I’ve promised to keep you in the loop about how things are going here in my new timber frame carriage house. Although it may sound cliché, my husband and I truly are living the post and beam dream. We love this house!
In my posts My Outdoor Shower Kicks Butt!! and My Carriage House Gardens: The Patio Garden, I reported on the addition of our outdoor shower – a wonderfully refreshing success – and the patio garden installation. It’s official – summers here are heaven, but what might winter bring?
By way of answering that question, I want to show you the inside of the carriage house using pictures taken two days ago during a snowfall.
I LOVE living in this house during the winter. Our large windows let in wonderful light – yes, even when it’s overcast, and the radiant heat in the floors keeps the house warm without feeling either drafty or dry. I’m a woman of a certain age and I have to tell you, my skin has handled this winter better than any other in recent memory. I attribute this solely to the way our home is heated. There’s a selling point for radiant heat you probably won’t hear every day!
The decor in our carriage barn is totally eclectic in that if we like it, we use it. I find my taste tends toward the European influence, incorporating a mix of French Country Manoir and Rustic Italian (Tuscan). However, if you look long enough you’ll see many things that don’t belong to either style. I’m definitely not the type to be restricted in my choices because of a need to stay within the guidelines of a given style.
The post and beam frame in our house is constructed from new Douglas-fir. We stained it a wonderful color by MinWax called English Chestnut. Our floor throughout is also Douglas-fir. We hand-rubbed them with a combination of the colors Golden Oak and Provincial; again, both by MinWax. These stain colors give the floors a warm golden glow.
By the way, this wood is great if you have dogs. We have two Boxers so the floors get a full workout every day. No problem!
Another great thing about our carriage house is its open floor plan. I love being in the kitchen able to watch the snow fall while cooking. When friends and family are visiting I can be busy in the kitchen yet remain in the conversation.
Should either my husband or I require some quiet time, we can always find it in our master bedroom. The walls in the bedroom (and throughout the house) have been faux painted to look like Venetian plaster. I chose tones of golden-yellow to give the walls a refined sense of age but there are many color options when using this painting technique. If you’d like further information about paint color choices and techniques, please see my post The Use of Interior Paint Colors in Creating Different Post & Beam “Looks”.
The best thing about living in our carriage house during winter? When it snows at night, we turn off the interior lights while leaving the outdoor lights on. Then we settle in with a glass of wine and watch the snow swirl around us. It’s like being inside a giant snowglobe – very surreal . Now that’s my idea of enjoying the winter season!
Yes, our stairs, walls and some of our furniture was done by a professional decorative painter. I believe a stencil was used for the diamond pattern.
I noticed that the exterior of your barn is “barn red”. If I see correctly the window frames are that color as well. To get to the point I need help. Our barn is at the finish out stage-it’s a 130 yr. old beauty brought down to Texas beam by beam on an 18 wheeler and reconstructed. Our 1st floor interior walls are old barn wood repainted the barn red color. What color would you paint the window frames? Do you think barn red window frames (like you have on your barn) would work with the inside of the window fram stained? I can email you pictures to give you a better idea. Anyway-I would appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks-Kay in Fredericksburg, TX
Hi Kay,
I love the idea of barn red on the window trim with the grids stained a wood tone. It will look absolutely gorgeous!! Please do send pictures; I’d love to do a post on your barn!!!
BeamBabe
love the windows in the bedroom. your blog is awesome!
Do you have a blueprint of your living quarters upstairs? We are building a carriage house and need some ideas of space. I would like to see the dimensions of your kitchen with the placement of everything. Thanks
Hi Michele,
If you go to https://www.yankeebarnhomes.com, click on “Carriage Houses” then click on sample floor plans and download The Bennington, those plans should give you all the info you need.
Good luck!
BeamBabe
Your home is simply lovely.
I have looked at many of Yankee Barn’s
plans and would like to have one built, but I get the idea
that the cost for a home like yours, even though it is a smaller home, would be too prohibitive for
most people. Is that a truism, or am I incorrect?
Your home is lovely!
I would like to build a carriage house,
but it looks cost prohibitive even though it is a smaller home.
What was the average cost per sq foot of living space?
I realize the first floors is garage space, correct?
Hi Donna,
Our carriage house is indeed small, but to say it was inexpensive to build would be leading you in the wrong direction. Our home is highly customized which definitely adds to the cost. The lower level is garage space, but we had the entire area well insulated along with radiant heat put in all the cement floors. We also added a 3/4 bathrooom on the garage level. This way, we can easily convert the space to living or garage/storage space as our needs dictate.
I truly can not recall the cost for us per square foot, but if you contact Yankee Barn Homes either by email or by phone, they will gladly tell you not only our cost, but the average cost of a carrige house per square foot.
Please let me know if I might answer any other questions and please stop by the blog again!
BeamBabe
Well, perhaps I can afford a scaled back version.
:-)
You’re home is still lovely, and you are very gracious.
Thanks for your response.
Donna
love your windows and bedroom. You’re home sol lovely
Can you tell me what paint brand and color you used for the base and also for the trim?
I would love to use it!
Thank you
Hi Chris,
I’m not certain what you mean by the “base” but if you mean our walls, they are a combination of golden yellows, as the walls are a custom Venetian plaster effect. our trim throughout is Huntington Beige by Benjamin Moore.
Hope this helps!