Rustic Farm House Help- Opinions Please

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

We just bought our first home and are excited to make it ours. There is a LOT of wood trim and wood ceilings throughout the house. Floors are a light wood. First picture is what it currently looks like (not our furniture), and other pictures are ideas we have. We are painting the walls white, and then thinking of staining the trim and ceiling beams a darker color, and the ceiling slats white. Or possible doing all white (last picture). However, I'm worried this would be quite an undertaking with the amount of wood in the home. Would you leave it as is? Update it like we are envisioning? Or do something different? As first time home buyers- we are a little overwhelmed on where to start. Will be getting professional help, but thought i'd start here. Thanks!

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Joey R.

4 years ago

@taylj8 .glad to be of help--I completely understand the overwhelming feeling of taking on a project! You've got a great canvas to work with!

Some lessons I've learned:

Get your artificial lighting figured out. Light affects everything! Keep it consistent temperature-wise (Kelvins) and imagine how you'd like to light the space for all the different things you'd be doing within the space.
For your professional bids I would ask for their portfolios to see what they've done in the past so you feel confident of their abilities.
Ask the pro you end up choosing to prepare physical samples so that you can use them for other all other selections such as paint (which you may want to hold off on until you're more expensive and permanent selections are made because you don't want to have to work around paint colors even if it's white due to there being 53+ shades of white). I'm also noticing a bluish-violet tinge of the wall color. This may be actually increasing your perception of the orange in the current wood finish.
Live with the samples prior to starting work--these are your keys to future choices and will help make decisions a lot easier because everything will be based on them vs. outside factors. They will easily whittle down the seemingly unlimited choices and decisions out in the world of options.
See what the pros end up using as far as products go and study their method. If you feel confident to duplicate their method in a smaller, more manageable space, DIY it and utilize the saved funds on a splurge or somewhere else in the project as a reward.
Never rush or be rushed!

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Comments (11)

