Bright, traditional, farmhouse bathroom reveal

Posted on November 17, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

“A huge main bathroom with double sinks, a huge vanity and tons of storage. (The cracked sink, 1970s tile, painted paneling on the walls and Care-Bear-colour-palette on the counter top are examples of potential.)”

This is what I wrote about the main bathroom when I first introduced it on the blog thirteen and a half years ago.

I finally fulfilled that potential. The main bathroom renovation is done. And it is so beautiful.

I took everything out–the fixtures, the two tubs, the fake paneling, drywall, insulation, Care-Bear counter top–and redid it all.

My philosophy for the past 13 years was if I was going to renovate, I wanted to do it completely and ensure the end product was exactly what I wanted.

It is.

I’m going to dive into all the details. But first, here are a few before and afters.

Bathroom before and after

All the details on our new country style bathroom

Behind the walls are new wiring, pipes and insulation. The walls themselves are beautiful pine V-groove paneling. A big upgrade from the fake sheets that were there before. With every renovation in this house, I’m trying to add more farmhouse style, and I felt like the paneling was a good way to do that in the bathroom.

I kept the walls white (Benjamin Moore Cloud White) to keep the look fresh. The white paint highlights the V-groove which gives a subtle texture and interest to the walls. Plus going with white allows the other parts of the bathroom to stand out.

I can’t decide what stands out most to me. Is it the huge wood storage hutch? The sparkly taps? The beautiful marble? The veins of the tile? The leafy shower curtain?

I love how all of the elements of the bathroom work together so well.

For the floor and tub walls, I chose very large tiles with strong veining. The large size is very practical for cleaning (minimal grout!). The finish is matte, which feels appropriate for the farm and contrasts with some of the other sparkly bits in the bathroom. The tiles themselves are also full of contrast with grey lines snaking and swirling over the warm white background. I also had in-floor heat installed, which makes the floor so comfortable.

Accompanying the tiles is our marble on the shower ledge and countertop. This marble is a statement. It’s dark and light and dramatic. Adding to the drama is the beautiful ogee edge, the sculpted backsplash and sidesplashes and the leathered texture. I’m so glad I added these details.

I’m also glad I added the ledge all along the side of the tub. It was a simple adjustment to make at the construction stage. The ledge gives us so much storage and I much prefer the look over a niche. Bumping the tub out by 4 inches didn’t impact the function of the bathroom, and we still have plenty of space between the tub and vanity.

The vanity is exactly the design I had in mind for years. Drawers, drawers and more drawers. I’m so pleased I was able to find it off the shelf. At first, I was concerned that the drawers would be too small. They are quite shallow and narrow. However, they work really well for most things–the perfect amount of space for toothbrushes, hairbrushes, makeup and lots of space to separate things out. Certain containers or bottles don’t fit. Fortunately we have taller storage elsewhere (more on this below).

The vanity led to the one change of plans I needed to make in the renovation. The sinks I had ordered turned out to be too big. Fortunately, the company I worked with to source all of the fixtures quickly supplied another option, and I was able to make the exchange. The sinks we ended up with are quite small, but they are adequate for most bathroom tasks, like washing our hands and brushing our teeth. Most important they fit with the vanity, the taps, the counter.

The taps were another spot where I was trying to create some of that historic farmhouse feeling. From the beginning I knew I wanted old style cross handle taps. That’s exactly what I found: very traditional and a little bit fancy. Their sparkly finish, cross handles, high arc add so much brightness to the bathroom.

In my initial plan for the bathroom, I had expected to have more of a mix of metals. I had planned for the lights and vanity hardware to be on-trend brass or gold. But as the bathroom came together, I couldn’t make the finishes work. I decided to go with the simple chrome hardware that came with the vanity, and that made the light fixture decision easy–sparkly silver there too.

We still have a bit of a mix with a few hits of black in the hutch hardware, hooks and curtain rod.

Instead of mixing metals, I decided to warm things up with a lot of wood accents. This is another touch of farmhouse style. The mirrors were the very first thing I bought for the bathroom. The wood frame and arched top add softness to the other square lines in the room.

I had always envisioned wood towel rings and accessories. Thanks to Facebook marketplace, some refinishing and a little bit of my own construction, I was able to make it happen.

Of course, the big wood storage hutch is another standout. As I wrote 13 years ago, the bathroom had tons of storage, mainly a large linen closet. Unfortunately, its open shelves were ugly and not super functional. Replacing the closet with this hutch adds so much to the bathroom.

Storage of course. I designed the hutch to have 6 super deep drawers. Towels, bottles, soap, medicine, first aid supplies and more all easily fit in the hutch. The upper section with its four shelves holds towels, toilet paper, sheets, blankets with lots of room to spare.

Beyond storage, the hutch adds so much beauty. The maple wood looks perfect for the farm.

The final finishing touch was the shower curtain. This is our only bit of colour in the bathroom. I chose a watery blue leaf fabric that has a beautiful mix of dark and light that echoes some of the tones in the tile and counter. I sewed the curtain myself. I wanted it to be traditional, so I added some pleats at the top. This gives the curtain lovely fullness. It’s also full length from ceiling to floor which makes the bathroom feel so much taller.

