Sarah's House is Farm-tabulous!

Several months ago, you may recall, I became enamored with Sarah Richardson.  Her shows about rehabbing and decorating houses in Ontario hit the airwaves on HGTV Canada, and eventually make their way across the border to us.  (BTW, I discovered that HGTV Canada will not allow episodes to be played on non-Canadian computers.  What's up with that?  Or is it just my computer?  Anybody else have any luck?)

Anyway, she's back this spring with a century-old farmhouse some 3 hours outside of Toronto.  I loved her other houses, but this one makes me green with envy.

Growing up in Ontario, I saw hundreds of similar farmhouses, and it holds a certain nostalgia for me.  In fact, my original blog header used a photo of an old Ontario farmhouse, though that one wasn't brick.  I do love the brick, and look at the detail here:  the decorative line around the house and arch above the rounded-top windows.  You just don't see that these days.

Sarah gutted the entire house, and also added an addition that doubled the size, which meant that she could then use a huge portion of the original first floor just for the kitchen.  The island itself is 5ftx9ft.

The cabinets are from Ikea, then custom spray-lacquered.
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Her use of modern amenities with vintage touches keeps the kitchen looking fresh, but farm-house appropriate.  She refinished the original wood floors, and in this photo, the corbels are architectural salvage, and the pendant light is vintage mercury glass.

At the end of the island is this little seating area.  I don't think I need to tell you how much I love that old lunch sign.

Quite possibly one of my favorite features is the staircase off the kitchen. Love the painted runner and the fun use of address numbers.

My son saw these photos and said "are we doing that to the kitchen?".  I wish, my child.  I wish!
And just wait til you see her mudroom!

All photos HGTV Canada.