Katie B.
4 years ago
Take out the rustic cabin furnishings and you’ll he surprised how different it looks. I wouldn’t paint or stain just yet- that’s a big project and it’s beautiful already.
taylj8 .
Original Author
4 years ago
Very true- just seeing it without the furniture will make a huge difference- hard to envision it just yet. Love this photo- thanks for sharing. Will still go with white paint (it's a little too much light blue for me) but think that alone will make a big difference. Thanks so much!
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To me it seems that there are too many unnecessary twists, turns, angles and little corners in the house that erode the "open plan" concept. This is the kind of thing you see on internet plans drawn by inexperienced designers on computers. They look like renovation plans because they were adapted from another plan. I'm not saying these people don't have skills but it's extremely difficult to design well on a computer even if you are very experienced. I recommend tracing the plan freehand and trying to make the spaces fit together so the corridors are shorter with fewer angles and spaces are well defined and feel more open. Corners should only be where they are really needed or where they add to the definition of spaces. If the stair goes down to the basement you have allowed only 7 ft of horizontal run beyond the door swing and that will not allow adequate head clearance. You could swing the door into the corridor but I don't recommend it. I agree that the pantry is too square and it makes it difficult to enter the guest bedroom. Here again there are too many unnecessary corners. These corners are awkward and expensive. Why would there be a door on the Mud Room closet but not on the Mud Room? Is the house on the same level as the garage? Normally the garage floor slopes toward the overhead doors and there is at least one step if not several up into the house. How would you use the front hall closet with such a small door? The space for a toilet should be at least 30" wide and with a 19" clear space in front of the bowl. Do you plan to eat all of your meals in a 6 ft deep booth? You need to show furniture in the rooms. The fireplace seems like an after thought instead of an organizing feature in the Great Room. Would you place furniture facing away from the view in order to face the fireplace Ã¢ÂÂ¦ or the reverse?
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I didn't read all the responses - but, I have/had the same problem w/my windows and doors. The builder showed me houses that he built w/the larger trim and said it was standard - I didn't need it added to the specs. Yet, when the windows/siding went in I have this little skinny trim - that too me looks unfinished/cheap. I could add shutters but that would not solve the problem w/the side of the house windows unless I put shutters on them too, which too me would be too much bric-brack. I think if you get wider trim work it will look very nice - but, you will have some size issues. It won't look right where you have th stone (yep, I have the stone issue too - but, luckily the stone guy self trimmed those couple windows. Then your upper windows you can't have the larger trim creep into your upper section of trim either. Why not just try it on your lower windows and see if that makes enough difference to make you happy. I too relied on my builder for his expersise - LOL I have learn't never to do that again.
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You are right about the colors in the inspiration room rug pulling in all the colors of the room. Somehow I either overlooked it or didn't want to admit it. How does the saying go..."sometimes you don't see the forest because the trees are in the way"...haha... Anyway, I just fell in love with the stone medallion rug and was offered it for a great price because it was a return to a local place that makes them. It isn't the colors that I would have chosen, but I was trying to force it to work. It has no grout because it is made with a compouter controled water jet and all the pieces fit tightly together to form one big solid piece. It's really lovely, but you are right, the colors aren't the best for the design. I have changed original design a bit because I felt it was too Tuscan/Mediterranean for the house. I am using more rustic wood instead of so much cast concrete..though I am using the cast corbles that flank the radius ceiling. I wanted it to feel casual and rustic French, but with an elegant touch of "jewelry" that the crystal and possibly some glass tile accents would bring. The color swatch under the sink is such a bad representation of the vanity color! I attached a photo of a premade cabinet in a similar color and style to what I am having made. The wall color has not been determined yet. Any suggestions?! Thanks again! Your advice is really helping me see this from a different prespective. Did I mention I am a bit over my head with this project? This monster spec house has 10 bathrooms and not enough budget! I'll post some pictures as the project progresses.
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Katie B.
4 years ago
It looks white to me. But yes, white will be beautiful. How excited are you! Nothing beats your first home. My best advice is to buy furniture/decor that you love and then as you put the rooms together you’ll know if some or all of the wood needs to be painted or stained.
taylj8 .
Original Author
4 years ago
Thank you! So excited. And appreciate all the tips, v helpful!
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qam999
4 years ago
To me, it looks fine now. My only slight concern would be that the wood appears to be a bit on the orange side, and that may look off with certain colors in your furniture. The only thing I would consider doing is changing the stain on the wood....to either be a darker, less orange brown, or to be lighter and ashier. In either case, you have to do all the wood the same, and yes that is a big job! Not a DIY IMO - unless you already own all the ladders and scaffolding you would need.

You have a lot of gorgeous windows! This house appears very livable.
taylj8 .
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Yes very livable. We LOVE the house. I fell in love with it immediately. Love the idea about a darker stain- will hire help for sure if we decide to go that route. Going to start with just giving the walls a fresh coat of paint and then move slowly from there. Thanks for the suggestions!

Tony- I'd love to see that article, thank you.
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Joey R.
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I personally would have the wood color professionally corrected to neutralize the orange tones which is most likely due to the original finishing technique and time. Think of it in terms of hair coloring if you understand the science/art of that.

It looks like the wood is pine, which is sort of a yellow, pretty versatile in terms of going lighter to darker.

If it's fir, then the wood is essentially orange/pink tones which can also be corrected, but may need bleaching or a more skilled trades-person.

It's definitely doable and congratulations on your first home!
taylj8 .
Original Author
4 years ago
That's SO helpful Joey, and love that metaphor. This was exactly the sort of advice we were looking for and understanding we were hoping to gain by posting here. I appreciate it!
cat_ky
4 years ago
I love the wood. It is a beautiful house. Paint the walls and live with it a while. Its never a wise choice to change things like that, until you have lived in the house for 6 months to a year. What you think you might like now, will be totally opposite of what you want after living there for a while.
taylj8 .
Original Author
4 years ago
@Joey R. So so appreciate all of this! Have this saved to refrence later. And haha I was feeling less overwhelmed until I read 53+ shades of white!! Going to take it slow, live with it for awhile, and invest in doing it right if we decide to go that route. Thanks again for taking the time to share your expertise!

Rustic Farm House Help- Opinions Please

Joey R.

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Katie B.

taylj8 .
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Rustic Farm House Help- Opinions Please

Joey R.

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