Farmgirl Paints: Labor of Love

Meet Erin and Jake. Jake was Big Chick's 1st and 2nd grade teacher. You are in for a real treat. They let me tour their beautiful new house (that looks old) and I just knew you would love it. This house is such a labor of love. Every nook and cranny tells a story. It really is amazing to hear the details of how it all came about.

This is the back of the house. I wanted you to see the breezeway that connects the main house to the garage. Love the originality of this idea. They sketched out the house on notebook paper and found someone to frame it. They did almost all of the work themselves. Erin acting as the general contractor:) Jake doing the manual labor.

This is the dining room. I just love all the molding and trim. The light fixture is beautiful. I think she said it came from Ballard Designs.

See these floors.

They are from the farm Erin grew up on in Wisconsin! Her parent have a maple syrup farm and they let Erin and Jake harvest eight maple trees to use for the floors, trim and cabinets in the house. This was NOT an easy endeavor. They had to truck out the trees, get them dried and milled etc... it is unbelievable how resourceful they are. Not to mention sentimental. How incredible to have the trees from the farm you grew up on. I know I would love that!

Check out these bricks. Erin found a place on Craig's list that had salvaged bricks from a building in Colorado. She had the bricks cut down in order to use them like tile and then faced the entire fireplace herself.

The details to getting the "old look" right are just exhausting. Erin found a place that sells old doors and building supplies etc... for cheap. It was an "underground" swap out place contractors get the privy to. Anyway these doors usually sell for around $400 a piece. They got them for $75.00 each. WOW!

Okay this is my favorite part. I LOVE this kitchen. I mean really really love. Jake built all of the cabinets himself. No really...he did! Can you believe that? I love the color, the sink, the lighting...everything:)

These coasters are from Anthropology.

Erin is going to use them as tile for her backsplash. What a great idea!

I love their vintage school house lights and beadboard ceiling. It really makes the space look authentically old.

This piece was at an antique store and it was 5 inches too wide, so Erin passed on it. Jake went later and bought it as a surprise and cut it down to fit the space. You can't even tell. It's in their pantry. How vintage and cute is that?

This island was at an upscale furniture retailer and Erin got it at a complete steal. The little curtain really gives it charm.

I love built in seating.

They are going to put a time capsule in one of the benches.

Any ideas on what should go in there??

This hallway leads from the front door into their kitchen. These are old photos of their parents and grandparents. They are going to put their son's art work on the other side of the hall to balance it out.

They have pocket doors in their master bedroom with a bonus space. Right now they are using it as a nursery.

This picture is actually a photo from their wedding that Erin had made to look like an oil painting. I soooo love this idea.

Erin bought this old coat rack off Craig's list. I adore this. It's beautiful and functional.I found one at Anthropology for about $32.00, but of course it's not authentically old:)