Farmhouse Friday ~ What Farmhouse Style Means to Me

I am so excited to be joining some wonderfully talented bloggers for a new blog hop called FARMHOUSE FRIDAYS! This month's theme is "What Does Farmhouse Style Mean To Me". 

To me farmhouse style is simple, rustic, calming, and cozy. I love old things and am drawn to the look of the past, specifically rural America in the middle to late 1800's.  I try to accomplish this look in our farmhouse by using primitive items and furnishings, warm wood tones, along with simple fabrics and patterns, all set against a neutral background. 

To me farmhouse style is....

~Lots of beadboard painted a crisp white that allows reflection of natural light.

~Antique crocks and other miscellaneous homesteading items. I love collecting but I also love keeping things corralled so I keep everyday items like rolling pins and wooden spoons on display in something old like crocks and pitchers, not only do they look pretty but they are easy to grab when needed. Antique baskets and old rustic boxes, two of my favorite things to collect, make a great place for linens.

~ Hooks of all kinds old and new. Hooks are a staple in every room of our farmhouse and I love to display everyday use items,  pretty linens, and seasonal decorations on them.

~Old harwood floors, ours may be crooked and scratched but there is nothing else like them to give you the farmhouse feel.

~Quilts, quilts and more quilts, the kind that you can actually curl up with. 

~Old dishes, baskets, cutting boards, jars and tins.

~Old tables and cupboards....rustic handmade ones being my favorite. 

Our farmhouse, like most, is short on closet space so we need lots of furniture such as trunks and cupboards that can act as storage space.  I absolutely love old cupboards and try to squeeze one just about everywhere I can. 

~Signs, may they be old or reproduction they instantly give a room character.

~Slipcovers on the furniture, not only do they hide that pattern that you were sure you would love forever but they are washable and are easy to change when you tire of them. 

~And last but not least....my favorite to collect and decorate our farmhouse with....white ironstone, it clearly needs no explanation. 

Thank you so much for visiting our very first FARMHOUSE FRIDAY and I hope you enjoyed it! Be sure to visit the other fantastic blogs below! 

FADED CHARM

  HOUSE OF HAWTHORNES


STONEGABLE


  THE EVERYDAY HOME


  TOWN AND COUNTRY LIVING

Is It Old Or New?

My sister came to visit last weekend and she brought with her the sign that she made me!

I wanted a giant old looking sign for above the windows in our family room because somehow we ended up with the wrong size windows (don't ask)  and I hated that awkward space above them.
I had given my sister an old board from our house and told her what I wanted the sign to say and left the rest up to her! She created exactly what I had envisioned and I absolutely love it! She is sooo talented, I don't think anyone would ever be able to tell that it wasn't actually old.

Also new to the room is the rug on the floor. I am not a very big fan of rugs and I can never find ones that I like but I stumbled upon this creamy white one on clearance at Burlington and knew that it would be perfect. Millie spends lots of time on the floor playing now and I wanted something soft for her to sit or more likely fall over on:)

My sister also brought a whole new batch of vintage inspired hand painted signs for my Etsy shop! I am, as usual, into about 4 different projects on the house but hopefully I can get the signs in my shop by the end of this week or early next week! We have had lots of sunshine and warmer days here finally! HAPPY SPRING!

My New White Cupboard - An Ebay Find

As promised....some pictures of my new cupboard. It is really amazing how I ended up with this beauty.  I knew I wanted a cupboard in this space between the outside door and the dining room entryway and I was either going to have Neal build one or try and find one this summer at the flea market. But then one evening I was looking on ebay for something and I saw this cupboard as I was scrolling through. It looked just like what I was envisioning for this space but it was a local pick-up only item and I figured there was no way the seller lived anywhere near where we lived.

As I looked closer I saw that the seller lived in Pennsylvania and I started to get excited, maybe it was possible to buy it! When I looked even closer I saw that she lived in a town not too far from the route we take to Brooklyn all the time. I checked with Neal to see if we could stop and pick it up on our way home from Brooklyn and he agreed (surprising I know, men never want to detour). I then contacted the seller and she was more than happy to hold the piece for me!

We picked it up on our way back after Thanksgiving and when I saw it I couldn't have been happier!

I just love it with it's peeling paint and simple lines. It even has the original hardware and is just as beautiful on the inside.

The hooks hanging above the cupboard are new to this room also. I had Neal cut a board to fit the space and then I added some antique hooks that I found on Etsy to it.

And as I mentioned in my last post I was in the mood to change things around so I took out all of the blue and white items from this cupboard. I will go back to the blue and white but I wanted to see what some other things would look like in it since I have only had blue and white in there since Neal built it. I am getting rid of some of my blue and white things though, a lot of what I listed on Etsy sold already but I just added a large portion of my blue and white plate collection to my shop. In our first house I had blue and white plates all over the walls but my decorating has become much simpler since then and I am trying to be more practical about what I store these days (I don't want to end up on Hoarders). Plus my mom gave me her original dishes which are antique Blue Willow and they are about all I have room for.

Speaking of my mom she used to collect really primitive antiques but she is slowly trying to downsize which lucky for me means I keep ending up with the stuff she doesn't want anymore . The butter paddle below and also the table it is sitting on are two of those things.

My azalea is starting to bloom and it is perfect timing, I need something that feels like Spring around here because it surely isn't the weather!

And a picture of Millie just because it has been awhile!

***Hanging Cabinet Color- Glidden's Whispering Wheat
***Trim Color- Glidden's Swan White