See How This 1850s Farmhouse Went From Dreary to Dreamy
Christina Salway doesn’t scare easily. The Brooklyn-based designer and owner of 11211 Design has taken on eight personal home renovations (a previous farmhouse was featured in our March 2016 issue) and countless more for her clients (she’s even built a tiny home made completely of salvaged windows!). Even so, she was shaken to her core the first time she toured a circa-1850s home in Hudson, New York. “I walked in the back door and it definitely looked haunted,” she says. “I said, ‘Nope,’ and walked out immediately.”
Days later, the Colonial-style residence continued to haunt Christina. She knew she’d never be able to find another four-bedroom home on four acres at that price point, so she took a deep breath and returned—this time with reinforcements. “I convinced my husband, John [Moskowitz], to go, and we made it through the entire house,” she says. “We ultimately decided it was a project worth tackling. The power of self-persuasion is amazing.”
BEFORE: Exterior
Once they closed on the deal, the family of three, including son Julian (12), moved into a camper parked out front and got to work removing almost 2,500 square feet of “crazy” additions that had been tacked on during the 1980s and ’90s as well as lightening up the rest of the clownishly colorful home. “The walls [in our bedroom] were this totally bonkers shade of red. One of the bathrooms was painted a dark purple, and there were no windows,” Christina says.
Two years later, the couple had exorcised all of the home’s decorative demons and more. After removing the home’s clunky front porch, which allowed the property to be flooded with natural light, they reconfigured the flow of the home and layered in a variety of statement-making antiques, including armoires, benches, and a beautifully timeworn tub salvaged from an old Pullman train car. “I’m attracted to things I’ve never seen before—the slightly quirkier items,” says Christina. “A friend once told me, ‘Your style is very pre-electricity.’ ”
See below to see how Christina approached the renovation.
Before: Entry
Select a Serene Scheme
The once foreboding entry and stairwell are now much more inviting thanks to a pretty blue-green and white paint combo that continues throughout the home and a hand-painted French settee with a comfy striped cushion. “There’s a sustainable element to giving pre-existing pieces a cool new lease on life with new fabric,” says Christina. A collection of French fish plates—“I’m swimming in them,” she says—hangs on the wall.
An antique Swedish hutch adds another layer of history to the entry. Christina inherited the collection of brown-and-white transferware from her mother.
Get the Look:
French Settee Cushion Fabric: “Olive Sacking” by Guy Goodfellow
Trim Paint Color: Quiet Moments by Benjamin Moore
Wall Paint Color: All White by Farrow & Ball
RELATED: More Creative Entryway Ideas That’ll Give Your Guests the Warmest Welcome
Before: Living Room
Add Layers of History
Conditions were less than hospitable in the existing living room—not only were the floors in terrible condition, there was a hole in the wall, and a missing fireplace. “Once upon a time, there had been a hearth there, but someone took it out during one of the misguided renovations,” Christina says.
To warm up the room, Christina had the original chimney restored and built a brick hearth, adding a cast-iron stove. She says that bringing back the serenity of the original architecture provided the opportunity to have fun with the space. “It allows you to have things like [the pair of mismatched] fern-print chairs, dark green wing backs, and botanicals without overwhelming the space,” says Christina. “I love the juxtaposition of having fun stuff in a quiet house.”
Get the Look:
Chair Upholstery Fabric: “Les Fourgeres” by Schumacher
Trim Paint Color: Quiet Moments by Benjamin Moore
Wall Paint Color: All White by Farrow & Ball
RELATED: More Cozy Living Room Ideas to Create a Room You’ll Want to Snuggle Up In Forever
Before: Kitchen
Embrace a (Mostly) Unfitted Kitchen
Once Christina and John removed the drop ceiling, they were rewarded with a discovery of rough-hewn beams, which complement the kitchen’s new two-toned lower cabinets with Carrara marble countertops. The rest of the space features freestanding appliances and furniture, including an antique table “island” and a glass-front pine hutch, both found for less than $500 on Facebook Marketplace. Floor-to-ceiling white ceramic subway tile allows “the light to glitter around the room,” says Christina.
RELATED: Best White Kitchen Cabinet Paint Colors Ideas
Pick a Statement Antique
A previously unappetizing dining room was spruced up with pale blue-green wainscoting, antique dining chairs surrounding a French pine table, and one of Christina’s prized possessions: a hand-made Swedish armoire she scored from Facebook Marketplace. “There are only two metal nails used in the entire piece—everything else is pegs and joints and tensions. It comes apart like Jenga pieces,” she says.
