Summer Home Tour

Hello, and welcome to our barn house! It’s such an honor to be a part of the Summer Tour of Homes hosted by Gina over at The Shabby Creek Cottage!

If you are here from Rooms For Rent, thanks for stopping by. I’m excited to have you here!

I am often asked why my husband and I chose to live in a barn (or Lillypond Manor as I like to jokingly call it! Haha!). Besides the amazing architectural opportunities that living in a barn provides, we also own and operate an entertainment company called Jazzy Jumpers, and we really needed the storage for all of our equipment. We figured why not just build one large structure for our home and storage, knowing that one day, we can build another home on our property once what we have is paid off. Our plan is to then use this area for guests, family, or as a safe landing pad for someone who may need to use our home one day when we are ready to move on.

I was 22 and fresh out of college when my then soon-to-be husband (who was 24 at the time) and I decided to buy 5 acres and build our barn house. We knew absolutely NOTHING about building, let alone owning a home – but we were just sure we would learn….and boy did we learn a lot!

One night just months before our wedding, we sat down with big dreams, a piece of printer paper and a pencil and drew out exactly what we wanted our barn house to look like. Needless to say, the rest was history, and we absolutely love our home! You can read more about our story on my main home tour link if you are interested!

This summer, I really wanted to incorporate pops of yellow into our landscaping. It all started with my DIY Lemon Wreath, and  things sort of took off from there. We do not have a front porch, nor do we have any grand entrance to our home. I really wanted to make a statement with my landscaping, but sadly, I have a brown thumb, and gardening really is not my gift! Luckily, my Nana has been in town for several weeks, and she has a wonderful eye! She was actually an interior decorator for several years, and so much of my inspiration comes from her gorgeous homes. She helped me put together these beautiful planters, and I am eternally grateful – Nana to the rescue again!!

Now that the inside of our home is finally put together, we will be focusing on landscaping this summer and next. We have big plans – stay tuned!

Now onto the inside of our house! You will notice that we have little to no dividing walls. I love this feature, especially in the summer when the light just pours into our home.

See those spiral stairs in the corner? Those were a non-negotiable item for Sam and I. We just had to have these stairs in our barn house, and I love them SO much!! I haven’t fallen down them yet (a small miracle..knock on wood!), but I do like to pretend I am a Disney princess when I walk down them in the morning. My loyal servants (otherwise known as our pups, Bailey and Button ;)…) even get elbow elbow wrist wrist waves every now and then! Hehe!

Our floors are all stained concrete on the main level. You can find a step by step tutorial here if you are interested. 

I know I said I have a brown thumb, and I really do! I have no idea how these little plants have made it so long. We are going on like three months, and I am so proud! I love these little chalkboard boxes, and I change them up frequently depending on the season. I never claimed to be an artist, so please don’t make too much fun of my drawings (particularly those bicycle wheels – apparently I missed the day of Kindergarden where we practiced our circles! :/…). I carried a bit of the yellow inside too by adding in some sunflowers. I am not a huge fan of using tons of color in my decor. I have a few accent walls throughout our home (click here to see my paint colors), and I like to use flowers and other small decor items, or chachkies as I like to call them (yes, that is a word!) to add color.

You will notice that my permanent items are generally shades of black, brown, white or grey. I am constantly switching things up in my home, and sticking to plain basics allows me to switch things up easily, and inexpensively!

See all of that light pouring in – I just love it! We recently purchased those GIANT windows, and they are my new favorite thing in our home. They came out of an old church, and we were SO beyond happy that we found them in this awesome little shop right near our home called Cherry Pickers.

What’s the best part of living in a field you might ask? Robbing greenery for my flower arrangements of course! My Nana cut down those little grey pods in the field, and some of the other greenery came from my mom’s cute little house right down the road.

I get so many questions about our dining room table. This is the most expensive piece of furniture Sam and I have ever purchased, and we saved for over a year to get it. We literally hauled in an envelope of cash (yes…a few jars of change may have been involved! Lol!) when we went to purchase it. We got it from Restoration Hardware, and I have never regretted this major purchase – It is such a statement piece. We love to have our family, employees, and friends over for dinner, and this table has already been included in so many of my favorite memories. Below is the view of our main living area. No, I was not hanging from the ceiling to capture this picture….This is the view from our master bedroom which is located in the loft area. People ask Sam and I all the time if it bothers us having our room half open to the main living area. It really never bothers either one of us. We actually love it – and its really helpful when moving furniture around because we can just bring stuff up and over the half wall rather than bringing heavy furniture up the spiral stairs.

The sideboard below is a piece that my husband and I made for the Repurpose Design Series that I am a part of. It is made entirely from salvaged materials (old barn wood) and it stores all of my mismatch vintage china. It has been an awesome addition to our home, and it is a piece that could be made using a lot of different materials. As I always stress – it doesn’t have to cost a lot to have a beautiful home! Sometimes, it just takes a bit of creativity, lots of hard work, and a bit of patience.

Our kitchen is a favorite summer hang out spot. Because our business is so seasonal, and there are often long breaks between event set-ups and tear-downs, you will often find our employees gathered at our bar area just hanging out with us. We love our employees like family (some of them really are family – cue my little sister – thanks Devon! ;)..) and we just love having them around. It keeps our home lively, and I just love that! I am so thankful for each one of them.

My husband and I designed every inch of our home. The kitchen was definitely my favorite spot to design. We really wanted to keep thing light and airy, but we also wanted it to look a bit different than anything we had seen before. The exposed beams are definitely my favorite feature in this room! You can read more about our kitchen here if you are interested. I added this little crate to our kitchen in hopes that it would help Sam and I increase our fruit and veggie intake. So far, so good! We really have found that we are more likely to grab fresh foods when they are out in the open. It also makes for a cute little display! 

As anyone who knows me knows, I am a coffee addict. It only made sense to include a coffee bar in my kitchen! These little spaces are so easy to create, and they add so much character to your kitchen area. Read more about how I created my little coffee nook here – I have sourced all of the materials for you!

Up next is our master bedroom which I actually just restyled. It needed a major overhaul, and I am so pleased with how everything turned out.

The little sitting area used to be where our desk is now, but I am so happy that we moved it near the window. I am already using this area far more often, and the room is so much more balanced now. I can’t wait to sip my morning iced coffee next to the window this summer – I love all of the natural light!

We have an office on the main level, (see my main home tour for pictures) but I really wanted my own little area for when my husband is working down there. We moved our DIY pallet table upstairs, and it functions as our desk now.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed our barn home!

Do you need help decorating your own home? I would love to help! Click here to see what services I offer.

Up next on the tour is Karianne’s home over at Thistlewood Farms. I would love it if you would hop on over and take a look!

  Have a wonderful day, friends!

You can find all the homes on the tour below: