Serena Armstrong

I love creating beautiful living spaces and always have. As a child, my favorite activity usually had something to do with ‘houses’. There were various shoebox creations, outdoor playhouses and of course the Barbie Townhouse owned by every little girl growing up in the 70’s. But the crown jewel, which I do believe I had until I left for college, was my 3-story, eight-room, Georgian style dollhouse painted grey with black shutters and white trim. I spent hours rearranging and making furniture and imagined someday I would live in a house just like it.

Well… not quite! Our house, which I share with my husband Geno, our two kids Luke and Lily, dog Penny and cat Violet, is located in Marin County, California. It was built in the 1940’s and would best be described as ‘California Ranch.’ Honestly it’s more of a hodgepodge of styles rendering it really – style-less. We bought it in 2007 and documenting the transformation into an urban farmhouse is the inspiration for this blog.

I have a soft spot for fixer-uppers… This is our third, and dare I say it, the most challenging… Fortunately, the last two turned out remarkably well providing not only a great education in home construction, but also the ultimate litmus tests for a marriage!
So, here we go. I hope you will visit often and see how the progress is coming along!

Cheers,
Serena