Welcome to my favorite place.
Five years ago, we bought this one room school house (circa 1914) in my hometown, Lexington, to serve as the home base for my online store. For two years the girls packed up our online orders here and shipped everything out from this 30 x 30ft. room. When we ran out of room, we moved operations to the historic downtown area of Lexington (read about our new headquarters + retail, here).
Since that time, we’ve been working on transforming the school house into our weekend spot. It is about an hour away from our real home so we love the easy drive out to spend our weekends in the country on a gravel road, close to family and farms.
Last fall, we renovated the interior by painting, adding crown-molding, and refinishing the floors. In the kitchen, we had the cabinets repainted and a proper hood build.
Paint : Sherwin Williams Svelte Sage
*The paint was very hard to photograph! In person it is a perfectly neutral green. In the photos it wanted to look more lime. It is creamy and soft in person.
On the Sofa : Darcy Print Pillow Cover + Dogwood Pillow Cover
I designed The New Classics Collection with the School House in mind. I knew I wanted small prints in neutral blues and greens to compliment the new paint colors and to feel natural in the country setting. The interior changes with the seasons as I am always bringing in huge cuttings of whatever is growing and placing them on every surface. Last week it was Queen Anne’s lace. This week it is Hydrangea and Zinnias.
Left to Right : Darcy Print Pillow Cover + Dogwood Pillow Cover
On the Bed : I used a Rectangle Darcy Print Pillow Cover + 2 Large Field Flower in English Blue Pillows
Art : Gold Framed Paintings here.
Figuring out the layout in the school house was a little tricky. I basically divided it into thirds. The first third is the “bedroom.” The center is the living space with sofa and this long farmhouse table that works for art projects, puzzles and big family dinners. The last third is the breakfast table and the “coffee chairs.”
Right after moving in, I decided I needed a comfy spot to sit and read and drink coffee that wasn’t facing the TV.
The chalkboard holds the signatures of some of the students that attended school here between 1914-1955. They signed their names when they came back for a class reunion in 2000 when the original owners did the initial renovation.
JSH Striped Rectangle Pillow in Hosta Green.
Quilts from Tessa Foley of NineandSixteen.
This isn’t a great photo, but it helps you understand the impact of the huge wall of windows on the back. Now, in the morning when we are drinking coffee and reading (or scrolling insta…) we can look out on the beautiful field. I softened the windows with bamboo shades and linen drapes. Opening and closing them each night is a process.
Pillows : Oak Leaf in English Blue
When we bought the school house we had DIY painted the kitchen Puritan Grey (still a favorite color, see photos here). Though I loved how the grey looked, it didn’t lend itself to a very clean feeling kitchen (especially the DIY paint job). If you live in the country, you know the struggle for getting things to feel clean. So, I crisped it up with a soft creamy color (BM Seashell). We also had this exterior venting hood built to replace the recirculating one. This was a game-changer for our Saturday morning bacon routine.
Vintage McCoy Pottery found at a farm sale last year. I love it so much.
The mudroom got zero styling, but this is 100% how it looks most of the time – and I sort of love it “as is.” Old Carharts, puffer vest, boots, fishing poles, gardening tools. Sums up how we spend our time here (outside and in comfy chairs drinking coffee).
Thanks for the patience with this tour (I’ve been meaning to do it for a year!). I wanted to wait for the New Classics Collection since these new designs really completed my vision for the space.
Happy Summer!