When I was 6 years old, my parents bought a sweet little farmhouse out in the country about an hour away from our family home in Richmond, Virginia. They wanted a space to be able to get away; to relax and recharge. When first purchased, “the farm” as we called it, dated back to the 1700’s and didn’t have a bathroom on-site, aside from an outhouse in the distance (which was the first thing my dad made sure to install). While the house did have a kitchen, the old out building that was once the kitchen still stood as well as an old tobacco barn and an old livestock barn.
As children, my sister and I would spend hours fishing, hiking, exploring the woods, jumping off hay bales, and played badminton and croquet at the back of the house. There was certainly never a shortage of fun on the farm.
Sadly in1995 the farmhouse was struck by lightening and burned to the ground. Fortunately, my parents were able to rebuild the home and our family continues to enjoy it today. However, seeing as though this was my parents’ “getaway home”, they never really updated the decor after furnishing it in the mid-90’s.
Needless to say, it's a bit dated. Cozy, but dated. The front porch has had swings on either end for many years, but was otherwise empty except for one lone rusty, paint-chipped patio chair and some fishing tackle.
About a month ago, Lauren and I took our kids for a weekend away at the farm with my parents. One night while sipping some wine on the porch, Lauren and I sat on one swing attempting to have a conversation with my mother who sat on the opposite side of the porch. Before long, we were laughing at how absurd it was to be yelling at each other from across the porch, and quickly realized that this layout was not conducive for conversation. That’s when it hit me- this porch needed a major refresh.
Because I can’t seem to unsee these things, the only way for this to get out of my head was to get to work. Shortly thereafter, I presented a rendering to my parents and we began setting the plan in motion. I sourced most of the items from stores like Amazon and Target for two obvious reasons: to stay within a budget and to make sure we received all the items on time.
After about a month, we were back at the farm and ready for install. We broke the project into three days so that we could have time to spend with our kids who were excited to be at the farm to play, fish, and explore.
Day one we unloaded and organized boxes and put together furniture in the pouring rain (literally dumping buckets of rain for hours on end).
Day two was spent installing the ceiling fans and curtains (well worth the sweat it took to get them up there).
Day three we were able to put the final touches on everything and have our little photo shoot in the most beautiful weather.
The end result is a perfect place to be able to sit comfortably, enjoy wine and conversation with family and friends while our kids are off making memories like I once did.
