See Inside the Converted Schoolhouse That Made Leanne Ford Famous
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These days, designer Leanne Ford may seem like a household name in keeping with fellow HGTV hammer-wielders Erin Napier and Joanna Gaines. After all, she has helmed hit shows (Restored by the Fords), appeared in countless magazines, written several books, and debuted highly covetable collections at multiple retailers including Semihandmade Cabinets and Crate & Barrel.
However, it wasn’t all that long ago—2013, in fact!—that she was just Leanne from Pittsburgh, a newly married homeowner with a flair for design whose cool and collected property happened to appear in the September issue of Country Living. The project, a 1907 two-bedroom schoolhouse anchoring two wooded acres in the village of Sewickley, 13 miles northwest of Pittsburgh—needed a lot of TLC. “The place was ugly, and it wasn’t our style at all,” Leanne remembers. “But at just over $100,000, the mortgage was less than my old rent. Within a week, we’d taken a sledgehammer to the kitchen.”
With the featured DIY renovation—which spanned eight pages and was appropriately titled “A Hands-On Education”—Leanne wound up not only opening up the home’s small footprint but also a world of opportunity. As Leanne even recounts on her website, “This project was my very first Interior Design ever, for my very first home in Pittsburgh that ended up, thanks to some awesome friends, in Country Living Magazine. What happened next was pretty magic. I can absolutely say this project is why you are on this site in the first place. WOOT WOOT. ;)”
Woot woot, indeed.
Take a tour of Leanne’s converted schoolhouse project below.
Love Leanne’s Look? Get More Decorating Ideas:
BEFORE: The Dining Room
When Leanne and her husband, Brad Shaffer, removed the structure’s dropped ceilings and drywall, they discovered dramatic roof beams and charming beadboard.
AFTER: The Dining Room
Leanne and Brad, with their terrier, Tom, relax in midcentury Woodard chairs around a dining table crafted out of wood salvaged from a bowling lane. In the dining room, and throughout the residence, they sanded the pine floors and stained them a rich ebony. The oversize light formerly illuminated a factory.
Get the Look:
Wall Paint Color: High-Gloss White by Behr
RELATED: 80+ Dining Rooms with Country Charm
BEFORE: The Living Room
In the living room, carpet covered the floors, while the dropped ceiling and drywalled walls created a blank white, textureless box, minus a mishmash of built-ins along the outside wall.
AFTER: The Living Room
Leanne and Brad didn’t spend a fortune decorating—nor would these inveterate thrifters have wanted to. A healthy junk-shop habit supplements souvenirs gathered on various trips and hand-me-downs from friends and family. The vibe is classic Americana, treated with a rock ‘n’ roll attitude: A JFK campaign poster faces off against a gilded Federal mirror, both items nicked from Leanne's childhood home. By jettisoning the cabinet doors beneath the window seat, Brad created a clever spot to stash extra logs for a new woodstove.
Get the Look:
Wall Paint Color: High-Gloss White by Behr
RELATED: Farmhouse Living Room Ideas, From Rustic to Modern
The Gallery Wall
Fate obliged Leanne’s fantasy of lining the living room walls with beadboard: Under the drywall, the duo stumbled across the timeless panels. “My wife and I have always had similar taste—a sort of modern vintage aesthetic—but while working on the house together, we really developed our shared style,” says Brad. The art on one living-room wall includes an Army-surplus pouch, a diagram of the human heart, celebrity portraits (John Wayne; Johnny Cash with Billy Graham), and a “Get Lost” poster by designer Douglas Wilson, letterpressed onto a vintage map.
RELATED: Gallery Wall Ideas for Every Room
The Bar
A vintage chalkboard and classroom chair reference the home’s schoolhouse past. The bar cart was a gift; the couple bought the painted wooden eagle during a trip to Australia.
RELATED: 40+ Home Bar Ideas for a Party-Ready Space
BEFORE: The Kitchen
With its dark cabinets, Formica counters, jaundiced-looking linoleum, and faux brick backsplash, this room boasted every bad 1960s kitchen cliché.
AFTER: The Kitchen
“Within a week, we’d taken a sledgehammer to the kitchen,” Leanne remembers. “The place was ugly, and it wasn’t our style at all.” Fixing the kitchen proved inexpensive, thanks to subway tile and plenty of white paint, and a few bargains: “We had our new kitchen designed in Sweden,” Leanne jokes of the Ikea cabinets, butcher-block countertops, and farmhouse sink. An antique bakery table, equipped with baskets, functions as the kitchen island. The barstool was found in the trash.
Get the Look:
Wall Paint Color: High-Gloss White by Behr
RELATED: Kitchen Decorating Ideas for Every Style and Budget
AFTER: The Powder Room
Leanne and Brad refashioned the hall closet into a powder room. The faucets hail from a school science lab. The walls are painted Pup Tent by Martha Stewart Living (now discontinued).
RELATED: Decorating Ideas That Make the Most of a Small Powder Room
BEFORE: The Guest Bedroom & Office
Knocking through this upstairs crawl space uncovered enough square footage to tuck a guest nook below the eaves in the office.
AFTER: The Guest Bedroom and Office
Delineating the work space and the guest bedroom: Ikea curtains and chalkboard paint. “We don’t write on it,” says Leanne. “We just love the color.” A hole in the office’s secondhand kilim rug provides a conduit for computer cords. The curtain rods are actually electrical piping. Brad constructed the partners desk using wood reclaimed from the house’s crawl space.
Get the Look:
Wall Paint Color: Chalkboard Paint by Rust-Oleum
BEFORE: The Bedroom
In the bedroom, the plush carpeting and pink striped wallpaper felt dated and stuffy.
AFTER: The Bedroom
After tearing down the dropped ceiling and the wallpaper, Brad and Leanne clad the master bedroom in pine planks, coated with a primer that lets the grain show through. In place of a headboard, they covered the wall behind the bed in oak rescued from a Pittsburgh bank. Beneath the carpeting? Hardwood floors.
Get the Look:
Wall and Ceiling Paint Color: Interior Primer by Kilz
The Closet
Century-old glass bottles, unearthed on the two-acre property, line the ledge above the bedroom’s closet. Leanne snagged the $20 armchair at the World’s Longest Yard Sale in Tennessee and cloaked it in sheepskin. “I’m drawn to history,” says Leanne, describing what she looks for in vintage goods. “I love imperfect things.”
RELATED: The 100 Best Places to Shop for Antiques Online
BEFORE: The Bathroom
With its cramped layout and mix of dated surfaces, the upstairs bathroom was declared the “worst bathroom ever” by Leanne.
AFTER: The Bathroom
Gutting the second-story crawl space doubled the master bath's square footage. “We turned the worst bathroom ever into a dream,” says Leanne. The now-luxurious area is kitted out with a dual shower and a claw-foot tub from Victoria + Albert, all finished with fittings from Habitat, a local hardware store. The hanging basket, once used by miners, holds toiletries. The Leanne and Brad also widened the window opening, and tilted the floor at a slight slant for drainage. “It was worth every penny!” says Leanne.
RELATED: 80+ Bathroom Remodeling Ideas
The Sink
Iron brackets turned a slab of repurposed wood into a shelf on another wall of the bathroom. The vintage-style sink is by Kohler.
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