Today I get to share my friend M's house. I've shown a little bit of it before way back
here and again her garden,
here. But the other day I talked her into letting me take a few pictures. You are going to see right away that she and I have different styles but I admire hers and I admire her commitment to it. I honestly think that's the key to having style...commitment! She is an incredible decorator. One of the amazing things about her house is that everything has been thrifted. Now I've got to tell you that I've gone *shopping* with her many, many, many times. The woman has stamina, and I often hear
Seven Nation Army playing in the back of my head as we enter another estate sale. When I've had enough, she says, let's just go to one more. And don't you know that'll be the best one of the day! It always works out that way. So anyway, I hope you enjoy these photos of her gorgeous home that looks so beautiful and autumny right now. Please be kind in the comments too because it's so nice of her to let us all in. Enjoy...
M's house was built in the 1930's as a peach barn. It's adobe and has 12" thick walls. Hanging anything on the wall is a Job. Every single thing in this room was thrifted except for the sofa.
She was married in Yosemite so she has a soft spot for paintings of the place.
This trunk has been in her family for generations.
This is her family room. They put on a small addition a few years ago that blends so beautifully with the original part of the house. I love the simple barn siding she chose for the walls. Again, everything but the sofa was thrifted.
I hope you liked this little tour. She's in the process of picking pieces to re-do her kitchen and when it's done I hope to show you too. You know how much I love a minimal look but I tell you it is always a treat to be invited over and just sit and look at all her cool stuff. It's like part museum and part gorgeous home store, the kind you say...man i could live here! There's always soft music playing and a fountain or two running. Thanks M for letting us in.
Love her eclectic style, she really has some amazing vintage pieces! It's so hard to find great vintage paintings, atleast for me, and she sure has found a lot. Thanks for the tour.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend! :)
She has a lovely, very special house. Thank you for the tour.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful house and a peach barn - so romantic. She is incredibly talented, and has built a unique home that is a refreshing breeze in this world of uniform decorating.
ReplyDeleteLovely! There is a knack to placing disparate items together after thrifting and making those items look like they have always belonged together. I am slowly getting better at this myself, but she has a great eye.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful cottage! I love the wood walls, comfy sofa, and especially the bird pillows. She needs her own blog..."The Peach Barn." : )
ReplyDeleteyes she does!
DeleteOh my!!! I love it! I have to admit this is probably along the lines of my decorating. It has a very old time campy feel to it. Like the Finger Lake District in NY. I love English cottages. This is a beautiful example of American cottage. Thank you for sharing. I'll be pouring over the photos for quite awhile.
ReplyDeleteI wanted add, I love the bird pillows too. I guess she doesn't remember where they came from or who made them? They would be perfect in my livingroom.....sigh
ReplyDeleteshe got them at a thrift store. you nailed her style perfectly. :)
DeleteOh my!!! I love it! I have to admit this is probably along the lines of my decorating. It has a very old time campy feel to it. Like the Finger Lake District in NY. I love English cottages. This is a beautiful example of American cottage. Thank you for sharing. I'll be pouring over the photos for quite awhile.
ReplyDeleteI love her chandelier. And her house, while not my style, is absolutely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI think my heart has skipped a couple of beats! I've even enlarged and saved all the pictures....I love every inch of her house and I desperately want all the pillows on the white couch! Makes me want to start all over again - it looks so incredibly comfortable. Thanks M for letting us into your home . . . I can't wait to see your kitchen.
ReplyDeleteShe's a woman after my own heart. I, too, use thrifted things in my home, going to estate sales, craigs list, antique shows, etc. is part of my life. I do plan on buying new sofas for our soon to be built home. It will be furnished with antiques handed down from family members. I just brought home a 19th century pine cabinet (craigs list) that will be used as linen storage in our new bathroom. The best part about it was it was free. There is some work that needs to be done which my husband will do and I will wax it back to it's orginal beauty. The owner just wanted to get it out of his garage. Can't wait to see her kitchen. Thank you Janet.
ReplyDeletesounds gorgeous.
DeleteI think it's lovely ! Every thing so carefully and lovingly chosen, and it all fits together with 'style' ! I especially love the paintings on the wall, grouped together. But all of it is just beautiful - cosy and comfortable too.
ReplyDeleteI love every single thing!!!
ReplyDeletevery very comforting and inviting M probably has an old sole and they make great homemakers
ReplyDeleteSo pretty, Janet. I want that black pillow! I bet she's got a story or two to tell.
