Rustic Farm House Help- Opinions Please

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

We just bought our first home and are excited to make it ours. There is a LOT of wood trim and wood ceilings throughout the house. Floors are a light wood. First picture is what it currently looks like (not our furniture), and other pictures are ideas we have. We are painting the walls white, and then thinking of staining the trim and ceiling beams a darker color, and the ceiling slats white. Or possible doing all white (last picture). However, I'm worried this would be quite an undertaking with the amount of wood in the home. Would you leave it as is? Update it like we are envisioning? Or do something different? As first time home buyers- we are a little overwhelmed on where to start. Will be getting professional help, but thought i'd start here. Thanks!

Featured Answer

Joey R.

5 years ago

@taylj8 .glad to be of help--I completely understand the overwhelming feeling of taking on a project! You've got a great canvas to work with!

Some lessons I've learned:

Get your artificial lighting figured out. Light affects everything! Keep it consistent temperature-wise (Kelvins) and imagine how you'd like to light the space for all the different things you'd be doing within the space.
For your professional bids I would ask for their portfolios to see what they've done in the past so you feel confident of their abilities.
Ask the pro you end up choosing to prepare physical samples so that you can use them for other all other selections such as paint (which you may want to hold off on until you're more expensive and permanent selections are made because you don't want to have to work around paint colors even if it's white due to there being 53+ shades of white). I'm also noticing a bluish-violet tinge of the wall color. This may be actually increasing your perception of the orange in the current wood finish.
Live with the samples prior to starting work--these are your keys to future choices and will help make decisions a lot easier because everything will be based on them vs. outside factors. They will easily whittle down the seemingly unlimited choices and decisions out in the world of options.
See what the pros end up using as far as products go and study their method. If you feel confident to duplicate their method in a smaller, more manageable space, DIY it and utilize the saved funds on a splurge or somewhere else in the project as a reward.
Never rush or be rushed!

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Comments (11)

Katie B.
5 years ago
Take out the rustic cabin furnishings and you’ll he surprised how different it looks. I wouldn’t paint or stain just yet- that’s a big project and it’s beautiful already.
taylj8 .
Original Author
5 years ago
Very true- just seeing it without the furniture will make a huge difference- hard to envision it just yet. Love this photo- thanks for sharing. Will still go with white paint (it's a little too much light blue for me) but think that alone will make a big difference. Thanks so much!
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Katie B.
5 years ago
It looks white to me. But yes, white will be beautiful. How excited are you! Nothing beats your first home. My best advice is to buy furniture/decor that you love and then as you put the rooms together you’ll know if some or all of the wood needs to be painted or stained.
taylj8 .
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you! So excited. And appreciate all the tips, v helpful!
qam999
5 years ago
To me, it looks fine now. My only slight concern would be that the wood appears to be a bit on the orange side, and that may look off with certain colors in your furniture. The only thing I would consider doing is changing the stain on the wood....to either be a darker, less orange brown, or to be lighter and ashier. In either case, you have to do all the wood the same, and yes that is a big job! Not a DIY IMO - unless you already own all the ladders and scaffolding you would need.

You have a lot of gorgeous windows! This house appears very livable.
taylj8 .
Original Author
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Yes very livable. We LOVE the house. I fell in love with it immediately. Love the idea about a darker stain- will hire help for sure if we decide to go that route. Going to start with just giving the walls a fresh coat of paint and then move slowly from there. Thanks for the suggestions!

Tony- I'd love to see that article, thank you.
Joey R.
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I personally would have the wood color professionally corrected to neutralize the orange tones which is most likely due to the original finishing technique and time. Think of it in terms of hair coloring if you understand the science/art of that.

It looks like the wood is pine, which is sort of a yellow, pretty versatile in terms of going lighter to darker.

If it's fir, then the wood is essentially orange/pink tones which can also be corrected, but may need bleaching or a more skilled trades-person.

It's definitely doable and congratulations on your first home!
taylj8 .
Original Author
5 years ago
That's SO helpful Joey, and love that metaphor. This was exactly the sort of advice we were looking for and understanding we were hoping to gain by posting here. I appreciate it!
cat_ky
5 years ago
I love the wood. It is a beautiful house. Paint the walls and live with it a while. Its never a wise choice to change things like that, until you have lived in the house for 6 months to a year. What you think you might like now, will be totally opposite of what you want after living there for a while.
taylj8 .
Original Author
5 years ago
@Joey R. So so appreciate all of this! Have this saved to refrence later. And haha I was feeling less overwhelmed until I read 53+ shades of white!! Going to take it slow, live with it for awhile, and invest in doing it right if we decide to go that route. Thanks again for taking the time to share your expertise!