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A Farm of My Own:  do you 'decorate' your farm in 'farm style'?  |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 24 2005 : 1:30:19 PM
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| and what would YOU call 'farm style'? it would be different for a country home, estate, (plantation .. ha! how many of us own those!), country cottage, log cabins, etc.? and how important is 'decorating' your home to you? do you change for the seasons and holidays? how often do you 'replace' furniture . .and do you move it around very often? |
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primjillie
True Blue Farmgirl
138 Posts
Jill
Antelope
CA
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - Oct 25 2005 : 2:44:40 PM
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| Hi Frannie! Good to see you here! I am mad about primitive decorating. I have a "make believe" farm for now, but I would love to have a primitive farmhouse with all the trimmings. If it isn't prim, it doesn't enter the house (except appliances and an occasional stuffed piece). My grandparents had a dairy farm and I fell madly in love with it when I was little and I think that image stuck with me. My version of primitive is a little farm and a little colonial, nothing cutesy. |
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maggiegerlach
Farmgirl at Heart
1 Posts
michelle
Rush
KY
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - Oct 26 2005 : 1:29:16 PM
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| I am in the process of building a new (but want it to not look new) house on my family farm. I am searching for ways to make my home look as though it was built in 1928 when the farm was first establised by my great grandparents. I want our home to look like it has always been there. We chose a farmhouse style house plan so it will look authenic on the outside. Any ideas for the inside? I would love some feed back. I am so excited to be bringing my children and husband back with me after 15 yrs away.Once farm life is in your blood you never really can get it out of your heart. |
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verbina
True Blue Farmgirl
231 Posts
randi
n.j
USA
231 Posts |
Posted - Oct 26 2005 : 3:20:10 PM
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| i have rustic taste so my cabin ,and old farm house are my taste with lot of acesters photos on wall.my soul is old would love to leave jersey and find another old farm house and may do that in a year or so. randi from jersey |
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Kay in Kentucky
Farmgirl in Training
35 Posts
Kay
Dunnville
Kentucky
USA
35 Posts |
Posted - Oct 26 2005 : 4:32:01 PM
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Hi;
I bought an Amish farm they are not known for decoration of any kind. I am not going to change much. I am trying to keep it plain and simple. It won't be as auster as Amish style but it won't be cluttered either. If something doesn't have a function other than decoration its history.
I think that things that are used to perform tasks have a beauty of their own whether it is a chair or a kitchen utensil.
The motto for my decorating is "keep it simple, keep it plain".
Kay
My blog;
http://oakspringfarm.blogspot.com |
Edited by - Kay in Kentucky on Oct 26 2005 4:33:01 PM |
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lonestargal
True Blue Farmgirl
607 Posts
Kristi
Texas
607 Posts |
Posted - Oct 26 2005 : 8:39:32 PM
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Jill--you don't happen to be from the Antelope Valley area are you? Around Lancaster and Quartz Hill? My brother is from Lancaster and my dad worked in Quartz Hill so just curious. Also I agree on the primitive and colonial decorations-that has to be one of my favorites. I have a neighbor that decorates that way and her house is beyond georgous-in a rustic way of course!!
Kay--how lucky are you to have bought and Amish place. I admire the Amish so much and I'm sure your place is beautiful. I love your motto and can't agree more.
As far as my 'farm' decorations, well it's more ranch actually. We have horses and wagon wheels in the decor. In fact our coffee table legs are wagon wheels and there are horse shoes in the top, made by the Amish-I love it and it's my favorite piece of furniture we own. We also have a lot of Texas decor--gotta love the lonestar!!! |
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FarrarFarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
330 Posts
Lynda
Frohna
Missouri
USA
330 Posts |
Posted - Oct 27 2005 : 6:24:45 PM
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Hello,
Being stuck in the city for now, I decided to bring the farm to me. At one time our family room was a one-car garage. An owner before us converted it to living space. The ceiling is not really a cathedral ceiling but follows the roof line.
One day as I was looking at it, it occurred to me that it really looked more like a barn. So we live in a barn. My husband brought some old barn wood home from the farm and we put it half way up a long wall, then trimmed it out with beams to create "stalls." One one wall I have 2 tractor seats and a hay rack, there is a horse bridle, and bandana curtains. And as I frame pictures of barns that I take, I put them along the ledge on top of the barn wood. It has a wooden floor, not like hardwood, just plywood. I've added a wooden table handed down to me that is 100 years old, that is in the corner with photos and a chess game and across from it is a buffet piece that I use to store my linens and crocheted doilies. I absolutely love it. I do like to decorate with some trinket things, but only if they are farm related, but I think I have enough now and do not plan to add anymore. (That's just more I have to pack when it comes time to actually move to the real farm.)
