Historic Home Tour | Historic House

Hello everybody, I'm Jennifer and I have got a special treat for you. I am going to be giving you a tour of a 100-year-old farmhouse that is being restored by two adorable newlyweds. Meet Daisy and Elijah. They have been friends since 5th grade and they are newly married. These lovebirds saw potential in a run-down century-old farmhouse and they went to work making it a home of their dreams. And we get to take a look inside. Let's meet the Montgomerys. Hi! Welcome in! Thank you so much for letting us in. Thanks for coming. Absolutely. It's nice to be here. Thank you, thank you. Well, first of all, we are beyond excited to see your home and thank you for letting us see it. This is really beautiful. How old is this house? So the house was actually built in 1922 originally and we bought it about a little over a year ago in July of 2020. Nice. And when we moved in, the previous owners had just renovated it to be an Airbnb. Okay. So there wasn't a lot of work on the inside, but the outside needed a lot of work. But we wanted to stay true to its 1922 farmhouse look. Well, it's obvious that this house already had a lot of character, but I would like for you to tell us how much more character you added to the outside. Well, it's funny you say that. The morning that we came to look at the house, Elijah hated it and I was immediately in love. It was, it looked terrible from the outside, but the first thing we did was put a tree swing in the yard and then we put a fresh coat of white paint, which immediately changed the whole thing. Then we added boxed out columns. We added new stairs that went the whole way. You did the columns yourself, right? Absolutely. They were just spindles before, so it didn't- They were just turned like lathe wooden columns before. The box columns almost transformed the house as much as the white paint did. It was crazy. It is crazy. Yeah. And then before we had just a couple of concrete steps right in front of the door, but we extended the steps to go all the way across the whole porch, which just made it a lot more welcoming. I love the steps. That was a great idea, bringing them all the way across. They look like wood, but they're not, are they? Stairs are actually made of trex decking, composite decking, not wood, which turned out really well. It really did turn out great. I love that you brought it all the way across. It makes, it invites you to the whole porch. So one of the very first things that drew my eye was the front door. Can you tell me about that? Yeah. So that was actually a gift from a sweet family at church, and we just adored the door. So we knew that we wanted a copper lantern, and we looked through the coppersmith catalog and picked this one out. And it wasn't the easiest light to hang, let's just say that, but we got it hung. Everything in these old houses is tricky. That's right. Y'all have done a great job on the exterior. Thank you so much. Okay, but I am really excited to go inside. Yay! Can we go inside? Yes! Come on in! Oh my goodness. If this is not so inviting. I love the mirrors leaned, and of course this piece is catching my eye. Okay, tell me where you got this. This is pretty much going to be my answer to every piece in this house, but this was from a yard sale. I got it for $40, and then I just sanded the top off, and I thought about painting it, but I actually kind of like the natural wood showing through. I do too! And everything else here is pretty much from a yard sale. The coat rack, the mirrors, we were gifted the big mirror. Elijah made the lantern. The little stool over there is a yard sale, so I'm a big fan of my yard sales. So I knew I wanted more of my artwork in the house just to make it feel more personal, and so our house got coined the nickname The Fernway House. Okay. So that's where that piece came from. So, can we check out that room? Yeah, so this is the guest bedroom. Oh my goodness. Daisy, this room is so charming. Thank you. You know what's jumping out at me is I know these old houses don't have closets. They don't. But this room's got two closets. Absolutely. So, Daisy's grandfather and I actually built those two wardrobes, and they actually look original to the house. They really do. I would have thought they were. It's ingenious. Great job. They're my two favorite pieces in this house. So the piece in the middle of the wardrobe, it looks like it was just made for that spot. My mom actually found it at Goodwill for $10. Oh my goodness. It's a little wobbly, but no one's ever going to touch it, so it works perfectly. It's perfect. All right, I want you to tell me a little bit about this room and the things you put together, starting with that unique light fixture. It was actually one of the first things we installed in our home. So the bed, we were actually given as a gift from a family at church, which is super special. I just got these two windows on either side of the bed just to add some symmetry. I picked those up at a yard sale last week, so that was perfect. I put the little frame bird prints in the middle just to make them not look like a trendy window, but more of a piece of art. I got this side table at a yard sale for $10. I had been looking for a circle skirted side table, and I walked up one Saturday morning, and that was the first thing I saw. I was like, I will take that. That's $10. Yes. Okay, excellent. This frame print we got at Goodwill for $10. Frame and all. It was perfect for this mantel. This little bench is one of my favorite pieces. This was Goodwill. It was black. That was Goodwill? Yes. This was Goodwill? Yes. So we put a layer of heirloom white spray paint over it, and then I recovered the seats in an old grain sack that I had found at Goodwill as well. There's two things that are standing out already besides your talent, okay? One, you're great at