ReplyDeleteS
xo
Everywhere you look it's a feast for the eye. I have several friends who also have richly furnished houses and it's a treat to sit and absorb all the grandeur. This decor says so much about the person who lives there and their interests. Every bit has a story and memories. The only things bought new in our house are two sofas, a chair and a mattress set. Everything else was given to us by family or we found at antique shops, thrift stores, estate sales and junk yards (yes!).
ReplyDeleteIt's been one long treasure hunt and our friends seem to love our home. - Jan-Leanne
It's lovely- so warm and inviting. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLove love love her style - thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteJust saw that someone else said almost the exact same thing at almost the exact same time - like minds : )
ReplyDeleteso cozy. and so ralph lauren-esq, dont you think? lovely. thanks to m for sharing! donna
ReplyDeleteyes donna, very much so.
DeleteI just love the coziness of her place. I like the arrangement of various paintings and pictures. It looks homey and not too arranged. Very inspiring for thrift store furnishing. Thanks, Janet. p.s. I would love to see the kitchen :)
ReplyDeleteexactly! nothing is too arranged and yet it's perfect.
DeleteIt's gorgeous! I love that it is so original, and that chandy is my favorite thing.
ReplyDeleteIsabella
I love it... love everything about this home! It's so cozy, and as someone else commented, has a camp-like feel. It reminds me of a cottage in the Adirondacks or Maine. The vintage photos and paintings, the wicker and cushions, that gorgeous canvas overnight bag on the bookcase, the barn board walls... it all makes me want to just snuggle in with a good book. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThis is MY kind of place! I'm sure glad you shared it here!
ReplyDeleteLove this Jane! m is so talented! I love this kind of look!
ReplyDeleteTotally charming. And I too love the chandelier. One of my BFF's has a house full to the brim and while I could never live there, I never want to leave there.
ReplyDeleteGo figure.
Why doesn't she have a blog?
xo jane
i don't know why. i've been telling her for years to start one.
DeleteSimply beautiful.....estate sales....I never get so lucky, never!
ReplyDeleteThis wonderful house just shouts personality!! It's original, charming, nothing cookie-cutter about it and I lovelovelovelovelove it!!
ReplyDeleteYour friend must think like I do. And that is to have interesting things everywhere you look. It's difficult to get bored in an interesting home. Love it!
ReplyDeleteIt's filled with such treasures!! Wonderful chandelier in the living room. I've always wanted to hang one over my coffee table.
ReplyDeleteThank M for allowing us to see her lovely and charming home.
ReplyDeleteLove the wood floors! So many interesting treasures to look at. Thank you for allowing us to tour this charming house.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting... my personal style is so very similar to yours. But I love to look at, and am obsessed with, homes like this. I wish I had the guts - and the stamina(!) to shop for and create a space like this. Thanks for sharing with us. And can't wait to see the kitchen!
ReplyDeleteJanet,
ReplyDeleteSo happy to see you posted something today! :) I have been thinking about you.
Thank you to M for letting us have a tour of her beautiful home. I love the family room and would like to see the kitchen when it is completed!
Linda
xo
Her thrifting gift is quite exceptional...she has a wonderful way with display and decor.
ReplyDeleteI can see this home being profiled in a magazine.
It feels charming and cozy...I'd love to pop in for a visit.
Thank you for sharing and I am excited that there will be a kitchen post.
Enjoy your weekend Janet.
Hostess
a beautifully collected home!
ReplyDeletei will be coming back to these photos again & again.
thank you, M & janet ♥
Stunning. Simply stunning. You need to upload this on Pinterest so I can repin every single one of them!
ReplyDeleteVery cool. We are grateful to your friend for opening her home to us. I love that nearly everything was thrifted. Old things make a home so much more interesting and personal. There's a story behind every object, whether we know it or not. A house where everything is new is, in my opinion, boring. M's house is definitely NOT boring!
ReplyDeleteClaudia
What a beautiful space! I love the eclectic mix of stuff! x
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful oasis!! Thank you for sharing the photos, they have given me the boost I need to do a little redecorating!
ReplyDeleteTheresa
Dear Janet
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely post! Absolutely luff your friend's house. So much charm and warmth - I love that these are the kinds of rooms that you discover slowly as you take in all the beautiful things she's rescued from thrift shops and estate sales. Specially love the chandelier and the lamp with the crystal drops, also the brown wood cupboard next to the white sofa. We have an old cupboard like that made by my husband's grandfather over 60 years ago. But it needs some restoration to bring it to that beautiful state. This is an inspiring post. How wonderful that in your neck of the woods you can find such amazing things. Wish our Op Shops (in Oz that that's what we call Thrift Shops) had such treasures - they do have some good finds but don't know any where you can find these lovelies. Have never seen estate sales like the ones you have either. And your friend has put it all together so well - I could live there too! Look forward to seeing the kitchen when it's done. Warmest wishes, Pamela xxx
that little cabinet next to the sofa was a wonderful find. it was made in the 1860's and if you look closely you can see gladiolas painted on the front. it's so beautiful.
