April, the queen of rustic rainbow barn homes

April – aka @barnhomeliving – was a wedding and event planner- that decided to start an Instagram account about their unique barn home. Which thankfully took off as COVID happened, and she was not really doing any weddings or events. She is into DIY and various homesteading projects as their barn home is located in the middle of 300 acres, and they are surrounded by woods.

Can you remember your first design project in your home?

April: I would consider our home my first project; well, really, we remodelled a house once before. Then we built our barn home from an antique barn frame, and we designed every inch of it. We were looking at doing a miner timber home with antique timbers and came across the concept of a barn home.

We then fell down the rabbit hole of teaching ourselves everything about barn homes. We ended up working with a guy out of New York who sources barns from Canada. We then picked a frame – and even went and visited it in person before it came down. While the frame was in storage in New York, we found a builder and designed our home (oh and had our second child).

 

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A post shared by April’s Barnhome (@barnhomeliving)

What is your favourite Instagram page on design? 

April: I adore the colourful, whimsical style of @zigandcompany and @baker_nest, which is way more reserved than you would think I would pick, but Katie has a real classic style that I also aspire, too.

What inspires you?

April: Our travels, nature, the seasons. A home should be a reflection of your family. I can’t stand cookie-cutter design that is all purchasable at the big box stores and made of cheap materials. I like to collect and use vintage and antique whenever possible.

What’s the favourite part of your home?

April: The entryway/ main bay of the barn. You can see right through to the view, you can see all the way up to the ceiling, and you can see the largest barn beams. It would have been where the wagon was stored at one time and also houses our double-sided two-story fireplace.

Can you describe your style?

April: A rustic rainbow? It is so hard- very rustic because of all the barn wood but a lot of colours. Anything goes – we buy what we like and then make it work together. Some call it prairie – which I guess is a mix of cottage and rustic.

 

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A post shared by April’s Barnhome (@barnhomeliving)

How does your family relate to your passion for design? Do they support it?

April: Yes – in fact, so much of what you see is influenced by Andy (my husband); he abhors white paint and forces a more rustic side to things. If I had complete control – there would be white walls to be a bit more modern and bright looking – to help the colourful accents pop even more! I would also probably gravitate toward an even more whimsical and colourful style, and Andy certainly grounds me with a traditional refinement.

I know you are a colour lover, but what’s your favourite?

April: The teal/aqua blue I use a lot- and all variations of it. They really need to make more emojis in it! (I agree! – Noemi)

What was your design faux pas you did? 

April: I didn’t consider that when photographing my stove; the backdrop is my microwave, and that’s not as attractive as it could be in hindsight – haha. I didn’t design the house to be photographed – I designed it for living and functionality. I kept the rooms fairly small throughout our home and wanted them to feel as authentically old as possible. Even though our home was new construction – I didn’t want it to feel new.

 

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A post shared by April’s Barnhome (@barnhomeliving)

Do you have a favourite designer (or more)? 

April:. Frank Lloyd Wright is my all-time favourite!! We incorporated a lot of his ideas from the nearby Fallingwater’s home into our barn house. Including the red window frames, the corner windows, and the stone style.

Is there any design style you don’t like and why?

April: They all have their own space, and there is room for them all. I often find a home needs to be suited for the location it is at. I couldn’t picture our home right on the water or in the tropics. I would use even more colours if we were in a tropical location, and I would love to have a coastal cottage. I really do not care for cookie-cutter style – where all the furniture matches, there is no personality, and everything looks to be purchased at a big box store.

Visit April’s website for more information about her awesome projects!

 

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A post shared by April’s Barnhome (@barnhomeliving)

A huge thank you to April for this interview. I’m so happy that I met many talented, strong, gorgeous women during my Instagram journey. It’s not only about followers, numbers but the people who we meet and like. We may live a thousand miles away from each other, on the other side of the planet, but we are friends who support each other. 💖

What’s your favourite design style? Tell me in the comment below!

Love,
Noemi xxx

Don’t forget to follow @noemionebohostreet on Instagram for your daily boho vibes and inspiration.

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