We moved into our 150-year-old home in Charleston, Illinois in the fall of 2013.
Right now we are looking forward to Spring (but also wishing for some late February snow).
Here is a shot of the exterior of our house from last Spring with the dogwood tree (aka Harper’s tree) and the groundcover on our hill in bloom. Every year we add more drought-tolerant perennials with the hope that one day the steep hill will be covered in color. I really enjoy mixing different heights, textures, and colors to create a patchwork of lovely for all to see. I grew many of the plants from seed and some came all the way from our last home. We love to garden. We moved from a typical Chicago postage-stamp lot to a huge yard that hadn’t been tended to for decades. There are always so many projects going on at once. It is a lot of work, but is so rewarding each year.
In the fall of 2015, we painted our house in Sherwin Williams Dark Knight, with a slightly darker custom-mixed trim in a glossy finish. The house had been white with (decorative) green shutters for at least 100 years so we get lots of double-takes from passersby. It took courage to go for the dark color, especially since we are a relatively new family to a very small rural community, but I am so glad we took the risk. The house looked disjointed before, starting out as a Carpenter Gothic in 1864 and then being morphed into a more Georgian Colonial Revival style in 1920. I think the dark color solidifies the look.
Since we moved here we have made many changes. Here are the most recent shots of the house interior.
Take a look at our Holiday House Tour for even more photos.
To see what the house looked like before we moved in check out the “before and after” post.
Front Door
This color is Sherwin Williams “Nervy Hue,” isn’t that a perfect name! The doorbell is original and in perfect condition, the door plate and knob were eBay finds (We ordered many and tried them and resold the rejects, it was hard to find the right fit. Who knew antique door hardware was so complicated?!) and the mail slot is a reproduction from Signature Hardware.
Foyer
It is so nice to come home to this front door and staircase! You can’t beat carpentry from 1864.
The majority of the house interior is painted with Sherwin Williams Extra White. I wanted it as simple and as bright as possible.
Here we are peeking into the office/guest suite.
The dining room is straight back from the front door.
We love the nook under the stairs, it’s a great hiding place!
The interior of the front door is in its original wood finish. It shows a lot of wear, but I would rather not paint it. The exterior of the door had so much damage and patching that it had to be painted.
The stair treads were painted when we purchased the house. Having the floors refinished was the first thing we did before moving in. The refinishers were not excited to strip those stairs and sand so much of them by hand. They show 150 years of wear. I wouldn’t have been happy using the stairs every day with that beautiful wood being covered by paint. I love this staircase.
Here we are looking into the living room from the foyer.
Here you see the living room and our Clive chandelier by Crate & Barrel. The couch is from Crate & Barrel too, but was from a sample sale, so they never carried it in the store. Growing up in the same town as the founders of Crate & Barrel, and having parents that were diehard customers created my love for the company. We always knew people who worked there and as a child I was enamored with the tape machines at the checkout counters (push a color coded button and a dampened perfect sized piece of tape shoots out). As an adult I was able to style many Crate & Barrel Furniture print ads at their corporate headquarters. Of course it was the only place I registered when I got married. I have also always been a huge fan of The Land of Nod, even before C & B purchased the company.
French doors are so pretty and are a great way to close off parts of the house.
Living Room
Everything in the living room, whether it’s from a thrift store, is a hand-me-down, or purchased new (very rare!), is special to me and is what makes the eclectic combination work. I love combining colors and textures to tell a story. Steve painted the piece above the sofa and the abstract pillow and the kitty-cat pillow are my mom’s needepoint handiwork.
The mohair chairs are a favorite find from a used furniture warehouse in Chicago. The Rya rug was a purchase by my parents in 1972 from the Chicago Merchandise Mart.
The painting is by Lonnie Holley, an “Outsider” artist and musician from Birmingham, Alabama. My grandmother painted the portrait of me when I was 12. I think it’s fun to have a portrait of the “Lady of the House” in the living room.
My mother-in-law learned to play on this piano when she was a child in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
Another Lonnie Holley painting hangs over our Arts & Crafts sideboard.
Family Room
I had to find a great storage solution for our vintage Lundby dollhouse, board games, puzzles, and toys in the family room. I am a huge fan of the IKEA Billy shelves and have been buying them for years as our spaces have grown.
Our pendant light from Crate & Barrel sometimes doubles as “The Death Star” in paper airplane battles.
Guitar wall hangers are a perfect storage solution and they are inexpensive. We used to have guitar stands all over the floor to trip over.
The vintage Fisher Price Little People were mine as a child. Is it obvious I come from a family of savers?
Our IKEA Ektorp sofa was a $80 Craigslist find with a new slipcover.
Steve and I joined our record collections when we got married and his old record cabinet can’t take the weight anymore – we need a new cabinet, especially since our vinyl collection keeps growing.
Dining Room
Tall, old windows throughout the house offer lots of light. I prefer keeping them bare so we can appreciate the architectural details each day.
My kids have this whole dresser (from my tween 1980s bedroom) for their craft supplies. It’s full! Harper’s artwork is hung on the left side of the wall and Trixie’s is on the right. I love seeing their skills develop with age.
I love Ginger Jar lamps, they remind me of the preppy 1980s.
The built-in hutch is the perfect place for my mismatched collections.
Mixing antique wooden chairs I have picked up over the years with new pieces is just my style.
