After nearly 4 years of work, I am super excited to finally share our kitchen! If you love Cinderella stories this particular part of our farmhouse restoration will tug at your heart. We are passionate about saving our 1800s farm one DIY project at a time. To us, preserving the heritage of America is something worth fighting for…

The Before

    

This is what the kitchen looked like when we bought the farm. It had touches of the 1950s, 70s, and 80s. From the foam ceiling tiles and giant fan, down to the 7 layers of linoleum, this little 9×14 kitchen was oozing with “personality!” We thought about restoring the metal cabinets, but they were so rusted that a few doors came off when we tried to open them. The layout was probably the weirdest thing. With 3 doors (one to a full bath, one to the dining room, and one to the outdoors) there didn’t seem to be room for standard appliances. Plus there was absolutely no sign of the original 1893 kitchen and that was really the direction we wanted to go. So the day after we signed the papers for the farm in late May of 2014 we began to gut this kitchen…

    

We stripped back all the layers and found original window and doorways and a stove chimney. We felt like archeologists discovering the story of this farmhouse buried deep beneath over 100 years of trendy remodels. As we excavated we found that this was not going to be the easy restoration we had hoped for. The mold, terminate damage, and rott were threatening the very structure of our home. So instead of the 6-10 week cosmetic update we naively thought it would take, our family began the process of completely restoring the farmhouse little by little. We had to stop working on the kitchen and save the structural integrity of the farmhouse first. So we blocked off the gutted first floor, lived in the upstairs of the farmhouse, and became hot plate, grill, and microwave culinary experts.

   

During the process of repairing the structural damage we decided to move the kitchen to the large bedroom off the living room. This centralized the kitchen and gave us the opportunity to have a more functional kitchen layout with cabinet doors that didn’t hit the fridge when you opened them, for example. Meanwhile, the tiny old kitchen and its adjoining bathroom would become our master suite on the main floor (That’s our next project). It just didn’t feel right having a bathroom off the kitchen and no bathroom near our bedroom. This also allowed us to enlarge the doorway to the stairs and make it a feature of the kitchen. If you have ever watched the movie Sarah, Plain and Tall, I always loved how the kids came down the kitchen stairs to be greeted by breakfast in the morning. Now the layout of the farmhouse was starting to make more sense for our family, but that didn’t mean we wanted to erase the story of the original family who built the farmhouse 125 years ago.

   

So we carefully saved every last original detail we could and after the structural repairs were done we meticulously reinstated every bit of millwork. We kept and restored all of the original windows, restored the original wood siding hidden under the hideous vinyl, and made sure that any new additions to the farmhouse were respectful of the late 1800s to early 1900s. Our goal has always been to make our home both a place for our family to flourish, while also honoring those who built our nation into what it is today! Restoration is about securing your future without forgetting your past. One of my biggest inspirations for my kitchen design was Laura Ingalls Wilder’s perfectly preserved kitchen at Rocky Ridge Farm. I hope you feel that we have done the original family of Bryarton Farm proud in our work. Here is what our kitchen looks like today March 2018…

The After

            

We researched and carefully selected, handmade, or were given every piece that collectively created this classic farmhouse kitchen. It would be easy for a new friend to look at our kitchen and not see the blood, sweat, and tears we poured into the project. I want to encourage anyone feeling overwhelmed or discouraged about their kitchen situation. The truth is a beautiful kitchen doesn’t happen over night or in a 45 min HGTV special. Real homes and families have to sacrifice and work hard to bring there dreams to reality little by little.

Living in only half of our farmhouse, without a stove or running water downstairs have all been things our family endured for years, but it was worth the trouble. Now we are reaping the rewards of our labor! As Dave Ramsey says, “You have to be willing to live like no one else, so that someday you can live like no one else!”

      

Because we stayed true to the Folk Victorian architectural soul of this home everything feels like it belongs. From the folk style stair rail my husband built from scratch to match the existing railing upstairs, to the walk-in pantry under the stairs, every aspect mattered to us. Now our girls can throw up their heels chasing one of their chickens around our spacious (nearly finished) downstairs. They can give their puppy a bath in a fully functional and period appropriate farm sink. We were careful with our budget and careful with our imprint on this farm. This farmhouse is now strong enough to stand for another 125 years because we saw the value in saving her and we fought to do it despite insane obstacles.

 

If you have been following our story on Instagram, YouTube, or this blog for long you know this was a labor of love for our family. We choose to openly share our journey to hopefully inspire you to follow your dreams too! If a pair of totally novice country kids living on a tight budget can turn this farmhouse’s story around, you can too! This kitchen is proof that with the Lord by your side All things are possible! {Phillipians 4:13}

 

One of my favorite quotes from Erin and Ben Napier the hosts of the home restoration show Home Town is, “You don’t have to be an expert to save your town, you just have to get up and do it!” We are living proof of this. We care enough about preserving the farm to teach ourselves new skills, work hard, and get it done. America was built on the backs of humble farmers like the White family who: started this farm in 1878, built the farmhouse in 1893, and built the barn in 1900. This pioneer farmstead and thousands like it are the heritage of America and we want to show families that they can and should invest in an authentic farmstead. The original farms are something we care deeply about preserving for future generations. But we are also deeply invested in this project because this is where we want to raise our family. This is our home.

If you want so know the whole kitchen story from the beginning and get a more in-depth account of the work it took to transform our kitchen little by little, here are all the posts I wrote on the subject oldest to newest:

Kitchen Envy

Farmhouse Kitchen Plans

The New Layout

Demo Days The kitchen Saga Continues

The Gift of Demolition

Our Second Year on the Farm

Why We Still don’t Have a Kitchen

Farmhouse Restoration – Structural Repairs & Openings

Comin’ Along – The Heartbreak & Hope Found in our Journey

Farmhouse Restoration Update – Spring on the Farm

Antique Farm Sink Makeover – Budget Style

Implementing Farmhouse Design

Bryarton Farm Q&A Live Chat Recording

If you are enjoying following our continuing story and want to see more, please Subscribe! You can also see additional pictures of our little fixer upper farm on the prairie, by following us on InstagramYouTubeFacebook, & Pinterest. Help support our “forgotten farm restoration project” by visiting our Etsy Shop!

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