IT STARTED WITH ONE WALL....

My husband, our two pups and I have the privilege of escaping the cold mid-Atlantic winter weather by heading to the Gulf Coast and visiting with my sister Jean and her husband Frank.   The Whites live in the pretty town of Covington, Louisiana on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans.  As though Covington needed more great restaurants and shops, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina left the town with new businesses opened by folks displaced by floods in New Orleans.   Fortunately many of them still remain in business - and though going into New Orleans is a fun option, dining and shopping at the new businesses in the Covington area is also enjoyable.

The home on the White's White Star Farm  is a spacious log house sitting in the middle of five wooded acres.  The property has a pond, beautifully landscaped grounds with azaleas, fruit trees, huge live oaks and many other flowering shrubs and flowers.

White Star Farm

 Front gate with Star of Texas proudly displayed

Little bridge over stream

Well stocked fishing pond

One of many glorious live oak trees

 
It is home to Audra, a draft cross-horse; her father is a Clydesdale and her mother is a Percheron. 

Fourteen lucky chickens free roam the property and produce about half-dozen eggs a day - in hues of blues and browns.

Two parrots live in spacious aviaries which are moved outdoors weather permitting.    Here's Frank with lucky parrot Junior

Paris and Cosmo, 13-year old Yorkies, are well loved and cared for in their senior years.   They spend most of their time in a lovely lodge style living room having their every need met with alacrity!

Back to the wall....

Shortly after we arrived, Jean said (in her soft southern voice): "Do you think you guys could help us paint one living room [paneled] wall white?".   The interior of their log home is all wood and the front and back have covered porches which run the width of the house.   The porches provide shade and protection from hot weather sunshine, but shield the interior of the house from natural light, especially in the short cool days of winter.

"Sure we said" and the project unfolded.

Here are some before pictures of the main living area.   It was very comfortable and inviting - but dark (Disclaimer:  Jean is an amazing housekeeper - I shot these photos after a night of movie watching/popcorn eating complete with comfy warm blankets):

I asked Jean to give me an idea of how she wanted the house to look when we were finished:  quite simply she wanted a "Pottery Barn" inspired uncluttered space which embraces the architecture of the log house.    An inspiration fixture was her Pottery Barn chandelier then hanging over the dining table:

The first decision was:   which interior walls to prime and paint and after that decision was made, what color white?

One of Jean's and my favorite design shows is HGTV's Fixer Upper.   We both agreed we would look to designer Joanna Gaines for inspiration.    One of her blogs mentioned Benjamin Moore Alabaster White as a pretty warm shade and off we went for a gallon or two.   It turned out to be the perfect color to complemented the warm honey color of the logs and paneling.

I then heard the voice of my BFF and designer extraordinaire Janet Davis:  " Edit, edit, edit Linda".   So that's how we started.    The double garage was filled with work tables onto which everything in the main living space was moved then sorted by type and item.   We called it the General Store!   It was a great way to select items to return to the living space.

Two designers who have influenced me for years are Joni Webb of the blog Cote de Texas and Brook Giannetti of Velvet and Linen.   They would both say - stay simple, clean and with special "patina" pieces.   Their style is always a guiding principle.

Back to "the wall".   Our original plan was to paint only the living room wall which separates the kitchen from the living room:

This was to be the ONE wall to paint 

 A gallon of primer and a gallon of Benjamin Moore "Alabaster" later, here is the wall:

Living Room wall - painted Alabaster White

We shopped Jean's home and relocated some of her favorite pieces.    The above armoire (formerly in her bedroom) is by artist David Marsh, a Houston, TX artisan.  David Marsh has been designing truly unique, sustainable, and whimsical furniture out of his Texas studio for over 30 years.  The special chest is flanked by palm prints reminding Jean of her former home of Savannah, Georgia. 

But we didn't stop with one wall.....

We had fun decorating the beautiful stone mantle:

Fireplace and mantle (before)

In sorting through boxes stored in Jean's barn - we found a painting of the Pack Saddle Mountain near Llano, Texas by Frank's grandmother Melanie Keiser circa 1962 .   The painting, done from memory,  depicted a scene enjoyed by then 11 year old Frank.   We dusted it off and placed it as a centerpiece of the mantle - leaving it unframed.

Artist Melanie Keiser Pack Saddle Mountain - circa 1962

 The General Store provided lots of choices from Jean's collection of ironstone and a favorite copper horse statue also from Pottery Barn.  At a consignment shop nearby we found a pair of wild turkey signed and numbered handsomely framed prints by artist Art Lamay.   We knew they would be perfect.

Prints by artist Art Lamay

The finished mantle and hearth turned out to be both  meaningful and beautiful

Mantle and  hearth before

Mantle and hearth after

 And then we tackled the dining room

Dining room before

This picture makes the chairs look blue - they're actually steel gray

There were several important pieces to use in this space.   One was another David Marsh artisan piece in a beautiful teal blue.

Tall armoire - David Marsh, Artist

We also wanted to use a vintage plant stand which was in our Grandmother Nanny's home for years.   Jean has a collection of Longaberger baskets and voila - a perfect use for the stand (which was then on her front porch).   It is painted with a chippy olive green paint which we decided to leave for it's patina and charm:

Another important piece was our mother's antique lamp

The base is metal and the shade is hand painted on the underside of the frosted glass.

Finally the entryway got some paint and attention.   The front door opens directly into the main room and our goal was to create separate entry and living room spaces.  The window in the below photograph will soon be covered with a beautiful stained glass window.

Entry "before"

Entry "after"

Jean has a collection of cast iron animals including this beautiful bronze piece inspired by Jack London's book "White Fang".    The sculpture is a real treasure.   Many years ago Jean and our grandmother Nanny were at an antique's auction.   Nanny purchased an armoire which was locked, and the auctioneer told the audience anything in it goes too because there was no key for the armoire.   When Nanny got home, she used a stash of antique keys to find one that successfully opened the chest.  In it was this beautiful piece which we believe to be one of a kind.   The wolf is wearing a collar, consistent with the animal in London's book.   He is standing on handsome marble and soapstone slabs.   It is quite heavy and very very special.

 

Antique clock topped by iron black sheep

We relocated a green table originally in the dining room to behind the sofa.   It is a perfect sofa table and provides beautiful lighting in the foyer.

David Marsh curio cabinet festooned with chicken collection and Lu

minaria candles on timers!!

We moved the stain glass window from the dining room wall to a front window at the base of the stairwell.    It is beautiful in the south light of the window!

Jean and Frank had earlier renovated their kitchen.

Kitchen before

Kitchen after

Beautiful soapstone countertops, fresh apple-green glass backsplash  and painted white cabinets (original) updated the kitchen.    The island was custom made by Frank and new appliances include an induction cooktop that Jean loves!

And we couldn't leave out the front door:

Front Door Before

Front door after

But the best thing about the project was all the time the four of us got to spend together and all of the family stories we told.    A little 5-year old friend stopped by the other day and said "Oh, Miss Jean, did you buy new furniture"    Alas, our project is very successful.

So "just one wall" turned into a great project and proves the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step!    And it was fun!

Thank you Jean and Frank for giving us safe haven from the cold Delaware winter in your (even more) beautiful home.   We had a ball and love the memories.