Dream Project: Converted Mill

I’ve always loved homes that were converted from another use. In high school, one of my friends’ family’s cabin was a one-room schoolhouse. When I bought my first apartment in Brooklyn, I looked at possibilities in a church, a school, and an old factory. Even when we moved home to Minneapolis 14 years ago, we considered an apartment in a carved-up mansion.

None of those options came to pass, for various practical reasons of layout, location, or cost, and I am still craving the challenge!

In my husband’s hometown in Illinois, there is an old mill on the road into town, and I have always been curious about it. This design board was inspired by that!

I don’t have a photo of my actual inspiration, but imagine something like this:

I imagine the interior might have exposed brick walls, a peaked ceiling with exposed rafters, and those charming windows.

Don’t you just want to lean in to the quirks and get a little funky?

I love going a little rustic in here, with chunky Windsor chairs, a faux bois table, tin lamps, and wobbly pottery. Folk art feels right, too, like the antique painted armoire, Ginny Sims plate, and latch hook throw pillow. But the palette of strong colors and the mash up of energized patterns keeps it lively, and the furniture shapes from unexpected eras (what are those post modern Italian chairs doing here??) make it pretty darn exciting.

What a fun note to close on. I might want to move in here most of all!