Virginia Farmhouse Makeover – Federal Style Decorating Ideas

It’s no surprise that Sarah, the co-founder of DC Greens, a food justice organization, had strong feelings about her kitchen. On the more utilitarian side of the space, she selected character-rich pieces, including eight bentwood chairs—”I have a bentwood obsession,” she says—which surround a table she (with the help of boyfriend Matt Rasnake) built by hand. Sarah takes an equally hands-on approach to clean-up: In lieu of a dishwasher, she handwashes china and silverware before placing the latter in wall-mounted metal drainage cups. The vintage GE refrigerator is the perfect spot to stash the peas, spinach, lettuce, and radishes Sarah grows every spring in her garden.

Who would have guessed beautiful brick was hiding behind that drywall?!

Just across from the kitchen, a cozy sitting area is decked with a set of rattan furniture that Sarah bought at a rummage sale in nearby Leesburg for $400. The fireplace, which had to be rebuilt from the inside, was covered in stucco to balance all the exposed brick. A 25-foot-long hand-hewn beam spans the entire length of the kitchen and sitting area, and the ladder, which came from an on-property barn, goes all the way to the attic.

The floors in this attic-turned-master were full-on filthy. Instead of refinishing them—which would have simultaneously stripped away the patina—Sarah scrubbed each plank with a wire brush before vacuuming up the dirt. Sarah also chose to embrace the uneven stucco that allows brick to peek through. Her collection of Frye boots doubles as decor because, as with most old houses, closet space is at a premium. Various antiquing scores flank the bed, including a glass lamp that she found at an estate sale at the home of former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart. “He was a great man, so it has good energy,” she says.