IDEAS FOR EQUESTRIAN INSPIRED DESIGN
As many of you read a few posts back, my husband and I sold our downtown “California Bungalow” listed on the National Historical Register and purchased a home in the country. Our previous home was fully renovated when we purchased it, and therefore we only made a few changes and basically added to the furnishings and window coverings. Additionally, it was originally constructed with beautiful handmade architectural details that gave it an elegant personality and "less was more" when choosing art and decor.
Checking on Day 1 of demolition at our country home, with our border collie assistant, Stella
The home we will be moving into is a COMPLETE remodel. I was a little at a loss as to how to transition our new purchase from country/Victorian into a modern New England farm house with a touch of equestrian influence. Most of our Stickley furnishings and handmade rugs are stored away and we are essentially starting from scratch. I am extremely particular and I am not comfortable having others make design decisions for me. I also like to keep to a strict budget; just ask anyone who has ever worked in business with me. I would rather measure 5 x and cut once. I have therfore taken it upon myself to run the aesthetic portion of the project.
FINDING ANSWERS AND INSPIRATION
Enter the website HOUZZ. While I have a stack of Architectural Digests that I have saved for years and a collection of interior design coffee table books, these sources are limited in ideas for the scope of what the project requires. I supplemented the basic style we chose (Martha Stewart classic) with inspiration from HOUZZ.com. Architects, designers, builders and manufacturers are constantly updating portfolios on the site. We found sources for materials and images of rooms to better explain our vision to our contractors and I used the interactive Q&A section to learn more about surfaces we were considering (especially countertops). I literally built a PowerPoint presentation using "before" pictures of our new house on the day we took possession and "after" pictures that I found on Houzz. I have given this book to our contractor, along with a financial spreadsheet, to follow.
Over the next few months I will share with you our progress, but first I want to share my favorite equestrian inspired decor and sources for products that I think you might enjoy. As I inferred, my favorite source is HOUZZ.com. We used this site for research and we are integrating many ideas into our new home. We have even ordered supplies directly from their website. Wether you are building, remodeling, refreshing your decor or looking for gifts, Houzz is a must visit.
{HOUZZ}
INSPIRING PHOTOS
INTERIOR PHOTOS
A sample of photos that have inspired our interior. I love the sterling trophies on the mantel and the wool blankets across the foot of the guest beds. I also like the clean look of the black and white matted photos in black frames along the staircase, although I haven't decided if I like the hanging horse shoes. The look reminds me of Ralph Lauren's new flagship store on Fifth Avenue.
My husband loves "Secret Doors" and we are incorporating a farm door to divide his office from our new reading room.
ART
We have assembled a collection of art that we would like to incorporate into the new house. I used Houzz to envision how we could incorporate a few of these pieces, even though they are not of the "Farm House" genre. I adore beautiful handmade scarves and white horses on canvas. I have similiar pieces in storage right now.
CARRIAGE HOUSE
One of the benefits of our new home is a 2200 square foot heated building with a concrete floor that we are turning into a carriage house. Our only carriage happens to be my two horse trailer with a dressing room....iT LOOKS TINY IN THE BUILDING! We are also planning on building a tack room/wardorbe area to store all of my extra tack,coolers, show trunks, boots, show clothing, etc. since my horse(s) tend to live out of the area and I commute to ride.
Here is one idea we found as to how to break up the interior
We studied Carriage Doors to find the appropriate style. We chose a painted look to better flow with our home, but we loved these doors.
THE HOUZZ ONLINE STORE
ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS: Boise doesn't have a selection of equestrian themed sources, but we were able to find a few items we were looking for on their online store.
Dining Room Chandelier
Door Knocker
Weathervane for the Carriage House
PILLOWS & FABRICS:
Thomas Paul creates beautiful detailed equestrian designs and they are available in the HOUZZ online store.
A Sampling of fabrics offered in the online store. How sweet is the jockey fabric????
Gifts
I couldn't resist including a few of the items that most of my stablemates would enjoy, including me!
For inspiration and to shop, visit HOUZZ by clicking HERE. WARNING- you may become addicted!
**all images sourced from HOUZZ.com
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