Project House in Franklin: The Big Reveal

We take the tarp off for our Project House in Franklin online reveal!

It’s a wrap! We are so excited to digitally unveil our completed Project House in Franklin! So many months of planning and hard work were put into the project by the building and design team of Garden Gate Homes, Inc, of Franklin, Tennessee, headed up by Matt and Kara Christensen.

exterior Project House in Franklin — Kara wanted the home’s exterior to stand out from the white homes on the street, so because blue was one of the homeowners’ favorite colors, she painted sample shades of blue on the house for them. “They absolutely loved the blues, especially with the brass lighting fixtures from Circa Lighting I had selected, and quickly chose their favorite shade,” she says. “We removed the aluminum siding and vinyl shutters, because those are a big ‘no-no’ for a historical home.” New, custom-painted shutters with louvers from Shuttercraft and rocking chairs from Troutman are pretty, as well as practical.

brick fireplace in renovated farmhouse cottage — The Garden Gate team added this new fireplace to the room, reusing salvaged brick from a demolition. Kara designed the oak shelves to include a gallery shelf atop a standard book-depth shelf so the homeowners can display artwork and taller decorative items on the shelf below it.

homeowner family outside Project House Franklin — The Garden Gate building and design team (from left to right): Chloe (helps with social media, mood boards and interior design); Matt (aka “Mr. Garden Gate”—“the nicest and hardest-working builder in town, in my opinion,” Kara says); Kara (designer in the all-encompassing role of a builder’s wife); Levi (always helping his dad with everything from demo to budgets. “He’s the brains of the family,” Kara says); and Alexa (now working full-time with the family as a designer. She also manages their shop, Homes by Garden Gate, in downtown Franklin).

Major renovations included increasing the size of the master bedroom and adding a laundry room, mud room and side porch. Some rooms were moved around to accommodate the homeowners’ needs while maintaining as much of the home’s original footprint as possible, including the kitchen, master bedroom, dining room and living room.

Kara designed the Project House in Franklin with an old-meets-new approach. She wanted to keep the vintage character of the home while incorporating modern touches to give it a fresh look.

staircase and wine cooler and bar — The homeowners wanted a bar under the stairway, so Kara designed shelves to fit their glasses and bottle collection, painting them white so their glassware and accessories would be in the spotlight. Riverbend Home glassware in a deep golden color perfectly coordinates with the ambience of the room.

exterior dining area in Project House in Franklin — The brick from Cherokee Brick and chairs from Troutman Chair Company make this side porch a perfect place to enjoy a sunny Tennessee afternoon.

ochre sofa in open concept kitchen and living area — The living room now opens into the new addition, including a kitchen and eating nook. With its vintage-gold color, the sofa was the anchor of the living space that blends modern living with historic appeal as it harmonizes with the antique stained-glass windowpane above the doors. “To ensure the new open space didn’t seem too modern compared to the original smaller rooms of the house, we incorporated details such as trim from Woodgrain that matched the original trim of the house, a wood beam room divider in the nook and a Thos. Moser end table to add more character,” Kara explains.

The homeowners wanted a neutral color palette, so Kara used textures and subtle patterns to add interest to the décor. Accents such as velvet curtains, plants and vintage items complemented key pieces such as reclaimed wood furniture and brick fireplaces with colors the homeowners find cozy to achieve the desired ambience.

white and oak kitchen with large island and clear lighting fixtures — The homeowners wanted a classic white kitchen, so Kara designed the large island in a stained oak to ensure the heart of the home was warm and inviting. Because the kitchen wasn’t adjacent to a dining room, she wanted the island to look like an oversized farmhouse table. Stools upholstered in caramel leather are a perfect complement. Mullican white oak flooring is an easy wood to stain to match the original pine floors in some of the connecting rooms. “A large brass backplate and crystal knob from Emtek complete the historic look, and the company’s brass hardware warms up the white cabinetry,” Kara points out. “Riverbend Home had everything we needed for styling the cookware. Hanging its Curves de France copper pans from a brass rail under the hood instantly brought charm to the kitchen.”

