A Little Bit of Magic

Today I’m bringing you details from my latest chat with Katie about one of her recently completed projects.

First, let’s get a little background on this project:

This new construction was built on a piece of property found after a lengthy search in Strawberry Plains, TN. The property originally consisted of a house built in 1812. Though that house was removed, the couple repurposed as much lumber from it as they could salvage to create their literal farmhouse. As you drive up their gravel driveway, you are surrounded by gardens, the barn, and barn kitties! The couple likes to travel, but when they return home they don’t want to leave!  With that in mind, each selection was made with thoughtful intention and often custom work to create a uniquely special place to call theirs. In addition, they have lumber and antiques from places they have been around the globe thoughtfully placed throughout the home.

This project consisted of a kitchen, primary bath, pantry, laundry, and overall fixture selections.

Now, for some highlights:

When asked about her favorite feature of this home, Katie of course couldn’t choose one, so here are a few of them she described by room.

• Kitchen: the Walnut “Magic Corner” which you can in action here. This creative, space maximizing solution is both beautiful and functional. In addition to this corner, we used cabinets with walnut shelves between them and tried to break up each section of upper cabinets with other storage and display features to avoid a solid wall of doors. This, in combination with the arched mullions, seedy glass doors, and the China cabinet like addition, provided dimension and a custom feel. Katie suggests a seeded glass to allow you to see what’s in your cabinets with less cleaning maintenance compared to a clear glass.

• Laundry: every feature - one of my favorite laundry rooms to date. We wanted to play with color, so we went for soft blue on the cabinets. This works well with the mini-farmhouse sink which was a custom upgrade from a more traditional utility sink. While this room is beautiful and may even encourage you to want to do laundry, it is chock full of functional features. The counters are a quartz which is waterproof and non-porous, perfect to catch the drips from the hanging rod installed between the upper cabinets. Another favorite feature is the pull out ironing board, which just makes so much sense. We built a really handy linen closet out of the cabinetry material for a beautiful space to store away cleaning supplies. Finally, the light and bright feel lends itself well to the room’s alternative function as a craft room with its built in desk.
  

• Pantry: wood crate potato and onion drawers. This pantry is a favorite to date with this unique and perfectly farmhouse aligned feature. Katie sketched what the homeowner was thinking and sent that to the cabinet builders. They had that stained in same walnut as the kitchen drawers, range hood, and voila!

Final takeaways:

Katie put a lot of hours into working with vendors on custom pieces for this project. As a client, she recommends discussing your priorities of time to completion versus unique custom work. In this case, the intricate details and one of a kind design were well worth it to the homeowners and led to a project that Katie is proud to have been a part of!