finding deals, hunting for the deals, garage sales in Goodwill. And two, I need to find the friends that you guys have, because you've already put two or three things that you've said were given to you, so we got to up our game. Okay, this room is beautiful, and I cannot wait to see what is next. All right, this way. Okay. So this is our living room. Oh, you guys. Okay, this is so happy. Thank you. Just happy. Okay, these floors are beautiful. Tell me about them. Well, thank you. So actually, when we first bought the house, everywhere you see hardwood now was carpeted. We ripped that up, and underneath the carpet was the original hardwood floors from 1922. Oh, I bet you were so excited. That was a fun find. We were so excited. And so we had those sanded down and refinished, and so now this is what they look like now. Great. Thank you. So our latest project was actually shiplapping this wall. Yeah, so when you walk in, the fireplace is to your back, so we wanted to create a focal point as soon as you walked in. So the shiplap wall did just the job. Okay. You did a beautiful job, too. It looks like you got lucky in the planks for as long as the wall, so you don't have breaks. We got lucky. We had five inches to spare, and we made it fit. That's awesome. We had actually painted it the same color as the other walls, and I had all the paint up, and I sat back, and it just looked drab. So I decided to mix the trim color that we had with the wall color we had just to knock it off the stark white and create just this brighter wall so it really stood out. And it really does. And I love, you guys solved a problem that is a big problem with people, focal point, but sitting there in the couch, two focal points, beautiful room. This is really the heart of our home. It's where we spend a lot of our time. When friends come over, this is where we hang out. So even though everything in our house is basically thrifted or from Goodwill, we knew that we needed to put our money in getting a really nice couch that we loved. So we got the sectional. The coffee table is actually built by my grandfather, so this piece is super special. I love decorating with stories. So basically every piece in our house has a story, but the two chairs by the TV, I actually got those at Goodwill for $10 each, and I did not have to do a thing to them. Oh, my goodness. I'm going to have to start shopping with you. Well, the key is going too much. Sounds like $10 is the magic number. It is. I keep hearing $10. I'm pretty cheap. I love that. The table that the TV is on, I got at a yard sale last week for $30. Oh, my goodness. But my favorite, the piece that I always mention is the mirror above the fireplace. That was $5. So what I love again is I hear all the time, I hear people say, I can't decorate my house. I just don't have the money. And you are proving with time and energy, yes, you can. We wanted our house to be super welcoming, the house that our friends would just invite themselves over to. So everything we've done is in hopes for it to make it feel comfortable and homey to everyone who walks in. Maze, you've done a beautiful job decorating. Thank you. Well, did you notice my one contribution to the room? Oh, goodness. This is my prized duck. Let's check out the kitchen and dining room. It's over here. Okay. This kitchen is so cozy. I love it. Really, is this original to the house? This actually was an addition off of the 1922 original house. So whenever we bought the house, the previous owners had already put in new cabinets, new floor, new countertops. And although we don't love it, we like it for now. But we have a lot of projects we want to complete in this room. Okay, so do we get an invite to come back and see the after facility? Absolutely. Everybody's going to ask us. Absolutely, you can. Yes. I got a little antsy with the open shelving that we want to do. So we already removed a cabinet, and we just put in these wooden shelves. Okay, I love that. Thank you. And then over the oven, I've been collecting copper pots. I just have an obsession with copper. I think it's so beautiful. So we actually just used a curtain rod from Walmart to hang them. Yes. You guys are smart, too. I wanted to find a light for the kitchen sink that was true to the farmhouse, and I found this on lampsplus.com. So over the pantry, I found that framed canvas for $5 at Goodwill, and it just needed some color, so I just painted that last week. When we first bought the house, I knew I wanted to fill with furniture, so we hit a estate sale jackpot and got the kitchen island with the butcher block, got our pantry. As evidence of the kitchen, I love to collect white dishes and white pictures. I just love to have a blank palette when I host people. This table looks like it was built for this room. Yeah. So we actually found a free kitchen table on the side of the road. Now we painted it green and it's in the side yard, but a sweet friend gave us this table. I love it. I mean, it's perfect. Thank you. I love this natural arrangement. Thank you. Free floor arrangements are my favorite, and as we're putting in landscaping, I keep that in mind, and Nandinas are some of my favorite to use in arrangements. Mine, too. This was a yard sale piece that I splurged on, but what I love about it is it gives me a place to put all the little odds and ends that I want to buy and don't have a place for. Well, it's a beautiful display for everything. This little piece in the corner actually came from a good friend's yard sale, and I think it just fits in that corner so perfectly. Would you like to check out our bedroom? Love to. Oh, this is so dreamy. I love this. Okay, you guys nailed it again. The first thing that really catches my eye, besides your dreamy, comfy bed that I want to jump in, is the beautiful prints on each side. Thank you so much. Yeah, those were