I am so excited to be back with a bathroom update. The countertop is in! Our fabricators were here on Friday installing the counter, backsplash and shower ledge.
The counter was making me very nervous. You may recall in the last update, I talked about selecting each element of the bathroom on its own and then hoping they all look good together. The countertop was allllll of that.
I loved the marble in the yard. But would it look good with our tile? Would it look good with the vanity? Would I like it in our bathroom? Would the fabricators lay everything out in the way I liked? Would everything fit?
The answer to all of that is yes. 1000% yes. It is fabulous.
I chose Arctic Ocean marble in a leathered finish. I saw this marble in March on our first visit to the stone yard and immediately fell in love. When we went back in July to finally pick our slab, I still loved it.
The Arctic Ocean is a busy stone with lots of veining and a big range of dark and light. I wanted the counter to be more dramatic, and AO was a perfect fit.
The leathered finish is super cool too. The stone has a texture. It’s smooth, but it’s not perfectly flat. It’s also extremely matte and not shiny at all. I feel like this highlights that it’s a real stone, which is a good fit for the farm.
The other thing I wanted was a fancy backsplash. If you recall my inspiration picture, the counter comes with an ogee edge and some cutouts. I drew a few different designs and then quickly picked one and passed it off to my fabricator. They did a fabulous job of bringing my vision to life.
The backsplash was another source of worry though. I wanted the splash to go up 6 inches behind the sinks. Our faucets are quite tall, so I wanted the splash to look proportionate to them. But our mirrors are also very tall. Would I have room between the top of the backsplash and the bottom of the lights for the mirrors (which were one of the first things I picked for the bathroom)? We do. It’s a perfect fit.
The fabricators made two side splashes as well for either end of the counter. These have the ogee edge, some swoops and perfect corner joints to the backsplash.
The installers had a moment of confusion when they arrived and said, “Um, Miss? This counter is supposed to go wall to wall.” The second “wall” will be the wood storage hutch which is still with the carpenter. The installers left me a tube of silicone and I’ll install the second side splash myself when the hutch arrives.
The one wrinkle with the countertop was the sinks. When our fabricator came to measure a few weeks ago, I showed him the sinks and he said, “Those won’t fit.” The sinks were too wide (front to back) for our vanity. So I quickly went back to my bathroom supplier and ordered the narrowest sinks they had. The sinks are a bit small, but there’s room for the backsplash, faucets and mirrors–and we get to see more of the beautiful marble.
The final bit of marble we have in the bathroom is the ledge in the tub. I love that I decided to do this full-length ledge. It will hold everything we need and the marble is such a beautiful feature in the tub. This ledge highlights what a good match the Arctic Ocean is for the tile and also the colour variation of the AO (see the hint of blue by the taps?).
All of this marble is so special. It’s definitely a major showpiece in the bathroom. Even better, with this installation, we are definitely nearing the end on this bathroom renovation.
Do you have any marble in your house? Do you like dramatic veining or a more quiet pattern?
More than a year ago I mentioned I was thinking about buying a ceiling fan for our front hall. I was hoping a fan might help regulate the temperature between upstairs and down, particularly in the summer, particularly when we’re using the air conditioner.
The feedback I collected and the brief amount of research I did suggested that the ceiling fan might be more helpful in the winter. The fan would push the warmer air downstairs, more than it would pull the cooler air up.
Shortly after those musings, I was in a local store that was going out of business and I spied a basic ceiling fan on sale. I decided I was done thinking. I bought the fan.
But that’s as far as I got. The prospect of installing the fan over our stairwell was not something I was enthused about. So the fan sat in its box on the mudroom landing. For more than a year.
Then summer returned. Temperatures rose higher than ever. The basement was frigid. I really wanted to give the fan a try.
Finally, I had a brainwave. Our electricians were here for the bathroom. I could ask them to install the fan. Problem solved.
The electricians were happy to take care of the fan for me. And I’m very glad I asked them to do it, as install included switching the electrical box with a fan-rated box, something I wouldn’t have known was needed. (Also, there was the whole hovering over the stairwell while holding a large heavy fan over your head thing.)
So we now have a fan in the front hall. I’ve been running it most days. It does move the air around, though I’m not sure I’ve noticed a huge change in the upstairs and downstairs temperatures. The air currents extend into the kitchen, so I feel a nice breeze sometimes when I’m in there.
I’m curious to see if I notice any difference in the winter.
For now, I’m happy the fan is no longer on the mudroom floor and instead on the foyer ceiling as intended.
Are you a ceiling fan fan? Any tips for this fan newbie? Who else has bought something and then gotten stuck on the install?
