaborated closely on their design, ensuring they not only provided essential storage but also emulated the charm and character of a freestanding furniture piece you might traditionally find in a vintage farmhouse kitchen. The anticipation of seeing the entire set fully installed and integrated into the space is almost unbearable – it promises to be a focal point of unique craftsmanship and nostalgic appeal. (For those who watch the video, you’ll catch a glimpse of a beautifully painted green cabinet nearby! A little hint: it’s destined for our new bathroom, adding a pop of classic color and custom storage.)
The Heart of the Home: Our Evolving Kitchen
Stepping through the newly widened opening into our expanded kitchen, the transformation is truly breathtaking. It’s hard to believe how far this space has come from its original state, particularly the area around the window above the sink, which once looked directly into what was essentially an enclosed porch. Today, that very section – the former enclosed porch – has been seamlessly integrated into the kitchen’s footprint. This enlarged area will soon house our impressive stove wall and form a crucial part of the kitchen island, which will feature the main sink, offering a spacious and highly functional layout perfect for cooking and gathering.
My heart genuinely skips a beat over two distinct features in this space that epitomize the farmhouse aesthetic we’re cultivating. Firstly, the exquisite beadboard on both the walls and ceiling provides a consistent, charming texture, perfectly matching the original beadboard ceiling found in the main kitchen area. This choice not only adds historical authenticity but also a wonderful warmth and character. Secondly, the elegant arched cabinet wall to the left, which we previously showcased unpainted, is now beautifully painted and perfectly in place. The way the old arch and the newer bottom cabinet have been integrated makes them appear as one cohesive, built-in piece, adding an immense amount of architectural interest and timeless appeal to the entire kitchen.
Addressing Structural Quirks: The Stairwell Overhaul
Adjacent to the kitchen, we encounter our stairwell, an area that is finally slated for a much-needed and complete overhaul next week. The accompanying photo above serves as a vivid illustration of the “willy-nilly” and haphazard construction methods employed in this old farmhouse. We discovered that a set of newer, wider steps had been crudely built directly on top of the original, steeper stairs, held in place with an alarming assortment of beadboard scraps and 2x4s. It’s no wonder these stairs felt so rickety and unsafe! This section of the renovation isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s a critical structural rectification that will ensure safety and stability for decades to come, bringing the stairwell up to modern building codes while preserving its historic charm.
Transitional Beauty: The Hallway
Transitioning seamlessly from the kitchen, we arrive in the hallway, an area that boasts an exquisite original wood ceiling, lending a sense of timeless character. The walls are adorned with beadboard, cleverly utilizing leftover materials from the kitchen renovation, ensuring consistency and minimizing waste – a true farmhouse approach! This continuous use of materials helps to create a cohesive flow throughout the home, connecting spaces with shared design elements. It’s worth noting that this particular wall wasn’t quite complete when we filmed the video tour, so these current photos offer an even more up-to-date glimpse into our ongoing progress, highlighting the continuous evolution of our farmhouse dream.
A Sanctuary Unveiled: The Master Bedroom
Through the inviting hall doorway, we enter the expanded master bedroom, a true sanctuary defined by its impressive high ceilings and grand, tall windows. The choice of wall cladding here is a testament to both thoughtful design and cost-effectiveness. We’ve utilized thin plywood, cut to a width that beautifully mimics the original wood walls found elsewhere in the house. This method proved to be incredibly easy to install and remarkably budget-friendly, with each sheet costing only $11 – a significant saving compared to standard plywood options, without compromising on the desired aesthetic. This approach allows us to achieve that authentic, rustic farmhouse charm while maintaining our renovation budget.
Currently, Brian is meticulously finishing the window molding, applying techniques similar to those detailed in our DIY tutorial for redoing the living room windows. Once these intricate details are complete, the entire room, including the new wall cladding and trim, will receive a fresh coat of crisp white spray paint, promising to transform the space into a bright, airy, and truly enchanting retreat.
The windows in this expanded master bedroom are undeniably a dramatic feature, soaring towards the high ceilings and inviting an abundance of natural light. To help ground the space and bring the impressive height down to a more comfortable, “human level,” we plan to install stunning wood beams on the ceiling. These beams will not only add architectural interest and a touch of rustic elegance but will also visually lower the ceiling, creating a cozier, more intimate atmosphere within the grand proportions of the room.
Restoring Charm: The Farmhouse Bathroom
While we do touch upon the laundry room in our video tour and discuss its upcoming plans, its current appearance doesn’t deviate significantly from the last time you saw it. So, let’s shift our focus to the bathroom, a space that has undergone a remarkable transformation and is truly starting to shine.
After meticulously priming the window molding and the original ceiling, the room has been instantly brightened, exuding a clean and fresh aesthetic. What makes this bathroom particularly special to me is how much of its original character we’ve managed to preserve. Everything in this room, apart from the new tile work, is original, honoring the home’s history. This blend of historic integrity and fresh finishes makes it one of my absolute favorite spaces. All that remains now is to apply the final coats of paint in Benjamin Moore’s timeless “Simply White” – a classic choice that will enhance its airy feel – and to install the carefully selected fixtures, which will bring our vision to complete fruition.
For a detailed look into the aesthetic and functional choices we’ve made for this space, you can explore the comprehensive decorating plan for this room here.
As for the upstairs, we do take you there in the video, but fair warning – it’s still very much a work in progress and not quite ready for its close-up in photos. So, for that raw, unvarnished look at what’s next, you’ll definitely want to watch the video!
We genuinely value your thoughts and feedback on our renovation journey. Please share what you think in the comments below – especially as we move into the exciting stages that truly bring these rooms to life and make a tangible difference!