Project House Part 7
Project House 2021: The BIG Reveal
We take the tarp off our farmhouse cottage renovation in Tennessee!
BY MERYL SCHOENBAUM AND KRISTIN DOWDING
BLUE BELLE. Kara wanted the home’s exterior to stand out from the white homes on the street, so because blue was one of the homeowners’ favorite colors, she painted sample shades of blue on the house for them. “They absolutely loved the blues, especially with the brass lighting fixtures from Circa Lighting I had selected, and quickly chose their favorite shade,” she says. “We removed the aluminum siding and vinyl shutters, because those are a big ‘no-no’ for a historical home.” New, custom-painted shutters with louvers from Shuttercraft and rocking chairs from Troutman are pretty, as well as practical.
A largeflower box welcomes guests with beautiful flowers and a sweet fragrance along the walkway.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY NICK MCGINN BUILD AND DESIGN BY GARDEN GATE HOMES STYLING BY KARA CHRISTENSEN
|ABOVE| WARMING UP THE FIREPLACE. The Garden Gate team added this new fireplace to the room, reusing salvaged brick from a demolition. Kara designed the oak shelves to include a gallery shelf atop a standard book-depth shelf so the homeowners can display artwork and taller decorative items on the shelf below it.
DREAM HOME TEAM. The Garden Gate building and design team (from left to right): Chloe (helps with social media, mood boards and interior design); Matt (aka “Mr. Garden Gate”—“the nicest and hardest-working builder in town, in my opinion,” Kara says); Kara (designer in the all-encompassing role of a builder’s wife); Levi (always helping his dad with everything from demo to budgets. “He’s the brains of the family,” Kara says); and Alexa (now working fulltime with the family as a designer. She also manages their shop, Homes by Garden Gate, in downtown Franklin).
It’s a wrap! We are so excited to unveil our completed 2021 Project House! So many months of planning and hard work were put into the project by the building and design team of Garden Gate Homes, Inc. (gardengatehomesinc.com), of Franklin, Tennessee, headed up by Matt and Kara Christensen.
Major renovations included increasing the size of the master bedroom and adding a laundry room, mud room and side porch. Some rooms were moved around to accommodate the homeowners’ needs while maintaining as much of the home’s original footprint as possible, including the kitchen, master bedroom, dining room and living room.