Giving our Home Farmhouse Cottage Charm {Our farmhouse home remodel}
When we bought our first home it was perfect. Brand new with gorgeous light and modern hardwood floors, updated fixtures, a huge, beautiful modern kitchen with all new appliances, bright white trim and tons of natural light everywhere. It was just my hubby, my daughter, and I, in a perfectly gorgeous (yet modest sized) 3 bedroom home. Just as we were settling in, some news came along. I was pregnant (surprise!) with baby #2. And my little sister moved in with us on top of that! Suddenly this perfectly sized home became smaller and smaller until it felt like a cage. There were toys EVERYWHERE. We had no play space, only one fairly small livingroom that functioned as the home office, family room, playroom, and anything-and-everything-else room. It was time to move ON.
So the struggle to find just the right home at just the right price (but staying in the super small area we currently lived in so that my daughter didn’t have to change schools) began. Home after home was too old, too ugly, or too expensive. Until finally we found the ONE. She wasn’t old… but she was UGLY. Not my style at all. Dark, out of date; everything needed to be changed. Could we do this? I thought so. So we got quotes, hired a painter, bought the house, and…. then our painter backed out and we were stuck with no choice but to DIY! And so we did! It has been 2 years since we moved into this home, and we are STILL making changes, one by one. But it all started with this, the beginning. The whole house got a facelife; fresh paint, new carpets, and can lighting to replace out of date fixtures.
And tons of new decor! Check out my favorite decor on this post.
This was the before photo of our living area, kitchen, and entryway as it was staged when we bought the house.
It took us and our friends two full crazy weeks to transform it. The whole house got a heavy spray coat of primer first. We used KILLZ. It did an excellent job covering all the dark colors. We painted the trim as well. The house was covered in plastic to protect the hardwood floors from overspray. We aren’t professionals here so I’m guessing we went overkill. But it turned out great and the floors survived! The primer looked so nice and bright! It was refreshing to see all those dark colors gone!
Next came the color. I agonized over the right color choice for the home. I narrowed it down to a few favorite greys from Rodda Paint, and ultimately chose one of the lightest shades I had selected to be the primary color for the whole house. The color is “Rand Moon – 0532.” We accented the back living wall and main entry, and painted the whole formal dining room in a darker shade “Subtle Shadow – 0534.” I went back and forth on various shades of blues and greys but ultimately decided on a primarily grey palette so that year round the home was neutral for party and seasonal decor. And because I am a lover of all things grey. It is always a good idea to paint large swatches of your top choices of paint in multiple areas of the home and look at the color for 24 hours in different lighting and from different angles. The $100 you might spend on sample colors is worth it when you will be spending $$$ on a painting project like this, and cannot go back later if your unhappy with the choice! Why Rodda? Ultimately it was the original painters choice and we had already bought samples in that brand so we didnt want to waste that $100 and the paint is FANTASTIC so we stuck with it.
Here is one of my color samples. So happy that awkward yellow is gone!
First look at the greys with the white trim!!
And this is what the home looked like after the remodel:
Living Room (We replaced the lights with can lighting)
Kitchen (We replaced the refrigerator and added a pot rack, new faucet, and more can lights)
New kitchen faucet
Dining area (new light fixture)
EntryÂ
Here is the home today, 3 years later, after finishing the kitchen and entry shiplap!
Adding farmhouse cottage charm just takes paint, decor, and some trial and error!
You can find the kitchen remodel {here}.
You can find the DIY Faux Shiplap Entryway wall tutorial {here}.
For more home decor inspiration check out this post here to shop my favorite home decor.
27 Comments
Jacqueline H. Jones
Love your home. I first saw your Christmas Home Tour 2018 featured on Princess Home (YouTube), & I just had to see your blog for more home photos. Just beautiful!
Kristen
I love this! The bright white kitchen and the grey walls is totally my style. I’ll have to check out these links for my new home!
ananda
wow, what an amazing transformation! you are so talented, everything looks beautiful down to the small details!
Nati
Oh wow! What a huge change! I love this remodelling, the farmhouse style is simply beautiful!
Tiffany
I love the colors you have chosen. It makes everything seem so cozy and comfortable.
Melanie williams
I love what you have created. Re-modelling is super hard work and stressful, but you have managed to create a fab space for sure xx
Elaine
I absolutely love what you did with your home! This look is what I wanted to do in mine, but when it came time to pick out paint colors, I kept getting drawn in by darker shades for the living room and bright, poppy reds for the kitchen/dining room. My bedrooms and office have a similar look to your living room though. I love the contrast as I walk through my home!
Flossie McCowald
So beautiful!!! I hope you are proud of yourselves for the awesome DIY job you did, because you really did fab work! And Killz is the BEST – love that stuff!
Janice Brady
It turned out stunning! I wish I had such a good eye and vision to create such a beautiful home!
Patricia Chamberlain
Your home is absolutely stunning! I love everything about it. We are going to start looking to move in the next year or so and I am soaking in future ideas.
Amanda @ Healthy House on the Block
Your design is SPOT on! This is an absolutely stunning space and you’ve done a great job keeping it charming, yet uncluttered. Nice work!!
Stephanie
That’s such an amazing transformation! We did something similar, when we moved into our current house just over 3 years ago, I took the first 3 days and scrubbed the entire thing (the floors were gross) and repainted everything except the hallways since I liked that color. It was a lot of work, but easily worth it. We are also still making small changes here and there, but the paint was a huge factor in the look of the house.
Paul Albert
Wow, that’s stunning. When I saw the original pictures I thought the house looked nice. In the grey it looks stunning. Classy, warm and other descriptive words I can’t think of. Great job.
Frankie
Goodness, you’ve certainly been busy. It’s lovely to see the different stages being made – what a transformation, I love the end result.
Emma
Oh my gosh I’m in love with this space!! I love how light and airy it is, neutral without feeling monochromatic. Beautiful job!!!
Jessica
Oh my gosh it looks amazing!! Well done!
Erin
Wow! Absolutely gorgeous transformation!
Charity
You did such a great job! Everything looks so bright and cheerful now.
Anonymous
OH MY GOODNESS!!! This turned out SO SO gorgeous! You did a fabulous job! I just love everything about it! We have the same stools at our island too!
Julie Blanner
Wow, what a difference!
Jenny
Gorgeous remodel! Love your blog thanks so much for sharing! Could you tell me what color your sliding barn doors are?
Bree
Hi Jenny!
Thank you so much! If you view this post on my DIY table I share my custom stain mix, using my 3 favorite stains.
http://www.rainandpine.com/diy-farmhouse-table-using-ana-white-plans-a-custom-stain-mix/
I suggest you mix your stain like I did in the tutorial and test a few mixtures until you find the perfect shade! Thanks for reading!
Shannon Cavanah
So pretty! You guys did such a great job!
Alison
Your home is beautiful!
Anna
It looks so beautiful! ☺
Valley
Wow!!! What a transformation! You have great vision and style 😉
Bree
Thank you so much!