I love summer. We’ve had beach days, cottage days, home days, adventure days. We are doing our best to “do” summer, and we’re having so much fun.
This month’s round-up is outdoorsy, cottagey and summer-inspired.
If you’re able to give this video a watch, you’ll be using YouTube to plant a forest. (Please take a minute to watch the video.)
I have cottages on my mind after our annual getaway with my family. I love Sarah Richardson’s designs, and her “Island Rescue” project was fun to follow. I think the living room is my favourite space. Or maybe the kitchen.
My love of summer started at my grandparents’ cottage. This cottage is on the same lake that I grew up on.
This book was a call to keep moving, keep adventuring. Just what we’re going to keep doing this summer.
“I was also being given a continual positive primate about aging… I learned that one’s advancing years can be a time of growth and revelation. You march boldly toward the setting sun, marveling at the golden hour, then the twilight, becoming happier and more confident with each step.”
Anyone want to go to the bathroom? (I realize that may be an odd question, but I really hope you say yes, because I have things to show you.)
Our main bathroom is looking so good. We are still under renovation, but I’m making progress (one of the realities of DIY is that things usually take a while).
My last update took you through demo, plumbing and electrical rough-in, tile and the start of the wall panelling.
Now, the panelling is up and painted. The vanity is in place. And the electrical is complete. Today I’m going to share the details of how it all went.
This bathroom has been a stretch for me in terms of my skills, and panelling was something I’ve not done before. I chose a pre-primed, tongue and groove, pine V-groove for all the walls. I started installing it behind the door so I could hide any mistakes, but everything worked out fine.
I prepped for the panelling by installing blocking between all the studs about halfway between the ceiling and the floor. This gave me an extra spot to nail the boards and ensure they were fastened securely. I used my Dad’s long level to make sure each board was straight and a rubber mallet to make sure the joints were tight. Then I face nailed each board top and bottom and one nail through the tongue into the blocking.
Once the panelling was up, I moved onto the trim. Trim was essential because it covered all of the gaps with the V-groove. I did window and door casing, baseboard, flatstock along the ceiling, and corner pieces over every outside corner. There are a few spots that still need trim, but I’m waiting until the vanity and hutch are complete before I install these finishing touches.
Trim is slow and challenging because I had to be super precise with every measurement, every cut and every install. But it turned out really well and finished off the panelling beautifully.
Then came paint. While I hadn’t installed panelling before, I had painted it in the mudroom. There, I rented a sprayer to ensure I got into every groove. I didn’t love the sprayer. The rental process was not straight forward, and my spraying technique wasn’t great. For the bathroom, I decided to try a roller and brush and hope I could get into the grooves and achieve a good finish.
It ended up working out really well. I cut in around the ceiling, floor, corners, door and window with my brush. It was tedious, but I covered everything well. Then, as I hoped, I was able to squish my roller into the V-grooves between each panel, so they were completely painted. Then I carefully went over the whole board with the roller to smooth out any excess paint.
I chose to paint the bathroom white. I’m not a white room person usually, but I really like the warm white we have on trim and furniture throughout the house (Benjamin Moore Cloud White). I thought it would look good for the bathroom. The V-groove adds a lot of texture to the walls, so there is good visual interest. Plus the white lets the other elements of the bathroom–the tile, counter and wood hutch–stand out.
I used Benjamin Moore’s Advance line. This is my go-to cabinetry paint, so I figured it would be extra durable for the bathroom.
Next up was the vanity. I picked the vanity design a very long time ago (before Ellie was born). I had stumbled across an image of a vanity with cabinets under the sinks, but they were shorter than usual. Under the cabinets were drawers. I loved the idea of drawers for extra storage, rather than wasting space with a big cupboard.
I knew I wanted simple shaker doors and it was going to be white.
When I ordered all of the bathroom fixtures, the consultant I worked with looked at my plans and said, “You’ll need custom for the vanity.” So I called numerous cabinetry companies and tried to find someone to make my dream vanity. When I finally found one to give me a quote, the estimate came in at $9,000 and they couldn’t build it until the fall. Umm. No.
I hopped online and was amazed to discover a vanity very close to what I wanted at Home Depot. It was the size, colour, profile and even more important drawers I wanted. It was half the price of the custom vanity. And it could be here in a week. Sold.
The vanity did need some adjustments. It’s meant to be free-standing, but I wanted it tight to the wall and the hutch I’m having built. To make that happen I had to cut off a bit of trim at the top and bottom on either end.
Cutting into a brand new vanity is a bit nerve wracking. The amputation also required turning the vanity upside down, which was too heavy for me to do on my own.
