My husband does not do relaxing very well. Vacations are usually combined with work trips- he’s a hustler and is always thinking up his next business idea. I love this about him because it inspires me to always be thinking ahead. So in order to get him to take a relaxing weekend away in Michigan I had to entice him by telling him we can look at potential rental properties while on our getaway. As usual, he was one step ahead of me and already had pulled a few listings for us to see.

I loved the Barn as soon as we pulled in, but this is not our first rental and I know it’s not a given that contracts will be accepted and inspections passed. It was a two month process from first walk through to closing but we made a deal and just a few days before Christmas in 2018 we closed.

Previous to us owning it, the Barn had been used as a church, but the person we bought it from had converted it from the church to a home. The basics were there but we did have to do some construction to bring it up to code. The staircase at the center was too wide and wasn’t anchored properly. Our contractor flipped its direction, which allowed the base to be facing the front entry. Salvaged barn wood from a farm in Plainfield, Illinois was brought in from Reclaimed Wood Chicago to make the stair treads and newel posts. They’re pretty amazing- you can see the hatch marks from when they were hand hewn with an ax.

The soaring upstairs ceiling was painted white from its original honey colored wood and I chose a deep blue gray for the vertical north and south walls to accentuate the height. The chandeliers we simply painted the same color as the walls and left them as is! New brass cabinet hardware gave the shaker cabinets a more sophisticated feel.

The front entry lounge area had a large closet that went to the master bedroom jutting into the space that we removed, allowing for more usable space for our built in cabinets and the flat screen tv. The sofa has impenetrable Sunbrella fabric so kids can lounge and snack while watching movies and the parents party upstairs. I’m a total sucker for a gallery wall and plus it’s a great way to justify my thrift and flea market habit. The “Raise Hell, Kid” pennant was purchased at Higher Standards in Chelsea Market.

The master has my favorite design detail- a wallpaper mural image from The National Gallery in London; ‘Flowers in a Stone Vase’ in the style of Jan Van Hysum from a company called SurfaceView in the UK. I selected a dark green paint color for the rest of the room so that the image would appear to float towards you when you enter the room.

Upstairs, above the mohair bench are several Audubon prints that I found at Scott’s Antique Market in Atlanta. The vendor, Nostalgia Fine Art, produces high quality reproductions with archival ink and sometimes even antique paper. I spent close to an hour sifting through their fabulous prints looking for unusual botanic prints. The eight birds selected are all of the Corvus family of birds in a nod to Corvus Design House.

The front bedroom has a few items that I love-- an antique Japanese silk painting hangs above the dresser. The mushroom botanic print is printed on antique paper from Nostalgia Fine Art. Also purchased at the same market in Atlanta was an antique linen Belgian feed sack from the late 1800’s. The antique linen feels like silk and I brought it straight to my upholsterer and had it turned into a lovely, huge, nap-inducing bolster pillow.

By far, I had the most fun searching for vinyl records for the turntable. Badfinger, Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Joe Jackson, Todd Rundgren, Beck, Magnetic Fields, Dakota Staton, T. Rex, Bill Evans Trio, Broken Bells, The Roots, Nick Lowe plus many more are in the collection. Actual whole albums that can be enjoyed from beginning to end on the Audio Technica AT-LP60 turntable. The receiver is an old one I had from my Dad- as well as the two boxes of 45’s. He’s passed away now so listening to them, cranked up in that voluminous space really takes me back to my childhood.

In this first year we’ve had several dance parties, shuffleboard tournaments, family dinners and cozy fires. Sharing the space with others and bringing that feeling of warmth and comfort brings me so much joy.