porch in renovated farmhouse cottage with rocking chairs — “The side porch is very spacious, so I styled it with a farmhouse dining table, including a bench and some old wood chairs, along with Troutman rocking chairs flanking the fireplace,” Kara says. The woven cane detail in this rocking chair is a charming feature, adding yet another layer of texture to the space. (This rocking chair is called the Original Kennedy Rocker, and its historical story is on the Troutman website).

Outer Space

The Project House in Franklin’s exterior was given careful attention to decorative detail as well.

“We had a custom flower box made for the front window,” Kara says. “I designed the box to extend past the bottom windows to offset the upper window in the front gable, choosing taller end plants to flank each side of the window. That large flower box makes a big statement, welcoming guests approaching the home with beautiful flowers at eye level with a sweet fragrance along the walkway.”

patio with wood picnic table and benches — “To give this patio a more relaxed, country feel, we added a pea-gravel border around the concrete, hung string lights and potted flowers and ivy in old baskets and pots,” Kara says. The Big Green Egg (from the company of the same name) blends in beautifully with the landscape and is so much prettier to look at than a traditional stainless steel grill, thus adding to the quaint charm of this outdoor dining room.

outdoor swing and exterior view to shed — Kara set up a vintage garden table and chairs outside the little potting shed, painted the door in a terra cotta pink, planted rosemary and cone flowers in vintage pots and hung crocheted café curtains in the windows for a lived-in feel to the back of the garage.

potting shed with floral themed chandelier — “We converted this storage space on the back of the garage to a potting shed I could use for gardening,” Kara explains. She used reclaimed wood from another project to panel the walls and then brightened the room with a terra-cotta pink ceiling. “I found a sweet Italian tole light fixture to hang and an old worktable to use. Then, I filled it with all things ‘vintage-cottage garden.’”

garage door and paved driveway in Franklin Project House — A garage door does not have to be an eye sore. Start with a beautiful door from Raynor, then accessorize with sconces and planters for a perfectly polished look.

Kara’s team restored the old fireplace in the dining room to its original beauty; and, by designing a built-in china cabinet with Emtek hardware using the existing utility-like shelves, they could keep the historic appeal of the room while simultaneously improving its function. “One of the best parts of doing a renovation to a historical home is discovering buried treasures. Here, we found beautiful brick under the tile surround and quartersawn oak under all those layers of paint,” Kara says. “I added a marble hearth, along with a marble counter edge to the china cabinet, ensuring we stayed true to the room’s Old-World ambience.”

When assessing the completed Project House in Franklin, Kara points to the elements that are practical, as well as pretty, that stand out to her:

“I think my favorite design aspects of this project were the many little nooks we designed to serve a purpose for the homeowners, as well as to make a visual contribution to the home’s character and ambience: the eating nook, coffee bar, pantry, stairway nook, the added dormer and the transom in the guest bedroom to fit a study desk underneath and even the flower arrangement center in the laundry room,” she says. “They were all very tiny spaces that had a very big impact on the home’s design and function.”

four poster bed in renovated farmhouse cottage — “With such strong statement pieces as the Thos. Moser Pencil Post bed’s simple yet elegant design, along with the Moser rocking chair, the room doesn’t need much else,” Kara points out. “I added an antique pine chest, antique Eastlake side tables, brass plug-in wall sconces and draperies for a splash of warm color.”

kitchen and butler's pantry — “It was important that the main pantry wall be beautiful, because it would be a focal point in the kitchen,” Kara explains. “Using trim from Woodgrain, we designed shelves accordingly and then added beadboard as backing. We lined the shelves with beautiful kitchen cookware and serving collections from Riverbend Home and then mixed in some vintage kitchen finds.”

laundry room with farmhouse sink — “The laundry room on the plans called for an alley cabinet layout with no sink. However, the homeowners loved my idea of redesigning the layout into an ‘L’ shape to be able to include an apron-front sink in front of the window,” Kara says. This left an open spot for a furniture piece they could use for storage. “I styled the room with an antique pine dry sink that serves as a place to pot plants and trim flowers for arrangements,” Kara says. “I’ve found that in older homes without a lot of space, creating multifunctional rooms makes them more livable.”