The screened-in sun porch is a cheerful spot to sit for a spell in antique chairs pulled up to a table cloaked in a gingham tablecloth. A vintage copper fixture hangs overhead. (“I thought it looked like a flower—perfect for a sun porch,” says Christina.) Below a window, a pretty scalloped table—a fun thrift store find that Christina painted in a chalky blue paint that she bought in a hardware store in France—complements both the greenery outside and the florals on top.
Before: Hallway
Make Spaces Work Harder
To create a better means to an end, Christina walled in a wide hallway and added a framed opening at one end. A gigantic vintage bookcase (with a rolling library ladder) that she found on Craigslist proved just the item to give the wide walkway its dual purpose. “It’s uncanny how exactly this piece fits in the space,” she says.
A small nook was converted into a laundry “room.” Christina sealed the classic butcher-block countertop with a tinted Danish oil to give it a patinaed finish. A gathered skirt of vintage chintz fabric conceals the washer and dryer.
Get the Look:
Hallway Wall Paint Color: Setting Plaster by Farrow & Ball
Play With Scale
Sometimes, massive modern furniture simply doesn’t sit right in an older home. In the den, Christina opted for a smaller sofa and assorted chairs, including two wingbacks upholstered in a leafy motif. Even the coffee table is “perfectly undersized for the space,” says Christina. New thin brick flooring ups the coziness factor, as does a jute floral rug and aviary artwork.
Get the Look:
Wingback Chair Fabric: “Fayola” by Sanderson
Brick Flooring: General Shale
Jute Floral Rug: For similar, Erin Gates Floral Jute Rug from Anthropologie
Before: Bathroom
Let in the Light
Light-reflecting zellige tile played a big part in the primary bathroom’s transformation. Christina also splurged on an antique copper bathtub salvaged from an old Pullman train car. “The feet have screw holes so that the base didn’t go sliding around in transit,” she says. A green-and-white begonia-patterned shower curtain is the perfect finishing touch.
In the guest bath, new blue-green beadboard walls add warmth behind an antique vanity topped with Carrara marble and a flip-top porcelain sink bowl.
Get the Look:
Tile: Zellige by Villa Lagoon Tile
Shower Curtain: RHODE “Begonia” Shower Curtain from West Elm
RELATED: See More Beautiful Claw-foot Tub Ideas
New Meets Old
Twin beds dressed in ochre gingham linens, vintage tennis racquets, and a cheery dresser take center court in Julian’s bedroom. “I try to strike a balance,” says Christina. “I want the room to feel like it’s my son’s, but I’m also an interior designer. Of course I have opinions!” Family dog Henry
Get the Look:
Bed Linens: Honey & Berry Gingham Bedding by Piglet in Bed
RELATED: See More Stylish Kids’ Room Ideas That Even Grown-ups Will Love
Before: Bedroom
Bring the Outdoors In
The bedroom’s scary red walls—and splashes of orange and blue—were neutralized with crisp white and serene green. Once a bulky air conditioner was removed, there was plenty of room for an antique faux bamboo chinoiserie bed. (“It’s made of metal and weighs around seven million pounds,” Christina jokes.) A grouping of botanicals hangs on the wall, which ties in nicely with the armoire’s hand-painted panels that reflect the progression of the four seasons.
Get the Look:
Trim Paint Color: Vert de Terre by Farrow & Ball
Refine the Exterior
Removing the rickety front porch (“It was falling apart and full of squirrel nuts and detritus,” says Christina.) and nonfunctioning shutters gave Christina and John’s Colonial-style farmhouse a more refined look. “There’s more formality to it now,” says Christina. “Getting rid of the porch also made a huge impact inside because of the sheer amount of light coming in.”
Get the Look:
Exterior Paint Color: All White by Farrow & Ball
Front Door Paint Color: Inchyra Blue by Farrow & Ball
link
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/small-kitchen-ideas-mix-and-match-1021-99fbfaafe683423aa2af7d711d334e44.jpg "7 Home Renovations You Should Never DIY, Experts Say")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/rs-roundup-living-room-wall-decorations-is-trending--amazon-options-under-100-tout-c4634ee28a7e47129b84f021c5414f05.jpg "13 Under-0 Amazon Decorations for Living Room Walls")