Kids need lots of storage! The bench and the baskets are perfect for coats, backpacks, hats, shoes and everything else.
More antique hardware on the back door from eBay. The backplates are from England and the knobs are American made circa 1894 by Lockwood Manufacturing.
I wanted a huge white dining room table, so we joined our desktops from our old house. The runner fabric is by Jane Dixon and was made by my seamstress (my mom).
The chandelier was in the crawl space under the house in bad condition. It is brass and I hope that someday we can have it sandblasted but for now some white spray paint works and one of Steve’s coworkers rewired it for us.
Kitchen
The previous owners updated the kitchen. I am a white kitchen kind of gal, but after painting the wooden cabinets white in our last house, I haven’t saved up the energy to start that big project again.
I would also like to get busy replacing the backsplash!
Office/Guest Suite
Our new puppy Poppy is a bit camera-shy.
Having a special place to work is very important to me. I also love having a private space for guests to sleep with their own bathroom.
The awesome wall hanging is from my mom’s 1980s digs.
With a lot of determination, Steve was able to scrape off the old vinyl that was covering the wood floor in the bathroom. Some of the wood was rotten, but our refinisher fixed that up with some antique wood he had in the rafters of his garage.
My trusty old iMac, long may you run!
Stairs
I never get tired of these stairs! There is a story about that stairs, though I’m not sure if it’s true. The people who bought the house in 1920 bought it for the land only, (they were going to tear down the house!) but once they saw the staircase they decided to remodel the home instead of rebuilding.
The back staircase to Trixie’s Room is part of the 1920 addition to the house.
Upstairs Landing
It is great to have a landing that you can use as an overflow play space. I have rearranged a bit since these shots were taken a couple of weeks ago, things are always in flux.
Looking into the master bedroom.
I love the curved wall along the stairs and the simple light fixture.
Master Bedroom
We painted our bedroom in Sherwin Williams Window Pane, the same color as our bedroom in the previous house. It is very calming.
I have great plans for new bedside lamps, window treatments and artwork in our bedroom.
I am all for white linens! Three European square pillows work well as a headboard on a king-size bed.
These printed pillow cases were purchases made for my dorm room in college in 1990.
These matching vintage dressers belonged to my grandparents.
Antique table scarves from my grandparents’ cover both dressers.
Master Bath
Dark gray paint and white trim helped to modernize our bathroom.
Shells or coral in the bathroom are a welcome addition to a home so far from the sea.
Vintage Chicago druggist bottles are from my grandparents’ home.
This mini seahorse keepsake is one of the strangest things I have inherited from my grandparents’ house.
I always choose white towels, you can’t go wrong.
Upstairs Hall
Harper’s Room
Harper’s room has lots of space. That is, space to play and outer-space, mixed with family heirlooms.
Super fun pendant from The Land of Nod.
This mixture of pieces that create Harper’s art wall are dear to my heart. Since he is 6 now, I don’t know how much longer he will want it up in his room.
My childhood dresser has been perfect for my kids.
Star Wars Legos and board books are Harper’s favorite things.
These paper rockets were a great kit from Zulily.
The playroom is right off of Harper’s room and leads to Trixie’s back hall.
Harper’s doll was a great find! You can read about it in this post.
My grandparents’ old luggage stores many of Harper’s goodies.
Looking back through the hall to the master bedroom.
Playroom
The playroom joins Harper’s room and the back hallway that leads to Trixie’s room.
This old cabinet was something my grandparents picked up along the way. Turquoise blue with a red interior makes it bright and fun for a cabinet filled with books.
A whole collection of costumes is stored in a closet behind the curtain. It also makes a great hiding place.
So many knick-knacks with special meaning in this old soda crate.
Vintage records that my mom listened to as a child. Some of them are cardboard!
Back hallway
The kids love to chill out with a book in the back hall. I revolve the book selection – right now we are getting ready for Dr. Seuss’ March birthday.
Looking from the back hall to the upstairs hall, which has been redecorated since I began editing this post a couple of weeks ago – it’s hard to keep up!
These little animals are another of my many collections from childhood.
Trixie’s Room
When we first did a walk-through with the realtor, Trixie was determined to score this room. It has its own small staircase and a view of a huge tree out the rear window. The room had to be painted her favorite color (Lemon Chiffon by Sherwin Williams).
This dresser was a “junk store” find in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood from long before it was gentrified. I miss those shops!
Trixie loves her hand-me-down Japanese jewelry box from a family friend and my old piggy bank.
Trixie’s chandelier has been through many facelifts since I first dug it out of a Chicago dumpster about 20 years ago.
Because she decided to put her bed in front of a window the headboard was a must.
The curtains my mom made show a redheaded girl on a horse, perfect for Trixie.
Now that Trixie is in 5th grade, this old desk from my childhood comes in handy.
When Trixie was 7-years-old she asked for a typewriter for her birthday. My mom gave her the one she got when she graduated from high school.
Back Porch
Our back porch is great, but we will have to wait until spring to start using it again full time.
Skateboards for everyone…except me.
Winter
We’ve only had one snow this year so far. I ran out as soon as the ground was covered and started shooting. I am still hoping for more so we can go sledding like we have every year we’ve been here. Our old neighborhood had no hills and there are plenty in east-central Illinois!
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xo
Elizabeth
