Guest Blogger Before & After: Trina from A Country Farmhouse

Please welcome Trina of A Country Farmhouse!!!
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I am so happy to be a guest blogger for Lauren at Pure Style Home. From the first day I discovered her blog, I've been a devoted follower as she continually inspires me with her fresh, beautiful designs.

In keeping with the before and after theme of her guest bloggers, I thought I'd share with you a few snippets from our farmhouse renovation. Just to give a little background, my husband and I purchased a 1923 farmhouse about four years ago. We hadn't anticipated buying a place that would become a whole house remodel, but it was in our price range and the property had everything we were looking for in a country home...land, privacy, peace and quiet, and scenic views of the surrounding farmland.

Exterior: Before

Exterior: After

Exterior Side: After

The farmhouse was built back in the early 1920's, but over time had gone through 1950's, 1960's and 1970's era remodels which stripped the home of much of its original charm. Our goals were to restore the charm and to create a home reflective of its surroundings...calm, quiet and relaxing.

Working from the original structure you see in the before photo, we added a wraparound porch, a shed dormer to the half story, and a dining room, replaced the roof, siding, windows and doors, and gave the house a fresh coat of paint.

We used an array of inspiration photos of historic homes in our area and from magazines to guide our design decisions.

Kitchen: Before

Kitchen: After

Kitchen: Before

Kitchen: After

Kitchen: Before

Kitchen: After

We wanted all of our renovations to look appropriate to the era of the house. This goal inspired us to do a simple farmhouse-style kitchen with painted custom wood cabinets, a farmhouse sink, restored wood fir floors, and open shelving.

Living Room: Before

Living Room: After

Living Room: Before

Living Room: After

We stripped the paneling off the walls and mantle, removed the stove insert and the pea green carpeting, covered both bookcases, and restored the fireplace with a new custom mantle. We also replaced the single-paned picture window with three large casement windows, replaced the door with a french door, and added new crown moulding throughout.

Entry: Before

Entry: After

The entry was lined with plastic shelving and parquet flooring when we bought the place. We decided to create a more inviting entry by restoring the original wood flooring, and adding a new casement window, a replacement french door, new crown and base mouldings, and an antique hall tree.

Downstairs Bathroom: Before

Downstairs Bathroom: After

This room has one of my favorite before photos as it pretty much sums up the tone of the house when we bought it. We ended up completely gutting this room in order to update plumbing and electrical. We also used this time to plumb in lines for a new upstairs bathroom.

We put down historic tile floors, replaced the double hung window, installed new drywall, crown and base mouldings, and added a new claw foot bathtub, sink and toilet.

The Den: Before

The Den: After

This room was covered in paneling as well. We removed it, removed the gray carpeting, installed base moulding, and added new double hung windows. It's a small room and serves us well as a den. All furnishings, besides the jute rug and the armchair, were things we had on hand thus helping with our budget.

Bedroom: Before

Bedroom: After

The addition of a shed dormer on the existing half story offered us the ability to expand our living space upwards. Before the dormer, the space was used seasonally and was very dark and cramped. With the dormer, we turned the seasonal half-story space into an entire master suite, including master bedroom and bath, walk-in closet and home office.

Bath: Before

Bath: After

I hope you've enjoyed our renovation story! The blogging community has been such an inspiration and provided us with that extra motivation to keep plugging away at our projects!

Trina
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Trina- thank you so much for sharing your perfect home with us!!!  I love how light & airy you've made it and you've got such a restrained touch.  Everything isjust beautiful and your photos belong in a magazine.  Thanks for the tour!!!
xoxo,
lauren

ps-  Hope everyone had a grrrrrrreat weekend!! ;)