style – Rumfield Homestead

House Progress – Our Front Stairs

Hi guys! Today I wanted to share a quick update on a section of our house that isn’t finished yet, but looks waaaaayyyyyy better than it did before, and I’m happy to live with it as-is for a while.

Our front staircase is one of the original features from 1895. It is tight, narrow, and has a very abrupt turn which makes moving furniture upstairs quite tricky. Just as a reminder, this is what it looked like when we moved in:

Looking at that photo is absolutely crazy to me because it looks nothing like this anymore! Within the first few days, we pulled out the carpet, and a few weeks later while we were working daily, we painted the walls. But for a couple months, we hadn’t done anything with the stairs themselves. And then our son was born, and we were a little slow to getting things done, so it took a while before I got around to painting.

I decided to paint the stairs, back in December, I believe, but I never really shared the full details.

And now they’re black and white and I’m totally in love! They make the space feel so much bigger and brighter, even though it really is a tiny staircase.

Pardon the glaringly bright sun, I was just too excited to wait to take these pictures!

The color is Behr’s Totally Black, with Ultra Pure White (the color you get without any mixing – straight from the can) trim, and Polar Bear on the walls. We painted the staircase with a semigloss finish, which I would not normally recommend on a high traffic area, but we do plan on adding a runner down the stairs for comfort, so they will not be getting much foot traffic at all once the runner is installed.

Here you can see an unedited look (nope, I didn’t clean up for y’all) at the stairway into the rest of the house. So aside from the runner, we do plan on doing a few other things. The light fixture will be changed, of course, but we’re also thinking about a fun statement tile to replace the parquet flooring. For now though, it’s a small makeover to tide us over until we get to the real thing!

So, if you can pardon my photography skills, that’s the latest little update. Projects are going pretty slowly around here, but as soon as we get back at it, I’ll keep y’all updated. 🙂

That’s all for today, friends. Have a fabulous day!

March 18, 2019 by Fawn Rumfield

Home Decor

When “Your Style” Seems to be Changing

Have you heard from design magazines or HGTV shows about finding “your style” and sticking with it? For the last four years as I’ve been making our two different rental houses home, I’ve been drawn to a farmhouse-y, cottage-like style characterized by lots of chippy, white, antique-y looking things. I’ve sourced all kinds of materials from flea markets, and made things we owned to look older by distressing them.

I started a business refinishing furniture and sourcing antiques and I have done well for my home and others’ homes using all things “farmhouse style.” But guess what? Can I tell you these possibly forbidden words? I’m starting to get sick of it. Whaaaaaaaat? Am I even allowed to say that? Let’s backtrack a little bit.

In my personal style (the clothes I wear and how I present myself), I generally use words like classic, erring on the side of “preppy” using lots of neutrals and blues. I try to stick with only buying pieces that won’t be out of style in five years. But guess what? Would you believe that in high school, for a short time, I was really into duct tape. As in, I made myself all kinds of accessories out of colored duct tape. Belts, purses, wallets, bracelets, you name it. Now, does this fit in with the classic, natural, timeless way I try to present myself? Absolutely not! Because it was a phase and I moved on past that phase.

I think you may be able to see where this is going. I am going to step out on a limb here and say that in our homes, we’re allowed to have phases too. We don’t have to stick to something that we picked five or ten years ago just because that’s what we chose and now we’re stuck with it. So that brings me back to my own home. I have been a lover of the modern farmhouse vibe in all it’s white and gray and chippy paint glory for several years. But I sense myself moving beyond that.

Don’t get me wrong. I love antiques. I love shopping flea markets. I don’t see myself stopping that trend and solely shopping Target from now on. But I feel that I may be moving (or trying to) toward a more timeless, classic and traditional look in my home. Not so shabby chic, but polished. This is going to be a process. I’ve always been on a budget, so there’s not going to be room to re-furnish our entire house just because I don’t like our stuff anymore. No, I’m going to do things as I always have – slowly evolving over time.

Take this vignette for example. White on white, some galvanized metal, twine, distressing. These are staples in my design choices and have been for a long time. Yesterday, I made some small and simple changes to this vignette. Because one teeny tiny change can make you feel like you’re doing something, even if it’s not an entire house or room.

I took some matte black spray paint I had in the garage and gave these candlesticks a new look. I swapped out the distressed jar for a basket-weave candle holder. I added this antique medicine bottle. But that’s it. Everything else is the same. The flowers, the greenery in the jar in the back. I didn’t change the table (though that’s on my list), the tray, the furniture along the wall.

I took a tiny step in the direction I want to move toward. I don’t know what words you might use to describe the look I have in mind. I have words like “neutral,” “traditional,” and “casual” in my mind. I am loving elements of matte black, natural textures like jute and basket weave, and dark brass. I was looking around my house and realized I don’t have a thing in it that’s black! Good thing I know my way around a can of paint. 🙂

I plan on slowly replacing things like furniture and large decor items on a budget, and you can bet I’ll bring you all along for the ride. I will sell some things like my dining room set to make room for new things (are you local? My dining room set that I refinished (click here for the original posting details) will be for sale soon!). Slowly, over time, I’m going to move on. Because if I can get past the high school duct tape phase, I can get past this modern farmhouse phase too.

That’s it for today, friends! Have a fabulous day!

July 12, 2018 by Fawn Rumfield