“In Kentucky, everything is horses,” says interior designer Natalie Officer, principal and founder of Natalie O. Design in downtown Louisville. So, it comes as no surprise that when Natalie and her husband, Reise, found a 12-acre property outside the city, it was a former equestrian facility, complete with 10-stall barn and riding arena.

The 1910 farmhouse on site had seen numerous additions over the decades, although it was more of an afterthought to begin with. “The house was secondary to the land,” says Natalie, who remembers its hodgepodge of materials and inconvenient layout from her first walkthrough. “A lot of people asked me if we were going to tear it down, but I don’t really like to waste things, so my first thought was, ‘We can work with this.’”

Before: Front Exterior

After: Front Exterior

Alongside Natalie’s design partner, Julie Metzinger, the couple shifted the farmhouse’s focus from animals to people. They reconfigured the layout, appropriated the garage to add 900 square feet, and raised the roofline to gain more height and livable space on the second floor. “This house—the programming, the layout, everything—was designed to absorb people,” says Natalie.

To that end, the new floor plan is a balance between flowing, open spaces and cozy nooks. The team relocated the congested front entry to the former living room so that people could gather easily, and in the kitchen double doors open to the side yard so that the couple’s three children and two dogs can spill outside. A cozy spot under the stairs lets teenagers steal away, while a lounge area in the primary suite provides another retreat.

Before: Entry and Living Room

After: Entry and Sitting Room

Before: Side Exterior

After: Side Exterior

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

As for materials, furniture, and finishing touches, the final mix was a long time coming. The team selected walnut cabinetry, white oak walls in the entry, hand-forged pulls in the laundry, and a brass kitchen backsplash, based on how the materials feel underhand. “There isn’t anything that’s flimsy in the house,” says Natalie. Add to that an array of artworks, many made by friends, and “progressive” lights that surprise in a farmhouse—all of which the designer has accumulated over time.

“Julie always calls me a magpie,” says Natalie. “I’ve been stockpiling things that I really loved and never tired of over the last 16 years. Some of those things feel really fresh and new. Others have traveled with us from home to home.”

After: Dining Room

After: Hallway

The remodel kicked off in late 2020, and it didn’t finish without its challenges. There was the phone call from a friendly neighbor one memorable workday. “She said, ‘I just drove by your house, and it’s imploded—I don’t think I’m supposed to be able to see through the middle,’” recalls Natalie. “The spine of the house had literally collapsed.”

Fortunately, the contractor was able to rebuild it—and there were happier surprises in store later on, like the time Natalie went away for the weekend and came home to find a custom mural painted in the primary bedroom by an artist friend, Kelly Zeller, coordinated by Julie.

After: Living Room

Another custom element is the kitchen backsplash, which is made of brass sheets. Natalie patinated them by coating the surface in vinegar, ketchup, and salt, and leaving them out in the sun. Then the team pieced them together carefully to achieve a cohesive design across the wall. “It was 100 percent risk; it could have been terrible,” says Natalie. “But if you don’t take any risks, there’s no reward, so you just have to walk through it.”

After: Primary Suite

Throughout her career, Natalie has always considered herself a storyteller. With this house, the story is hers and her family’s to share. “The connective tissue of the home is just materials. It’s really the people that fill it,” says Natalie. “I feel like this is an incredible reflection of who we are as a family, not just of me.”