Barn #2

It's time for another Barn Spotlight! 

All because we started to do a little bit of work on this one:

I've been researching the history of the house, and in one of the old permit applications it lists this barn as the "Chicken House".  Hmmm... now those screened windows, low hanging light bulb & the water spigot up the second floor make some sense!

I'll share pictures of the second floor, but only if you excuse the mess!  ;o)

You can see the screened windows on the left. 
All ripped and needing to be replaced!

That pipe thing on the right of the photo is the water spigot.
There's a hole in the floor under that pile of wood...
apparently to shovel chicken poop down to the 1st floor.  (Yuk!)



Stairwell, looking down from second floor. 
There's a ladder up to the third floor "attic"

Unfortunately, this one is in much worse shape than the goat barn!

First thing we had to do was remove the tangled mess of vines that were climbing up the right side, since they were pulling the siding away from the structure! (See first photo)

Luckily the boards were still in good shape, they just needed to be rehung.

Before- from the inside

Before



After



After- from the inside

To Do List: (ugh- some big ticket items!)
-Remove vines and brush on right side of barn.
-Re-hang the barn siding.
-The roof.  Needs to be replaced BADLY!  Mike & my brother plan to tackle this in the spring.
-Do something about the ugly pull down garage door.  It's missing some panels & glass.  I'd love to put a barn-style door back on there, but for now may just fix up the existing door.
-Replace screens on second floor with windows.  We hope to re-use the windows from our enclosed back porch, which will be torn down for the kitchen extension.
-Replace first floor window on side of barn.
-Fix spots where there's rotten wood (probably due to rain coming in from that broken window)
-Replace door on side of barn, again- perhaps we'll re-use our current back door after the kitchen renovation?
-Reconnect the electric.  It was obviously running at one time, but was disconnected at some point. 
-Paint or stain- pretty obviously needs a good scraping & painting.

Once all of that is done, we'll get to figure out how we'll use the barn besides just storage (of mostly junk we're afraid to throw out because we'll likely need it as we go through the house restoration... extra wood, trim moulding, drainage rocks, etc).  Then we'll expand the to-do list!

Here's a photo of the barn from the town's files, taken in the mid-1980's:



A Little Shine!

I'll soon have master bedroom photos to share, but here are a few little decorating items I've been working on for the room.  Remember, the walls are now being painted gray, and I'm doing punches of purple & lavendar to coordinate with the bathroom and the design I painted in the little hallway.  Eventually, I hope it will all come together for a comfy master suite!

Before

After

I had this chair stored away up in the attic.
I really like the shape of it's back, so I thought I'd paint it to use at my vanity. 

I bought some silver paint, & covered the seat with new fabric. 

A couple of hours later, a whole new chair!
And a little peek at the new wall color! --->

Before

This  frame I got at a yard sale years ago. 

After

The glass is curved outward for each photo- very subtle, I love it!

I took the frame apart and used the same paint I used on the chair.

I'm not sure yet whether I'll take the photos and make them black & white, or if it looks better with a pop of color in the room.



Before

Before

After

After

This little jewelry box  needed an update.

I taped off the picture on the front & the mirror inside.

Then, more silver paint!



I cut some lavender drawer liner that I had left over from the shelves & drawers in the bathroom, and inserted it into the bottom.
I had a brief moment where I thought I would paint it purple, but went with the silver for now... not sure if I made the right decision on that one.  We'll see!



And finally, I splurged on this item... well, it's from TJ Maxx, so wasn't expensive, but did cost more than a can of spray paint! 

LOVE IT!

And now, our new comforter has arrived.  All I have to do is clean up the room for some photos.

Gimme a few days on that- haha!

A Turkey Twist

Beautiful weather on Sunday allowed for some yardwork- we're thankful for every bit we can squeeze in!

Mike's been cutting away at the countless dead trees around the yard, plus the ones that fell during the crazy October snow storm.

My mission while Mike worked on the trees, was keeping the kids out of his way! 

We collected pinecones for a future winter craft, stacked & then climbed on the newly delivered hay bales, collected sticks, & climbed some trees.  After they were a little worn out from playing, we went inside & sat down to re-create this project I found on Pinterest- a twist on the old turkey handprint.

I went up to my stash in the attic, and found an old 8x10 frame to clean up.

We each chose a fall-color paper & traced our hands, and my 3 year old's foot. 


(We got Mike's hand traced after he came back inside.)