So I exercised my phone-a-friend option and that friend, her very precise engineer husband, and weight-lifting son came over to help. They removed the necessary pieces and then carried the vanity inside. It was a tight fit, but they made it into the bathroom, and I was so pleased once I saw it in place.
One of my concerns with the vanity was the colour. Would the white be too cool against my creamy walls? Would I have to paint the vanity? The white looks great. It’s not an exact match to the walls, but it is definitely on the warmer side. The surgery worked and the vanity fits tight to the wall. All of the nicks and cut marks will be hidden.
One of my other concerns with the vanity was the hardware. The online listing said it came with brushed nickel hardware, which was not the look I was going for. I planned to source hardware that fit the pre-drilled holes. But as I unscrewed the hardware (it was installed backwards for shipping), I discovered it was polished, so I decided to install it.
The decision to go with the polished hardware solved another dilemma–the lighting. In my original mood board for the bathroom, I had thrown in a light, but I really had no idea what kind of light I wanted.
I planned to mix metals. Chrome on the taps and maybe towel bars? Black on the hutch hardware and hooks? Brass on the lights and vanity hardware?
I searched through so many lights online and couldn’t find ones that seemed exactly right. I wandered lighting boutiques and big box stores. I added to my Pinterest board. I polled my family with various options.
I finally ordered a gold light that I liked. But when it arrived, it turned out I didn’t like it that much. The gold was very brown. Almost copper. It blended with the frame of the mirrors, when I wanted it to stand out. It was not the look I was going for.
The polished vanity hardware helped me decide to skip bringing brass or gold into the bathroom. I would still have the touches of black I was planning, but the lights were going to be shiny silver.
I went back to a light I’d seen at Home Depot. It had white milk glass-esque shades like the schoolhouse lights we have in the hall and kitchen. It had bright shiny polished metal. Even better, it was in stock at my local store–critical since the electricians were coming in 5 days.
So I bought the lights. When I unpacked them at home, I decided I still liked them.
The electricians came and installed the lights, plugs, floor thermostat, timer for the fan and dimmer switch for the lights. So electrical is done.
The bathroom feels extremely bright with our new lights and white walls. We went from two bulbs to six, which is a big glow up. Fortunately, we have the dimmer switch. We also went from one plug to two. And of course there’s the heated floor. So many upgrades.
I’m really glad to have one trade completely finished. The biggest tasks that I had to tackle are also done. I managed to finish the painting before Ellie finished school for the summer. All of my jobs now are very manageable.
As more and more pieces come together, I’m thrilled with how everything looks together. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted in the bathroom and how I wanted it all to look. But when designing a bathroom, you pick these big, really hard to change things like a tub, tile, vanity, countertop mostly in isolation. Then you cross your fingers and hope they all look good in the room together. So far, they do, which makes me very happy.
I’m documenting the bathroom reno and sharing it in a series of videos on Instagram. Follow me at juliaon129acres, and catch up on all the construction in the bathroom highlights Part 1 and Part 2.
Have you ever modified a brand new piece of furniture? How do you feel about the metal mixing trend? Are you a polished or brushed person? Are you a white room person?
Take one old desk, two file cabinets, a bookshelf, a countertop and a dream and what do you get? The desk in my new office.
My vision for the desk was pretty clear right from the start. I knew I wanted two work stations. I knew I wanted file storage. And I knew I was cheap.
Fortunately, I also knew I was handy.
I came up with the idea of a long counter that wrapped around the corner. Underneath there would be regular desk drawers and file drawers. In the corner on top there would be open shelves for storage and display.
I knew what I wanted. Now I had to make it happen.
When we cleaned out Matt’s office, I left one bookshelf behind with the plan to use it for the hutch on top of the desk. One component, check.
Then I moved on to the file cabinets. I wanted cabinets with a decent amount of storage that were the right height to support a counter. I found a matching pair at a used office supply surplus store.
Next came the drawers. I considered building them and really didn’t like that idea. A search on kijiji netted me an old desk with two towers of simple drawers.
When we picked up the desk, the seller asked Ellie, “Is this going to be your desk?”
She said, “No it’s my Mom’s.”
The seller was a bit horrified. (The desk was pretty rough.) He said, “I have a nicer one in the house.”
I said, “No. This is exactly what I’m looking for.” And in my head, “You’ll never recognize it when it’s done.”
Elements procured, it was time to put them together. Or take them apart and then put them together.
I removed the legs from the desk then cut the top so that I had just the two towers of drawers. Then I revisited the fake shaker technique I used in our laundry room and added strips around the edges of the drawers to give them the recessed panel profile. This is always the stage where I’m questioning my life choices and wondering how this is ever going to look good.
