UPDATING A FARMHOUSE

We just bought a sweet little farm just outside Austin, in Spicewood, Texas.  The above photo is the "before" when we found this place.  Ever since selling the Crystal Creek home, we felt the need to get back to acreage and another farmhouse project.  On a true whim we decided to go eye this property and as soon as we drove onto the long windy driveway my husband exclaimed " I love it!  We're buying it!"  I knew at that point, there was no turning back.....we had just signed up for another Van Wicklen Design project without even stepping inside the home.  We just instantly have this feeling when we see a property and know when it's right .

The owners had to move and no one has lived here for several months. Loads of remodeling and many future blog posts will keep you updated. The exterior is getting painted as we speak.  The grey & teal will change to an earthy taupe with white trim, similar to this look:

The front door, porch ceilings and a barn slider door will get this watery aqua blue shade.

The main color of the house will have the taupe where you see grey below.   Dove White will replace the faded teal :

Here's a brief summary of ideas we're pulling together for the interior & exterior:

The living room will have a look similar to this:

New barn lighting  like this

will replace the sunroom sconces here

 and we'll turn the sunroom into a linear dining room porch like this:

Gorgeous trees will get a trim....

and maybe have one of these one day?

The back of the house might get a pergola or covered areas......but the grey is definitely changing to earthy taupe with a crisp white trim:

We'll also add some classic barn pendant lights and turquoise glazed pottery  to the exterior such as these:

New paint is currently being painted within the next few days on the garage & garden shed too.  Notice the sweet sliding barn door?  The same earthy taupe and white trim will be here and the barn door will be the aqua blue paint.

 The inside of these garden shed rooms will get an organized look like this:

But we'll tone down the color to something like earthy tones, galvanized metals, turquoise with patinas....

The garden will be brought back to life.  Here's how we found the garden when we purchased the farm.

The previous owner used to love this garden and had a bounty of vegetables here.    We just planted  new herbs, veggies and roses.  The arbors will get new roses and the entire fence will be painted a bright white.    There's a huge rainwater collection system in the back right of the photo that we'll enclose also.  We'll replace the wood vegetable borders with native stone edging similar to Kelley's , from The Polished Pebble like this:

  And hopefully one day have a Martha Stewart look, something like this

With maybe a chicken coop like this:

and at times free range like this:

The kitchen will get a facelift with new wood floors, counters, stainless steel appliances, hardware  and lighting....

See the hanging pendants over the windows?  We'll take those down and replace with wall lighting instead, like these:

For years, I had this picture of glossy aqua floors in my files.

And thought about doing this, but with two black labs, you need a more pet  friendly floor.  We bought antique Longleaf pine flooring , cheap, on Craigslist.  So, the kitchen floors will eventually look something like this:

We recently found this piece at Round Top for the kitchen island. I love the rusticity of the wood and the bluestone top (actually looks more honed black):


 Bathrooms will all be updated with classic farmhouse elements like this:

...and we bought this rustic vanity with a bluestone counter for the master bathroom:

The laundry room is also a mud room. We'll incorporate the softer aqua colors on the cabinetry something like this:

  and either have a slate or brick floor, along with farm type accessories like this:

POST ROAD VINTAGE

 The farm is situated down a long driveway, so we'll be actually placing our pool here in the front yard.

Our goal is to use the farm as a weekend country getaway, but it's still close enough to drive out during the week.  We recently listed our Harbor Hill house also: 

(You can view more pictures of the Harbor Hill  For Sale property by clicking the link above.)  (more pics of the Harbor Hill remodel are within previous blog posts)
Once we sell Harbor Hill we'll buy a much smaller place within Lakeway so that we can do more remodeling , and so our son can  still be able to attend the same school.
Anyone need a new home in Austin?  Lake Travis offers exemplary schools &  the best football/sports teams around....5th year for them to win State!! (Lake Travis High School is the first Texas High School to win State 5 times back to back.)  It's the best of both worlds living out in the Lakeway area...you get to live in fun Austin, but also be a part of a small lake community that is connected and genuinely nice, friendly people!

If you'd like to follow the rest of my Pinterest ideas for the "VW FARM" just look for the Pinterest red symbol, upper right of this blog , and search for the board labeled "VW FARM".   Hope you'll check back for the updates to the farm and other Van Wicklen Design  projects we have in the works!

Have a great week!