How exceiting, we are living in an 1870 Schoolhouse. We totally renovated. Ours is a traditional timber frame, long, one rm schoolhouse with the entry extended. We have 3 horizontal board wainscot, the windows , the bent nail doors and wainscot are painted BM Lenox tan. The walls are mottled plaster. Our kit, a new addition, we painted Barn red cabs with soapstone counters/sink. So I guess ours would be your husbands choice of neutral. Our floors are 12-20 inch wide pine planks. Your chessnut floors are to die for. I have been looking for simple line antiques. Old school desks for end tables. Colorful braided area rugs. Oh, I did very simple black lighting. One thing so far I have no room for, a big blackboard. Your home is really nice!!!

Thanks for your suggestions! We actually have a little school desk that would work well as an end table now that you mention it. Would you recommend putting the wainscot up and leaving the rest of the walls as the plank? Or would you fill in the grooves on the plank?

I just want to say that I think you have a really lovely, unique and charming home. I love the big windows and the view of those beautiful trees is so peaceful!
I'm decorating-challenged so I don't have any suggestions for you but I'm sure you'll get some helpful advice here.
I love the floors and I think the plank walls are really neat. Enjoy your new home!

How lucky to have a place with so much history and charm It looks like you need some color. How about rugs and lamps? Hopefully some of the experts here will be along soon. Maybe some photoshoppers will chime in. That would be fun. Yoo-hoo, anyone?

What a great place. I might would use a warmer color on the walls.

eandhl - Can you post some pictures of your home for inspiration?

Laurie

Beautiful floors! I lack the talents needed to offer any real advice - but can't wait to see what others come up with.

*swoon* I love your home!!!

I love your house. I have always wanted to live in an old remodeled something...schoolhouse, church, warehouse, anything. Eventhough I hate white walls, yours I like. I'm not sure if I would add color. Maybe a cream with white trim. You can really do any color you want though.
Can you move the dining table to the other side (by the kitchen)? Then put a couple of chairs with a small table by the front window or maybe a game table. I would add a rug to anchor the living space with the couch and stove, maybe add another big chair angled facing the stove. An ottoman or table in front of the couch. How's your lighting? I love that basket you have on the wall behind the stove, that would make a great side table for the couch. I would also frame pictures in black frames and white matting. A big group on one wall. You could also add another rug for the dining room but that's up to you. Don't cover up your gorgeous floors too much.

I like the plank walls just as they are. I wouldn't fill the grooves, nor would I use wainscoting--there is a very nice simplicity to them, and I just don't think they need it. You might want to check out some of the major paint brands' selections of historic paint colors. You have a great home!

I would leave the plank walls -- unless you need to insulate.
Nothing was insulated here and the walls were a mismatch. We took them down, shored up rafters, had soy based foam insulation sprayed and plastered with the horizontal wainscot. I wanted the mottled off white with mottled tones of the lenox beige pigment. Closest thing to look like old plaster. I know I saw another school, original and it had painted pine T&G wide beaded board 1/2 way up the walls, plaster above. We do not have a second fl, just lofts. As for pictures right now all we have are deconstruction and recontruction. We are not finished and my furniture is stacked. Soon I hope.

I wouldn't touch the walls--you'd be destroying the historical architectural interest of the home if you did that. The paint color is historically correct, too. The house is just beautiful as is. If I were you, I would stay with a period feel: antique or near-antique furniture and rugs (don't have to be expensive). It's such a lovely home. Don't try to do it all at once; give yourself time to live in the house and get a sense of what you really want. Look at some design magazines ("Old House Interiors," for example), get in the habit of perusing in antique shops and flea markets. Over time, your home will come together, and it will feel "right" to you because you took your time and allowed the process to evolve organically. :)

Oh, how fortunate you are to be living in such a wonderful old space! I keep going back and looking at the pics, and I get an overall "Zen" vibe -- those old plank floors have such a wonderful patina, and I love the way the cream-toned walls play against the floors and the beautiful greenery outside. I think if this were my house, I'd focus on neutral, natural, very organic, and simply furnished/decorated. The space itself has so much character that you aren't going to need a lot of embellishment.

When I mentioned color, I didn't mean the walls! I really like the neutrals. I was thinking along the lines of accent colors.

I really love the door by the stairs with the transome above! If it were mine and it needed painting I would do some shade of white to off white walls and maybe a slightly darker color than your trim is now.

This home is absolutely magnificent. It evokes a feeling i can't quite describe - completion, contentment, warmth and comfort - everything a home should be.

In my humble opinion, walls and floors (and that door!) must remain utterly unmolested. As others have said here, don't touch them or cover them up. They're fantastic.

I would just keep your peepers peeled for thrift store, consignment or antique store finds, old pieces that speak to you in some way. You obviously have a knack, so will undoubtedly make great choices. Add to the furnishings you have, update whatever pieces you've always wanted to update. But keep it simple.

Congratulations on your gorgeous home.

Love, love, love it! Smart that you're taking your time to decorate - look for one-of-a kind pieces to really bring the character out! I can see historic in this house...but instead, I'd be tempted to go for a country cottage-type look, with slipcovered furniture, light blues, whites, yellows. It would look fabulous with those floors and plank walls!

I would put flip the dining table and the sofa...add a couple of small chairs facing each other on each side of the sofa, with a small bench or chest as a coffee table. Define the areas with braided rugs. I like the walls and trim - maybe focus on the furnishings, and see how the walls feel after that.

Please keep us posted with pictures as you progress!

I went to one-room country school for my first 6 grades, and I've always wanted to live in a schoolhouse! Now, I live in a loft in downtown LA, and it's nearly the same--one big room.