This bathroom renovation was not quick. I began taking the room apart in April and finally hung the shower curtain at the end of September. Beyond those 5 months is the 13 years.

It was worth the wait.

I documented the bathroom renovation on my Instagram as well. You can check out all of the videos at Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4. Thanks to everyone for following along on the blog and on social media and cheering me on through this project.

Bathroom sources:

Tub
Sinks
Taps
Mirrors
Tile
Lights
Vanity
Wall panelling
Baseboard
Casing
Paint
Marble counter and shower ledge – Arctic Ocean
Hutch – Custom
Shower curtain – Custom DIY
Towel rings, bars, paper holder – Facebook Marketplace

Trades & Suppliers (with sincere thanks)

Waterdown Plumbing
Agentis Electric
Almar Flooring Inc. (tile installer)
Centura (tile supplier)
Granite By Design
EMCO Burlington
Cambridge Crown & Trim
Mennonite Furniture & Gifts

Wood storage hutch in the bathroom

Posted on September 8, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

The bathroom is slowly approaching the finish line. Another big piece arrived a little while ago. And it is literally big.

Our new storage hutch.

The bathroom is a good size, and it had a large linen closet. But the closet lacked both style and function. I tried to stack things neatly and used baskets to conceal less attractive things. The shelves could store a lot, but they were just one type of storage. With this renovation I was eager for an upgrade.

I decided I wanted a wood cabinet with a mix of drawers and shelves. I was envisioning an antique pine piece, something like might have been in an old farmhouse. I spent some time looking online and in antique shops and didn’t find anything the size I wanted, let alone with the storage configuration I was looking for.

Next I tried cabinet makers, but I struck out there too. Then one day I was driving by a local Mennonite furniture store and I pulled in. Maybe they did custom work?

They did.

They took my drawing and measurements, showed me wood options, and gave me a quote. It was $3,400, including finishing, delivery and set up. For a fully custom piece this size, that felt like a very reasonable price. I paid my deposit and carpentry began.

And finally it’s here.

The whole cabinet is 22 inches deep (the same as the vanity counter), 42 inches wide and 8 feet tall. It is huge. It fits perfectly at the end of the vanity. Thank goodness (says she who did all the measurements).

The cabinet has six drawers on the bottom. After living with the open linen closet, I wanted some closed storage. I was very specific about the measurements for the drawers, as I planned to store shampoo and other bottles standing up. So the four bottom drawers are 12 inches high. The top two are 8 inches. They hold so much.

The top of the cabinet has four shelves behind glass doors. I liked the idea of some more open storage, rather than closing off this corner entirely. The shelves are where I’m putting towels and toilet paper (stacked neatly, of course). The baskets from the previous linen closet (which are actually from our previous house) work well here too and hold things like sheets, Christmas towels and other less coordinated items.

I chose black hardware to contrast with all of the polished chrome we have elsewhere in the bathroom. There are bin pulls on each drawer and small knobs on the doors.

The wood is wormy maple. It has lots of character with darker sections and actual worm holes. For the stain, I chose a finish that matched the wood frames on our mirrors. I feel like it has a bit of the warm antique tones I was going for.

The wormy maple is the one thing I’m questioning on the hutch. The drawer fronts are a little stripey, which I don’t love. I’m wondering about going back to the builder and asking for plain maple fronts.

But overall I love the hutch. It holds so, so much. Plus the beautiful wood tones add so much warmth. The vision that I had for our new bathroom is coming together.

Have you ever had custom furniture made? How do you mix wood tones into your house? What do you think about the wormy maple?

Bathroom countertop is in

Posted on August 11, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

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?

Bathroom renovation update

Posted on July 21, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

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?

DIY double work station corner desk

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

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?

Home Goals 2025 mid-year report

Posted on July 7, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

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?

Coop reveal complete with birds

Posted on June 9, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

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).

Bathroom renovation has begun

Posted on June 2, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Our bathroom renovation is underway.

(If you want to check out some before photos, check out this post or this one. If you want a refresher on what my plans are for this space, this post has a moodboard, floorplan and more details.)

I started taking the bathroom apart at the end of April. I took down the tile and panelling. I pulled out the tubs (there were two, one layered over the other), vanity, floor and linen closet. Everything came out fairly easily, and I am really proud that I was able to do it myself.

Demo is where you find all of the dirty secrets–dirty being both a literal and figurative term. I confirmed that some water had been leaking at the edge of the tub. I had expected that and the damage fortunately was very minor (one moldy stud). I discovered squirrels or other critters had set up a clubhouse under the tub at some point. There were walnut shells, bones, candies, a cigarette pack and all kinds of disgustingness under there.

Everything cleaned up and I had a blank canvas to begin to put it all back together.

I put in new insulation and vapour barrier on the exterior wall. I adjusted the framing around the tub, as I’m adding a ledge for shampoo and soap all the way along the wall.

The plumber came and roughed in all the pipes and drains. He had to shift the taps and drain for the tub slightly, as the ledge pushes everything out a few inches. The plumbing under the sink was very tangled. Now it’s tidy and tucked between the studs. We installed the tub and removed the toilet.

