This Anthropologie-Designed Barn Is Total Farmhouse #Goals
Lately we’ve heard a lot about the modern farmhouse look, thanks in large part to Joanna Gaines. But what if you’re tasked with decorating a *literal* barn? When Tieghan Gerard, founder of cooking blog Half Baked Harvest, needed to expand to keep up with her growing business, that’s exactly what she decided to do… with a little help from Anthropologie. And the result is just as swoon-worthy as any Anthro home catalog.
“Tieghan had outgrown her former workspace and craved room to stretch out,” says Anne White, Anthropologie’s Home Styling Manager. “So we wanted to keep her new space airy and light and distinguish it as a workspace rather than a home space.” Gerard’s newly purchased 5,000-square-foot studio barn in the mountains near Breckenridge, Colorado, had plenty of room for cooking, doing photo shoots, and hosting events to help her blog grow, but designing such a wide-open, multi-purpose area from scratch was no small task. White employed a few tricks to get the open, airy expanse to feel cozy and intimate without overcrowding it.
The main portion of the barn was envisioned as a welcoming event space, so the design team needed it to feel accessible and relaxed. One key way to keep the square footage from feeling overwhelming was to create a bit of a buffer between the furniture and perimeter of the room: “We floated the couch and pulled the entire seating arrangement out a few feet from the wall to make the space feel more inviting,” says White. Then the team layered in tons of texture to achieve Gerard’s wish of a minimalist palette while also creating contrast. “With a neutral palette, you can add visual interest and sophistication through texture: different types of wood, cozy woven fabrics, tassels, and leather,” says White.
Since the barn would welcome lots of guests through Gerard’s ongoing workshops, White paid special attention to the entryway. Eclectic collections on display make it feel special from the first moment you step inside. A thoughtful detail like this “landing pad” is easy to emulate in any home or office. “[Guests will] appreciate thoughtful touches, like a well-placed accent chair where they can pause, put down their bags, and take off their shoes,” White says.
Darker colors came into play in the pantry, creating extra drama and showing off Gerard’s gorgeous collection of styling props. On-trend dishes in blush and mint really pop against the stark white of the inner cabinets.
Of course, no farmhouse-style space is complete without beadboard. To keep the barn feeling modern, the team implemented it in a subtle way in the pantry, letting the rest of the walls maintain a clean look. With the new space finished in time for fall entertaining, new workshops, and the release of Gerard’s first-ever cookbook, there’s only one more question: When are we getting invited over?
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(Images via HBH Lifestyle Photography)