During the quarantine, so many things change for us behind the scenes. First – the online store got so busy! Thank you! Second – I got a little bored :/ When I get bored, I get ambitious. Here we were, in the middle of a global pandemic, and I decided we should probably grow. I also decided that I needed a country house asap to escape our home on a regular basis. Initially, during the shutdown, going out to visit Lexington (an hour away from Kansas City where we live, and also where the school house/my hometown/my family lives) was our saving grace. We would come out for long country walks, spring hikes through the woods (mushroom hunting!), and to work on projects at the school house (if you are new here, read about The School House here). We’ve been looking for land to build a country house on for a couple of years, but have had no luck and probably aren’t quite ready to make that big of an investment. On top of that, over the last two years, the school house had just gotten a little small for what we needed to run the online store. I felt bad for the girls working in our tiny little room piled high with boxes and shipments stacked to the ceiling.
We decided to relocate the business and take over the School House for our personal use. Everyone wins! Mostly. Believe me, it is not lost on me that I now have 4 properties to manage (our home, the Westwood Store… still yet to open, the school house and now the new building). Nope, not bored anymore. Everything is in a really good place, though. In the new building on Main Street in Lexington (another post with updates about that soon) we have plenty of room to grow and even have room for retail in the front. The Westwood Hills Store is due to open soon and has been another nice place to escape to during the shutdowns. Our real house is in a little bit of a transition because a lot of the furniture came out to the school house from there (mostly guest room things), so it is getting refreshed in some ways. This month, the School House has become my new decorating project/muse. I’m starting to get to the point that I’m so tired of picking things out, I can’t bring myself to order one more thing, but we’re almost there.
In just the last 6 weeks, we’ve already enjoyed coming out to stay for long weekends or a couple of days during the week. We’re still in project mode, chipping away little by little. It is a bit of a challenge to take a sparse one large room and turn it into a cozy country get away. There are also issues like basement water that has it smelling a bit musty during the summer, windows that haven’t been properly cleaned in 20 years, and bugs. Bugs everywhere. But when we come out and walk down the road to get some tomatoes from the produce farm, spend early mornings weeding the garden and dinners cooked over the fire pit, then swing by my parents for a dip in the pool – it feels like an old fashioned summer and we’ve been transported. Our goal is to come out here and do things the slow way, and connect with nature and things that make life seem extra small.
This is how the school house was set up before we moved in the online product inventory two years ago.
It filled up very fast!
This is the front mudroom entry way. We added the peg boards to this beadboard that was already here. We had all of the trim painted this warm beige when we moved in.
We painted the kitchen cabinets a dusty blue/grey. I have to be 100% honest… they might be repainted to match the rest of the trim. I’m not sure yet, but it might be a project that happens over a long winter weekend.
This is the inspiration board I’ve created. It is ever-evolving. Usually I order something, try it, then have to send it back and revise the board. However, I’m fairly happy with how it is turning out now, so I think I’m headed in the right direction.
In general, I’d like it to be very cozy and comfy with a country cottage/lodge feel. It is a retreat for the whole family, so I’ve tried to be mindful to add some handsome details… ok, maybe I just added the deer head to mount over the chalkboard. But I love the idea of collecting mounted fish and vintage fishing supplies, also. Mike has turned into quite the fisherman this summer, often heading out at sunrise to cast a couple before remote working during the day.
In general, I’m trying to play it less safe here, with a little more whimsy and DIY tied in, like more country painted furniture and eclectic choices. I’m doing my best to be patient and allow it to evolve over time. The goal will be to get it comfortable this summer, and continue to add and create as time goes.
What I love about our time here is that we really dig in and do everything ourselves. If you drive by you might see either of us tilling the garden in raggedy clothes, covered in dirt. There was one weekend last year that I found myself exhausted and dirty, in cut offs and mud boots , watching a fire of fallen branches and debris, with the hose in hand and drinking a really cold beer… all visible from the side of the road. Very on-brand. If you were here last week, you would have seen Mike bailing buckets of water out of the basement. You’d see Emma barefoot and filthy most of the time. Mike once told me that he just wants a weekend spot to go that has a dresser full of old jeans and comfy sweaters, chairs you sink into and a stack of old VHS tapes next to the TV. I totally understood. After weekdays of being “on” we love having a place on the weekends where we can just be. No one to answer to, no one that needs impressing and where we can just be.
I’ve gotten a little long winded here, so I’ll just leave you with the inspiration photos I’ve dumped into a weekend home folder for years. Stay tuned for an update on our progress as all of my choices start to be delivered… and returned, and re-ordered a million times : )
