Hey there! Today I’m back with a sneak peek of a project I’m currently working on — Project HGD Modern Rustic.
The main part of the house was built in 1740!!!! That officially makes it the oldest house on which I’ve ever worked! Previous owners have definitely added their own takes over time. The most recent (prior to my clients) were from Montana. They added rustic pine ceilings to a number of rooms, making it a *little* more rough-hewn rustic in character than the original builders may have sought. But they also kept the gorgeous floors and did a really nice, stylistically appropriate kitchen with cream cabinetry and scrumptious soapstone counters.
This is a project that my clients will tackle in phases. There are some wheelchair-accessible modifications, like a thru-bathroom next to the living room and a ramp in the sun room, but the owners will probably remove those as they renovate over time.
The waiting can be hard! But with patience and a plan, eventually it will get done! Play the LONG game, people!
Anywho! They called me in to address the entry, the living room, & the sun room, as well as to create a plan for the library, some of which would be done now, some saved for next year’s reno/furnishings budget.
The husband is super handy, and is undertaking much of the work (building bookcases, removing ramps, some painting) himself.
Project HGD Modern Rustic: The “Befores”
The entry. We’ll just be adding a bench, coat hooks, art, etc.
Here is the living room, which is part of an addition, probably from the ’90s or early 2000s. Its challenge is two-fold — its shape (long and narrow) and the two layers of “pumpkin” color in the floors and the ceiling.
The husband really likes the rustic ceilings — he’s quite the hunter as you will soon see! — and we’re trying to minimize the labor/reno aspect of this project by leaving the ceiling alone for the time being. We’ll try to lighten the space a bit by painting the walls and trim the same ivory color (to break things up as little as possible) and use a more modern/rustic light fixture that also brings the ivory “up.”
The sun room. Same story. Walls/trim same ivory color, airier rustic light fixture. The windows overlook a horse farm, but the owners may opt to add some shades/sheers for privacy down the road.
The kitchen connects those rooms to the other one we’ll be addressing — the library. The owners may opt to change the walls & light fixtures later, but I have NO arguments against the cabinetry or soapstone counters. They are perfect for the home.
Here’s the library. The most recent owners probably opened up the ceiling to expose the rough hewn beams. The fireplace wall is super cool, with raised paneling and a little cubby to the left of the fireplace!
This room faces north and is actually incredibly dark, without a lot of natural light. If you have a dark room, go with it! No amount of light colored paint can help it. We’ll be going dark and cozy here.
Yep, we’ll be incorporating not one, BUT TWO! deer heads in this project — one in the living room, and one in the library.
Project HGD Modern Rustic: The Inspiration
Some inspiration pics now.
via McGee & Co.
Obvious the ceiling won’t be quite this way. But combination of ivory, blue, and reddish brown were what I was looking at, along with some modern elements combined with more traditional ones.
via Country Living
This is an image from a cottage on NH’s Pleasant Lake, and a little project I’ve long admired.
As I said, the library room is actually super dark. We’re going to go with the flow and make it super cozy and enveloping with a rich, dark charcoal color.
Project HGD Modern Rustic: The Plans
And now for some of our plans! For this proposal, the client is a good “visualizer” and didn’t need renderings (but for those of you who are not — and there are many of you, so take heart!) take a look at this post. We kept it simple with Mood Boards & sketched floor plans (which were first done on 1/4″ graph paper).
The client wanted to incorporate color, but didn’t know how. She’d always worked in grays and beiges in her previous homes. After doing a lot of inspo research (a requirement for all clients — it helps me use my time and your money better), she realized that she also loved deep blues, reds, even some yellows, in addition to grays and beiges.
We’re adding some updated traditional elements — traditional to reference the age of the house, updated to reflect the wife’s style — some rustic accents like iron and the 2 deer heads, and some fun whimsy to reflect this vibrant family!
The Entry
Nothing wears better in an entry than a vintage Oriental rug. LOVE this fresh-trad Windsor bench. The “pups” pillow was a fun find and an homage to the owners’ lovable golden retriever.
The Living Room
We needed a BIG custom sized rug to fit that long narrow space, so we’re using carpet from one of my vendors bound to fit our size needs. This is one of my favorite ways to use carpet, without going wall to wall. The pattern is a charcoal herringbone in wool, which will wear & hide stains well.
To were very lucky to find a TV cabinet that exactly fit the space in between some of the rustic beams so that we didn’t have to go custom. I’m so glad the clients went for the red color!! The blue velvet chairs swivel. Mood board & floor plan below.
The Sun Room
The sun room overlooks the adjacent horse farm, and the clients envisioned using it for family games and casual coffee gatherings. To maximize the view and to allow it to “speak” to the living room (adjoining), we are going with 4 swivel chairs surrounding a seagrass coffee table.
We needed a place to store those games, but there is a big heating vent right in the middle of the only wall where it could go! This open glass shelving unit — a Wayfair find — fit the bill.
I LOVE the modern forest art piece. Very New Hampshire. 😉
The Library
Lastly, the library. The owners will probably finish it out next year, but they wanted a plan in place so that they could paint and build bookshelves. I drew a sketch to scale for what I envisioned, and the husband will “realize” it himself.
They bought a few key pieces — like the sofa, the leather chair, and the window shades. They also decided to go for the AMAZING hand-knotted Persian. I couldn’t believe my luck when I found it — 40% on clearance, the last one in stock, and the RIGHT SIZE.
I can’t always find such a good deal for people, but man I love it when I do!
I’m excited to see this project evolve!
Do YOU need to learn how to come up with a plan? I’ve got you covered here.
I have a few ideas in mind for next week’s post, but I haven’t settled on anything for sure. Let me know if you have some topics you would like me to explore!
See you Saturday!
-Amy
4 thoughts on “Sneak Peek: Project HGD Modern Rustic, a 1740 Colonial Meets Montana”
You have thought through everything, just lovely. Your plans will really make this house sing. I love how you incorporated what was already there (hello orange wood) but made it work. The steely blue moves from room to room in different analogous hues and also echos the soapstone. And the little unique touches- for example, that funky side table in the library incorporates both the wife’s modern tastes and the husband’s more rustic, hunting interests. I love it!
You may want to put in a widget with referral codes to sources, unless it is all to the trade, in which case never mind.
Hi Karen! Thank you so much for your wonderful thoughts. It’s always a fun challenge to unite partners’ different tastes, and I think that this does it, too. It’s funny you pick out that little side table — I wasn’t sure if they would go for it, but they loved it! 😉 Our clients are really excited.
For clients that pay for their designs, I can’t divulge the sources on the blog out of respect for their investment. However, all those design schemes for my own home and “dream schemes” I create for the blog, I definitely try to include those widgets so that you can get the look if you choose.
What a wonderful pallet and Design. I Could move right in.
Thank you so much, Pamela! We hope our clients feel that way, too. 😉
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