I do move my furniture around quite a bit and amazed at all the different arrangements I can come up with. I like to keep the furniture covered with plenty of blankets and throws so it is always comfy and cozy.
I will be interested to hear what advise you all have for Michelle in KY, because prayerfully in a few years I will be in the same situation. How do you make new look old?
Have fun with building your new home, Michelle. I'm glad that you are getting the opportunity to share all that is stored up in your heart with your family now. Blessings on the whole process.
In His hands,
Lynda
Pray in faith and you will not live in doubt. |
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Mari-dahlia
True Blue Farmgirl
269 Posts
Marianne
Hoosick Falls
New York
USA
269 Posts |
Posted - Oct 28 2005 : 06:47:29 AM
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My farm house is 200 years old. I try to create an "old farm house" type look, but I do not like early american or colonial or american primitive styles. My idea of a farm seems to be alot like Mary Jane's books and magazines. Something simple plain and in the 30's,40's or 50's. It is an eclectic mix of old and practical farm style.
Marianne |
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celebrate2727
True Blue Farmgirl
989 Posts
Beth
MJF
Farmgirl
989 Posts |
Posted - Oct 28 2005 : 09:21:36 AM
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My new farm is filled with dark oak floors, trim and stained glass windows. the kitchen has been updated but still has the old look to it with a beamed ceiling and new oak cabinets to match the old woodwork. I buy things to decorate it at flea markets and thrift stores. So far I have bought an old ceramic ladle -chips and all, an old washboard with faded lettering, a claw foot bath tub soap dish(soon to be filled by the soap maven). I found an old glass dish that has gold trim around it but looks like stained glass- not smooth and clear but dappled(I would love help trying to figure out where it originated). I love old trunks and have several. I look for ones that are in pretty good shape and usually can get them for under $10 each. If you like thrift stores keep your eye out for old pictures and paintings- you may hate the print but love the frame, and most go for under $5.00 and can be beautiful. My friend has and old iron bedframe that she put in her yard and grew a bed of flowers in it.
At Christmas I always put up several trees, each with a different color theme. This year I will add one more that I think will be more nature inspired with small birds, cranberry trim, handmade ornaments I'll make with the kids. How many trees do you put up?
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
-Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Oct 29 2005 : 04:18:17 AM
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Personally, I think the style of your home should determine the decor. It really grates on me to see something like Arts and Crafts in a Victorian, or modern furniture or fixtures in an old farm type house. And worst is when somebody redecorates and uses the kind of windows that belong in a ranch in an upright turn of the century house, or they don't follow the scale of the house, or it's character. Ugh.
Mine is just a plain ol' farm house, built right after the Civil War. So my diningroom is furnished in oak furniture from that time. My diningroom table is huge; five feet inches in diameter without the two leaves. The big old room can accomodate it well, though. I have an oak sideboard filled with my grandmother's china from the 1880's, and a wedding set from 1924. Lots of cookbooks and family portraits from the time when women still wore their skirts long. Fun. The livingroom is more dressy, but still acceptable with the age of the house, with mahogany and cabbage roses. The familyroom is rustic, with leather hobnail furniture and rough woods. I have some old boxes in there with advertising on them, old family pictures, brick, and pottery.
To me, farm style is not city style; there'll be a place for muddy boots, abundant food, a place outside to sit and visit with a view of the barn or orchard, and a smell of animals and crops in the air.
Do I change things for the seasons and holidays? Yes, I change some pillows in the familyroom, and have things like Halloween decorations, Thanksgiving decorations, and of course Christmas decorations. We have one big tree in the livingroom, a Victorian confection in pink and sage, and smaller trees suitable to the decor of each room placed about. How often do I replace furniture? Not often at all; but when I do, I get the very best I can afford. I want it to last. The first sofa I bought twenty-five years ago was made by Selig, and cost more than two thousand dollars. I gave it away a few years ago, and it still had lots to give. And a year or so after I bought that one, I bought a sofa bed and paid $1000 for it; my daughter and her family are using it now. It's tired, but not worn out. My mahogany breakfront is about 75 years old, and was my grandmother's; it's exquisite, and will someday stand in my daughter's home. I know my grandmother valued quality too, and I thank her for her foresight with this and several other pieces.
