Good thrifting week

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Last week was a good thrifting week. On Thursday I scored a rocking chair (for our someday front porch).

Thrifting score of the year so far. Bentwood rocker for my front porch! pic.twitter.com/WzmiivT9Wr

— Home on 129 Acres (@homeon129acres) February 4, 2016

Even though my backseat was (obviously) full I stopped at another Value Village and found something else I wanted. I’ve been looking for a large metal shelf, but I was loath to spend more than $100 for something new. Finding one second hand for $30 was a no-brainer. Of course it was huge and there was no way it was coming home with me when my car was already loaded.

Thrift store metal shelf

Fortunately, when I returned the next day, it was still there.

And now it’s in our cold cellar (a room that’s impossible to photograph thanks to no windows, fluorescent light and a whole lotta concrete).

Home decor storage in the cold cellar

This may not look like much, but it’s a big improvement over what was here before.

The previous owners left us a desk, but when it came to storage or organization it was pretty useless.

Mess

I’ve been stashing some of my overflow home decor in the cold cellar, and it was time for an upgrade. Up being the operative word. We all know that using vertical space is the best organization technique there is.

Now I have a place for all of my home decor accessories–including my very own lighting emporium. (And a reminder that future thrifting trips should not include anymore lamps).

Lighting storage

Gathering lights, shades, baskets, bins, trays, shelves and bottles from all over the house and consolidating them in the cold cellar made me very happy last weekend. I even unpacked two boxes that have been packed since we moved to the farm… nearly four years ago.

I love getting organized. Almost as much as I love a good thrifting score.

Have you done any thrifting recently? What do you like to buy? I knew I had a thing for chairs. The lighting obsession was a bit of a surprise. Do you have a home decor stash? How do you store your home decor? Who else loves getting organized?

Keeping score

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I feel like I’ve crossed a new milestone in blogger-dom. I used chalkboard paint.

I know. It’s like nearly four years in, I’m finally a serious blogger.

Tall chalkboard for score-keeping in the games room

I’ve been wanting to add a chalkboard to the long room in the basement for awhile now. This is the room that holds our pingpong table and dartboard.

I figured a chalkboard would give us a place to write down the score, and it could also play the role of “art”–one of my home goals for 2016 being to decorate the basement.

I used rough cut 1x3s for the frame and screwed them together with my Kreg Jig. Lesson learned, lumber this thin will split if you screw into it sideways. Cut a new piece, redrill the pocket holes, screw into the end grain, all is well.

Pocket holes with the kreg jig

The frame is stained with a mix of Minwax Classic Grey and Provincial. I find as I proceed with decorating this house, my style is getting more and more rustic–hence the rough cut lumber and the grey stain.

The chalkboard itself is a piece of hardboard coated with chalkboard paint. With chalkboard paint (for those that aren’t in the know), you have to “season” it before you use it. That means you rub it all over with chalk and then erase it. If you don’t do this, your writing won’t erase properly. However, this eliminates the beautiful black finish and makes your board very grey. I was a bit disappointed by this, but I think I can live with it. I’m not prepared to buy a big piece of actual chalkboard to fix it.

Tall chalkboard for score-keeping in the games room

The chalk and eraser sit on the floor in a wood bowl that my Dad made.

Chalk and erase in a wood bowl

Now we just have to clear Matt’s box collection off the pingpong table so we can actually use the chalkboard (darts is not my sport). Keeping it real for you.

Tall chalkboard for score-keeping in the games room

Speaking of sports, are you watching the Superbowl this weekend? Have you ever used chalkboard paint? Any darts tips to share?

Halfway to a hospitable guest room

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

This house is the first time we’ve had an honest to goodness spare bedroom. We like it when people come to stay with us. However it doesn’t happen that often. Perhaps because the room has never been very welcoming.

You saw last week that making over the guest room is one of my home goals for 2016. Today I’m ready for the first progress report.

Here’s a really bad photo to show roughly where we started. (We usually put sheets on the bed when we have guests).

Guestroom before

The specialest features of this room were the stippled ceiling, ugly ceiling fan and pseudo wood paneling. And everything was dirty. Incredibly dirty, as is the norm for any untouched space in this house.

I’m almost ashamed to remember that we used this room as our bedroom up until about a year ago. When we scraped the ceilings after Christmas, the water running down the walls left brown and grey dirt tracks. So gross.

