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We have our first long distance project here at Rustic Acres Design and I couldn’t be more excited about it. A beautiful Victorian rehab all the way in Lincoln, Illinois!

 Check out Great City Tees!

Centrally located in Logan County, Lincoln is the only town in the United States named for our 16th Commander in Chief prior to him becoming President of the United States (1861). From 1847-1859 President Lincoln practiced law there and oddly enough participated in the naming ceremony of the Town. While he advised against naming it after himself, it is said he helped “christen” the town by squeezing watermelon juice on the ground. Fun lil tid bit: Lincoln also boats the world’s largest covered wagon!

But I digress…..without further ado, here’s our new lady #HomeOnNOttawa

Isn’t she grand? There are BIG pans for her. Think: demo, construction, & updated amenities all while being true the historical accuracy of the home and of course, keeping her charm.

SNEAK PEAK: Potential exterior color palette!

-Rustic Acres Design Co.

When I first looked at #BirchRoadReno, I wasn’t overly impressed. The kitchen was less then ideal, the first floor layout lacked an openness and flow I was hoping for and the bedrooms on the second floor almost scared me away with their paint jobs. Granted, the molding, doors, and details (glass doorknobs!) were so charming, I knew it had potential. Then once I saw the third floor MASTER I knew we could make this house a home.

Without further ado, here are the before pictures:

#rd Floor stairs

3rd Floor couch

3rd floor master

3rd Floor clothes

3rd floor master

Immediately, I knew I wanted to knock down the weird alcove shelves and hanging clothing wall, which had cut outs of cork within the wall.

So, one day while waiting for our GM and builder to come over, I did this!

3rd floor before

so.much.yellow.and.cork. yikes.

Now! After a fresh coat (or 3) of paint, here’s how it looks today!

Ever watch HGTV and think – I can do that!? I know I do. Have you ever looked at a room in your house and thought, “if only I could knock down that wall, I could…” …enlarge the room/create a closet/add a bathroom/just have more space!

Well, we’ve been itching to knock down some walls in #BirchRoadReno especially on the second and third floors. We wanted to open up the space and rearrange the second floor layout to create a true hallway leading up to the third floor & create an airy and serene third floor master suite.

Let’s start on the Second Floor! Here we wanted to expand the “green” bedroom and create a functional walk-in closet. The existing one was so small and cramped – the door entering the bedroom opened into the closet creating a traffic jam and the depth of the closet was short, very short. Think – perfect for child sized clothing and hangers, not so much for adults.

Additionally, we were able to take space from the weird closet/office/man cave tv room leading to the staircase heading up to the third floor master. This allowed us to create a true hallway complete with a linen closet, sitting areas and defined walk way rather than the jumble of a room that existed before.

office/dude closet

office/man cave/hallway to 3rd floor

BAM! BAM! BAM!

We are in the process of marking up the room, filing in the floor where the closet existed and next we will be added the new wall dividing the bedroom and hallway into two separate and defined spaces. As you can see in the last after picture, we started painting too! The second floor is going to be mostly cool blues and greys throughout.

Still a work in progress but our contractor will be over this week to frame out the new walls, closets, and hallway!

Tune in tomorrow for our demolition post clearing out the third floor master and the transformation a little paint can create!

-Rustic Acres Team

Spruced up the front steps this past weekend! Used a mix of mums, cabbage, gourds and planters we had in the garage to create this pretty fall palette. Stay tuned for more Fall updates!

There’s a good chance if you follow us on Instagram, you are familiar with #BirchRoadReno – which is the tag I’ve been using for our team’s largest project: a 1923 colonial renovation and redesign. I’ve thought about trying to use a catchy tag line like, “bringing a 1923 colonial into the 21st century,” but honestly, it’s just a mouthful. So, #BirchRoadReno it is!

This project is personal too, as it is our actual (well, future) home! We closed in August and haven’t looked back. Before I dive into when we move in & what we’ve accomplished, let’s take a peak into what we bought…

owners!

Here she is – in all of her glory. All 1,900 square feet of her! The exterior of the house and back porch are both in decent shape, as the former owners put the siding on just a month before listing the house. The garage – as you can see – is showing it’s age. That’s a project for another day…er, realistically another year. We have BIG plans to renovate and update this lady from a house to a home.

Here’s a sneak peak of the interior of the home…these are a mix between the listing photos and ones we took after the closing.

Living Room

Pink/purple/gold bedroom

Kitchen Built-ins

Dining Room

Bedroom 2

Second Floor hallway alcove

office/man cave/hallway to 3rd floor

3rd floor master

3rd floor master

As you can see – we have our work cut out for us! Follow along on our journey to make this 1920’s good boned beauty, into our home.

-Rustic Acres Design Co.