Kara also reflects on what made the Project House in Franklin so special to work on.

“Each home we work on is unique; each with its own challenges and hurdles to overcome and each with its own charm and beauty,” she says. “For this sweet home, we had to overcome a challenging budget—which required some creativity—but we also had some wonderful surprises, such as antique pine floors with a rich patina; beautiful, burgundy brick discovered under cheap tile; and quartersawn oak found under layers and layers of paint. Those memories of special discoveries always set each renovation project apart, because they’re always unique to that home. Also, this was the first time our family has worked on a home with a magazine as a partner. We will never forget how lovely all the people were at Cottages & Bungalows magazine!”

neutral palette guest room in Project House in Franklin — A dormer was built into the guest room to create a more livable space. Kara added a transom window to the wall to break up the siding on the exterior view of the dormer and bring more light into the bedroom. An antique bed dressed in soft linens and custom-made ruffled pillows makes the room extra cozy.

guest suite sitting area with beige and soft greens and pinks — “Creating a guest suite with a colorful cottage feel was fun, but styling it with those gorgeous cranberry tulips blooming across the walls in Laura Ashley’s mural wallpaper was even more so,” Kara says. “We created a cozy, feminine vibe by mixing leather and velvet pieces, an antique pine chest of drawers, cheetah-print fabric coffee table and silk draperies with antique lace curtains to filter the light.”

Cottages & Bungalows Editor and Brand Leader Kelly McMaster added, “Everyone at Garden Gate Homes was a joy to work with from beginning to end. Their tireless attention to detail, ability to adjust to changes in the schedule, along with boundless creativity, made for an unforgettable experience.”

teal bathroom in renovated farmhouse cottage — The homeowners had two different favorite colors—one liked blue; the other liked green—so, when deciding what accent color to bring into the powder room, Kara chose a bold shade that married the two: Sherwin-Williams in Studio Blue Green, which provides a perfect backdrop for a white porcelain freestanding sink and brass fixtures.

guest bathroom in renovated Project House in Franklin — Studio Bath. Kara selected a Laura Ashley-patterned tile floor with a vintage appeal to help this new bathroom feel quaint. “The pattern has the charm of the old linoleum floors—but also an elegant flair, which coordinated perfectly with the antique chest we’d restored to use as a vanity,” she says. “The Laura Ashley wallpaper, with its subtle floral design, along with a crocheted-edge blush rug and an antique oil floral painting, all add layers of character.”

bedroom with yellow beadboard iron bed and floral wallpaper accent wall — Perfect Backdrop. Kara explains, “We used Woodgrain trim to panel this accent wall with alternating-width boards and then painted it a vintage gold color. This made a perfect backdrop for the antique-inspired iron-and-brass bed by Charles P. Rogers. We filled the corner with an antique clothes rack and a tall floor mirror to create a dressing station in the open studio space, because there’s no closet. The wood flooring from Mullican is a perfect base.”

neutral colored kitchen with vintage style fridge — Cute Kitchenette. Designing a bespoke kitchenette was a must for this sweet guest studio, Kara points out. “We used a green tile backsplash, dark-walnut countertops and an old butcher-block table. We mixed antique sconces with vintage-inspired pendants to create classic charm in this space,” she says.

entryway with beadboard and herringbone patterned tile

If you love watching the transformation process unfold, don’t miss Project House Louisiana. Of course, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to get your daily dose of cottage inspiration!