Within a few seconds of seeing pictures of Patsy and Jeffrey's home, you will be in awe. After a few minutes of learning their story, you will be in love. I know, because it happened to me. A little over a year ago, I began to delve into the home décor world on Instagram. And through social media, I found Patsy. Immediately after seeing pictures of her home on Instagram, I was captivated and began to follow her. I’ve made many friendships via social media over the past year and I’m happy to call Patsy my friend.
Their beautiful renovation has truly been a labor of love. After years of living in their 1,100 square foot carriage house, their growing family desperately needed more space. While living in a quaint carriage house may seem romantic, it was becoming a little too cozy for their growing family. To expand their footprint, Patsy and Jeffrey had plans created to build onto the existing carriage house. Before they could begin construction, their third daughter, Magpie, was born. Beautiful Magpie was born with Down Syndrome. To care for her, Patsy closed her successful home décor business to become a full time stay-at-home mom to her three daughters.
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| The carriage house during construction. |
Without Patsy’s income, they scrapped their original plans of having a builder build their home. Patsy went to “plan B” and sketched her vision for their DIY home renovation. After showing her plans to Jeffrey, their new plan to create the house of their dreams was born and the work began. The remodel was a long and slow process, but according to Patsy, “It wasn’t our plan, but it was all part of His plan. And now, I can’t imagine our home any other way.” Patsy has told me on several occasions that the birth and diagnosis of Magpie has been a blessing to them in more ways than one.
The original carriage house garage is now the kitchen and living area. You can easily see why this is the family’s favorite space. This is the spot for movie nights, family meals, homework, lots of snuggles, and lots of love. Every detail of this space is breathtaking. The center island is wood and the counter is stunning and features a beautiful soapstone remnant. The vent hood was built from old doors that Patsy found at a yard sale. Patsy describes the open kitchen and living area as French Country Farmhouse. The shiplap walls, exposed beams and ductwork, brick, and barn doors are all beautiful features. Patsy and Jeffrey have a deep appreciation for this space because they designed and constructed every detail themselves. The cabinets were built by Jeffrey. Patsy painted and glazed them and every brick was hand placed.
While the safe thing to do would have been to drop the ceiling to 10 feet and cover the ductwork, this couple took the risk and decided to leave the beams and ductwork exposed. Wow! This makes the room! The original support beams were not as beautiful as they are now. To dress up the beams, they covered them with reclaimed poplar wood that they tore out of the barn loft that Jeffrey’s grandfather walked on as a young boy to stack hay bales. This makes my heart so happy! So much history intertwined within the bones of this home.
Love of family, God’s plan, and lots of hard work, was the perfect combination to turn this house into a home. While there were times that Patsy thought she could not look at another piece of trim, paint another wall, place another brick, or live another day in the huge mess of the renovation, she always had a vision of the finished house. Patsy claims she learned a lot about patience and the power of prayer during this extensive DIY project. “Because it all just seems like it was meant to be this way. Just like our family… Just as it was meant to be.”
I originally wrote this article for the premiere issue of
Everything Home Magazine, but wanted to share it here as well. You can click
here to view the entire November issue! It was such an honor to feature such an amazing family. You can read more about sweet Magpie and her family at Patsy's blog,
Miss Maggie Rae.