Wood filler, sanding and paint make everything better. I also painted the file cabinets my go-to furniture colour, Benjamin Moore Cloud White.
I was finally at the reconstruction stage. I set the file cabinets at either end of my L-desk. The drawers were going to go in the corner of the L, but they were a bit short.
I built a little platform in the corner that raised the drawers up to be even with the file cabinets. The drawers are shallower than the file cabinets and I had to make sure I had access to some electrical outlets, so the platform appears to be oddly shaped.
After debating spacing and dimensions a bit, I decided to make the corner into a functional cupboard, albeit with a very small doorway and a patchwork floor. This is the spot for memorabilia and rarely used things.
With the drawers in place, I threw a piece of plywood on top and took the desk for a test drive.
Everything was level and felt good, so I placed my order for a countertop. I went with a simple laminate counter. I added some ledger boards on the walls for additional support (after drilling just a few holes to find a stud).
The counter also rests on all the drawers. Thanks to the size of my file cabinets, the desktop is extremely deep. Lots of space to spread out.
Bottom half done. Onto the hutch.
I cut Matt’s bookcase so it was the height I wanted and then I positioned all of the shelves and fastened them in place. I added extra bracing along the back as well.
I debated what colour to paint the shelves and ended up deciding on the same green as the walls, rather than white. After few coats of paint, I lifted it onto the desk, set it in place and screwed it to the wall. Some wood filler and paint touch-ups finished it off.
The final step was a door for the corner cupboard–and we just happened to have a corner cabinet in the barn. I removed the door, cut it down to the size I needed (carefully preserving the hinges), gave it a coat of paint and… couldn’t figure out how to fit it in place. Fortunately, I live with a small person who is keen to help, so she climbed into the cupboard with a flashlight and pencil and marked the hinges for me. (Throughout the construction process, she liked the idea that the corner was a hidden fort just for her, so she had no problem climbing in when asked.)
I was then able to drill the holes and screw in the hinges. A wooden knob, some painted hardboard for the toe kick and reinstalling the baseboard were the final touches. The desk was done.
I am not a cabinet builder and fine carpentry is not my strength. I am really proud of how the desk turned out. I was able to take an idea, a bunch of furniture pieces, put them together and create an awesome, functional, attractive result.
Anyone else have any Frankenstein furniture? Have you every remade a piece of furniture? How do you prefer to work? Do you have a dedicated desk? Or do you move around?
I introduced this year’s home goals by saying, “I am really, really excited by the projects I have planned.” Mid-way through the year, I am still excited about these projects. I’m also really, really excited by how much progress I’ve made.
What a year it’s been so far!
Coop
The coop is finished. The birds are in residence. It is awesome. I love having birds again. Seeing them walking around makes me happy. I am so proud of the coop and how well everything has worked out. I will likely continue to make tweaks depending on what the birds need (like repairing the turkeys’ door after they take it apart–again), but I am comfortable saying that for now, this project is done.
My office
Another project that’s done? My office. Transforming, decorating and organizing this space was fun, and I love having my own working, writing, crafting, sewing, creating, whatevering space.
Ellie’s playroom
A dedicated play, crafting, creating space for Ellie is still on the list for this year. She’s been collecting paint chips in anticipation. Can you guess what her current favourite colours are? This room will likely be our fall project.
Main bathroom
The bathroom renovation is well underway, and what a transformation. I’ve been able to do a lot of the work myself, which feels really good. My vision for the design and function of this space is turning out beautifully. I am really happy. More updates to come.
2025 is a big year. I don’t think I’ve had this many projects on the go since early days (perhaps years) or moving to the farm. It’s been tiring, fulfilling, challenging. But mostly it’s been fun. I love working on the house and the property, making it ours and making it beautiful.
I hope I can keep up the momentum for the rest of the year.
Have you tackled any project around your house so far this year? What’s on your list for the rest of 2025?Anyone else having a big house year? What’s exciting you about your house right now?
The joys of June. Haying. Ellie’s first trip to Canada’s Wonderland. The birds, Cedar and Cigo. Bathroom progress. The end of school. Our solstice campout. A cottage weekend. Strawberries. Fireworks and a fair.
Here are some other things I’ve enjoyed this month.
In case it’s not clear, I fully embrace JOMO (Joy of Missing Out). Turns out, JOMO can help your finances as well.
I read two books this month that had me looking at everyday activities differently: Revenge of the Tipping Pointby Malcolm Gladwell and Breath by James Nestor.
As we mark Canada Day (and Independence Day), I encourage you to reflect on what kind of person you are, what kind of country you want and what you can do to make that happen.
Another PSA. If you smoke, don’t throw a lit cigarette out your car window. A neighbour had a grass fire very similar to ours last week.
