Houzz Tours
My Houzz: Farmhouse-Inspired DIY Style in Kentucky
A blogger and her husband personalize their builder-basic home with a budget-friendly kitchen renovation and more
As a freelance writer, Amanda Hervey knows how to tell stories. When she and husband Travis, a computer programmer, transformed their builder-basic home in the suburb of Georgetown, Kentucky, she found out that her favorite way of sharing her family’s story is through repurposing secondhand items into fresh, eclectic farmhouse designs. She shares her inspiring design choices and whimsical DIY projects on her blog, Our Storied Home, and encourages others to create the home of their dreams no matter what their budget or existing style might be.
Shades of blue are a unifying motif in the kitchen’s eclectic design. Amanda used chalkboard paint on both the upper and lower standard cabinets that were there when the family moved in. The farmhouse-style sink and faucet as well as the butcher block countertops are from Ikea.
“The kitchen renovation was a super, super budget makeover,” Amanda says. “The entire makeover cost under $1,000, and that included the butcher block countertops, farmhouse sink, paint, wallpaper backsplash, bead chandeliers and new flooring.”
To protect the Anthropologie wallpaper backsplash, Amanda applied three coats of matte Polycrylic over the top of it. She also refinished the countertops for a limed-oak look and kept some upper cabinets open to put some favorite dishes on display, including a plate with a whimsical illustration.
Wallpaper: Kaleidoscopic Crest, Anthropologie
To protect the Anthropologie wallpaper backsplash, Amanda applied three coats of matte Polycrylic over the top of it. She also refinished the countertops for a limed-oak look and kept some upper cabinets open to put some favorite dishes on display, including a plate with a whimsical illustration.
Wallpaper: Kaleidoscopic Crest, Anthropologie
Amanda painted the family’s wood Ikea dining chairs using a stencil to personalize them.
“From the outside, it is just a builder-basic house stuck smack dab in the burbs,” Amanda says. “We bought it because basements are unusual in this region and this house had one.” The Herveys knew that Amanda’s mom would eventually need to live with them, and the house gave them the opportunity to create a full apartment for her use. “So, from the street, it’s an ordinary house, but inside we actually have two full households with two kitchens,” Amanda says.
Outdoor lighting: Lowe’s; porch floor paint: Valspar; door paint: Web Gray, Sherwin-Williams
Outdoor lighting: Lowe’s; porch floor paint: Valspar; door paint: Web Gray, Sherwin-Williams
Amanda painted the porch floor with wide stripes and the ceiling Haint Blue, which is a popular practice in the South. The doily dreamcatcher panel, which Amanda created using embroidery hoops, gives the family a little privacy from the neighbors. Another clever DIY project Amanda completed is the side-by-side porch swings she made out of kitchen chairs.
The DIY projects in the open dining room include the dining room table, chandelier and open shelves. Amanda also repainted the room and installed new flooring.
Shelf stain: Weathered Gray, Rust-Oleum; rug: Dash & Albert
Shelf stain: Weathered Gray, Rust-Oleum; rug: Dash & Albert
Meaningful heirlooms, family photographs and decorative thrift store finds are displayed on the open shelves.
In the corner of the dining room is a station set up for preparing coffee and tea, which comes in handy when the couple is entertaining.
One wall in the master bedroom is devoted to the couple’s library. “Even if a house doesn’t have a rich history, it can be rich in story. My decorating style is very sentimental and often symbolic. I’m an English nerd — everything has a deeper meaning,” Amanda says.
Books also overflow onto other surfaces in the master bedroom, such as the nightstand seen here.
Amanda says her love of storytelling has the biggest influence on her decorating. “I love stories. As a kid, I was always asking my family to show me old photos. I was just mesmerized by them,” she says. “I think our home is a fusion of that collective story. I love being able to walk people through the house and have a story to tell them about everything. I love repurposed items and soulful decor.”
Amanda says her love of storytelling has the biggest influence on her decorating. “I love stories. As a kid, I was always asking my family to show me old photos. I was just mesmerized by them,” she says. “I think our home is a fusion of that collective story. I love being able to walk people through the house and have a story to tell them about everything. I love repurposed items and soulful decor.”
The couple’s children, Ada and Eli, share a room that Amanda designed in a gender-neutral palette. Typographical DIY art decorates the walls. The wicker chair and bohemian-style throw are secondhand finds.
Amanda and Travis installed new flooring and wallpaper and painted the walls. The book boat is a secondhand find.
Amanda turned a hall closet into a miniature office where she could work, read and write posts for her blog, Our Storied Home.
Of all the rooms in the house, the space at the top of the stairs has perhaps been adapted to the couple’s creative lifestyle the most. With the help of their children, Amanda and Travis turned the space into a family art studio.
The space is playful, airy and eclectic. “It’s a fun house. We are all a bit mischievous and like to play jokes and jump out at each other,” Amanda says. “We try really hard to live in the moment, take it easy and have fun.”
