Renovations are no laughing matter. Correction. Renovations while living in the house being renovated is no laughing matter. Renovating your house is stressful, regardless of whether you’re doing it yourself, hiring it out, living in your home while it’s going on, or any other scenario. I shutter to think what living in a tiny house while renovating is like. I couldn’t help but to feel sympathetic for Tiny House Basics during their recent renovation. The whole process is a messy, time-consuming, and sometimes seemingly endless, one. Yet here I am, in the middle of one myself. Tiny r(E)volution v.3.0 is being restored to her former farmhouse heritage. Gone are the cheap, shaker style, kitchen cabinets. Out the door for the sleek, IKEA floating shelves. Even the floating floor is being given the axe. In it’s place will be elements of the farmhouses that dot the landscape of eastern North Carolina with hardwood features, vintage accoutrements, and basic trimmings. Turns out the style is kind of popular whether it is authentic or not.
During periods of research, material gathering, and wood sanding, 5 tips have emerged for adding farmhouse style to your tiny house or small house. Hopefully they will help you achieve the look you are hoping for.
ADD ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS. Whether you find an old window or door or mantel, it doesn’t matter. You can use them for their original purpose or you can put a little chalkboard paint on them and turn them into more functional pieces. You can even hang them on the wall as art. The trick is to breathe new life into old items.
GO GALVANIZED. Buckets for silverware. Baskets for magazine. Trays for candles, DVDs, or catch-alls. Sheets for wainscoting. The list is long and so is the charm of galvanized. The older the material, the better it looks.
FIND IT. BUY IT. The best way to add character to your renovation is with vintage elements. They have history. They tell stories. So don’t pass up a flea market, thrift store, rummage sale, or church bazaar. They are often treasure troves of cool pieces like barn signs, milk bottles, Ball jars, wooden cobbler forms, and more! It’s those pieces that really add charm to your “new” farmhouse.
SHIPLAP. WAINSCOT. LAP SIDE. Have you ever visited an old plantation home or a turn-of-the-century beach cottage? The interior walls are created in a simple butt-joint way creating rustic, interesting textures of shiplap. More formal mansions featured wainscoting and board and batten walls. Cabins often utilized lap siding inside and out for weather proofing. That said, Google DIY shiplap and find out how you can take 1/4″ plywood into a beautiful shiplap wall.
BREATHING ROOM. There is something very romantic about walls with age, pieces with dents, and chipping paint. As mentioned before, they tell stories. They hold secrets. Part of what makes the farmhouse style is letting those pieces breathe. Don’t paint corner to corner, coat after coat. Embrace the imperfections and enjoy the warmth of your new renovation!
By Andrew M. Odom for the [Tiny House Blog]
You don’t ‘shutter to think’. You shudder.