Farmhouse Goals for 2016

2015 was a big year! I graduated with my master’s degree, got married, and visited some truly amazing places. It was also the first full year we spent in our farmhouse! Unfortunately, we didn’t get as much done on the house as we had hoped because we had to deal with some unexpected situations and honestly, after the stress of grad school was over I just wanted to relax for a while.

I think I’m fully recovered from grad school, our wedding, and the holidays, so let’s make stuff happen!! These are our goals for 2016 along with some beautiful interiors we’re drawing inspiration from.

Finish living room and dining room

Sources clockwise from top left: 1. Country Living: Trinity’s 1394 Farmhouse; 2. Country Living: Christi Wilson’s Budget Home Decorating; 3. New England Home; 4. Country Living: Kline Family Beach House

We decided to start our renovation with the living and dining rooms because they needed the most attention. The hardest part about that decision was that the living room was the one room we had absolutely NO vision for. We had tons of ideas for every other room in the house, but this one stumped us. For that reason alone, I’m glad this first leg of our renovation has taken longer than we anticipated. We’ve had time to research and gather tons of inspiration, and we finally have a good picture of what our dream living room looks like. We are finishing up the walls, and the next steps will be built ins for the dining room, paint, floors, and trim!

Turn our little third bedroom into a dressing room/office

We have a small third bedroom that has been used for storage since we moved in, but it has so much potential! The particle board paneling is pulling away from the walls and ceiling, so we’re thinking about removing them and doing shiplap walls instead. We already have a sweet little Jenny Lind bed set up in there that’s the perfect reading spot/dressing bench/cat nap area. The other side of the room will have shelves and racks that we’ll make ourselves. My clothes are currently stored in the guest bedroom closet, and moving them to the dressing room will free up that space to become a much needed linen closet (plus having my own little dressing room has been a dream of mine…). I’ll also store all my craft goodies in this room. When we purchased the house, my husband was totally ok with me taking over this room eventually because he said he already has the barn and garage for his space :)

Bring some original charm back to our front porch

Sources clockwise from top left: 1. @thebootyhouse instagram; 2. Country Living; 3. 1893 Victorian Farmhouse; 4. @thebootyhouse instagram

Last summer, we removed the aluminum storm doors, made our two front doors match, and brought back the transom windows that had been hidden for 30+ years. This improved the look of the porch quite a bit, but we still have a long way to go. We still need to paint the floor, add a beadboard ceiling and light fixture, replace the broken steps, and swap out the metal posts for wooden Victorian posts and fretwork. I spoke to the granddaughter of the man who built our home in the 1890s (she actually grew up here in the 40’s and 50’s!), and she is going to look for some old photos of the house that will hopefully show us what the porch originally looked like!

Plan out laundry room and bathroom renovations

Sources clockwise from top left: 1. Better Homes and Gardens; 2. Schoolhouse Electric; 3. Martha Stewart; 4. Elle Decor

Our laundry room needs some sprucing up, and the bathroom is currently my least favorite room in the house so I’m excited to make a few changes!We might not start on these rooms this year, but I’d like to have a solid design plan made.