Despite its… specialness… this room is not going to be a hard fix. Here’s the to-do list:

~~Scrape the stippled ceiling~~
~~Paint the ceiling, 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

And here’s where we are so far.

Guest room makeover progress

Better, right? Even that paneling looks okay now that all of the holes are patched and it’s painted a pretty blue-green (Wythe Blue from Benjamin Moore).

We’ve obviously made really good progress, but despite appearances I feel like I’m only halfway. If I’m being completely honest, I’ve moved onto decorating (hanging pictures, adding the flowers) as a way to avoid starting on the curtains.

The finishing touches are usually the hardest part of any makeover, right? But if we truly want a hospitable room, we should give our guests the option of sleeping past dawn. Sigh. Curtains here I come.

Do you have fake wood paneling at your house? How about a guest room? What must-haves should I include in our guest room?

Home Goals 2016

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I really enjoy the process every January of setting my home goals for the coming year. (If I’m being honest, I start thinking about them in December or even earlier). I’m not big on resolutions on the personal front, but on the home front my annual plan helps me stay focused.

This year, I’m going to try to continue last year’s plan of striking a balance between productivity and a bit of relaxation. There’s still lots to do, of course. But it’s been four years since we bought the farm. Obviously, our renovation pace is not even close to breakneck.

We are approaching the point where we have either really big projects (kitchen, bathroom, garage, master suite) or small stuff (paint the guest room, dining room, my office). For now, I’m keeping the focus on the small stuff.

Which will help me to continue another theme from last year: frugality. We did pretty well on that front in 2015. You’ve seen some of my long-term renovation plans already, so continuing to save money in 2016 will be helpful.

And that’s the first goal on the list: get an idea of how much the Big Reno is going to cost.

Beyond that, the focus is going to be on small, frugal things.

Guest room

Source: Southern Living

Matt and I got a start on this at the tail end of last year by scraping the stippled ceiling. We have more to go to make it match the picture in my mind.

Paint the walls and trim
Replace the light fixture
Make window treatments (ugh… I really don’t want to sew curtains again)
Refinish the desk chair
Strip the paint off the metal bedframe (and maybe repaint)
Decorate and personalize

Finish the basement

Source: insideways

The basement was our very first project when we moved to the farm. But the nit-picky finishing bits are still hanging around. I just need to get my butt in gear and get it done.

Trim around the cold cellar doorway
Finish the built-in storage area in Matt’s bathroom
Make/buy art to finish off the space (this one’s a carry-over from the 2015 home goals)
Build shelving in the closet under the stairs

Furniture

Slipper chair upholstered in Brissac Jewel by P Kaufmann Fabric

Source: Skyline Furniture

My list of wanted furniture is getting shorter and shorter.

China cabinet for my office
Coffee table for the living room
Reupholster slipper chair for my office (in the same beautiful Brissac Jewel by P Kaufmann that I used for my bulletin board)

Vegetable garden

Source: Country Living

Last year’s top home goal returns. There’s still more to do to make my dream vegetable garden.

Hang the gate
Edge the garden
Build raised beds around the perimeter
Build trellises for the raspberries, tomatoes and squashes (we can’t have the squashes running rampant again this year)
Plant perennials: grapes, asparagus, rhubarb, more raspberries
Run a waterline out to the garden

Outdoor clean-up

Source: LandVest

I’m going to be a bit ambitious this year and add a second outdoor task to the list. The task of cleaning up this property could be a full year project for a full team of people. It’s a job of picking up rocks, extracting weeds (fire worked well last year), grading (and maybe adding a bit more topsoil), seeding grass, mowing. And it’s a matter of picking my spot… and being satisfied with a spot, not all of them. Here are my options:

North side of the house
West side of the house
On the edge of the woods at the north side of the house
Around the barn (all points of the compass)
Behind the driveshed and around the garden
At the foot of the driveway
Along the shore of the pond (oh how I want to clear the shore so that I can get close to my pond)

Six goals for 2016. I feel like there’s a bit of symmetry in that. Most important I feel like these goals should be relatively achievable.

In fact, the year is already off to a pretty good start.

The guest room is well underway, and I’ve started a few projects for the basement too.

You’ll see some of those soon.

