Finally. Finally. I’d reached the point where I could start putting this old farmhouse back together. Because it was an old farmhouse, I wanted it to feel like an old farmhouse.

The first order of business was to get the cabinets ordered because it would take a couple of weeks for them to arrive. I ordered Shaker White kitchen cabinets from RTAcabinetstore.com.

RTA stand for “ready to assemble” and means that the cabinet parts would come in a flat box and require assembly. The assembly process is relatively quick and easy and can result in significant savings. I assembled these in my living room, while hanging out with the girls and watching tv!

Next, I ordered the flooring because again, it would take time to arrive. I chose a hand- scraped, birch, engineered hardwood from Build Direct. Because this was an investment property, I needed to stay mindful of the budget, regardless of whether I kept the property or sold it. The engineered product allowed me to stay within budget, without sacrificing beauty and style, and would be installed after the painting was complete.

Then … the walls. These were a mess! Several were damaged and would need new drywall, as would the new walls we’d constructed.

The kitchen ceiling had one of those drop down systems. You know the kind. The typical office ceiling with the metal frame and the rectangular panels, complete with built-in fluorescent lights. This definitely didn’t fit with the farmhouse motif!

So, down came the ceiling. I was expecting some damage,  but I wasn’t prepared for what we found. The ceiling was simply the bottom side of the attic floor boards, 2 feet higher than the old ceiling and covered with a thin, painted fabric. It was torn and sagging in places and some of it had remnants of old wall paper.

I was thrilled with the higher ceiling, but it desperately needed a new finish! Rather than drywall, I opted for bead board. This was consistent with the breakfast nook ceiling and really, nothing is more quintessentially farmhouse than bead board.

When it came to the actual bead board, I had several options. Solid bead board planks with a tongue and groove is a nice product but costly.

MDF paneling is  economical but flimsy. It would have been fine for walls, but because it’s thin, I worried about it sagging over time if used on the ceiling. Who wants to go to all of this work only to have it droop and sag down the road?

Plywood bead board, on the other hand, is economical, quick to install, and thick enough to prevent sagging. At nearly 3/8” thick, it’s sturdy enough for a ceiling and the end result is virtually indistinguishable from the costlier solid planks.

The kitchen ceiling, bathroom ceiling and pantry walls all received this material.  In order to really tie things together, I used it to wrap the kitchen island as well.

The remaining walls and the living room ceiling received new drywall. With the drywall hung and taped, I decided to apply a skip trowel finish to all of the walls. This was time consuming, and I’ll admit, my shoulder ached a bit by the time I was finished, but a knock down finish just didn’t fit with the house. This finish made the walls look and feel as if they’d always been there.

Now it was time for paint. I purchased over half a dozen color samples and painted swatches on the walls in all of the different rooms. I had a couple of different shades of white and of course, some variations of greige. Greige is that trendy color that falls somewhere between grey and beige.

In the end I chose Dove White by Benjamin Moore for the wall color. I love this white because it’s warm, with just a tiny hint of cream so it doesn’t feel stark and cold. For the trim I used Simply White, also by Benjamin Moore and I decided to carry these colors throughout the house.

My parents and aunt and uncle graciously offered to help with the paining and boy was I thankful! Many hands really do make light work and besides, these people are just fun! Tell me that doesn’t look like fun!!

For the countertops, I used solid birch tops from Ikea. Sadly, they no longer carry this product … a sad fact I discovered when trying to buy it again for my latest renovation.

I did consider granite. Granite is, of course, beautiful and durable and for many years it, along with marble and quartz have been among the most sought after countertop materials.

But, I’m partial to wood counters. I’ve been using them for nearly fifteen years, long before you could even buy them. (Back then I had to make my own.)

It’s not that I’m opposed to those other materials.  I once bought a truck load of old Carrera marble slabs that had been removed from the walls of an old bank in Dayton, Ohio. The marble was covered with drywall mud and paint, but under all of that was pure beauty. Granite, quartz, marble and even laminate have their place. It’s just that in this old farmhouse, wood simply fit better.

Ikea didn’t have the birch tops wide enough to accommodate the island so I purchased two pieces, used my biscuit joiner and glued them together. When they were dry I sanded them, cut them down to size, cut the opening for the stainless steel, under-mount sink and stained them a light warm, brown. I finished them off with hard wax oil.

I’ll introduce you to hard wax oil in a future post. For now, suffice to say, it’s durable, easy to apply, easy to maintain, environmentally friendly and simply beautiful. It doesn’t get any better than that!

The addition of a new island light fixture and stainless steel appliances finished off the kitchen!

For the bathroom vanity, I purchased an antique sideboard and fitted it with a sink and faucet. This economical alternative to a pre-made vanity gave the bathroom unique character and beauty. New lighting, a new cast iron tub, subway tiles for the shower surround, new toilet, and the bathroom was checked off of my punch list.

With everything else nearly done, I needed to think about doors for the closet in the entry porch and a door for the panty. Using plywood and wood salvaged from the demo, I created a barn style pantry door. I painted the top half with chalk board paint, creating convenient and fun place to write a grocery list then, I created similar barn style doors for the entry.

The house was staged using items scavenged from my garage and Voila! It was done! Four months after closing, the renovation was complete. The house sold quickly, with multiple full price offers.

When I signed the closing documents and handed over the keys, it was with mixed emotions. I left the title company and climbed into my car. And I sat there. Just sort of numb. You aren’t supposed to get attached to the houses you renovated.

But, I bought this one thinking I’d like to keep it. I could see my parents there, or one of my children some day. It took a while to adjust to the reality that it was no longer mine.

I’d drive home at night, after darkness had settled, and I’d see a light in the window. And my eyes would strain and my heart would race with concern. Who was at my house? What were they doing?

Eventually, I grew used to seeing life and light and activity there. But when I pull into my drive and see the Greenhorn Farmhouse, nestled among it’s trees and surrounded by the grassy mountain pastures, deer grazing on it’s richness, or sleeping in it’s shade, I smile still.