Style Show-and-Tell

Under renovation since they purchased it in 2013, Jan and Mike Brehm’s home was built in 1855 in Greens Fork, Indiana. Jan’s adored Colonial style is on display in the kitchen. The area above the fireplace had been covered in faux brick, but Jan researched and designed a wood wall treatment to accent with paint. “The kitchen mantel seemed like an ideal spot for my antique set of pewter measures,” she remarks. “That was my goal, to instill some sense of history to the kitchen.”The open island is both a workspace and a favored seat for grandchildren.

With a barn board from their previous home converted into a mantel, Nashua, Iowa, homeowners Michelle and Joel LaRue set a rustic theme around their fireplace. “Most of the items are from thrift stores,” Michelle notes. The square wood section behind the artwork is a pad that once protected the floor beneath a woodstove. “Hanging it makes the perfect backdrop for every season,” she says. “Collecting vintage, our favorite pastime, takes time, but it is truly what makes your house your home and not like your neighbor’s!”

Carrie Ann and Bo Watters are devoted to improving their 1912 English cottage in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Carrie Ann searches flea markets to invoke memories of her grandparents’ farm and garden. “Our yard and porch are happy extensions of our home,” she states. This nook spotlights an enameltop table that Carrie Ann revived with classic red paint. “I have hundreds of Country Sampler magazines I still go back to for decorating ideas for our home, porch and yard!” she enthuses.