Hallowe’en look back

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

This is our fifth Hallowe’en at the farm. Over the years, we’ve learned not to expect trick or treaters to trek up our long driveway–but Matt bought some candy just in case.

This year, the extent of my fall decorating (I can’t even call it Hallowe’en) is a bowl of gourds on the dining room table in one of my Dad’s hand-turned wood bowls.

Here’s a look back at Hallowe’en through the years.

Our first Hallowe’en, we carved a pumpkin based on Christopher Lee’s performance as Dracula–one of Matt’s favourite movies. The pumpkin even sat on the front stoop for a little while before we realized we were the only ones that were going to enjoy it and we brought it in to the fireplace hearth.

Our second Hallowe’en at the farm was our first Hallowe’en with Baxter. He showed off his tricks to earn a few treats. I’m writing more about trick training over at ThatMutt.com today.

An eclipse coincided with our third Hallowe’en, creating a spooky blood moon.

Last year, our fourth Hallowe’en, I created a creepy haunted forest complete with real animal skulls on the mantel. I still love this display.

How are you celebrating Hallowe’en at your house? Do you decorate for Hallowe’en? Are you going trick or treating?

Five standout houses from homify

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I’ve been writing for homify.ca for a few months now. As a home reno and decor junkie, I love going behind the scenes on amazing houses from all over the world.

Here are a few homes that I’ve written about that stood out so much that I had to share them with you.

I love the idea of being involved in a barn conversion–especially when the result is as beautiful as this barn in the Netherlands.

country Corridor, hallway & stairs by reitsema & partners architecten bna

The tiny house movement is not something I can see myself participating in, but it was neat to see how every “room” of a house could fit into a single shipping container.

rustic Houses by Cristina Menezes Arquitetura

Container homes are very much not my style, but this one from Northern Ireland came with sheep and a cow, so it appealed to the country girl in me. Plus it has an amazing suspended bathtub that looks like a hammock (!).

modern Houses by Patrick Bradley Architects

I love a good before and after, and this Portuguese home was full of them.

translation missing: ca.style.schools.eclectic Schools by SHI Studio, Sheila Moura Azevedo Interior Design

And my most recent post, a restored rustic farmhouse in Northern England, complete with a beautiful country kitchen.

Check out all of my homify.ca posts.

Country or modern, rustic or sleek, what home styles appeal to you?

Fun oversize Scrabble art for the basement

Posted on October 7, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Anyone want to play Scrabble? I’ll bring some letters if you bring the very, very large board.

When it comes to art in this house, I follow two principles: keep it personal and keep it inexpensive. For the basement, I have one more factor: keep it fun.

A wall full of really big Scrabble tiles ticks all the boxes.

Personal: The letters are the initials for us and everyone in our immediate family. Moms, Dads, brothers, sisters, in-laws, nephews, niece, pets.

A message from Auntie JuJu to the two babies joining our family in the next few months: your names must start with one of these 16 letters. More than half the alphabet is in play. That’s lots of options for you.

Inexpensive: Sanding all of these tiles took a bit of time, but since I’m not paying myself an hourly rate, my only costs were a few 2x10s, some sandpaper, printer paper, Mod Podge and a paint pen.

Fun: We have giant Scrabble tiles hanging on our wall. That’s not typical artwork.

When I was making these, I wanted the letters to hang perfectly flush to the wall. Even the thinnest hanger didn’t appeal to me.

I came up with a simple solution that was also–you guessed it–cheap.

I routed a channel in the back of each tile, which slips over a nail that I hammered into the wall.

Adding art to the basement was one of my Home Goals for 2016. We call this room the long room, so I wanted some substantial art that could fill the wall. Sixteen large wood slabs work very well.

Do you play Scrabble? Would you ever hang boardgame art on your walls? How do you handle art when you have a big wall?

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Freshening up an organizer

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Sarah in Illinois joins us today with a great makeover that adds a bit of style to an area that sometimes doesn’t see a lot of decor–her garage. This is a lesson in the power of paint. Plus the power of soap and water!

It seems like all of my small projects get set aside during the summer months. We spend all of our time outside and don’t want to be cooped up in the woodshop/workshop.

I have a pile of projects out there waiting for the cooler months, but I did get one thing finished.

I found this old metal organizer that has been hanging in our garage for who knows how long.

I thought it looked handy, plus it looked like something that could be fixed up with a can of spray paint.

I took it off the wall and took the little jars off. They easily cleaned up in a sink of soapy water. I took off the bracket that attaches it to the wall. I thought that I could just run a little sandpaper over it and start painting. But the red paint that I chose didn’t show up well, it just looked like a rusty red color.