Do I move my furniture around very often? Heck, no! The rooms in this old farmhouse are weird; most have too many doors and windows, so furniture placement is a challenge. There aren't many options for the same piece within a room. I have an old rocking chair that my mother-in-law nursed her babies in, and I set it by the fireplace in the familyroom. I'm thinking that in summer I might move it upstairs to my room, but that's about it.
Interesting question! |
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tiffany01
True Blue Farmgirl
134 Posts
Tiffany
Indiana
USA
134 Posts |
Posted - Oct 29 2005 : 05:39:44 AM
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Michelle, I admire your interest in making your new home look like it's stood there for a century. My husband and I remodeled our kitchen and bath last winter and faced the dilemna of trying to create a kitchen with all (or most of) the modern conveniences while keeping in line with the fact that this house was built in 1886. I think one of the best ways to do this is with your cabinets - nothing too ornate and simple hardware. We were lucky and found a cabinet maker who "antiqued" them for us by using the paint more as a wash and rubbing it in strategic spots, He did a great job so it doesn't look too contrived. It was entertaining explaining to the contractor, cabinet maker, etc that yes, we were going to paint the walls a pumpkin color and yes, we wanted the cabinets a sage green. So basically right now our kitchen is a reflection of the woods behind the house.
I don't move our furntiure around at all because the rooms are small and I was lucky to get the furniture in a decent spot at all! I'd love to replace our sofa (only 4 years old but too big for the room and our dog chewed a corner off about a month ago - thank goodness for a well placed blanket) but the budget won't allow it yet.
I love decorating for the holidays but we usually only have one tree. My mom and dad do multiple trees, including one decorated with the cream and green handled antique utencils they collect. |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Oct 30 2005 : 6:45:20 PM
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Hi Frannie! Good to see you here!
hi jilly-bean! so nice to see an olde friend here!!!!!
My version of primitive is a little farm and a little colonial, nothing cutesy.
i sure agree about the cutesy. xo |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Oct 30 2005 : 6:46:31 PM
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Any ideas for the inside? I would love some feed back.
BEAMS ... to hang baskets and other country treasures from! |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Oct 30 2005 : 6:47:33 PM
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[ would love to leave jersey and find another old farm house and may do that in a year or so.
come to kentucky!!!!!!!! so many wonderful olde farmhouses here! |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Oct 30 2005 : 6:48:53 PM
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I think that things that are used to perform tasks have a beauty of their own whether it is a chair or a kitchen utensil.
so no pictures? just for the sheer joy of looking at them? |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Oct 30 2005 : 6:51:31 PM
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My husband brought some old barn wood home from the farm and we put it half way up a long wall
using OLDE wood is a great way to help create a look from earlier times. |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Nov 01 2005 : 09:31:21 AM
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| antiques .. family or new found are a great way to make a home more homey, .. i love 'log cabin' looking things .. have step-back cupboards, hoosiers, baker's table, farm tables and chairs .. and a most wonderful 'chicken laying box (12 cubbies) to keep some of my cookbooks in. |
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Debs
True Blue Farmgirl
100 Posts
Debs
Wellington
New Zealand
100 Posts |
Posted - Nov 01 2005 : 12:47:39 PM
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I live in a flat (sorry, that's "apartment" to most of you) and the living room has chalet-style dark wood features (I have 3 pictures of farm/country houses on the walls!) and the kitchen is modern but some of the tiles on the wall above the benchtop depict a French village square! I did none of this decorating, and probably bought the place because of the big kitchen and the many natural-style wooden features! My goal however is to eventually have a rustic style interior, with lots of wood features, shabby-chic furnishings, in a cottage-like house on a small farm!  |
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Lauram
True Blue Farmgirl
74 Posts
Laura
Moneta
VA
USA
74 Posts |
Posted - Nov 07 2005 : 11:47:20 AM
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My husband and I are building a farmhouse on our five acres of farmland. We should break ground next month. Historic Housefitters sells reproduction door straps, lock sets, lighing, fireplace tools, and lots of other things. They have a website and I think it's www.historichousefitters.com. Also, Country Tinware has some nice things too.