Are you setting goals for 2016? What projects do you hope to complete this year?

Focusing on the New Year

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

Sarah in Illinois is back with her first post of the year. Like me, Sarah was busy making presents before Christmas and she has big plans for 2016.

Hello again from Illinois! It is finally winter-like here. As I am writing this this high today was 16F (-9C for us Canadians). That is the coldest we have had yet this year.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday season. I went to my final holiday party this past Friday. My girlfriends and I decided to draw names to exchange gifts with the one rule that the gifts had to be homemade.

It was so fun to see the creativity that everyone came up with. There were homemade lotions, shave cream and such, a pumpkin roll and necklaces, a burlap wreath, a knitting needle holder.

The gift I received was from my personal trainer cousin. She made me a plyo box and workouts to go with it. We discuss working out quite often and she is always on hand to give me advice and a plyo box gives me new workouts, with more interest than just running up and down my road. A plyo box can be used to jump on, sit on and do workouts off of and I am sure many more things that I haven’t learned yet.

The gift that I gave was for my tea-drinking cousin. I found a few ideas on Pinterest of a tea bag dispensing house.

Tea dispensing house

I didn’t follow any directions and I didn’t take step-by-step pictures, but basically I made a house like you would for a bird house. I made the roof removable so that it could be refilled. The doorway is where you can see and remove the tea bags. I used a sample tea bag to make sure the opening was wide enough for a bag to slide through. Then Steve had the idea to notch out an area for your finger to fit and pull out the bag.

Tea bag dispensing house
That was a great idea and I am so glad that he thought of that. After gluing the walls together and nailing the base on, I sanded and filled in the cracks with wood filler. After a final sand, I gave the whole thing a base coat of acrylic craft paint. Then I hand painted on the windows and greenery. I finished with a coat of clear matte spray paint to seal in the craft paint. I think the receiver was happy with the gift!

The hostess made us a table full of appetizers and also had a hot chocolate bar and a Bellini toast at the end. It was such a great time to visit and such a fun way to end the holidays!

Now that I am really thinking about the New Year, I am of course thinking of resolutions.

I like to have some direction to start the New Year. But this year I am doing something different. Instead of coming up with a list of resolutions I have come up with a word as a theme for this year. It took me a few days to come up with one and I used this website: myoneword.org to help me narrow one down.

The word that I am using for 2016 is “FOCUS.”

I think that is a word that can be used in so many areas for me. I have a bad habit of starting things and not finishing them. Focus can be used to remind me to stay with the project I started. I also let technology distract me. Whether it is Facebook or Instagram or one of the many gaming apps on my phone, I seem to find things to do other than what I should be doing. So focus is going to be the word to try to get me on track!

I can’t wait to get some projects started to share with you. We are definitely adding on to our house this year, so that will be something that I will be sharing throughout the year. We already have received our first seed catalog so that means garden planning is not too far away. I think this is going to be a busy year at our house.

I hope you all have a healthy and happy 2016!

I love the idea of all those handmade gifts. Sounds like you have big plans for the year ahead, Sarah. I’m looking forward to seeing them unfold under your laser focus!

Looking back at Home Goals 2015

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

There are all kinds of retrospectives and reflections happening in the blogosphere right now. My look back will not be nearly as emotional or deep as some of the ones going around.

I feel like 2015 was a pretty good year for this blog and our projects at the farm. Last January, I said I wanted to be flexible and not knock myself out renovating all the time. I definitely feel like I managed that. I also had a few more personal posts mixed in over the course of the year, and I’ve made some progress on that front too.

For now, it’s time for the annual report on how we did on Home Goals 2015.

1. Master bedroom Check!

Thanks to the One Room Challenge, we have a beautiful master bedroom. I love having another room completely done.

Dropcloth curtains in a navy master bedroom

2. Basement art No check.

The smallest task on the list–and the one I was most enthused about at the start of last year–was the one where I made no progress. This one will carry over to 2016.

3. Furniture Partial check.

Looking back over the year, I was a bit surprised at how much furniture we bought, made or made-over. We did better than I thought. However, there’s always more on the list, hence the partial check.

