This Couple Designed Their 1840s Farmhouse Around Antiques Collected on Their First Flea Market Dates

Adriana and Bill Carrig have long enjoyed hunting for antique décor and furniture together.

Their new Chatham, New Jersey, home was originally built as a farmhouse on an apple orchard in 1848. It's made the perfect venue to craft a design-forward home around the antiques the Carrigs have been collecting since the early days of their relationship. They’re even working on opening an online store to resell some of their best finds as a side project. Adriana's primary job is running the Little Words Project, a jewelry company whose bracelets feature encouraging words of wisdom and are meant to be passed along between friends and strangers for years.

This antique O’Flaherty’s sign is one of the first-ever pieces the Carrigs bought together as a couple. They love that it honors Bill’s Irish heritage, and it has moved with them from apartment to apartment and house to house over the years. "We love to infuse our culture wherever we can," Adriana says. Bill hand-chopped the logs stacked in the fireplace from a tree that fell on the property during a recent storm. As he cut them, Adriana placed them intentionally. They plan to seal the wood to protect it.

Shades of green tie the home together from almost every room, from this kitchen countertop to the plants to the O’Flaherty’s sign in the kitchen. "We knew the green color was perfect," Adriana says, and they chose it as an accent color to pair with their white walls and more modern furniture. "Sage green has traveled with us throughout the house. Wooden cutting boards are on display underneath glass-doored cabinets.

The Carrigs are regulars at flea markets and estate sales, but shifted their approach as things shut down with COVID-19. They found their dining room table, a solid wood farmhouse table, by scouting Facebook Marketplace. The white chairs and gold-accented lighting add a modern touch that pairs well with the hardwood floors.