Another way we are making our house look older is by buying solid wood, five panel doors and fitting them with doorstraps and cast iron knobs, etc . . . We are putting beams on the ceiling of our informal dining room where I will hang herbs, baskets and flowers. Our fireplace is going to be stone, and we are extending a stone to make room for a firewood cubby. I think we are going to also look for an old, wood mantal, and my husband is going to make us a rustic plank table. We have tons of old quilts that his grandmothers made, so I will hang those on the walls.
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Photobugs
True Blue Farmgirl
363 Posts
Pamela
Post Falls
Idaho
USA
363 Posts |
Posted - Jan 12 2006 : 8:56:28 PM
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It has been awhile since this post was started, but I was away doing crafting and Christmas, so I am just getting back to reading and posting.
I wanted to address Maggiegerlach (Michelle) on tips on decorating in 1928 farm style. I would watch 'The Walton's' television show. I think this gives a pretty good idea of what a farm house kitchen might have looked like. Even though they are not on a farm, they do all the things in that kitchen that were common in any kitchen of the era. You'll note the Hoosier, old ice cream freezer, work table in the middle of the kitchen floor, and then once in a while you get a view of the pie safe on the back closed-in porch. You can also find grandma ironing on an old wood ironing board, with her electrical iron cord dangleing from the ceiling, as it is plugged into a light socket, I believe. Since this show represents the 1930s through the 1940s it may be a little off in the timeline, but all in all they do the best job I have seen in recreating this era. There is also a wood drying rack in the corner of the kitchen. You can sometimes find the cast irons at yard sales and they would have also been used during this time period. I got all three of mine at yard sales years ago. They did not have the handles, so I have been finding those on ebay and they look so much better with the handles on them.
Then there is the look of the Baldwin sisters home from the same show. They have money that Walton's did not have so it is a bit fancier, but quite lovely. I really love the clothes those two old ladies wear!
The nice thing is that in my area I get this show three times a day, so I could tell you everything about that house! Anyway, just my two cents worth.
"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!" |
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jenny louise
True Blue Farmgirl
166 Posts
jennifer
cass city
MI
USA
166 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2006 : 03:02:36 AM
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I agree with frannie, wanna see some pictures!I will try to take one or two and post them soon.
We always warn people that are coming to visit that our home is rustic. Since we were off grid for a few years, everything had to serve a purpose and we had no appliances. We still have the clothes drying rack in the kitchen, and still use it. A boot and gloves and hats rack is next to the front door. I don't have fancy anything, too much of the barn yard gets dragged through here. In the spring, I always have one or two lammbs prancing around and have had a couple of llama babies living in here for awhile. So, no fancy goods. Ideally, I would like a place that i could hose down!!!
I like visualizing what you all have done, even though I don't 'do up' my house, i really enjoy seeing what folks do. I do have a box of christmas decorations, but put them out maybe every three or four years...just a plain jane, Jenny |
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junebug
True Blue Farmgirl
2421 Posts
Sue
West Plains,
Mo.
USA
2421 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2006 : 12:48:31 PM
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This is my cozy little kitchen in our 70 plus farmhouse, last year I took off the cabinet doors, they were old and ugly and left the open shelves to create a farmstyle look, painted them a ivory and green trim. It's small but I love it.
" Aspire to Inspire before you Expire"
www.herbalfarmstead.blogspot.com
www.countrypleasures.motime.com |
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junebug
True Blue Farmgirl
2421 Posts
Sue
West Plains,
Mo.
USA
2421 Posts |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2006 : 1:00:34 PM
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Cute! I love your kitchen Sue
Here is a picture of one side of mine. I am putting in a new kitchen counter some time this winter for sure...a dark green specked formica one..real '40's looking..with the metal edge trim..the counter is the one thing I really hate about my kitchen. I stenciled the apple border when we first moved into this house. The whole kitchn had scary big old flowered walpaper...I MEAN REAAALY SCARY!!!
Jenny in Utah
It's astonishing how short a time it takes for very wonderful things to happen...Frances Burnette
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com ![]() |
Edited by - Aunt Jenny on Jan 13 2006 1:05:59 PM |
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farmgrlchick
True Blue Farmgirl
439 Posts
Theresa
Columbus
Montana
USA
439 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2006 : 5:19:19 PM
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So cute Farmgirls!!!!
Thanks for sharing!!!!!! |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2006 : 9:21:39 PM
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oh .. i'm loving all your photos!!! keep 'em comin'! xo
True Friends, Frannie |
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A Farm of My Own: do you 'decorate' your farm in 'farm style'? |
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do you 'decorate' your farm in 'farm style'?