“Slow go the days. Fast go the years… Someday turns to right now. Right now turns to way back when. Man you better live ’em. Cause you won’t get ’em back again.”
The chickens and turkeys turned two months old over the weekend. They are doing really well. Today, I’m going back to review our brooder set up and how we got from day-old birds to here.
We decided to brood in the house, and I would definitely do that again. Having the birds close made it easy to check on them frequently and manage their food, water and temperature.
The brooders
We built two large plywood boxes. Each box was 4 feet wide by 4 feet long by 2 feet high (a sheet and a half of plywood). We used 2x2s to reinforce each vertical corner and screwed the plywood to the 2x2s. The bottom of the box is nailed on.
This is my little chick testing out the box before we attached the base. Thanks to Matt’s Dad for the mask.
And here she is describing the decorations she added to the boxes. Many of the drawings are instructional. The birds received directions about eating ticks and learning the alphabet. Cigo got repeated lessons that birds are boring (and he absorbed those lessons so, so well).
We filled each box with wood shavings bought at the feed mill and added our waterers and food dishes (more details on food and water below).
At three weeks, we cleaned out the brooders and changed the shavings. The boxes were pretty stinky by that point, so to keep things pleasant in the house, a cleanout was needed.
For warmth in the brooder we used some heat lamps we found in the barn. Growing up, I remember my Dad using basic lightbulbs. I bought a couple of utility lights and gave it a try, but I couldn’t get the temperature warm enough, so I went with the proper heat lamps.
I set the lamps up on chains hanging from the ceiling. I started with the lights right at the top of the box. This allowed me to achieve the recommended temperatures for the chicks (33ºC) and poults (35ºC).
As the birds grew and I was able to decrease the temperature, I raised the lights higher above the brooders. At the beginning, I had thermometers in both boxes to keep an eye on the temperature. The birds ended up kicking the thermometers around, and I found they weren’t necessary. I watched the birds and adjusted the lights accordingly. If everyone was huddled along the edge of the brooder away from the light, I figured the temperature was too high. If they were hanging out comfortably in the middle, I left the light alone.
Regardless I raised the lights a few inches every week, as the birds needed less and less warmth (about 2ºC per week). At week 5, I began turning the lamps off during the day, and then I turned them off entirely to give the birds a few days to acclimatize before they went outside at week 6.
The temperature in the house was still significantly warmer than outside, so the move was still an adjustment, but the birds didn’t seem to have any issues (more on this below).
Food and water
For the turkeys I started with a basic bowl for their food. An information sheet I got from the feed mill recommended spreading a cloth over the shavings, I believe to help with traction. They also recommended sprinkling some feed on the cloth, so we did all of that.
The chicks got an official chick feeder that was left in the barn by past owners. I’ve never used a chick feeder before, and it worked very well. They were able to access their food easily, they didn’t spill a lot, and the food stayed relatively clean. As the chicks grew, they kicked more and more shavings into the feeder. I think raising it up on a board once they’re bigger would be helpful.
The turkeys graduated from their bowl (and the cloth covering) very quickly. Our turkeys are the Large White breed, and they are living up to their name. They eat constantly and grow so quickly. They stepped in their bowl, sat in it, pooped in it, tipped it over, emptied it.
I moved to another bowl that was in a little box to help stabilize it, and it only worked for a few days before they were too big again. I ended up with a small rectangular cement plant pot. It held more food and was a bit heavier so they couldn’t tip it as easily.
When I first put it in the brooder, I set it on a block of wood. The turkeys were so tall I thought it would help them to have their food a bit higher. A turkey climbed up to stand on the food dish, and he could see right over to the top of the box. It seemed like I’d given him an escape ladder. So the food dish went back down in the shavings. I’d like to find a better feeder solution if we do turkeys again.
At week 4, the chicks transitioned to a 50-50 mix of starter and grower food. I also started to mix the turkeys’ food. By week 6, everyone was fully eating grower. (The chicks will transition to a layer feed around week 18.)
In total, 10 chicks ate 20 pounds of starter. Four turkeys ate 40 pounds (!) of starter (they are monsters).
The waterers worked pretty well. When we first put the birds in the brooders, we dipped each of their beaks in the water. After this, they had no trouble finding the water themselves.
As the birds grew, I put the waterers up on wooden blocks so they could reach a bit easier and hopefully kick fewer shavings into the water.
The chicks came to like to perch on top of their waterer. They didn’t use it as an escape ladder (though they easily could have), so the perching was not a problem.
The problem was the turkeys (again) who knocked their waterer over repeatedly. Wet shavings are not a good thing. Propping the waterer in the corner helped a bit, but they still managed to tip it from there.