“Travis is very supportive of letting me work out my creativity on this house. As a writer, I feel very connected to my environment. I’m a sponge. If I don’t feel at home, I have a hard time feeling creative. He gets that and supports me,” Amanda says. The work surface in her studio exemplifies her creative approach.
Amanda is a big fan of chalk paint and says it’s one of her favorite things to use to update pieces for the home, such as this cabinet in the studio. “I love chalk paint as a way to upgrade a builder-basic home,” she says. “I know people automatically think of chalk paint and imagine distressed, farmhouse-looking furniture … [but] you can use chalk paint in modern ways. I have used it to transform light fixtures, cabinets and even the stair rail.”
The stairway with its painted rail is another example of Amanda’s creativity. “Travis and I have DIYed almost everything. He had no idea that I was taking up the carpet on the stairs, and honestly, I didn’t know I was taking it up either. I took up a corner to take a peek, and that felt so good, I just kept ripping,” she says. “It was remodeling bliss to rip that ugly carpet off the stairs! I called him at work and he was in a meeting. I said, ‘Honey, do you have a crowbar?’ He knew I was up to no good.”
Lining the staircase wall is a gallery wall of pictures. A shelf with hooks by the front door entry holds accessories and decorative items.
An assortment of patterns and shapes in the downstairs living room creates a playful visual energy. Amanda puts candles in the fireplace during the nonwinter months and lines the mantel shelf with green and clear bottles.
Wall paint: Gray Ghost, Olympia; flooring: Mohawk luxury laminate, Uniclic; tile: Pebble Tile Shop and Overstock
Wall paint: Gray Ghost, Olympia; flooring: Mohawk luxury laminate, Uniclic; tile: Pebble Tile Shop and Overstock
A collection of reclaimed windows, the result of a serendipitous meeting with someone in town, hangs on one of the walls in the living room. “I love the old windows in our living room. I stopped when I saw them on the side of the road. I walked up to the front door of the window owner’s house to find out if I could take them,” Amanda says. “An old farmer answered the door, and we hit it off. I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon with him and his wife, telling stories, learning about growing food and canning, and feeding their chickens.”
The man and his wife “followed me home to bring the windows over, saw that I needed to mow the grass but was in the middle of installing new floors, so came back with mowers and did it for me,” Amanda says. “We visit from time to time. They’ve given Ada a pet chicken she named Fluffy. I see these windows and think that there are so many opportunities and possibilities for connecting with people. Even trash is a treasure.”
“Another unusual thing about houses in this region is a big backyard,” Amanda says. “Our yard backs up to a real thoroughbred horse farm and the Elkhorn Creek. Our neighbors have a zip line through their yard, and we often hike down to the creek to play. It’s very whimsical and beautiful.”
Here, Amanda and Ada sit in one of their favorite spots behind their home. “We were more excited by the location than the house itself. We love being right on the banks of the Elkhorn Creek, which Walt Whitman wrote of in ‘Song of Myself,’” Amanda says.
Here, Amanda and Ada sit in one of their favorite spots behind their home. “We were more excited by the location than the house itself. We love being right on the banks of the Elkhorn Creek, which Walt Whitman wrote of in ‘Song of Myself,’” Amanda says.
The family spend much of their time outside on the patio under their deck. Travis and Ada are seen here enjoying one of the outdoor swings.
This outdoor space has become an additional room, filled with Amanda’s thrift store furniture and eclectic decor. Almost everything is hand-me-down, homemade or thrifted. “I might have a few dumpster-dive treasures too,” Amanda says with a wink.
Pictured from left to right are Ada, Amanda, Eli and Travis. “I think we’re all beach bums at heart who ended up landlocked in Kentucky,” Amanda says. “We’re very laid-back. Travis works from home as a computer programmer, and I work from home as a writer. We kind of operate on an ease-into-the-day sort of schedule. We’re usually listening to the Jack Johnson channel on Pandora, playing with our kids and telling big, fat stories.”
The Hervey family love how their house has become a gathering place for friends and family. “My friends are my design army — we all have a little ownership over it. It’s home to a lot of wandering souls and strays,” Amanda says.
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The Hervey family love how their house has become a gathering place for friends and family. “My friends are my design army — we all have a little ownership over it. It’s home to a lot of wandering souls and strays,” Amanda says.
See more photos of this home
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style:
Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Who lives here: Travis and Amanda Hervey; their daughter, Ada, 5, and son, Eli, 2; and Amanda’s mother, Gretta Griffith
Location: Georgetown, Kentucky
Size: 2,800 square feet (260.1 square meters); four bedrooms, four bathrooms
Year built: 2010
“The kitchen is certainly the heart of our home,” Amanda says. All of the kitchen renovations were DIY projects Amanda and Travis did by themselves or with the help of a parent. Travis and his father installed the countertop, and Amanda and her mother installed the floor. The couple also installed their own lighting, added a decorative backsplash and put in decorative planking on the kitchen bar.
Wall paint: Pure White, Sherwin-Williams; cabinet paint: chalkboard, Krylon; counter siding paint: Peppercorn, Sherwin-Williams; flooring: vinyl tile, Armstrong Luxury