You are in for such a treat today, Andrea @ Willow Wisp Cottage is giving us a tour of her fabulous home. I love, love, love her style. She has a huge home and has managed to make it so comfortable and inviting while still being totally gorgeous. I know you’ve all drooled over her stunning kitchen and you will the rest of her home too, plus Andrea is one of the sweetest people in all of blogland.
I was so honored when sweet Marty asked me to join in on her series. I’ve been blogging for just over 3 years, and I ‘met’ Marty early on in my blogging journey. She’s always there to encourage and support us bloggers. Thank you, Marty, for having me!
We moved 2 years ago into a large (5400 sq feet!), newer home. It is situated on 3 acres, and surrounded by small farms, horses, cattle and rolling fields. While this may sound wonderful, we had no where near enough furniture to fill it, and it was a daunting task to decorate….we are still working on it! The home has many wonderful custom features, and we were very lucky to purchase at a time that the housing market was such that we could afford this home.
When we first saw our home, it reminded me of a red-barn. We referred to it as such, while looking at all the homes our realtor had arranged for us to see. It is definitely a unique home, and well suited to the country surroundings. It is also well suited to the Cottage/Farmhouse decor that I love so much!
This picture was taken a few weeks ago. Now, the leaves are turning colour and there is autumn in the air!
I’ll start this tour with my favorite room and feature in this home: the sunroom:
I spend any spare time I can in here, usually with a coffee and good magazine or book in hand.
I decorated this room with many inherited pieces from my Grandmother, as well as a few inexpensive purchases (such as the Ikea loveseat).
Some of the decorating in this home came surprisingly easy to me. I found many great deals on Kijiji (like Craig’s List), and shopped in second hand stores. I love the character that an older piece of furniture can bring to a room. One such room is our master bedroom. Besides the mattress and textiles, everything else is second hand. I ordered the drapery fabric online and used a simple method to sew them. I wanted a more romantic, and soft look in this room, and I think I achieved that.
However, one area that did not come easily for me was the great room/kitchen/dining/family room. I struggled with the very open layout, as well as trying to fit in furniture that was used in our previous home and was just not working here. I played around with it for about 1.5 years, then finally sought the help of Holly Mathis, for an online consultation.
Here is what our collaborations resulted in:
I loved the process of working with Holly, and am so thrilled with the results!
While I originally hired Holly to just help with the family room, we ended up also working on the dining room and kitchen together.
The Dining Room:
The one feature of this home that I completely disliked when we bought it was the kitchen. The cabinetry was already falling apart, and the look was not at all to my taste. The other great features of this home outweighed the negativity of the kitchen, and I knew that one day we could re-do it. We decided to bite the bullet and re-do it sooner than later. I feel very blessed to have been able to create the kitchen of my dreams:
We have also done quite a few DIY projects in this home {thank goodness for handy husbands!}. We put up board and batten in the girls rooms {I have 3 daughters, 19 months, 6 years and 9 years old}:
and in the hallway:
{that wall at the end is part of the stairway, which is the next project we are working on, starting next weekend! It will get painted, board and batten and a gallery wall}
We added this board and batten wall with hooks and a small display shelf in the mudroom:
and wainscotting in the laundry room:
This winter, we plan to do some plank wall projects up in the craft room and the craft room bathroom {the projects never end around here!}. Currently it looks like this:
I spend many hours in this craft room, usually sewing, quilting or making something with my girls.
We also have a full basement, complete with a huge play area, 2 more bedrooms, a bathroom, a family room, and a theatre room. I haven’t completed decorating those spaces yet, and look forward to searching for treasures for them! Most of these treasures will be second hand, or hand made….my favorite kind =)
Thank you so much, Marty, for having me, and for your readers for taking a peek inside our home!
Now I know that like me, you have drooled all over the keyboard. Her home is fabulous. Thanks so much Andrea for allowing me to Show You Off and Brag a little about you. You are such a delight and I always love your posts. If you don’t know or follow Andrea, be sure to run over and click to follow, you really will want to see what she does with the rest of her home. I know it will be filled with tons of inspiration.
I am linking to the following parties:
Imparting Grace for Grace at Home, My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday
The Thrifty Groove for Thrifty Things Friday, Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home , Chic On A Shoestring Decorating for Flaunt It Friday
Finding Fabulous for Frugalicious Friday, Jennifer Rizzo for Fabulously Creative Linky Party
Redoux Interiors Friday Party, A Stylish Interior for Stylish Friday Finds
Classy Clutter for Spotlight Saturday, Pieced Pastimes for Saturday Sparks Linky
It’s Overflowing for Overflowing with Creativity Sat.
Funky Junk Interiors for Party Junk Interiors
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