DIY Projects Bring Farmhouse Style to a Dated '80s Home

Jessica Russell of the Itty Bitty Farmhouse blog says any home has the potential to take on a farmhouse feeling. The secrets are good bones, a fearless attitude when it comes to making updates, and readily available materials and tools.

With its rich wood tones, including the kitchen's butcher-block countertops, and a generous front porch, a 1,600-square-foot home near Hickory, North Carolina, provided the perfect canvas for Jessica's DIY upgrades. To strip away some of the '80s aesthetic, she removed wallpaper, refaced the dark wood cabinetry, covered dated flooring with luxury vinyl tile, and sprayed a rock wall white. Shiplap, open shelves, architectural salvage, and white furnishings contribute cozy texture and a bright feel to her home, which she's lived in for three years.

Jessica fell in love with the front porch on this house built in 1987. To add patina—and introduce the style developed inside—she decorated with flea market finds and antiques, including the authentic two-sided sign and an ice cream bucket, which reminds her of summer evenings with her grandparents. "The porch really brings that 'welcome to the farm' greeting," she says.

To carry her farmhouse aesthetic throughout the house, even outside her bedroom, Jessica layers wood tones and whites, adding in chipped and vintage pieces for a cozy feel.

"I love white and wood tones because I feel that is always a clean feeling, but you can make it cozy or light," she says. To add depth, Jessica brought in texture through neutral fabrics and rugs, with pops of color coming from seasonal decor and plants.

Jessica has been shopping flea markets and yard sales since she was a child, and she started working on home projects as a teenager. An avid woodworker, she built the sliding barn-style doors, shelves, and laundry room countertops.

She finished rooms using paint, statement lighting, family hand-me-downs, and more, to create a home that's personal, cozy, and truly unique. "I have found amazing chunky pieces of furniture along with truly vintage pieces to bring that down-home feeling," she says.

A white palette allows for easy seasonal updates using textiles, plants, and other finds. Jessica chooses washed-out rugs for their patina. She found this version at Boutique Rugs. On her mantel, she layered old windows with green glass bottles to contrast with the gritty rock wall. The "3" throw pillow has sentimental value for Jessica—it was the number on several of her sports uniforms.

The living room's stone wall was an eyesore from day one. Jessica used her Wagner paint sprayer ($159, The Home Depot) to coat the rock wall with exterior-grade white paint. It took her three years to muster the courage to tackle this project, and she loves the result. "Never be afraid of what might happen. Go with your gut feeling—at least try," she says.

The lighting in the dining area was Jessica's first project in this house. She swapped out the original fixture for a ladder bracketing a brass chandelier. "I knew I could come up with something creative with this," she says. She searched for months to find the perfect farm table. Collected chairs and other vintage finds add interest.

Just three pieces of wood and dowels create a plate display rack for a speedy art idea. Wall decals form the background, and they represent her mom's pound cake recipe.

Removing upper cabinets visually opened up the small kitchen. Jessica painted the lower cabinets with chalk-finish paint (using her sprayer for the doors and drawers and a brush on the boxes), then sealed them with wax. She installed luxury vinyl tile directly over the original ceramic floor tiles. She suggests searching how-tos before trying this intermediate-level project. Open shelves provide easy access to daily essentials and display space.

More shiplap adds texture to the primary bedroom. The bed is another affordable find—just $10 at a flea market. Jessica's dad sandblasted the finish and powder-coated the surface with white paint.

A vintage North Carolina antiques sign serves as a handy television disguise in the primary bedroom. Jessica uses dowels to prop up the hinged sign.

To build wall texture, she mimicked shiplap throughout the home. For budget purposes, she had utility panels cut to 5 1⁄4-inch-wide strips at Lowe's. The 4×8-foot panels cost $15, versus up to $10 for a shiplap board. To space the strips, she used a quarter-inch metal rod, which is much easier and faster than using a penny or tile spacers.

To give the bath character, she applied shiplap vertically and topped it with trim.

A stained barn-style door (another DIY project) repeats the wood tones used elsewhere in the home, and when pulled closed, creates privacy for the guest bedroom. Jessica used a barn-door hardware kit to hang the unit and recommends this over a hack solution. A Shaker peg rail provides extra storage. To build the bed frame, Jessica found two old doors with multiple layers of paint at an old house. She sanded and painted them and completed the unit using 2×10 and 4×4 boards.

Jessica found the glass door at a local shop and added the "laundry" decal and a glass knob—it's now one of her followers' favorite projects. To add texture to the shelf wall, she applied faux-brick paneling ($44, The Home Depot), treated it with lightweight surfacing compound, then sanded. Countertops and shelves are made from 2×10 boards.

Jessica is never short on work space with this desk that stretches the width of a wall. The butcher-block countertop is from Lowe's, and she found the file cabinets at Goodwill. Black spray paint updates filing cabinets for a quick desk base. The sconces above the shelves are another Russell original: A remote device controls wireless puck lights.

To remove the rust from the vintage lockers in Jessica's office, her dad sandblasted the finish, then she sprayed the unit with Rust-Oleum Chalked Paint in Linen White ($64, The Home Depot).