And since you see everything at once, I'd suggest that you concentrate on a few large-scale decorative items--the clock is perfect. Scale and proportion are so important--little vignettes just read as ditsy. I wouldn't go crazy with the school room theme.

I like the wall color, but maybe the trim could take a more definite color. Even if you don't need curtains for privacy, roman blinds might be nice, and don't have to cost the earth. They're easy to sew, too.

Awesome piece of history you have there. As Aunt Jen said, the space is very organic feeling and peaceful as is. If you want some color, maybe a mossy, darker green for accent pillows, a throw and/or even paint the stools green. You have a lot of empty space in the middle there. One chair with a small, round table could work; I can't tell if you could fit two chairs, but put them perpendicular to the sofa. If you want window treatments, I would look at linen or some other neutral, textured fabric for simple curtains. The pillows could be an organic print with the color of your sofa as part of the print.

As others have said, I love the walls and floors. A rug to unite the seating group would be a nice addition once you add a chair.
Diane

Here's a room from Pottery Barn -- neutrals with a pop of black -- that would really work well for you too.

Then you could add accent patterns (again in Neutrals or even color) for the seasons.

LOVE your home -- especially your floors@! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Pottery Barn room

Thanks for all of your suggestions! I've made a couple changes, but still have a way to go. Thought I'd share what I've done so far. I think I'm going to get a braided rug, some 1/2 curtains (for bottoms of windows only), and paint some things. Our brown loveseat (the dog's loveseat) is too close to our woodstove and we'll have to move it eventually. (not sure where yet - maybe upstairs..) The mirror over the loveseat will eventually go over the bookcase. Any suggestions you have are always welcome. :)

I think it looks great! The half curtains will look lovely (something soft and white).
The only thing I might change and this is only if you have the room, is bring the sofa away from the window. Put it right up to the loveseat so you have the seating around the stove. Then that leaves a walkway behind the sofa from the door to the other door. The loveseat looks like its floating by itself. I assume the sofa is too long to be across from the stove with the loveseat on the side instead?
I also like the table on the other side.
Great job!

Like this?

I like that alot better! Then when you can, replace the folding table with something like the gorgeous little table by the stairs and your done! (of course I'm ignoring the dog's couch but you said you would move that someday). You can always make or buy a really big pillow or you can even remove the couch and leave the couch pillows on the floor for your pooch. They think they're people don't they? I know my boxer thinks so :)

When you by your rug, you can buy a runner for behind the loveseat and that way you can cover the cord from the lamp.

It looks fantastic!

What would it look like if you swapped the tray table and that wicker chest/end table for one another. I think i might like that darker brown next to the lamp, and it might soften the look of the tray table to not have it in the middle of things.

Also, do you have enough room to move the dining table and chairs a little bit off the wall as well?

DH & I considered buying an old schoolhouse two years ago! The first thing I was going to put in it was a large oak school teachers desk, with a carved red apple on it, of course. An American flag, leaning in the corner. Look at antique stores for a portrait of Abraham Lincoln or a large, old distressed map of the United States.

The one we were looking at had neat hanging pendant lights (picture white glass baby bottles). Our problem was there was not just not enough height to add a loft (but almost, sigh) and the lower level was NOT livable. Unless we wanted to spend a fortune.

I was on a mission to find a large schoolbell since there was a belltower right at the entrance, minus the bell. I wanted to put it so that visitors could actually pull the rope and ring the bell!

The bathroom was a large square room and needed complete gutting. I was considering putting white fixtures and white subway tile in there and toying with the idea of adding a urinal too!

Your home has so much potential! I can totally see it in a shabby chic or coastal cottage decor of course using neutrals. If any of those styles appeal to you..go to the bookstore & look through books & magazines that show rooms with those styles to get inspiration. I would definitly leave the walls white (wow, did I sy that..lol) and your floors are awesome just use area rugs in certain areas.

Love your home! Great floors, walls, and the light coming in is bright and cheery. I agree not to change the walls, etc. My only suggestion is can the dog's sofa also be used as a reading sofa, so that the bookshelf next to it could have some books, magazines, etc in it, which give it a reason to be tucked cozily back where it is. A reading lamp and a throw and it would be the perfect place to curl up (with your dog, of course) and read.

I love the baskets and the simple, zen-like austerity of the space some of your decorations (e.g., the wreaths hanging like they are is really beautiful). It's warm and inviting but peaceful at the same time. Enjoy!

Thanks for all your advice! It's really helped. I am so indecisive. Unfortunately, I don't have room to pull the dining room table away from the wall. :( It either blocks the entrance into the kitchen or out the front door.

I love your house! The floors and the board walls are great. The pictures remind me of a gallery space in the Berkshires that really struck me. I love simple and old styles, but this gallery had a living space attached that was spare and modern, and it looked outstanding. The gallery itself had a small collection of large objects, including a wall of huge clocks from an old factory arranged on the wall going up the stairs. I think the walls call out for few, but large things on them.

The one area that doesn't seem right to me is the board and batten door under the transom, and the table next to it. The horizontal battens jumped out at me -- I think painting them the same color as the door would be more harmonious than having that contrasting color. Since the doorway is tall and narrow, emphasizing the horizontal battens is going against the grain, to my eye. I get the feeling the original door was frame and panel like your other ones. Also, the height of that door and the window next to it seem to dwarf the table. I think it looked better under the opposite window.

As others said, take your time and find the right pieces to do justice to your beautiful and unique house. Enjoy!

I have a suggestion, your house seems a bit "woodsy", not the word I'm looking for. The pillows on your sofa seem too "delicate" for the feel of the room. I don't have specific suggestions of other pillows but I think you could do better. You have a really neat house with lots of potential. Love the view out the windows.