See how the red looks flat?

I decided that I should probably have done it the right way from the start. So I started over. I ran the sandpaper over it again and coated it with a light color primer. This helped the red really stand out when I painted it and that was the look I was going for.

I put several coats of paint on it trying to avoid getting much paint on the inside of the caps on the threads where the jars screw on. Too much paint built up would have made the jars hard to screw on.

Unfortunately, after all of the years hanging on the wall, there is a little jar missing. I am hoping I find it stashed somewhere in the garage, but I am guessing it may have fallen on concrete at some point and is long gone. So I will keep my eyes open for a replacement.

My mom and my brother’s girlfriend are yard sale pros so I am going to put them on the case. In the meantime, I am happy that I made an improvement that cost very little and is much more pleasing to look at.

Do you use spray paint very often on your projects? Do you ever try to take shortcuts then have to start over? What color would you have chosen to paint this organizer?

The red brings a great pop to the garage, Sarah. I think I probably would have kept the rust(ic) look just because I can’t be bothered painting it or decorating my garage (if I’m being honest), but it looks so good. Such a cheerful addition. I love the concept of this organizer. Do you think you could DIY something like this? Perhaps with some very strong glue for the jar lids?

I’m not here

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

A mid-summer holiday Monday. Ahhh. Such a treat. In honour of my day off, I’m taking the day offline too. Paintbrushes and other tools, my two favourite guys, the garden and great outdoors–there’s lots of things I love out there IRL.

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Home Goals 2016 mid-year report

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Six months ago, I shared my Home Goals for 2016. We just crossed the halfway point of the year, so it’s time for my mid-term report.

Beyond sharing my Home Goals, I also started the year by sharing some of my ideas for the major renovation that we want to do… someday. And the first goal on the list was to get an idea of how much the reno is going to cost to help us figure out when that someday might be.

We consulted with a contractor, got some feedback on our plans and got some numbers. They’re big numbers… as in not any time soon numbers… but it was helpful to give us an idea of where we’re at.

In terms of specific projects, here are the rest of our goals.

Guest room

The guest room was our first project of the year, and I’ve already done the official “reveal,” so I’m feeling pretty good about crossing this project off. However, there’s one task left on my original to-do list, which has also made it onto my summer to-do list.

~~Paint the walls and trim~~
~~Replace the light fixture~~
~~Make window treatments~~
~~Refinish the desk chair~~
Strip the paint off the metal bedframe (and maybe repaint)
~~Decorate and personalize~~

Finish the basement

The basement was essentially finished a looong time ago. However, those niggly finishing details are still hanging around. Plus, we have two new summer projects, one that you know about and one that you don’t yet. (I’ll be talking more next week about things that are going to affect our basement progress).

Trim around the cold cellar doorway
Finish the built-in storage area in Matt’s bathroom
Make/buy art to finish off the space
~~Build shelving in the closet under the stairs~~
NEW Build a new closet in the basement
NEW Mystery project (more to come next week)

Furniture

I’m always on the hunt for a few key pieces of furniture. So far this year, I’ve found one piece–the china cabinet for my office–but it’s still awaiting its makeover.

~~China cabinet for my office~~
Coffee table for the living room
Reupholster slipper chair for my office

Vegetable garden

My all-consuming summer project every year has become the vegetable garden. Thanks to Dueling DIY this spring, the garden is in really good shape.

~~Hang the gate~~
~~Edge the garden~~
~~Build raised beds around the perimeter~~
~~Build trellises for the raspberries, tomatoes and squashes~~
~~Plant perennials: grapes, asparagus, rhubarb, more raspberries~~
Run a waterline out to the garden
NEW Spread hay mulch over the garden

Outdoor clean-up

I ambitiously added another outdoor goal to the list, although I realized I’d have to pick my battles in terms of which area I chose to clean up.

Thanks to a bit of distraction at the start of the garden Dueling DIY, I’ve cleaned up the large lumber pile on the north side of the centre field and burned the long grass and weeds on the south side of the garden. Matt’s been mowing the burn, and it almost looks like a real lawn already.

I’m feeling pretty good about what we’ve accomplished so far. Work on a farm never ends, but I love seeing the progress we’ve made.

How are things going at your house? Do you feel like you’re making progress on your goals?

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Happy Canada Day!

Posted on July 1, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Today, I and my fellow Canadians are celebrating our country’s 149th birthday.

I’m also celebrating because I’m a new contributor to homify.ca. homify is a new online platform for housing and construction. The goal of the site is to connect architects, designers, builders–all of the professionals you need–with house and apartment owners.

My first homify.ca post is appropriately Canadian: ideas to incorporate a bit of Canadiana into your home decor.