Transition to the coop
When we first ordered the birds, I asked the staff at the feed mill when they could move outside. The answer was, “It depends.” Not helpful. Now that I’ve gone through one cycle, I understand that answer a little better. The forums at www.backyardchickens.com have also been helpful.
Birds can be outside without supplemental heat when they are fully feathered and the temperature is around 10-15ºC consistently day and night.
Our spring was a bit slow here this year, so getting to that consistent temperature took awhile. The birds ended up staying inside for nearly 6 weeks. By the end, that felt long.
Things were pretty stinky and dusty. Between poop, feather fluff and sawdust, I felt like I was living in a barn. The photo below shows the amount of dust on the heat lamp when I finally took everything down. This dust went everywhere.
Everyone was big enough to hop out of the brooders. The turkeys have no coordination, so they were always surprised when it happened. The chicks had more control, so they mostly perched on the edge of the box or tight roped along the top. A couple did fall into the turkey box, which they turkeys did not appreciate. Fortunately, I was always nearby to rescue.
Then the turkeys started to fight. That was my sign they were over-crowded and had outgrown the brooder. On a warm Friday morning, I very quickly transferred some cantankerous turkeys to the run outside. Then I spent the day debating whether they could stay out. The weekend forecast was quite cold. What was worse? Fighting in the house? Or freezing in the barn?
We decided to keep them outside, and they did just fine. For the first weekend, we kept them locked in the barn where it was warmer, but when it finally warmed up the next week, they were thrilled to be out in the run.
The chickens joined them in the coop at officially 6 weeks and everyone transitioned without issue.
Final thoughts
Overall, our brooder set up worked very well. Everyone was safe and comfortable for a long time. I liked having day-olds. I feel like it’s a fun way to for everyone to get used to each other. Brooding the birds in the house was easy, albeit smelly and dusty by the end.
If we do birds again, I might try to move them outside around 3 or 4 weeks. Getting them a bit later in the spring would hopefully mean more favourable temperatures. I would also like to work on the wiring in the barn so we can have some heat out there safely if we need to.
So far, the birds have been a really fun experience. We’re definitely learning as we go, but the preparation we put into the coop and the brooders have worked out well. Two months in, I feel like we’re off to a good start.
I love a bulletin board. I collect pictures, sayings, mementos–things that inspire me. There are also reminders that I jot down and Ellie’s many art creations. They all need a place to live, and my preferred home is a bulletin board.
In my new office, I debated where that bulletin board should go. Matt had one on the wall above his computer. I could do the same and even reuse the same board. But I really liked the idea of hanging some nice art above my computer instead.
Then I thought of the cabinets on the other side of the room. What if I made the “backsplash” a giant, long bulletin board?
I had used cork shelf liner at our first house to make a bulletin board over my desk and it worked pretty well (a couple of layers were needed as this cork is very, very thin).
A quick tour of Home Depot showed me that I would need many, many packages of cork and it wasn’t the dimensions I needed. Then I thought about cork flooring underlayment. I had put a strip on the cold cellar door where we have our dart board. Maybe it would work for the office?
I decided to give it a try.
The underlayment comes in a roll 40 inches wide by 30 feet long. Plenty for what I needed.
I did a quick test. I put a couple of layers together and stuck a pin in it. It was nice and squishy and seemed to hold well.
I decided to go for it.
I rolled out the cork. My first step was to cut off the plastic “fringe” that’s along the one edge. Then I measured the space between my cabinets. There were a few ups and downs as a couple of the cupboards are fitted for under cabinet lights. I very carefully plotted everything out with a marker and cut along the lines with my scissors. The cork cut super cleanly and easily.
Then I took my first layer for a test fit. I had a few gaps that were bigger than I wanted, but overall it was a pretty good fit. I was ready to put it on the wall.
I removed cover plates from the outlets and covered the plugs with tape. I taped off the edge of my counter and covered the whole surface with paper to protect it from the adhesive. Then I laid the cork facedown on the counter and coated the back of it with Contact Cement. I also put a layer of CC on the wall. (Cheap chip brushes are good for this, as you will be throwing them out after gluing.)
Warning about Contact Cement. The fumes are super strong. I had the window wide open (in January) and the door closed.
I recommend following the application directions for CC exactly. Put on a generous, even layer. Let it dry for 30 minutes. Have an extra can of CC to make sure you can fully cover your wall and cork.