 A little bit of glue, and project complete!

It's now hanging in the hallway, and makes me smile each time I pass it!

We may have started a new tradition!

Gimme a sign!

At each end of our property is a sign post...
(we briefly mentioned them way back here  ).

And last week, we left off here with the planting of the bedraggled mums:

We're in the middle of doing the historical research on the house, to try to find a new name for the property.  The trick is trying to find little stretches of time to go down to the Hall of Records to pick up the trail of property deeds.  We're now back to 1872.  Only about 100 more years to go!

In the meantime, we decided we could make a monogram sign to hang on the driveway entrance that we use the most.

So after measuring, we were off to Lowe's.  They have pre-cut boards, that are perfect. 
We also picked up some trim moulding (to add a little detail to the top & bottom of our sign), and some new hardware (the hooks on the post are all rusty).

Mike attached the moulding to the top and bottom on each side.  A little wood putty to cover the nail holes, a quick sanding, and we were ready to paint it white.

This took a couple of days... waiting for each coat to dry, then flipping it over & repeating.

So, in the meantime, I searched online for a nice "R" to paint on. 

Here were some of my top picks  --->

The winner was from here (they have tons of cool patterns!)

The colors are just representative (the closest I could come with my set of sharpies!)  We're using the blue, green & cranberry house paint that the previous owners had left for us in the basement.

The next step was enlarging it (and thickening up the lines a little bit).

To do this, I went back to basics- the grid method learned in elementary school art class. 
I wasn't confident enough in my artistic ability to draw it directly onto the sign. 
I instead put it onto paper (four pieces taped together to be precise!)

The next trick was getting it onto the sign. 

When I was little, my mom had taught me to use a pencil to trace the design on the reverse side.  Then you tape it up & trace it on the correct side.  The lead will transfer onto the surface.  

(I have no idea what project we were working on when she taught me that- but I remembered the important part!)

I spent the next couple of evenings painting both sides of the sign. 
Then I applied a clear coat (spray paint) to seal it.  Mike then put the new hardware on.


And we were finally ready... 

Tah-Dah!

Yard Saling

Now that we're starting to get into the colder weather, I figured the yard sales would be less bountiful- BUMMER!

But while my parents were visiting, there were 4 listed in the local paper. 
It seems that folks just move the sales into the barns (at least for a couple more weeks!)
Mom & I decided to leave the boys at home & check them out.  And I am SO happy we did- talk about deals!

Check out my finds!

Price = $2.00

A pressed tin tray... 

Perfect not only for my serving platter obsession, but also because I am working on the master bedroom. 

The tray will really coordinate with the gray/purple theme of the master suite.  I will put it on top of my dresser- to catch the odds & ends that normally clutter up that area!



Price= $2.00

A framed print...

My little guy's room is decorated in an airplane theme. 

I hung this above his bed- it coordinates with three other framed prints that Mike's parents gave us for the room.

Price= $1.00

A wooden frame... 

I think it was originally a mirror frame on top of a dresser. 

It's a little beat up, but I think it'll look really pretty once I add a photo and hang it on the wall in the parlor (once it's not the dining room anymore!)

Price= $1.00

A tea tray table... 

Yeah, it has a couple of water stains- but for some reason, I was drawn to it.  Probably due to the fact that we don't have ANY tables for the future parlor. 

I figure I'll just put something over the stains :o)
(Update: Or paint it!)



Price= $2.00

Another table...

I almost didn't get this, but for the price, I couldn't leave without it!  I can always find someplace for a little table. 

This one is really solid- and I like the curvy top.

Perhaps it will go in the new half bath that we're putting in. Then I can put rolled hand towels & a basket of toilet paper on the shelves... We'll see!

Price= $2.00

Another tray... 

This one has material under glass- which I may or may not change out, since I have no idea where it's going to "live" yet. 

I'll be moving it to different surfaces around the house for the next two weeks. 

That's half the fun!

A Railroad Lantern Lamp... 
This is my "odd" find.  I've been looking for lamps, since there aren't any overhead lights in the family room.  We added a wrought iron chandelier & accessories a while back, so the lamp's black finish goes nicely. 
It's lampshade was beat (and rather 70's looking).  I scouted around the attic, but couldn't find anything that was the right proportion.  So, I got one at Walmart for approx. $9 which eats into my "deal"- but a new lamp would definitely still cost more, and wouldn't be as unique!

