In this show, now in its second season, Home Town hosts Erin and Ben Napier and Fixer Upper to Fabulous' Dave and Jenny Marrs have been hard at work transforming Fort Morgan, Colorado. In the latest episode of "Hooked on Fort Morgan," they tackle the home of Cody and Mackenzie Miller, which serves as a hub and teaching facility for agricultural workers throughout the region.
"When people come to the Miller house to learn about farming and agriculture, we want their house to be unified with the rest of their property," says Jenny." It's a 100-year-old house. We need to bring that charm and character back."
Whether you own a real farmhouse or just love the look, seeing how these reality TV stars renovated the house was an eye-opener. Read on for plenty of tips that might give you some inspiration for tweaking your own abode.
The house started out very small, with additions made to both sides of the original structure, retaining the original front door.
Over time, however, a front door was added to the addition on the right side, so that there are now two front doors and the original one is rarely used.
Jenny suggested closing the old door and decorating the side of the door that is currently in use.
"We need to get rid of this door and these front steps," said Jenny." Once the original entrance was closed, the look made more sense."
To make the remaining entrance special, Jenny says, "We're going to install a mahogany front door on the Miller house. I love this type of wood because it gets darker and richer over time. Plus, it blends in perfectly with the rest of the exterior".
Miller's house is a relatively unadorned rectangle topped by a sloping roof.
For starters, Jenny's idea was to add two beautiful canopies to the roof.
"The canopies," she says, "were the perfect addition to the project." They add visual interest and tie in nicely with the classic farmhouse style."
In addition, they added window frames and shutters. It wasn't an expensive, complicated build, but it made a big difference.
With so many farmers coming and going from the fields to the Millers' house, the wall-to-wall carpet took a beating.
"Carpet is no friend of muddy boots," Cody told Jenny and Dave, who were discussing ways to improve the interior of their farmhouse.
They replaced the carpet with a beautiful and durable vinyl plank floor. It doesn't scratch as much as wood and is easier to clean than carpet.
When Jenny inspected the low 8-foot ceiling in the living room, she announced, "I want to raise the roof!"
Then she explained her plan in more technical terms: "I'd love to be able to vault the ceiling," she said, a process of moving everything up to the roof." It really opened up the space."
So, they took down the ceiling and found another one! This ceiling was structural and could not be removed! This one was structural and could not be easily removed, so it had to stay in place. So although the high ceiling Jenny had hoped for would not be achieved, they were able to raise the ceiling by at least 14.5 inches.
"It may not be the vaulted ceiling we were hoping for, but if you're dealing with an 8-foot ceiling to raise it to 9 or 9.5 feet, it's a game changer," Dave said." It will make Miller's house look much bigger."
Now that the ceilings are high, Jenny wants to make it special.
"I wanted to do something to the ceiling in order to give it some kind of visual interest," she says. A loft-style ceiling is just that.
A pitched ceiling is basically adding some finishing work, shape and detail to the ceiling," she continues." We will be adding some beams."
They will also add some slate in the middle, she says." I know it's more of the farmhouse style they want."
Once they're done, the farmhouse looks better than it probably ever did. The house is now in good condition so the family, including a set of young triplets, can live comfortably on the farm.
"This is where I grew up," says McKenzie." It's also what I want our kids to know."