The issue I ran into in this project (more on that in a moment) was all because of the Contact Cement. I went through CC much faster than I expected, so some areas didn’t get that “generous” coating. (A 946mL can covers 25-33 square feet. My backsplash was about 20 square feet, so ideally I would have had two cans for each layer of cork.) I also was impatient (and it felt wrong to let glue dry), so I only let it set for about 20 minutes before putting the cork on the wall (still within the guidelines, but on the low side).
So after that foreshadowing, let’s proceed with the install.
Once the Contact Cement had dried (kind of), it was time to put up the underlayment. I started at one end, got everything lined up as best I could and worked my way down to the other end. Depending on the size of your bulletin board, having an extra person would be helpful for this step. The Contact Cement on the cork sticks as soon as it touches the CC on the wall. You don’t have any wiggle room. With a long, floppy piece of cork, getting it smooth and aligned on my own was a bit awkward.
Once the underlayment was in place, I went over the whole length of cork and pushed it firmly into the wall. I went back and forth, up and down several times.
Then, I did it all again for a second layer. I was able to make some adjustments to my measurements to compensate for the little gaps I had in the first layer. I also cut out the plugs between each layer, just a rough cut around the outlets for now.
Two layers likely would have been enough, but I could still feel the wall when I pushed in a pin, so I decided to add a third layer of cork. However, I was out of Contact Cement, so the third layer had to wait until a trip to the hardware store.
When I came back the next day, I was dismayed to discover a huge bubble at the end of the bulletin board where I’d done a thinner coat of CC. This was also the spot that had cured for the shortest amount of time. The other end was smooth, flat and securely adhered.
I decided to slit the cork with my utility knife, peel it back and repaste it on the wall with my fresh Contact Cement. Then I proceeded with my third layer of cork, which I knew would cover the repair.
The next day, though, was deja vu. There was another bubble at the same end, and this one seemed even larger. My initial reaction was, “Well, I guess I know where I’m hanging the calendar.” But as I looked at the bubble, it seemed too large to leave. It was a significant bulge and would have been noticeable even behind a calendar.
So I came up with a plan. I would cut a small slit in the cork. Then I would fill the bubble with construction adhesive. I would brace a 2×4 against the cork to push it into the wall while the adhesive set.
So I went to work. My small slit became quite large, as I cut open the whole bubble. But I was able to squirt construction adhesive into the whole area. Then I put my brace in place and not so patiently waited the prescribed 24 hours.
When I took the brace out, the bubble was gone. The cork was perfectly flat and securely stuck to the wall. The cut wasn’t super noticeable, and I hoped it would disappear even more with a coat of paint. Worst case, it was still a spot to hang my calendar. (Spoiler alert: the calendar ended up elsewhere.)
I decided to paint the bulletin board because I didn’t love the colour of the underlayment. It’s a bit yellow and not a true brown cork. Plus I liked the idea of the bulletin board blending in with the rest of the walls a bit more.
Before painting, I did my final cut around the two outlets. I traced the coverplates and very carefully cut the cork back. The outlets are recessed now into bulletin board.
I primed the cork with my go-to Stix primer and then did two coats of green paint. The cork took the paint really well, and I really like how it matches the walls.
After painting, I took all the masking off the outlets and countertop. That’s when I found the gap between the bulletin board and the counter was more noticeable than I liked. I decided to caulk the edge of the cork where it meets the counter. Then I went over the caulk with another coat of paint. This made a really clean edge.
My third layer of cork was a bit more “wrinkly” than the earlier layers. This layer was closer to the centre of the roll of underlayment, so it was wrapped more tightly and had some creases in it. The creases were a bit visible on the wall, but they mostly smoothed out as the cork relaxed.
Once I started to load up the bulletin board, all of the flaws disappeared. I love how this project turned out. The wall is full of things that make me feel inspired, happy and loved. And I have plenty of room to grow.
I also love the trial and error–and ultimate success–with this project. I felt like I was returning to some of my old DIY days. I’m still that scrappy, creative, hard-working, cheap, make-it-happen person, and I like tapping into that.
Who else likes a bulletin board? Do you have a place to display creations and inspiration? Has anyone else had to adjust mid-project when things aren’t working out as you planned?
The birds moved into the coop about a week ago, and I am proud to say this project is done.
Today I’m going to share all the finishing touches that went into completing this space.
When we last visited the inside, the walls and doors were done, but the pens were not fully secure. I added mesh, boards, whatever worked around the perimeter of the coop along the ceiling. This will hopefully ensure that no climbing crawling predators can sneak over the top of a wall. It was fiddly work to make everything fit.
I also added a motion activated solar light on the back of the barn as an extra deterrent to anyone who comes creeping up through the field.
Then I needed to fit out the interior of the pens.
