now, let's not be too farmy.

By now, you all know that I don't want a farmhouse with small plaid drapes, calico pillows, & red roosters in every room. However, I think it's important to embrace the style and surroundings of your home in your decor. So, here are some things that would fit my ::Farmhouse Chic:: style for our home, without being too farmy...

sliding barn door into the mudroom or pantry 

a good ol' southern welcome in the entry hall

 cowhide ottoman with sleek lines and nailhead trim. love it.

bringing some of the outside in with designer wallpaper

layer a cowhide rug over a sisal or jute rug

 a nice set of antlers to hold the watering hose

so maybe you gotta have something a little farmy, so it doesn't look like you forgot where you live

add a few southern quotes to a gallery wall 

image sources

Now you see how a few ways that "farmy" can be "classy." 

my love for shutters.

I have a rather serious crush on real working shutters. Their detail adds so much charm to the front of the house! If you don't believe me, allow me try and change your mind...

In my humble opinion, the shutters that are operational and proportional are worth the investment! Now, if they are out of your budget, you can always add the decorative hinges to your existing shutters to give you the same look, for a much smaller price tag. Here are some great options if that's what you would like!

Source for Images

See, the existing shutters on our farmhouse aren't proportional to the windows, have no endearing details, and are chipping. They must go. I can't wait to replace them with something new! 

It would be funny to try and close those... not much of the window would actually be covered. Not to mention, they aren't even tall enough! Well, I suppose the previous owners just weren't as opinionated as I am, and loved them. As for me, I am ready for a change! 

::AFTER:: Wet Bar

 Items changed and/or updated::

Old wine rack ripped out
Wooden wall planks installed
Custom cabinets built and installed
Built-in refrigerator 
Marble countertop installed 
Walls, trim, and planking painted Benjamin Moore White Dove
Cabinets painted Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black
Hardware added to cabinetry
Open shelving mounted in previous wine rack's spot 

In case you missed it, this is the :BEFORE: Wet Bar post. 

And just for fun, below is a ::BEFORE:: pic

a peek at the progress.

It has been one crazy week around here!! I think all weeks during a reno are crazy though. ha! Sorry that I haven't posted any updates in the past 6 days - don't worry - I will make up for it with double posts each day next week! So, here are some of the things that have changed around our house this week...

Our laundry room last week ... 

PROGRESS of the new laundry room cabinets

... a single bowl farmhouse style sink will be in the middle with cabinets below.

... and another set of washers and dryers will be on the right of the sink. Some people may think this is excessive. That's fine. Just know that my children go through 2-3 outfits a day playing in the dirt, spraying each other with the hose, running around with muddy pups, and then there is a pair of PJs to wash. So make that 3-4. Yeah. I do a lot of laundry. And that isn't going to dwindle any time soon... I am thankful to have kids who have clothes that need to be washed, for sure. The double washer and dryer were the Hubs idea. He is awesome, and likes to try & make my life easier. I will keep him :) And the two sets of washers and dryers.

The area on the right will soon be a gift wrap station because I usually just have my gift wrapping items jammed in some extra long plastic storage boxes ... then I forget what I have and usually buy gift bags and wrapping paper that I don't need. I am looking forward to wrapping gifts in this spot for Christmas! The closet on the right will be the broom/ mop/ vacuum closet.

A little mirror image of that setup on the left side of the laundry room... rather than a broom closet we have a hidden spot for the hot water heater, and rather than a gift wrap station we will have storage for some of the random items you see sitting around the floor waiting for a home.

 They made great progress on the front walkway... The large stones you see laying by the porch were randomly placed as the pathway, and when it rained we had our own little pond in front of the house...right where we wanted to walk. So, this new brick pathway is higher than the grass that will eventually be planted around it so we won't have to walk through a mini pond anymore.

Here they are busting out the old columns...

The bottom left column kinda shows the top of the column that I didn't like and nicely asked them to change...

These are the plain cedar columns before adding the new trim...

And these are the after, with the trim that I l.o.v.e. I think it fits the style of our home perfectly. So much better than the dinky, rotten circular ones.

They will be primed and painted sometime next week! Also, how bad are those shutters? And how about that ridiculously small piece of trellis? haha More on the new shutters we have selected and how I want to rip out that trellis - coming soon!