DeleteI do love it! G's grandfather's cabinet also has flowers, but these are tulips carved in relief on each of the doors. There's no colour like in the lovely gladioli. Also the surface at the moment is awful, the powdery residue of some kind of brown stain. Would really like to do something with it but don't want to ruin it and neither G nor I are handy. Love the soft shine on M's cabinet. Is it waxed? Would be interested in knowing whether she did any restoration work herself and if so what she did (if she can bear to share). Probably our cabinet is a lot more than 60 years old but not as far back as the 1860s, maybe more around the early 20th century. Pamela xx
Deletehi pammie! didn't know this was you. M's cabinet has the original finish on it. your cabinet sounds like it just needs a light cleaning and some wax. No M didn't do any restoration work herself.
DeleteA warm, beautiful space. I think it is the relationship that pulls me. All the times the two of you have searched for treasures makes this home even more special. Real, not just decorated and predictable. Enjoy your weekend!
ReplyDeleteI'm in LOVE with M's place. It is obviously "her" and I don't even know her! It is well layered and looks like it has been collected over time. Thank you M for sharing your home with us.
ReplyDeleteomw!!! I LOVE M's home....love all the collections.......just an incredible mix.... beautiful.....thank you so much for sharing, and I look forward to more!!
ReplyDeleteLove M's house! It is absolutely charming- so full of character and life. Good energy. I think the photos feel like a hug! I bet she is a fun friend to have.
ReplyDeletexxojoan
Janet,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing: Love all the antique wicker!!!
That family room couldn't be any more perfect. It seems so comfortable, the kind of place I'd just like to sit down and stay...and perhaps never leave.
ReplyDeleteJanet:
ReplyDeleteWhat is the square footage of the house? Will we get to see more? Please thank M for inviting us in, it's simply lovely:)
it's a little over 1400 sq ft. and i do hope to show you more.
DeleteFunny how much your "M" and you and my friend and I are alike - I have little and am content and find myself trying to have less (less is more to me) my "L" loves to be surrounded with her great finds (more is more to her) ... We both love each others houses - I really love your M's house- love yours too! Have a wonderful Sunday. - Pam A.
ReplyDeleteMeant to also say that I LOVE her wonky candlesticks- I am so copying that! - Pam A.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for that beautiful post. One of the best I've read in months--anywhere! This is what I troll blogs/internet for. I love that her home is beautiful, quaint, cozy, pulled together--but doesn't look decorated. If our spaces reflect the person, then she is a beautiful, quaint, cozy, pulled together gal, and she must be wonderful to know. MORE PLEASE!!! xoxoxo, Allegra
ReplyDeleteps--the sofa/bird pillows just killed me. Had to share that! Allegra
ReplyDeleteI just love this home! I want to linger over the images, actually much the same feelings I have had looking at the photos of your home Janet. both are beautiful, not from huge amounts of money spent on decorating budgets but through love and care. hope to see more of them.
ReplyDeleteDarby
I have just inherited a house and all its furniture, fifty years of living has to be cleaned up and removed. I wish I could just have an estate sale. Maybe I should. Someone's problems are someone's treasures and so delightful to find them another loved home.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely house, thank you for sharing Janet, and thank M for letting us have a peek into her beautiful world.
ReplyDeleteBarbara
Many thanks Janet. Sounds like the way to go. Off to Melbourne on Friday for a reunion with K and R. So looking forward. Warmest wishes, Pammie xx
ReplyDeleteLove this room! She has a gift for keeping that room light filled with all her great antiques. I've got a few stored away that I can't part with now I have to go study how to do it right. Thanks for the tour!
ReplyDeleteThis house is so lovely, soft and comfy! I can imagine how wonderful it is to sit and just enjoy the treasures!
ReplyDeleteLisa in Fort Worth
I like it because it looks very live-able. I wish I had that kind of talent, knowing how to put together the right pieces, especially when blending old with new. I can imagine how hard it is to nail anything to adobe; I've got that problem with my 1920s bungalow and some kind of weird plaster...I mean, I read somewhere in the old notes of the house that the mix behind the plaster even involves straw; who knows what they did back then. It does bug me that I cannot hang something on the wall unless it's a major project for my reluctant husband. I particularly noted how she took a coffee table in the family room and simply covered it with a throw or quilt. What a perfect idea; it's like "no rules." And it works. Thanks for sharing such a soothing home with us, Janet. Love that you're posting. Thinking of you and wishing you well.
