Hill Country Home Decorating Ideas
Dana Gallagher
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The Dunn Family
Sacha and Edmund Dunn with son Max and Winnie, a pit bull-whippet mix.
Dana Gallagher
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Old Living Room
The living room's rotten flooring and outdated wood-burning stove were replaced with wide-plank floors and an energy-efficient Vermont Castings stove, which now vents to an exterior chimney. To add visual interest to the boxy space, the Dunns raised the ceiling and added exposed beams, then gave everything a unifying coat of Nuance white paint (Sherwin-Williams).
Dana Gallagher
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Living Room
Muddy handprints and dog hair don't faze the Dunns, who opted for machine-washable canvas slipcovers and easy-to-mop painted wood floors in the living room.
Dana Gallagher
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The Old Kitchen
"The kitchen was like a dungeon, only it had a big water heater in the middle of it," recalls Sacha.
Dana Gallagher
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The Old Kitchen
The kitchen was expanded by knocking down a wall and turning what had been a small wood-paneled den into an adjoining breakfast nook. The couple then Sheetrocked the walls, installed a skylight and casement windows, and laid inexpensive vinyl floor tiles from Armstrong in a checkerboard pattern.
Dana Gallagher
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The New Kitchen
"Now the kitchen's my favorite place in the house," says Sacha, who updated the space with stainless-steel appliances and custom maple cabinets with butcher-block tops.
Dana Gallagher
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Breakfast Nook
The beadboard-panelled breakfast nook features Eames chairs bought at a Brooklyn stoop sale and a farm table Edmund made with wood salvaged from the renovation.
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Chair
The couple scored their seats at a stoop sale; this new version is almost as budget conscious. ($198 each; eurway.com)
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Pillow
Soften seats with grain-sack cushions that sport classic red stripes. ($52; ballarddesigns.com)
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Table
This birch model offers generous dimensions (up to 80 3/4" long) at a small price. ($279; ikea.com)
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Buffet
With plenty of storage for linens, silverware, and dishes, this colorful sideboard earns its keep. ($2,790; 54"W x 38"H; mainecottage.com)
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Front Staircase
The couple enclosed the house's staircase and lent character to the front hallway with painted wide-plank floors and exposed ceiling beams.
Dana Gallagher
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Organized Kitchen
Edmund built storage cubbies above the kitchen doorway. Chalkboard paint transformed a corner of the room into an art gallery for Max and a message center for his parents.
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Upstairs Landing Space
"Before when you came up the stairs, you were in the middle of one of two bedrooms," says Sacha. "We totally reconfigured the second story by moving the wall toward the staircase to create a small landing that now holds our home office." The couple then divided the rest of the space into two smaller bedrooms. Edmund also replaced the outdated metal balustrade with a new stair rail constructed of simple square newel posts and banisters.
Dana Gallagher
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Home Office
The custom desk, outfitted with a 1940s gooseneck lamp and a Thonet chair Edmund found on the curb in Brooklyn, makes efficient use of the second-floor landing.
Dana Gallagher
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Flea Market Finds
The homeowners of this upstate New York country cottage lucked out when they found this iron bed for 40 dollars at a yard sale. A chipped blue trunk from a thrift store got spruced up with red paint.
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Space for Bedrooms
After removing the leaky, dangerously hot chimney and putting up a wall to create sleeping quarters for Max as well as for themselves, the couple installed new wood floors throughout. Larger, rectangular windows channel more light into both spaces.
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White Bedroom
Purchased on eBay, the iron headboard was good to go once Edmund gave it a few coats of fresh white paint. Mountain Air, a matte finish from Sherwin-Williams, softens the walls.
Hill Country Home Decorating Ideas
Source: https://www.countryliving.com/remodeling-renovation/home-makeovers/g864/cottage-rooms-0909/