The shade it came with
Price= $2.00

Total= $11.00 (after shade purchase)



Price = $1.00

Another framed print...

This pretty little 5x7 frame has pale green lines painted on it, though they're hard to see in this photo. 

I think it will go nicely in the new kitchen. 

 

And my best deal of the day-

You know how I love my wrought iron yard furniture.

I saw this half-round table at one sale & almost didn't even ask how much the woman wanted.

But I did...

Broken leg
but  not a show-stopper!

...and due to one leg being broken, she said she'd be happy if I took it away for $1.00!!!

How could I pass it up? 

I figured that even if Mike couldn't fix the leg, I could use the top to hang as a piece of art. 

Happily, Mike thinks that he & my brother can weld the leg- YAY!
I'll post when we get around to it- just don't hold your breath!  It'll probably  be next summer.

And there was so much that I left behind... including about 5 chairs that I liked (only $5-$10 each!) 

But I think Mike will kill me if I bring another chair into the house- I have quite a few hanging out in the barn, waiting to get re-finished.  I'm saving them as good winter projects :o) 

So, in case you haven't been keeping track...

Total spent on yard sale day was $14!

Some girls go to the spa & spend $100 on a facial...

Give me $20 & a list of yard sales and I'm as happy as can be!

Up on a Roof Top...

Two recent developments to discuss in this photo:

This past week, we addressed some of those "not-so-noticeable, but very-badly-needed" items. 
By the way, I hate these!  I'd much rather spend money on things that can be seen, but I guess that's the price of home ownership!

The first is the chimney. 
We had to get a new flue liner & a cap for the furnace chimney.  During bad weather, rain was pouring down it & flooding the new boiler- definitely NOT a good thing. 
We also wanted to keep out any critters (the fireplace chimney already has a cap- thankfully!) 
It's hard to see, but it's the chimney on the left.  At least we can check that off the list!

Second item is the fascia board.
During the house inspection, a hole was found above the second window from the right (2nd floor, above the gutter) that went straight from the attic through to the outside, so we knew this needed to be patched. 
By the time we moved in (April) we had a birds nest, and from the sound of it, little baby birds. 

Yeah- I'll now admit I was afraid to go into that side of the attic all summer!

Once the birds flew the coop attic, we boarded up the hole.  In the process, Mike had to remove some of the blown in insulation from the floor of the attic.

Can you guess what he found (besides the birds' nest)?

Take a look...

When Mike pulled up the first one, he thought, "Oh man, there must have been a raccoon or something up here!"  But there are several HUNDRED corn cobs.  We showed my mom (she's a historian) and she confirmed that long ago they used it for insulation!

Now I'm off to research the R-value of corn cob insulation... aka- do we need to remove it (fire hazard?), or better to just leave it (since we have additional insulation on top)?

Mums the word

We used a lot of mums to decorate the front yard for fall.

Our stone wall has five built in plant holders, which I filled with purple mums.

Unfortunately, they were now starting to look a little ratty... 

I had to get them in the ground so that I don't kill them! 
My grand plan is to buy perennials for the wall each season, and then re-plant them somewhere in the yard.  More bang for the buck!

For the purple mums (and let's just say purple is my project theme color this month!) I decided to move them to around the sign post at our back driveway entrance.  That spot was begging for some flowers!

Here's a photo...

Disregard the fact that they're half dead, and also that we haven't raked the leaves. 

Picture how lovely it'll look late next summer!

AND most exciting of all...  We're almost ready to put a sign there!
Mike built it 2 weekends ago & I painted it this weekend. 
We're just waiting for it to dry so we can do a sealer coat & hang it.


More to come!

Chalking it up

I always use galvanized buckets for holding beer & wine at parties and BBQs.

We had this one out for my son's birthday party, and having already filled it with ice, I had a lot of trouble trying to get the sign to stick on it.

 
That's when I thought to myself, "I should really get some of that chalkboard paint!"



I searched for it during one of our many trips to Lowe's, but they didn't have the spray paint kind- just the brush-on version.  I don't know why, but I was wanting the spray paint!  On a whim, I checked the paint aisle at Walmart, and they had it!

First I taped off the section to be painted. 

Yeah... in hindsight, I should have covered up more of the bucket. 

I didn't realize how much over-spray there would be.

Lesson learned!

Anyways, I still love it. 

With no parties in the immediate future, I'm using it on the back porch for winter accessories!

Found him snuggled up in there & I couldn't resist!
I just wish the lighting was better!