Modern Farmhouse, with a Rustic Twist.

Last month, we had the courtesy of bringing a number of design ideas to life for the first time homeowners, Marissa and Gabe Pankonin! Building their home with RCH Custom Homes on the outskirts of Hawley, MN these two had a knack for design and taste that would lead you to believe they’ve done this before. Luckily, we had the opportunity to be a small part of their journey. 


“The main reason we went with Grain Designs, was that we had searched online and in several big box stores for the furniture pieces we wanted to complete our home, but none of the items felt like they fit our style. We put a lot of time and energy into designing our floor plan, several months of drawings, and we wanted to find pieces that felt like they were baked right into the design. Grain Designs worked with us to find the right pieces to match our modern farmhouse style, while adding a touch of rustic accents to our space.” 

As Gabe works remotely, an office was built right off the front entry of their new home. 

“We were able to meet with the Blain and Grant and bring our ideas to life. But even better, we were able to ask them to completely design the office space! We weren’t sure what would look best and had no experience with home office spaces. They custom designed the room and we truly couldn’t be happier with the result.” 

Marissa having an eye for design, wanted a custom 8×8 Timber mantel to be installed above their fireplace, with accented floating shelves on each side. 

But the custom designed pieces didn’t stop there. “The Grain Designs team also met our crazy tight deadline for the kitchen floating shelves. We had to wait to get them made until the cabinets were installed so that we could get the proper measurements. GD turned those shelves around in just under 2 weeks from order date to final install. Knowing this is beyond their lead time needed, we were extremely grateful they had the understanding and desire to have these installed with the previous pieces, by the time we moved in.” 

“Speaking of install, their team came out to us and installed all the pieces for us. Mantel, kitchen shelves, floating shelves, desk and the huge bookcase for my office! Needless to say, this was a huge deal for us. If we had gone through a big box store, I would have had several hours of assembly work and let’s be honest, that is the worst part of buying furniture. Especially when we already have the added stress of moving into our new home, with our son Malachi who is 15 months old, and a wife who is 26 weeks pregnant with another baby on the way.” 

We ended up installing on the day of closing. If you have closed on a new build before, you probably understand all the moving parts, right down to the very last hour. This included little Malachi running around entertaining us with his curiosity of all our tools, wanting to (and succeeding at) climbing to the top of our ladder, and his fearless personality. 

“We are extremely happy with the pieces that Grain Designs were able to design and build for us. From walking into the store with just a few ideas on day one, through the entire process up until completion and installation, it goes without saying, we can’t wait to finish our basement and go back to Grain Designs to help us bring it to life!” 

Thanks Marissa and Gabe for choosing to work with us. We love nothing more than to play a small part in making a house, feel like a home. 

-The GD Team. 

Related Posts