June Journal: Our Colonial Farmstead

Welcome to our June Journal! This month, we’re taking you behind the scenes of our new home, Monterey Drive. We recently purchased a house just outside of Atlanta and are so excited to make it our own. The renovations and projects will span the next few years as we settle in and make the house our home. We’re a huge proponent for living in a home before renovating, so you can truly learn how you function in the space and what your needs will be before making any major (and costly) decisions.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty details, let’s introduce the concept and inspiration!

The Concept

Establishing a concept at the beginning of a project is hugely important as it acts as a north star for every decision made. Pulling inspiration from the original architecture of our home, the Southern vernacular, and Martha Stewart, we chose the concept of a Colonial Farmstead. We plan to enhance what exists with brighter hues, natural textures and finishes, and timeless artwork, lighting, and furniture. The interior palette will be warm; introducing buttery yellows and rich greens/browns to contrast the soon-to-be white exterior of the home.

The Process

To give us time to live in the home and plan our projects, we will break up the renovations into phases, a lot of which we will accomplish ourselves. Before moving in, however, two major items need to be addressed first and foremost which are paint and flooring. We chose to leave the existing wood floors alone, as they are in great condition and original to the home. On the second level, however, we are ripping out the old carpeting in the bedrooms and installing woven sisal-like wall-to-wall carpeting. Sisal is a beautiful natural material, which will add immense warmth and historical charm to the bedrooms. We chose this over wood, as it would be tough to match the original wood floor which extends into the landing on the second level.

When it came to selecting paint, we chose three colors to repeat throughout to ensure the home felt cohesive while still adding personality and visual interest. Since the home does not receive large amounts of natural light past noon, we chose Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore for many of the walls and trim. In the dining room, which houses an existing fireplace and stained wood wainscoting, we chose to leave the woodwork in place and paint it an accent color, Amulet by Benjamin Moore with Swiss Coffee infilling the walls above. This room may receive wallpaper in the future, but for now, we wish to keep it clean and simple. The third and final paint color we selected is Stampede by Benjamin Moore. Our home office will be color-drenched from floor to ceiling in this rich and moody green/brown hue, as will the powder bath on the main level.

Down the Road

In the next few years, there will be subsequent renovations we make first in the powder bath and laundry/mudroom, moving into the guest bathroom and primary bathroom, then finally touching on the kitchen. You can trust as we dive into each area that we will share every detail and selection. Our home on Monterey Drive will not be our “forever home” as we know we will outgrow it in the future. That said, we still want it to reflect us, our style, and our needs during the time we call it home.

Stay tuned for more!