“It’s okay to change your mind...a home isn’t stagnant, and there’s major power in a fresh coat of white paint.”
I thought, it’s time to get this back to me. I wanted to simplify. I had to undesign it.”
Left: The linen closet also got the Leanne Ford tonal treatment, obviously. Center: Once the original wallpaper came down—tear!—and the walls turned white, I brought in sheets to match. Right: A mini door that led to storage is now a hangout zone (with a drawn-on roof!) for my daughter, Ever. I also get to show off a piece from my tiny chair collection.
My hack for adding a few extra guests to the party:
I stacked slipcovered mattresses to make daybeds that, at night, turn into sleeping spots for friends. Since my makeunder, the house now sleeps nine.
Photography by Erin Kelly
Words by Leanne Ford
Styling by Hilary Robertson
Not everything changed.
I didn’t paint over all of the coffee-stained walls, and of course I kept my beloved Ever Slipcovered Sofa, which fit too perfectly and was just too cozy.
To see inside the main house on Leanne’s Pennsylvania property, pick up a copy of her magazine Feel Free, starting
March 24.
At the end of the day, my first attempt was such a great example of trying to do something against my natural instincts. But I always go back to what makes me feel most myself. And I’ve done that over and over, in projects and in life. I truly think that my brain is so chaotic—or busy, I would say—that I just crave visual simplicity.
Also, it’s okay to change your mind—I even said so the first time Domino covered this cottage. The house evolves as I evolve. A home isn’t stagnant, and there’s major power in a fresh coat of white paint. I’m proof of that: The cottage now feels so clean and peaceful, a place where I can truly be creative. Before, it didn’t feel complete. And now it does.
Eventually, I whitewashed the butcher block in the kitchen and painted the stairwell—walls, trim, and ceilings—in the same tone, Behr’s Natural White,
which lightened everything up majorly. And the runner? I bought a few sisal rugs and just stapled them together and to the floor with a staple gun, which is more cost-effective than getting a custom rug.
Other aspects I couldn’t part with at all. As controversial as the coffee-stained walls were when I first did them, I don’t regret them—I like them! I actually kept the finish on some of the exterior walls, but where it didn’t take as well, like the kitchen, I painted over it, and that brightened up the room as a whole. I also kept a lot of the furniture but just rotated it. The sofa fit perfectly where it was, and it’s just too cozy, so it stayed. I also used a lot of pieces that I already owned—stools, art, and light fixtures.
Now that I think about it, that’s one of the perks of having an aesthetic and a vibe and a color story—everything can really intertwine and go between rooms, which makes my life easier. All of my art, my furniture, all the things I love, I buy them knowing they’ll easily go somewhere eventually because they all live in this one story. Until the right project, they’ll go in storage.
Slowly, like a reverse Wizard of Oz, colorful elements started to turn back to my preferred tonal palette of black and white. The pink stove moved out, and I brought in a stainless steel Monogram one. I swapped the yellow sinks for charcoal ones. (Don’t worry, they’re not gone forever—just like the stove, I’m saving them for something else.) And then I sanded down the pale yellow bathroom tile and covered it with Surecrete, which saves a ton of time and effort but still gives off a layered look.
Some details were hard to say goodbye to. In the cottage’s original form, I painted over the wallpaper, which is such a big no-no, but the truth is, I loved the texture, and I knew if we took that wallpaper down, it was just going in the garbage. Can you tell I have some guilt, being a woman who loves old things? But ultimately it had to go so I could start fresh. I feel sad for the wallpaper, but I feel great for me.
But as the days went on and Ali eventually moved to her own place, the cottage became a creative office space for me (and a guesthouse for friends, too). Daily, my team and I would come in and out. I wanted it to look more “Leanne Ford Interiors.” I thought, it’s time to get this back to me. I wanted to simplify. I had to undesign it.
The first step was taking out the radiators—I replaced them with Trane Mini Splits—and then patching the walls. We removed a non-load-bearing bedroom wall upstairs to make room for a common space (something I’d wanted to do before but didn’t have time to), which is now the room with a tumbleweed that I chased down the street in Pennsylvania and put in my car. (Psst: Those daybeds are just mattresses stacked on the floor with my Crate & Barrel Ever Daybed Covers over them, and you can move them around to sleep four.) I also took down all the shelving in the kitchen because it’s a guesthouse and a creative space; you don’t really need much storage.
One thing I want to make clear: I never hated the original guesthouse. But as a designer, you often use your own space to explore and experiment. At the time, we were creating a cottage for my sister-in-law, Ali, who was staying with us, so I was doing something that felt unique to me but cozy for the space—and for Ali. I was playing with this European feel, which was so fun to do. I was also trying to preserve and use what was already there because I didn’t have much time.
In the summer of 2020, Leanne Ford called Domino: She had moved to Pennsylvania; did we want to feature her guesthouse? It was a cottagecore dream, filled with coffee-stained walls, overstuffed sofas, and exposed vintage wallpaper—then, just two years later, she changed everything. Here, the designer explains it all, in her own words.
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Credits
Linen Round Pendant Lamps, Imprint House; Ever Slipcovered Sofa and Yuma Fringed Natural Jute Rug by Leanne Ford, Crate & Barrel; Coffee Table, Farmhowz; Accent Chairs, Beck and Cap.
Credits
Stool, Aaron Koehn.
Credits
Vintage Planter, Bass & Bennett; Jami Upholstered Bouclé Bench by Leanne Ford, Crate & Barrel; Painting by Angela Allen.
Credits
Vintage Stool, Bass & Bennett; Range, Monogram; Natural White Paint (on walls) and Ultra Pure White Low-Lustre Enamel Interior/Exterior Porch and Patio Floor Paint (on floors), Behr; Premium Interior/Exterior Multipurpose Water-Based Wall and Ceiling Primer, Kilz; Framed Photography by Warren Smith.
Credits
Vintage Dining Set, Eneby Home; Dinnerware, Imprint House; Marble Countertops and Backsplash, Construction Junction; Whitewashed Butcher Block Countertop, Leanne Ford.
Credits
Throwbed, Hedgehouse; Vintage Coffee Table, Tri-State Antiques; Vintage Vase, Bass and Bennett; Jackie Stripe Linen Natural Standard Sham by Leanne Ford, Crate & Barrel.
Credits
Pedestal Cylinder Concrete Sink, Concrete Nation; Vintage Sconces, Olde Good Things; Wall Treatment, Surecrete.
Credits
Ever White Slipcovered Bed Frame and Willy White Plaster Pedestal Side Table by Leanne Ford, Crate & Barrel; Bentwood
Chairs, Farmhowz; Art, Figure Form.
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Ever Slipcovered Sofa by Leanne Ford
Crate & Barrel, $2,299
Noon Black Wicker Table Lamp by Leanne Ford
Crate & Barrel, $349
Teak Oval Stool
Serena & Lily, $128
Shop the
Story
Bentwood
Bistro Chair
ABC Carpet & Home, $280
the
At the end of the day, my first attempt was such a great example of trying to do something against my natural instincts. But I always go back to what makes me feel most myself. And I’ve done that over and over, in projects and in life. I truly think that my brain is so chaotic—or busy, I would say—that I just crave visual simplicity.
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“I thought, it’s time to get this back to me. I wanted to simplify. I had to undesign it.”