The Trailer Inside Holiday House is Officially Gone

We’ve been waiting for this day for what feels like forever.

The small cottage on our farm that we call Holiday House was originally a single wide trailer put there in the 50’s or 60’s. Then, some time later, they built an entire house around it and added on, effectively enclosing the trailer inside the frame of an actual house. When we bought it, we always knew we wanted to demolish the trailer side to raise the ceilings and windows and now, finally, that day has come!

PJ hired a crew to demo the trailer side and cut it out of the house and they’re finishing up today! I say cut it out because they literally had to cut the metal 1950’s trailer out to get rid of it. It’s actually quite fascinating. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s not cleaned just yet and there’s insulation everywhere, but now that the walls are down and it’s one big open space (on what was once the old trailer side), it’ll be easier for us to draw up floor plans and envision what we want for the space.

Right now, we know we have to fit part of the kitchen, a bathroom/laundry room, the boys’ room, and our primary bathroom in the space of the demoed side. Holiday House isn’t big by any means, so we’re going to have to get creative in how we lay it out. Luckily, PJ loves to come up with floor plans and stretch his creativity to the max in the process.

This is going to be so fun!! It’s just the start, but things are happening fast and PJ is making it all come together at what feels like lightning speed, after almost a year of no progress on Holiday House. We’re hoping to be finished, or close to it, by the beginning of summer.

Here we go!!

Renovations Are Starting Back Up Again at Holiday House!

After almost a year with little to no updates, renovations have begun once again on holiday house, meaning we’re thatmuchcloser to it becoming what it was always meant to be for our family: a relaxing escape.

It’s hard to believe it’s been just under a year since we have made any progress on Holiday House, the small cottage on our farm that we purchased at the end of 2020 as a little getaway for our family. It’s a long story, but in short, it was a single-wide trailer that they added on to decades ago, and then built an entire frame around and on top of the trailer to turn it into an actual house. Sound confusing? That’s because it is, but all you need to know now is that as of the last week, PJ has been tearing down walls and hiring a crew to come in and frame the old side porch into the space that will eventually be our new ktichen.

Isn’t that so exciting?! And how beautiful are those windows? PJ found them for a great price on Facebook Marketplace (where else?) and they look even better than I thought they would. The new kitchen will overlook the side yard and the driveway, getting plenty of afternoon and evening light. It’ll also be huge. Like, a lot bigger than the current one and actually bigger than our townhouse kitchen. They say the kitchen is the heart of the home, the family hub, and that’s exactly what we want this one to be.

The plan for now is to have a range in the middle of the windows with counters on each side, and directly across from it will be a massive island with a sink in it. It’s sort of hard to get an idea of the layout and design from these photos, but the way PJ has designed this space is gorgeous and I know we both can’t wait to see it come to life.

He spent the majority of yesterday taking down the wall separating the old dining room, which is in the trailer side of Holiday House, and the new kitchen addition. See where those two empty spots are where it looks like windows used to be? That wall is coming down to create a bigger kitchen, so those two rooms will flow together. That doorway to the left of the windows is also going away so that, again, the whole space is open and bigger.

We’ll share full design plans and the new layout soon, but for now it just feels so good to see progress being made out there again. We have fallen even more in love with the farm within the last year, craving it more than ever, and we can really see a future for our family out there. What does that look like? We’ll be sharing that soon as well.

And in the meantime, yay for progress!!!

Graydon Carter's NYC Apartment

Today was spent in our room organizing tax paperwork while continuing to watch the 9/11 documentary. Riveting stuff. So why don’t we look at something a little more beautiful and inspiring?

I’ve been obsessed with former Vanity Fair (and current Airmail News) Editor in Chief Graydon Carter’s old New York City apartment for years. It has a maximalist quality to it that you don’t see much of in today’s design world. Speaking for both me and PJ, who are definitely maximalists in our own right, I love seeing a cozy, controlled-chaos sort of style that feels relaxed and unpretentious. One where artifacts and collectibles and books and things take center stage and create an atmosphere you just want to get lost in.

The interiors were shot way back in 1996 but still feel surprisingly current. It goes to show you that good, classic design never goes out of style (that kitchen! those leather chairs! that map collection in the office!). Click here for the full tour.

(photo via Scene Therapy)

Is It Ever Too Early To Start Decorating For Fall?

I mean truly, is it ever?

It’s a question I ask myself every year around this time as we inch closer and closer to September. When is too early to start decorating for our favorite season? Or, do you even decorate at all? It could be something as subtle as an orange vase or some branches in a room, or a wreath on the front door, or maybe an extra throw blanket on the couch. Or even my personal favorite: a new fall candle.

I brought an orange vase into the living room from Holiday House the other day with some branches PJ found years ago on the side of the road and it was just the small touch of fall I think I needed to get me excited for it this year. Even though autumn is reportedly going to feel different this year, we still get excited about it all the same and I don’t think that’s ever going to change. After all, we did get married in October (6 years ago!).

A few photos from last year’s fall:

So we haven’t gone full-out in decorating for fall yet; we don’t usually do that until September. It’s 93 degrees today with no signs of getting cooler any time soon, so the A/C will be turned down to 70 for the next couple of months until it feels good enough to open the doors and windows and let the cool, fresh air in.

Happy Friday Eve, friends!

The Living Room Renovation at Holiday House is Officially Underway

Here we go!

After almost a year of owning the little cottage on our farm, that we lovingly call Holiday House, we have officially, finally, begun renovating the most used room in the house: the living room. It’s the first space you walk into when you come in the front door, so being the first thing you see upon entering, I know I speak for both of us when I say I’m so excited to see it fixed up.

It’s actually a really good sized room for such a small-ish house. It’s almost the same size (if not slightly longer?) than our living room at our house in town. The room gets the most amazing light pretty much all day until the afternoon, and it’s going to be getting even more once PJ installs the new, bigger windows on the wall facing the mountain. Sooooo beyond ready for those babies to go in!! It’s going to make the room feel even bigger and you’ll get a better view of the hill and the mountain and the trees behind the house.

We’re on a bit of a time crunch on this renovation since it’s for an upcoming collaboration we’re doing with a brand we absolutely adore. PJ is there right now actually taking out the doors and the small window in order to get ready to frame in the new windows. The good thing is, we already have all of the windows we’ll be using since PJ has been addicted to Facebook Marketplace this year and found a ton of windows at super good prices. That man, y’all. What would we do without him?

We’re going to be carrying the vertical wooden boards that PJ installed on half the room earlier this year throughout the rest of the room to give it a cozy, cottagey feel. We want Holiday House to feel welcoming and warm as soon as you step through the door, so we’re planning to paint the walls an earthy tone. TBD on which color we end up going with, though I still keep trying to talk PJ into painting it white!! It’s not going to happen, but a man can dream.

So real quick, here is everything we plan to do to the living room at Holiday House:

• new flooring

• add headboard to the ceiling

• new windows

• add wood paneling to the walls

• paint

• install new lights and get rid of the two fans (possibly add just one fan in the middle for air circulation?)

PJ just got home for the day since it’s 92 degrees here and way too hot to be working outside. I was only there for a few hours with him and sis as we checked on the pond progress (so much has already been done since yesterday!) and I bagged up a bunch of insulation. Not my idea of a fun afternoon, but it’s going to be all hands on deck this week if we want to get it finished in time.

Stay cool out there, friends!