Opening The Door To An Amazing Houzz

I recently wrote about my new love of post and beam homes and barn homes and how I've fallen in love with the open floor plans and rustic look. In the case of the barn homes, I really love the casual look of it when combined with something a little more modern. I'm not about kitchy "chicken and duck" country decor, but I wouldn't quack at a well placed duck, especially if it worked with the rest of the room.

Because I'm on this dream house decor hunt, RuthAnn recently suggested I check out Houzz, a website that caters to just that. I put the app on my iPad and can't seem to find time for doing much of anything else. I'm obsessed with it. In fact, in keeping with the barn home hunt, I've dedicated a whole section of photos to internal doors - barn style, baby!

What I love most is that they seem to easily fit into any decor. For instance, this room is kind of contemporary, but it's using a sliding barn door type of system, and I love the simple lines of the wood, which contrasts the rustic looking hardware of the sliding system.

This next room looks a little more industrial, and I love the exposed brick wall. It looks like an old warehouse that's been made into loft apartments or something - which is another favorite housing style of mine. Unfortunately, most of the industrial areas in this country, the ones with abandoned warehouses and factories, are in crappy areas. And I don't need a guy who runs a meth lab for a neighbor.

The other great thing about the barn doors - especially if they actually come off a barn - is that you're reusing materials, which cuts down on waste. In fact, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has an entire page about Industrial Materials Recycling - you can have recycled barn doors in your home, and foundry sand mixed into your driveway! How very green of you.

So you can create a modern room by recycling other materials, whether it's barn wood furniture, barn doors, warehouse components, etc.

You are limited only by your imagination!

There are so many examples of rooms like these online, and the possibilities for using reclaimed or recycled materials are endless. Mixing and matching the modern, with weathered old style pieces, can make for an amazingly original space.

So if you have hours and hours to waste - like I apparently do - you might want to start with the website RuthAnn turned me on to. It's seriously like home decor crack.

Check it out HERE.


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2011: Ed And His Wahini
2010: Beauty Vs. Practicality
2009: No Mussels Kneaded When Eating Homemade Bread
2008: Dog Day Afternoon
2007: A Prayer For Alberta
2006: Tassimo Time
2005: Sorry, no post on this day.