Goodwill. $10 each. Of course they were $10. $10 is your magic number, I think. Oh, yes. I mean, we might have bought the house for $10. Have you noticed all of our duck accents? I have, I have. Every time I see one, I pick them up because it makes me think of him. I'm proud. Okay, that's completely romantic. Something I would really like to talk about that you've done so right is the fact that people think you have to have the same nightstands on both sides of the bed, and I notice you have to have your bed shifted over a little bit, so one nightstand is smaller than the other, but the fact that you put the same size prints on both sides creates the perfect symmetry. Since this room is our resting place at the end of a long day, I wanted to keep it calm and serene with just those brass accents. It's beautiful. Thank you. I love all things handmade, so my little sister painted those little people. We have a blanket ladder that Elijah made, and those lanterns Elijah made. I think it just adds so much warmth to a room. One of the things I'm most excited to see is the Daisy Sue Design Studio. Well, let's go. Oh, what a great space for your creativity. This is the studio for Daisy Sue Design. I started the business my senior year of high school, and now Elijah and I are blessed for this to be our full-time job. He runs the business. I do the artwork. Love it. So how many stores are you guys in? So we're in 30 stores right now across the southeast, including some stores right here in our hometown, Murfreesboro. Oh, that's wonderful. I'm so proud of you guys. The desk is one of my favorite parts of the room. My grandfather actually built it, and it's where I draw all of the maps. I love it in natural light. Oh, yes. An artist's dream. Yes. This is my inspiration board. It's one of my favorite things to change. I have been collecting pictures out of magazines since middle school, and the funny thing is when you pick things true to your style, it stays the same 10 years later. One of my other favorite things in this space is this old, quirky window. But I have to admit, my favorite part about this room is my view of Elijah's workshop. And speaking of outside, this farmhouse yard needed a lot of attention. Daisy and Elijah put a ton of work taming the jungle and turning it into something more manicured. Then they went to work on painting the home's newer addition and creating a beautiful patio for entertaining. So with the addition of the house, we painted it black just to make it look a little bit more intentional, and then we matched the paint color to Elijah's shop. Great job making a back porch using the railroad ties. Yeah, thank you. We actually bought those and had that whole back porch completed in less than half a day. That's awesome. We really kicked it to high gear. And Elijah, your shop is awesome, but it's not just for personal use, right? What are you doing out there? I use the shop to store my tools for my business front way home projects where we complete people's home projects as well as build lots of daybed swings for people around the middle Tennessee area, similar to the one that's on my front porch. So this is our side yard. We actually didn't even know this existed when we bought the house because it was so overgrown. It took a lot of excavating on his part to clear this out, but this turned out to be one of our favorite parts of the house. We love to entertain, and this is just the perfect place to entertain with the lights at night. Oh, I bet that's beautiful. And that is what creates a happy home, is when you have friends over to share it with. I love that. Yeah. And then this fence used to be chain link all around the whole exterior of the house, and we ripped that out and put this new fence in. Did you guys paint it? We actually stained it. You did. I love that your fence is black. Not only does it contrast from your house, but the fact that you painted the backside of your house black as well, it just ties it all together. Very smart. Guys, this has been a lot of fun. You may not realize how kindred spirits we are, but Jennifer and I started off long ago doing the same sorts of things. I was handy. We learned how to be handy and needed to be, and she was so industrious. I used to say I was so impressed that she could make $100 look like $1,000, and that's exactly what you're doing. Your house is awesome, and it's so fun to do it together. We really enjoy seeing you do it. Thank you. I couldn't agree more. I mean, the fact that you have done this on a budget, you've created a beautifully curated home, even your bird. I'm okay with that, but I really am proud of you guys. I really am, and Scott's exactly right. You guys just remind us of ourselves, and we just thank you so much for letting us come into your home. Well, thank you. We took that as a big compliment. You're welcome anytime. Now, everybody, I would love for you to go over and follow Elijah and Daisy's Instagram account. Tell us a little bit about that. Yeah. On our Instagram account, we share all of our projects from the very beginning and what we're currently working on at Fernway Home. We also have a blog where we've shared from the very beginning and are constantly posting our projects at fernwayhome.com. And you give a little more detail. You dive in a little bit deeper with your projects. Yes. Okay. Well, if you didn't catch that, don't worry. I'll put a link in the description below. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for letting us come. It was great. Absolutely. You're welcome anytime. It was such a delight. Thank you. Bye-bye. Well, please go check out my new friend's Instagram. We cannot thank them enough for allowing us to come into their home. Everybody, be sure to subscribe to my channel. Hit that bell. It'll tell you when I have a new video out. And everybody, stay safe and stay well.