Farmhouse Living

As anyone knows who owns one, an older home requires a lot to time and money to fix up and maintain. Designer Gail Claridge and her husband purchased an incredible piece of farm property two years ago. Unfortunately, the main house had been torn down years before, but there were two small rundown houses right next to each other that Claridge thought could be made livable. See how she transformed the first one into a charming country cottage using lots of chintz and some old-fashioned Pricilla curtains. Adding a front porch also made a big difference to the look of this old house.

The second old farmhouse Claridge redecorated was in equally bad shape when she started, but it's now just as charming as the one next door, but with a completely different look. In the first home, she kept all the dark woods and used red and white to liven up her color scheme. In this one, she used yellow and white to really brighten it up. See how she "bleached" the old wood paneling to make it look fresh and new .