The idea to start a blog arose from a suggestion by a friend as a means to document the remodeling of our house. I like writing and love everything related to interiors, so combining the two seemed like a perfect creative outlet. I assumed just friends and family would follow along. Then I got my first comment from a stranger - it was like a gift! That's when it hit me - holy $%#@-other people are reading my blog! Could they - might they - find it to be of interest or possibly even inspiring?! How cool!
I've said it before, I am honored and touched that you are reading the urban farmhouse. Readers are what keeps blog authors going and I love that I hear from so many just regular folk - people working on their own houses, and some just because they like something they see. Anyway, I'm not sure how or if there's a way to measure a blog's success, (please pardon a moment of shameless bragging) but at 13,000+ pageviews a month, just 14 months and a little over 100 posts into this adventure, I'm beyond stoked and sincerely humbled.
Ok, so what does all that have to do with design perspective you ask? Let me explain.
When we started working with our architect, Max Crome, he asked us what we envisioned our finished house to look like. Since it's superduper blah, and well, some might say downright ugly, it does have the good bones to be reincarnated into something interesting. Perhaps a cool mid-century ranch, maybe a shingled traditional Hampton's style bungalow, or even a mediterranean/spanish villa? Hmmm. None of these quite sounded like the right fit. We were after something that reflected our urban sensibilities (I really hate dislike that word and never thought I'd use it, but because it's late, I'm tired and for lack of a better...) but it also had to have a rustic Northern California feel. I emailed Max that we'd found our design perspective - an urban farmhouse. And that is how this blog came to be.
So, here we are. The house currently from it's 'best' side :) This was taken shortly after we moved in, so it's a little prettier now (pressure washed the moss away, potted plants, etc), but not much!
That big dark doorway in the center (above photo) is technically our front door, but no one visiting for the first time knows that since it's a sliding glass door that goes into a brick mini-courtyard with 2 more doors. It's baaad. So everyone comes in through the kitchen door on the far left.
With the easy part - deciding what the house should look like - out of the way, then came how to go about achieving it. Max asked us for photos that reflect the look of an urban farmhouse. I found two photos that I had put in several folders for several reasons, which I guess is a good sign that they 'reflect the look'. I didn't want to overload Max with photos - didn't want to stifle his creativity, so I only sent these two, since we felt they best represented the architectural elements that we'd like the house to have.
I love the wainscotting, the clean mantle molding and those luscious rich dark floors against the white walls. (above)
In the photo below, the coffered ceiling detail, walls of windows and casual but refined look of the room are details we would like to incorporate.
Recently, as we've been adding final touches to the plans, more detailed inspirations were shared.
you knew barn doors were coming...
farm style double hung windows (Marvin)
Geno and I often think - maybe we should have torn this old house down and started with a blank canvas... That certainly would have been easier. It's more challenging than I thought to create architecture or design perspective where none exists, but now that the details are starting to come together, I think it will be even more rewarding.