ReplyDeleteI feel like everybody else. That I have to come back here and look at these images again just to fully absorb. I love the comment made here by someone that it's American Cottage style, or throwback to English cottage/country cottage. I've never been to that area of New York. Yeah, there is definitely something about your friend's house that grabs a person; you really got a great shot of that decanter. What is that, whiskey or bourbon or something? It does definitely look warm, inviting, Fall leaves and all that. I was never Ivy League but I remember my cousin, a professor (East Coast) telling me how autumn comes, as do the woolens, with the teachers getting together for sherry mid-afternoon after classes. I imagine literal ivy and brick buildings, grounds covered with the colorful, dry leaves. Only have seen it in movies. My mom was not a drinker but, when I was growing up (maybe we kids drove her to it), she'd have a teeny glass of sherry around 4pm once we came in from play and were hunkered down before dinner. Cozy time. Fall & winter time. I'm ready. I am sick of these hot, desert winds up here north of you, Janet. We are toast...parched. They're saying maybe rain midweek; really? After 101 degrees (F) yesterday? Bring it on; we're all about to ditch clothes and go naked in my neck o' the woods; just too darn hot.
ReplyDeletei believe it is whiskey vicki. :)
DeleteJanet, I'm just dropping to let you know how very much I enjoy your blog. I did take note a few posts ago that you experiencing some difficulties in life. So I will tell you just how much you and your fellow bloggers help me get through some of the tough times in my life. Your generous truthfulness, your kind attitude, and your interesting point of view make many of my days lighter. Life is full of difficulties. I have certainly had my share. But I believe in survival. I believe that what I survive makes me wiser and stronger. For me it is always a process of learning from every situation, however painful. Kindness and love go a long way toward curing what ails. I try more and more to live by the serenity prayer. Not always easy, but so very true. I wish you well. And I will continue to visit, in the hope that you will still be here.
ReplyDeleteLovely, easy going, style. Mindful of the past but not overdone. This is exactly what I love about reading blogs. It's like being able to go on those home and garden tours that only come around once or twice a year, but every day! I really like your friend's style, and all those "curated" pieces are very thoughtful. That woven basket in the wire basket is a fave, even though it's hard to pick! So many goodies. Please tell her thank you for the tour, and hope we get to share more. Thank you, too for writing it!
ReplyDeleteJanet, It's so gracious of M to allow us to see her lovely home. Thank you for taking the time to show us.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if the creamy sofa in M's family room is from Pottery Barn and if the slip cover is linen. If so, I also have that sofa and I'd like to know if M has ever cleaned the slip cover and cushion covers? I am tempted to wash them in my washer like you do with your white ones but of course I don't want them to shrink so I haven't done it. Any info from her would really be appreciated. Sorry I could not find an email address to contact you directly.
Thank you in advance and thank you for your fantastic blog! Donna in Texas
hi donna. yes it is from pottery barn and it is linen and she has it dry cleaned. i wouldn't risk washing it for fear of shrinking it. hope this helps.
DeleteThank you very much for your reply, Janet. You've saved me from making a big mistake. Donna
DeleteGorgeous little cottage. So many wonderful things in it. So glad you shared it.
ReplyDeleteM's family room is beautiful. Her presence in the room is palpable, that's what I love so much about this space, it has real life warmth that comes through in the photos. Thank you both for sharing. Love all that you do Janet.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing!!! Those plank walls... and ceiling... those floors.... OH THOSE FLOORS!!! WOW... and ummm... over here in Florida... well ... I guess we just don't have estate sales like you do!!! That decor is amazing!!!! Beautiful!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletehow could anyone have anything bad to say about this house?!! it's perfect!! exactly how i would like my house to feel.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing.
jo
How generous of your friend M to allow you to share her inspired house on your gorgeous blog. Janet you write and photograph so beautifully
ReplyDeleteI did not even need images, your words say it all, even the fragrance - I can just smell it walking in there.
ReplyDeletepve
okay wow! here is a post idea..how do you thrift an entire room? her rooms are gorgeous!!!! I go to estate sales and thrift stores and never see anything. I feel like I am a 'seasoned shopper' (:)) but must be missing out when I see rooms such as these.. gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteso I'd really love to know any tips/tricks!!
you're right. M and I talk about it all the time, how lucky we are re thrifting. i will do a post on it.
Delete