Found 2 bookcases that I’m going to make into a china cabinet for the dining room. They still need their makeover, but they’re working okay for now.
Found a set of 8 dining room chairs that match our table nearly perfectly. They’ll need to be reupholstered and refinished someday, but once again, they’ll do for now.
Found a ladder/step-stool/chair that reminded me of my grandmother–and a lot of you of yours.
Made a headboard and painted a dresser as part of the master bedroom makeover.

Dining chairs and table

4. Vegetable garden Big fat check.

My one and only outdoor goal for the year was a huge success. It started when I decided to build the garden in Matt’s “goat ring.” To get rid of the weeds, our nephew and I lit it on fire, I spread out the world’s biggest tarp, and then Matt rototilled the whole thing. We planted and watered and then we harvested… and harvested… and harvested. Along the way, I built a gate, and Matt and I put up chainlink all the way around. And then at the end of the season, I spread manure over the whole thing.

Tomatoes ripening in the garden

There’s still more work to be done. It’s a garden, which I’ve learned is synonymous with work. However, it’s established. It produced food. We’re still eating our harvest. And I’m so enthused about this year’s plans.

But that’s the stuff of home goals 2016. Those will be coming up next week.

How did you do on your goals in 2015? What was your big accomplishment?

The season of making

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I love making presents for people. (And I love getting handmade presents too).

Some of my making so far this year has been peanut butter balls for Matt, blanket shawls for several people (need to make one for myself–I love those shawls), chocolate zucchini breads for my team at work (using homegrown zucchini of course) and a wood sign for a special colleague.

Life lessons wood plaque

I’m not good at making friends at work, but Tania and I really connected. In the new year, she’ll be starting a new job in Toronto. I will miss working with her.

When I was thinking about a going-away gift, I thought back to the conversations we’ve had during our late evenings in the office. Usually, we end up talking about life and what’s really important. I thought about this growth chart that Becky from sketchy styles made. It is full of good lessons for any age.

I scaled it down a wee bit, added checkboxes rather than height markings, changed a couple of items (“drink good wine” seemed appropriate for my friend) and renamed it a to-do list rather than a hero chart (Tania is the queen of to-do lists).

Life lessons wood plaque

I gave the sign to Tania yesterday, and she loved it. She also totally got it. That’s the best part of gift giving: finding the perfect gift that matches up with the people you’re giving to.

Are you making any gifts this year? What’s the best gift you’ve ever given? Have you ever received a special handmade gift?

Linking to: Happy Housie Get Your DIY On: Wall Decor

2/3 of a china cabinet

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Somehow, I’ve ended up married to a person who cannot–cannot–pass by a Value Village without stopping in. Now I enjoy thrifting as well. However, more often than not, I end up walking around the VV parking lot with Baxter, as I prefer not to leave him in the car.

So a few weeks ago, Bax and I did our shopping in the parking lot.

I’ve been on the hunt for a china cabinet to use for storage in my office. There just happened to be a pair of bookcases sitting outside the VV that I thought might work. A quick conversation with the clerk confirmed that they weren’t sold, and he was more than happy to be spared carrying them into the store.

When we got them home, it turned out they were a bit too big for my office. However, I thought they might work for the dining room.

I’ve been on the hunt for a new china cabinet for the dining room for a little while. In fact, it was one of the items on my Home Goals 2015 list.

I had visions of using a big 1990s style entertainment unit for the dining room. I was blown away when I first saw Thalita’s entertainment unit makeover in her kitchen, and it sparked all kinds of ideas.

An entertainment unit–one that used to hold those huge boxy TVs–would give me a tonne of storage. And even though these are more bookcases than TV cabinets, they totally do.

90s bookcases as china cabinet

The cupboards below hold our wedding china, wine glasses and other serving pieces and keep them sheltered from dust–even with a lovely cutout in the back of the cabinet.

Wedgewood Oberon china

Wine glasses and plates

The shallow drawers are perfect for candles and cutlery.

Candle storage

The shelves above hold the prized Bleu de Roi china that I inherited from my grandmother and some bar supplies along with Matt’s collection of steins and shot glasses.

Bleu du roi china

Steins and shot glasses

I haven’t done much styling for these shelves. I’ve more just unloaded various cupboards.

And this set up is definitely not final.

My original vision was for three bookcases. I still have plans to build a middle section to tie the shelves all together. Plus remove the arch at the top of the cases, update the trim and the hardware, add glass doors to the upper section (I don’t believe in dusting, so open shelves and I do not get along) and then paint everything.

