Farmhouse sitting room

I’m so thrilled to finally be sharing a little bit of the decorated barn with you! I realize it’s been a long time since the completion of this project and we haven’t really shown you any of it! Life has felt so busy with parenting, working, running this home and farm, building out the garden and homeschooling since the pandemic has been in full swing. But today I’m so happy to be giving you a little glimpse of the second story of the barn with this charming farmhouse sitting room.

I love this little spot because it’s a few steps back from the main living area and I really wanted to make it its own separate space. When Dorel Living gifted us these Jaya/Bashir Accent Chairs and Hazel Side Table in Antique Taupe, I knew I had the perfect beginning to make this little nook the perfect farmhouse sitting room area. It just took me a bit to find all the perfect pieces to add in.

I honestly don’t believe that good design can be rushed, especially when you want to incorporate new and vintage pieces together for a look that is a charming and timeless. Mixing well painted shiplap, the traditional Dorel chairs, hits of brass and gold, texture from the (soon-to-open Sugar Maple Market) pillows, unique art and function décor has taken some time.

The farmhouse sitting room puzzle

For me designing a room can often feel like building a puzzle. Each piece is different and unique in some sort of way. You want to build the frame of the design with your walls and larger pieces before you get to the center. Then you might have to search for the right pieces and turn things to and fro to get them into just the right spot.

Additionally, the barn décor has a bit of a different vibe from our farmhouse décor. The barn décor veers a bit more modern country or modern French country than our home, which is probably more true modern farmhouse with all its straight lines, mixing of wood tones and big, bright white kitchen with all modern appliances.

But I think that’s one of my favorite things about our home. I love that I get to try out different décor styles and see which vide truly fits our home. After just a year here, I sometimes get frustrated with myself that I don’t have one “look” yet. But then I remind myself again that it’s ok for good design to take time. I’d rather get a space right and making tweaks here and there versus wanting to redo it all every other month.

For this space, I will tell you that my inspiration was a Modern French Country reading area. I wanted it to feel cozy – like the kind of space you could have a good cup of coffee or curl up with a good book. But I also wanted it to feel slightly modern and not overdone. Honestly, sometimes farmhouse style feels a bit cluttered to me. I wanted this space to feel bright, charming and with just the right amount of “stuff” hanging around.

Jaya Accent Chairs

When it came to the Jaya/Bashir Accent Chairs, I also wanted them to be the center of the design. After all, what good is a farmhouse sitting area if there’s nowhere comfy to sit? They became my anchors for the project and I love the neutral, traditional lines. Dorel also sells this chair with black, blue and green stripes. I’m a bit partial to the blue and the green chairs too since those my favorite accent colors for any room.

I love the traditional design of these chairs. They could really work with a lot of different styles and still be timeless. They remind me of the type of chairs you search for at garage sales in the spring, hoping to score a pair and hoping that they’re in fabulous condition. Luckily, this new version doesn’t require hours of searching, work to fix anything and comes ready-made to fit in your space.

Farmhouse sitting room colors

Saying that, I added a dash of yellow to this farmhouse sitting room. Since this is spring space, I love that the mustard yellow of the chunky blanket (which you need in spring in Michigan). The branches in the vases on either side also have small yellow leaves on them and the wicker baskets and garden hats also lend themselves to the rich, natural yellow-brown tones.

Additionally, I couldn’t leave out the green in a spring décor. I bought in a handful of my favorite plants including a snake plant (AKA Mother-in-laws tongue) and a few pilea plants too. The branches that I mentioned earlier were cut from a random bush in our yard just to give the space a little more life.

Side table decorating

When it came to decorating the Hazel Side Table, I kept it simple. This is probably the mom in me but I don’t like to see a lot of clutter on side tables. With young kids I feel like decorating any table can often be a risk. Since this one is in the barn and the kids don’t often hang out in there, I was more confident.

However, I still stuck to my rule of three and only picked three things to display here. I have these chunky, pillar candle holders all over the house so you’ll probably see them pop up in a lot of my designs. My larger pilea plant from my kitchen ended up here and a plant spray bottle with a brassy gold accent completed this little spot.

The tall hutch

My tall hutch in the corner came from a local antique store here in Grand Rapids. It’s moved from my office, to the basement to the barn and already has had several homes in the barn. It is truly a piece of functional décor because I use it as a space to store towels, washcloths and extra sheets for guests when they come to stay with us. The top spaces are used for displaying seasonal décor. Currently, the top shelf holds extra plant pots I hope to fill in here; a vintage, brass watering can; another very small pilea plant on top of books focused on nature and a small basket for odds and ends.

Wall décor

As for the wall décor, this took me the longest. The sunflower prints on the wall are new and they are prints of real, sketched sunflowers. They were a splurge, which is why it took me so long. I hemmed and hawed over spending the money (Kevin will never believe that), but I kept coming back to them and finally bit the bullet. I could see them in a lot of places in our home over the next few years so for me, that made them a good buy. Also, I love the detail in them, and besides, don’t sunflowers make everyone happy?

The hats on the wall are actually my gardening hats. There’s that functional décor lover in me again. 🙂 Displaying them this way allows them to be seen since they are so cute and they add a charming touch to the space overall. You can find the one with the black ribbon {HERE} and the other one {HERE}.

Floor décor

Lastly, there are some pieces of décor on the floor I wanted to point out. The green vase on the left is a piece that I bought in a local shop here. However, it’s a piece I’ve seen floating around on other blogger’s shops so I’ll try and procure it for the grand opening of our shop too. I did find a vintage reproduction of a large scale, green glass jug {HERE}. The white vase on the right will be in our shop! I’m hoping that’s up within the next few weeks for you all.

The picnic basket is something I’ve used in photos over the past few years. I bought it about five years ago with big plans for Kevin and I to take it to Ravinia, an outdoor music venue in Chicago. We still haven’t gone but the basket has remained a good purchase and I like that it serves as a bit of a second side table here. You can find a similar one with all the same plates, utensils and wine glasses {HERE}.

The taller basket that the snake plant is in actually came in a set of three! You can find those {HERE}, but it does look like they are out of stock. You can find a similar item (still three of the same size) in a lighter color {HERE}.

So, what do you think of the design? Are there pieces you love? Tell me below in the comments!

Thank you so much for visiting today friends! I hope you’ll come back again and see what we’re up to as Sugar Maple Farmhouse.

For more farmhouse décor, click here. And you can see photos of the barn throughout the construction project here. For more information on Dorel Living and their products, click here.