For the turkeys, this was simple: a feeder and a waterer. I found an old metal hopper feeder in the barn, so we washed it out, covered the top with mesh (to hopefully dissuade rodents) and hung it from the ceiling. It’s working very well for the turkeys. For their water, I went with a simple bucket. I built a little box to hold the bucket so the turkeys can’t tip it over (something they loved to do in the brooder). Right now the box is sitting on the floor, but I can attach it to the wall if I want to raise it up.
The chicken fit out took a little more work… and a relocation. The hens needed a few more things in their stall. Water and food, of course. But also nesting boxes and roosts. As I was planning the roosts, I realized everything wasn’t going to fit in the centre stall, which I had assigned to the chicks. But the end stall was a few inches bigger… just big enough for everything they needed. So they moved next door.
The nesting boxes are simple plastic bins that screw to the wall. They lift off the screws easily so I can dump out the straw or even rinse them out if I need to.
For the roost, I spent some time researching to figure out the best approach. Here’s what I found. Build your roost as the highest option in the pen. Chickens like to be high to sleep, so if your nesting boxes are the highest thing, that’s where they’ll sleep. Since I want them to sleep on the roost, I made sure the roosts were higher than the nesting boxes.
I also found that chickens like a sturdier perch. They are not songbirds who will wrap their toes around a branch (although watching them walk along the edge of the brooder box, I think they do pretty well). So I went with 2x4s laid flat for a nice wide perch.
The other topic was optimal spacing. The recommendation was 12 inches per bird. Since our order was for 15 birds, that meant 15 feet of roost. Our pens are 8 feet long, so this worked out easily to 2 roosts along one side of the pen.
A feature I added courtesy of my Dad is a poop board under the roosts. Roosts tend to be a messy area. Chickens poop in their sleep and sometimes even lay an egg. The board under the roosts will hopefully catch the mess and then I can easily scrape it off, rather than changing all of their bedding.
All of my research and planning complete, I went to work and built the roost. Along the way I also decreased our chicken order. The pen was starting to look a bit tight, and I was worried the birds would be too crowded. So I dropped our order to 9 birds. We ended up with 10, as the hatchery seems to have a practice of giving 1 extra chick. We have lots of room for everyone to be comfortable… and we’ll still have lots of eggs.
The roost turned out well… nice and sturdy. (From my attire, you can tell when I was working on this.)
Then I added a little ramp that we had from the old coop in case any birds needed help getting up. It’s on a hinge so we can easily lift it out of the way when we need to clean out the stall.
The final touch was, once again, feed and water. The chicks have another bucket in a box, just like the turkeys for their water. For their feeder, I went with a wall mounted version to save space. This was another souvenir from the old coop that happened to fit perfectly in the remaining wall space.
After the first week, I made a couple of adjustments to decrease the size of the opening where the food comes out, because the chicks were spilling a lot of food, but otherwise it seems to be working well.
Each flock also has water in the run with two large metal waterers that we had stashed in the barn. (Yes, that is 2 chicks standing on top of the waterer.)
Ellie made some signs for each pen. The turkeys live in Turkey Town. The centre stall is Where the Waddles (will) Live. The hens are The Cluckers.
The final detail came from my Mom who bought me a coop warming present of a happy red geranium. This hangs by the door on a chicken plant hanger that used to be on the side of the house. I kept it during the garage demo and have been saving it for exactly this spot.
Since the turkeys and chicks moved in everything has been working really well. They seem comfortable in their pens and in the runs. We lock them in every evening, and it’s an easy task to move through the run, herd them inside, drop their little doors and latch them shut.
In the morning we open the little doors and they pop right out flapping and stretching. They’re eating down the grass and weeds that had grown pretty high in the runs.
I opened the gate between the Waddles and the Cluckers runs, so the chickens have double outdoor space. I had wanted this option during the run construction, which is why I had our contractor add extra gates. I’m pleased that it’s working as I envisioned. It’s nice to give the chickens some extra space and this way the grass doesn’t get overgrown. Win-win.
As a whole, the coop is working as I planned. I’m so proud of this project. It was a big build for me. I had help along the way on demo with my cousins, clean up with our landscapers, fencing with our contractors, walls and more fencing with Matt’s Dad, which I’m very grateful for. But the design and most of the work is mine.
It took figuring and muscle and time and energy and skill. I had what it took and I made it happen. It’s a really good feeling to see the birds in there, chirping (no clucks or gobbles yet), scratching, eating, drinking, snoozing, flapping… birding as they’re supposed to.
Thanks so much for following along with this project and cheering me on throughout it.
I shared the final video updates of the coop construction on Instagram. Follow me at juliaon129acres. If you want to relive the whole construction process, check out the coop highlights (part 1, part 2, part 3).
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