90s bookcases as china cabinet

Plus someday I’d like to paint the walls in the dining room, relocate the antlers, etc. etc. etc.

For now though, I figure I’m at least 2/3 of the way there.

Big news from Illinois!

Posted on December 9, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Before I get into today’s guest post from Sarah in Illinois, I wanted to mention that I guest posted on That Mutt yesterday. Visit Lindsay’s blog to read all about Baxter’s favourite toy–and enter to win one for your own furry friend.

And now on to Sarah’s latest post. (I won’t say any more because I don’t want to scoop her big announcement!)

There has been a lot going on over here in the past two weeks! The big news is that the day before Thanksgiving Steve and I went to the courthouse and got married! We have been dating for almost 6 years and engaged for close to a year and anytime anyone asked, we told them that we were not going to have a big wedding, but no one knew when. It was a Thanksgiving surprise for everyone!

Sarah and her new husband Steve

We got together with Steve’s family for Thanksgiving and had a great time and ate too much and visited and watched football. I also had Steve’s niece take our picture for our family Christmas card. Back at home, I have started my Christmas shopping, our tree is up, lights are on the house, Christmas is in full swing!

We bought new LED lights for our tree and we were so excited to see the patterns that it splashed on our walls and ceiling!

Since there is so much that goes on leading up to Christmas, I wanted to make sure we focused on our favorite things and didn’t get overwhelmed with trying to get everything done. I asked the kids what was something they wanted to make sure we didn’t forget to do and they both agreed that we can’t miss making gingerbread houses! So we still have that to do, plus finish shopping, plus all our family dinners. And I still have a gift to make for our handmade gift exchange that my girlfriends and I are going to do.

As for home improvement projects, I have to admit Steve and I kind of burnt ourselves out over the summer. We have done absolutely nothing around the house and I think we have both decided that it is time to get back to work! I came home one night this past week, and Steve had grout mixed up and we got to work grouting our hallway.

Grouted tile

We laid the tile early in the summer and have been walking on ungrouted tile all this time. I am so thankful that we both have our drive back to work on the house! We have a sort of game plan for this winter, and I am getting excited about tearing the house apart and fixing it back up! I am hoping that my future posts will be filled with projects that we have finished!

Congratulations, Sarah and Steve! It’s great to get your DIY-mojo back. Oh, and getting married too. That’s big. 🙂 All the best to you both.

Sarah will be back in the New Year with more updates about (married) life, home renos and country living.

How to add a harp to a lamp

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

My thrift store lamp that you met on Friday had a lot of things going for it, especially after its spray paint makeover. However, there was one thing missing that I didn’t notice until the very end: the harp.

The harp is the little bracket that goes around the light bulb and holds the lampshade.

I admit, I was a little intimidated by the prospect of installing a harp. I hear about a lot of people rewiring lamps, but I’ve never attempted that myself. It turns out it’s not hard. In fact, I just started trying to take the lamp apart and was able to figure it out pretty much on my own.

Step one was to remove the socket from the lamp base. It just unscrewed, and the cord was loose enough that I was able to pull it out a little bit.

Removing the socket from a lamp

The wire was still buried deep in the socket, so I started trying to figure out how to access it. A close examination revealed a seam in the middle of the socket. You can see it partially opened here.

Removing the socket from a lamp

The socket easily unscrewed, and I could see where the wires attached to two screws. I could also see a really intimidating knot. Gulp.

Taking apart a lamp socket

A couple of turns loosened the screws enough to unhook the wires. Quick tip: I marked which wire went to which screw (one’s gold and one’s silver) by straightening the gold one and leaving the silver one hooked.

Taking apart a lamp socket

I was really, really hoping to not untie that knot, but in order to remove the bottom part of the socket–never mind putting on the harp–I had to. With the knot untied, the socket easily slid off and the harp bracket easily slid on.

How to add a harp to a lamp

After that, it was a (relatively) easy process of reassembling the socket. I slid the bottom part of the socket back into place. I retied the knot. (Okay, this was a bit complicated.) It turns out the knot is called an underwriters knot. I watched this animation a few times as I was tying my own knot. I hooked the wires back over their screws, and then screwed everything back together. I had a reassembled lamp that now included the bottom part of the harp.

How to add a harp to a lamp