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On the backroads of Alabama you will find old barns like this one Jeremy Miniard photographed. When I look at this, I think of Alabama now – from old farms and steel skyscrapers, cotton fields sidled right up next to engineering firms making technological advances these old farmers never dreamed of! Old courthouses and turn of the century homes stand not far from national championship football universities- training future scientists, engineers and teachers.  That’s Alabama for you – a study in contrasts.

Designing with Barnboard and Reclaimed Wood

The photograph of an old barn inspires me-I love the decorating trend to use old wood, old barn boards and discarded wooden pallets for interior and exterior design.  As we have been renovating the cottage, we have used a study of contrasts-

• Old wood with marble-
• Slipcovered sofas with French chairs-
• Pine floors painted black
• Shiny black doors with linen and bright white square columns.

Contrasts please the eye. Let me show you a few things we’ve done with old wood…

A French side chair with an old barn board topped table, natural sisal rug and black painted floors- the contrast of styles and even rustic with silver is lovely…

Marble countertops with a contrasting barn board tray…These trays are perfect for cheese boards or to pile up some citrus- and they are my favorite prop for photos!

In a powder room, the old cabinet seemed low so we put a nickel faucet and elevated the look by putting up ornate white brackets topped with two pieces of old wood …

And a sofa table behind the slipcovered sofa was too short, so we placed old boards on it, to extend the table, now a lamp, a plant and other items can be better situated.

Then, in the foyer, a large chest was replaced by a ‘floating’ contemporary shelf which was topped with old boards. See the old map of St. Clair County above the shelf. Now the foyer feels more spacious.

Even the deck needed to be re-done, we’re still not completely through with that but…we reused the old wood and made a planter and we bleached out the thick wood steps to prepare them for stain-

The contrasts of old rough wood with linens, rounded French curves, the sheen of marble- contrasting with fresh whites and grays- pleases us, we hope you agree! The good ol’ boys who’ve helped us achieve this still walk in and roughly say…’I never woulda thought this would look good, but it does’ . Bless their hearts.

Love y’all. Camellia

jeremy-miniard.fineartamerica.com

This article was originally posted April 13, 2016 as ‘Barnboard…’ and has been updated to include more projects!