Schoolhouse Design – Rustic and Farmhouse Styles are Speaking to Us!

We are getting closer to starting the interior renovations and I’m thinking about the overall design for the schoolhouse and all the finishing touches. This is the super fun part! But eek, so many decisions to make!  Here’s a sneak peek of what we’re working on!

Key Words for Design
-Rustic
-Farmhouse
-And of course schoolhouse!

A page from the book Homebody by Joanna Gaines

Historical Features 
-Original hard wood floors
-5 chalkboards (we are moving one to accommodate a refrigerator)
-9 large windows in the main schoolroom

Our pretty windows

Avid blog readers will know the schoolhouse was built in 1850, but that a significant renovation was done in 1927 to allow the school to stay open. It’s the 1927 renovation that we are going back to in our design.

From the 1927 Renovation 
-10” baseboards
-Thick crown molding
-Walls will be insulated and sheet rocked to mimic the original beaver board
-Original trim and window casings

You can see the wide baseboards, trim, and chalkboards circa 1927We’re plotting out a floor plan for the kitchenA little more inspiration from Joanna Gaines

Main Schoolroom
Since the main schoolroom is staying as a 600 square foot open living, dining, and kitchen space, we will have pretty much a blank slate as far as design goes. The main schoolroom including all the trim was yellow with blue base boards. It was a lot of yellow. Right now I’m thinking of changing that yellow to more of a soft white and keeping the trim blue gray.

Maybe the main room will look something like this with blue trim and white walls

I’ve also been thinking about all those little touches to include in the design. A few gifts that I love that will find a home in the schoolhouse as decor -the little desk below and a few vintage school books. We’ll enlarge and frame some photos of the students, including my grandfather. We want it to feel like a school room without being too heavy handed. Chalk and erasers will be provided so guests can draw on the chalkboards!

Love this little desk I got as a Christmas giftThese vintage books will look great in the schoolhouse!

We’ve Been a Bit Busy Lately…
If you follow my personal facebook page you may have noticed we’ve made several trips to Boston in the last couple of weeks. It gave us the chance to spend lots of time with Auntie Sarah and her bf Colin but the real reason we were there was because the little guy had to have a small surgery. We’re happy to report that we had surgery last Monday and all went well, Philip is on the mend!

visiting the New England Aquarium with Auntie SarahOn our way to surgery at 6am We made it home and still smiling!