JUNE/JULY 2019 • 107“Joanna Gaines refinished (cleaned, prepped and
painted) 300 square feet of older wood for an
accent. Kelly wanted to do that look throughout the
entire house.”
INLAYING THE INTERIOR
But bringing this vision to life meant more than
just applying Joanna Gaines’ model throughout the
home. “Kelly had over 9,000 square feet she wanted
to do, and it was not going to be realistic for her
contractor to try to reclaim and finish that much
wood,” Chris says. Instead of reclaiming the wood,
the company needed to acquire fresh wood for the
project. But rather than shaving a step off of the
process, this actually introduced an additional layer
of complexity.
PITCH BLEED PROCESSING
“When you are refinishing old wood, you don’t have
to worry about ambient humidity levels because
the wood has already adjusted,” Chris says. “You
can just clean it, prep it and finish it.” In contrast, “if
your project requires new wood on the interior of a
home, you will want to understand the pitch bleed
before making decisions.” Pitch bleed is what hap-
pens when “unfinished (new) wood is installed on
the interior and then painted over.” As Chris explains,
because of climate controls in today’s homes, pitch
bleed is inevitable. “The only way to avoid this is
to shellac prime every single knot on every single
board,” he says.
Of course, priming the wood is bound to change
its appearance. So, if you’re completing this project
for your farmhouse, you’ll want to evaluate the wood
at each stage of painting, to make sure its distinctive
character is still showing through. And that really
comes down to preference. “My part,” Chris says, “was
coming to understand the delicate balance between
rustic charm and the finished look that would give
[Kelly] the feeling she was after.”Kelly’s master bedroom draws
on symmetry and equilibrium.
“I think repeated patterns
and balance help any design,”
Kelly says. But repetition does
not have to mean boredom.
“You can have repeated
elements without it being
too matchy,” Kelly explains,
“and I think that makes a
huge difference.”You don’t need matching furniture
to balance a room. Just look for
(or create) items in similar shapes,
sizes and colors.