(I totally want this eh! pillow for my house).

Source: Samphire Bay

To my fellow Canadians, happy Canada Day. To my American readers, happy almost Fourth of July. No matter what nationality you are, happy weekend, everyone!

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Seeing it all come together… sometimes

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

When I finished the guest room makeover, I started thinking about vision. By that I mean having a vision for a space and seeing it come together.

I loooooove the guest room. And it was an easy makeover. For me, easy means two things:

I had it clear in my mind what I wanted the room to look like.
I was enthused to work on the room. The makeover didn’t stall out halfway.

If I contrast that with the master bedroom, it’s a bit of a different story. I still really like that room, but the makeover was a project that I didn’t really love. It dragged on and on and on. From picking a paint colour to building the headboard to sewing the curtains, I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I didn’t have a clear vision. And so the room felt like a chore.

I’m a very visual thinker. If I think back to my university days when I was studying, I could visualize a page in my notebook and remember what was written on that page. It’s definitely not a photographic memory, but it’s about seeing pictures in my mind.

My approach to home renovation is the same. Usually, I can see it in my mind–very clearly–what the room is going to look like in the end.

And when I do, that makes me excited about the project. It gives me energy to keep going and to make the picture in my mind a reality in my home.

Fortunately, I’ve been thinking about our forever home long enough and we’ve been living here long enough that I’ve been able to develop a pretty clear vision for most of the spaces–both inside and out–at the farm.

Now if there were just enough hours in the day (and money in the bank) to bring them all to life!

How do you approach home reno projects? Are you a visual person? What makes you excited about a makeover?

Summer to-do list

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Summer officially arrives this evening. While I have grand plans of sunshine and hammocks and hikes and gardens and lots of time outdoors, I also have a handful of projects that I’ve been saving up for my favourite season.

Build a closet in the basement

Our house has fabulous storage. However, none of it is a match for my husband. I’m not sure Matt’s office ever successfully contained all of his stuff. Over the winter I had a brainwave. Remove some of the cabinets that are tucked between the dryer and the freezer in the laundry room (they’re already filled with his stuff anyway) and replace them with a full height closet. I think I can just about triple his storage space. And it should be a pretty simple build with some basic framing, drywall, bi-fold doors and shelves.

Sand scrabble tiles

Source: insideways

One of my Home Goals for 2016 is adding some art to the basement. Going with our fun and games theme, I want to DIY some Scrabble tiles. I’ve had the wood cut for months. Months, I tell you. I just need to sand them and then paint the letters. Sanding sounds like a good way to enjoy some time outside in the sunshine, doesn’t it?

Strip paint off the guest room bed

The only thing missing from our beautiful guest room makeover is a proper bedframe. I have a great rustic metal frame in the barn, but the finish isn’t the greatest. I’m planning to strip it back to bare metal and see what it looks like. Paint stripping is an outdoor job IMO, so another good way to enjoy the outdoors.

Makeover office cabinet

Last week, you saw the china cabinet I’ve bought for my office and heard about my plans to rebuild the upper hutch. I’m so excited to have my office organized that I can’t wait to get started on this project. However, I have to put this lower down on the list, as other projects have been hanging around much longer. So this one’s a maybe summer project.

Puttering on some projects, keeping up with the gardens and relaxing on the farm. That’s my recipe for a good summer.

What’s your recipe? Do you have a summer to-do list? What are you looking forward to this season?

China cabinet makeover plans

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Last week you saw the china cabinet that I’m going to make over for my office. Today I’m back with my makeover plans–and a couple of spots where I need your input.

This cabinet is a win for a lot of reasons: drawers (surprisingly hard to find), the exact width I need to fit on the wall beside the window, solid wood, decent quality.

It has one big miss though. It’s not quite as tall as I want. The three shelves on the upper hutch are great. But they’re too short to hold even a magazine. So I’m planning to rebuild the top to give a little more breathing room between the shelves. I think I can reuse a lot of the hutch–everything except the side pieces, which isn’t a bad thing because I don’t love the half-moon cutouts anyway.

I’ll make the old and new wood blend with a coat of white paint, but I have a plan to let a bit of the wood show through. Hopefully I can sand out some of the scratches.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the pulls yet. They’re all wood and completely recessed into the doors and drawers. I can’t remove them without leaving big holes in the cabinet. I’m wondering if some gold paint would work. I have an idea it might look a bit campaign-esque like this dresser from Centsational Girl. What do you think?

The other area I’m questioning is the legs. Right now, there are two long legs on the bottom. Basically 2x4s screwed to the cabinet. (Please ignore the dust).