Last week I started watching Restored by The Fords and couldn’t stop watching it till I finished the first season in 2 days…
The show follows siblings Leanne and Steve Ford as they restore houses around Pittsburgh, their home town, and transform them into design showpieces.
Leanne, the younger of the Ford siblings, is an interior designer who spent years working in the fashion industry (which you can see from the stylish way she dresses) . She splits her time between Pittsburgh and LA and is charge of creating the design and floor plans for the properties on the show. Steve, the older brother, is a licensed contractor (and the owner of Surf Pittsburgh) is in charge of executing Leanne’s designs and maximizing the functionality of those outdated properties while making sure that everyone is sticking to the budget.
The Fords spend at least two months on each property, with other projects going on at the same time. I can’t wait for season 2 to premiere in Jan. It will consist of 15 episodes; almost double the amount of season 1 which was only 8 episodes.
For todays post I decided to share one family home. It is one of my favorites from season 1 and will have a different post for my other favorite from the same season!
The home I’m posting about today belongs to the Collins family. This project actually consisted of 2 phases ( in other words 2 episodes). The Collins loved phase 1 so much they brought back the fords to finish the rest of the house. Phase 1 was the living room, family room and kitchen and phase 2 was the master bedroom, the kids bedrooms, the 2 bathrooms and the pool area.
Anyone who knows me knows my love and obsession for mid-century modern furniture and architecture. I loved this home even before renovations began. I thought that his house is extra special because the architect who designed it was one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s students. I was so worried that the renovation will completely take away the house’s identity and style but the Ford siblings did an amazing job restoring this home. They respected the history of this house, while turning it into a home that totally reflected its new owners!
I love this living room. It’s my favorite room in this house… I love that they kept the stone fireplace, and added carpet. I know that a lot of people hate carpets but I really love them!. I also love the wooden walls which I’m glad they kept. They did paint them though to make the place feel brighter and more spacious which I think was a good plan because it did. I love how that Vladimir Kagan sofa is so clean and sleek and how the wooden vintage console table behind it is so old. Nothing matches yet everything works so well together!
Can you tell that Leanne loves white and neutrals? I think her colour scheme (or lack there of ) really suited this house. Look at that white Carrara in the kitchen are, I love it! I also love those acrylic barstools… its added seating without looking cluttered. Talking about seating I love how Leanne used those Norman Cherner dining chairs with that old painted vintage dinning table.
Now, I know that a black pool isn’t for everyone … but I think that it works for this house. Leanne and Steve took a trip to visit Falling Waters House by Frank Lloyd Wright for some inspiration, and thats where the pool insperation came from. “I wanted to paint it black so badly… which turns out is kind of hard to do… but of COURSE we figured it out and brought the pool up to par with the rest of the beautiful space” Leanne wrote in her blog. I think she is right… painting that bright blue pool black almost makes the pool look like a pond rather than an added pool!. I love it because it works so well with the house… but also because it reminds me so much of the black pool at my grandparents farm house!
The master bedroom wall had “fake styrofoam style stone” on the walls which just looked so dingy and fake. They kept them for added texture and just painted them. I have mixed feelings about that… but it works with the house nonetheless.
The master bathroom spa! It looks like a spa and feels like a spa… Leanne put a bathroom island right in the middle of it! I love the way it looks but have mixed feelings about that too.. but it’s only because I like to be close to my mirror when applying creams etc!
I think this is my favorite kids bathroom of all time! The design is so smart. The floor tile was a budget friendly solution yet looks exxpensive. They used two different colors of hex to create some interest in there. Then used black fixtures and white concrete finish on the ceilings and walls… This is a bathroom that the kids wont out grow!
So what did you think of this house and what do you think of the Ford Siblings restoration of this place?
Pictures via leanneford.com
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