I chose the deepest alcove tub I could find. I wasn’t able to make space for a longer tub, but baths should be a bit more comfortable with the new tub.

The electricians came and roughed in all our new wiring. One vanity light became two, one plug became two. They wired the floor for heat. We also got a new circuit panel, as our old one was maxed out.

Then the project came back to me for a few days. I installed tile backer and drywall.

The tilers came and they brought our beautiful new tile with them. It was exciting to see the first pretty things go in the bathroom. They installed the heated floor membrane, tiled the tub walls and then the floor.

I chose a very large tile (32 inches by 32 inches) to minimize the amount of grout I have to clean. Just two tiles covered the full length of the tub. Nine tiles did the whole floor.

Then the project came back to me again for the wall paneling. I’m installing pine V-groove paneling. It’s similar to what we used in the mudroom and a big step up from the fake 1970s era paneling that was in the bathroom before.

And that’s where the project is at currently. I’m slowly working my way around the room putting up the walls.

For the past month, I’ve been trying to stay ahead of my trades and have everything they need ready to go. Now the pressure has eased a bit, and I’m working at my own pace. Though I definitely want to keep moving and complete most of the work before Ellie finishes school for the summer.

Despite the pressure–and a few disgusting moments–I’ve been having fun with the renovation. I’ve waited a long time for this project, so to finally be underway is very satisfying. It’s also fun to see the elements I’ve chosen (tile, tub, taps, vanity) arrive and (slowly) be installed. So far, I’m loving my choices and it’s so exciting to see this project coming together.

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 highlight.

The coop run is done

Posted on May 19, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

When we last visited the coop, the interior was in good shape. As the weather warmed this spring, I shifted my attention back outside to finish the run. You may recall I had a contractor install fencing for three outdoor pens back in the fall. I was very glad to hire that job out. But there were still things for me to do.

In my quest to make the coop as secure as possible, I wanted to cover the top of the run so no hawks, possums or other predators can get in.

I still had chainlink left over from the pen construction, so I planned to stretch that over the top. I added top rails over each of the gates to attach the fencing to and then I started to lay out the roof.

I quickly discovered it was not a one-woman job. Attaching the roof to the barn or the existing fence while pulling it tight was not fun. So I called Matt’s Dad, and he came and helped.

We laid strips of fencing over the top of the runs, stapling it to the barn wall, attaching it to each vertical section and then wiring each strip to the one beside it. Unless a predator brings plyers I don’t think they’re getting in.

We also laid more mesh around the ground. This will hopefully stop anyone from digging in. All of the mesh is wired to the fence along the bottom and then buried in dirt.

I adjusted all of the gates to make sure they swung easily and latched securely. Between installing the roof and frost this winter, some of the posts had shifted slightly.

Then I blocked any little gaps around gates or corners that looked big enough for a creature to crawl through. This involved an old fence post and stepping stones as thresholds, metal posts, rocks, wood corner blocks… whatever worked.

I also cut little doors in the wall of the barn. This will allow the birds (and currently the cats) access to the runs. Hatches can swing down to close the doors.

(Cedar figured out how to unlock the little button that kept the door closed, so for now the cats are enjoying going outside whenever they want. I’m hoping the birds aren’t quite as dexterous.)

Then I built ramps to make it easy for everyone to get in and out. I expect the hens will be able to hop or flap, but a full grown turkey may not be so acrobatic.

And with that, the runs are done.

The birds are hopping and flapping in their brooders. While they’re not full grown, they are definitely growing.

It is time for them to move out. As soon as the temperatures are consistently warm (and they have all their feathers), they will be moving into the coop.

Yay!

It’s exciting to be so close to having birds in the barn, as I’ve dreamed of and been working towards for so long.

I’ve still been sharing video updates of the coop construction on Instagram. Follow me at juliaon129acres, and catch up on all the construction in the coop highlights (part 1, part 2, part 3).

Picking the perfect green paint for my office

Posted on April 14, 2025 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I was unsure what colour I wanted to paint the office for a long time. Back when we first set up the room, Matt picked a forest green (Benjamin Moore Manor Green). It was not my favourite colour, but it was his room, so I didn’t say anything.

Once I decided the office was going to be mine, I was more than ready to repaint.

I liked the idea of sticking with some shade of green. I like green and it would be another memory of Matt. I knew I wanted dark olive green a few places in the room (namely the vintage metal drawers I found years ago at an auction). Did I want it on the walls too?

I finally decided to go for it. But then I had to figure out what green. I sampled several: High Park, Rosepine, Cushing Green, Peale Green. They were too light, too grey or too brown.

Ellie’s comment was, “So you’re painting the office garbage can green.”

Thanks, girl.

I returned to the paint store in search of my goldilocks–not garbage can–green.

I bought two more samples: the oh so popular Vintage Vogue and a custom shade matched to a flowerpot my sister gave me for Mother’s Day.

Back at home, I put them on the walls… and Flowerpot Green was the winner. It’s dark, but not black, not brown, not grey. It is definitely green, and it picks up the tones of so many of the things I used in this room.

I had a few moments of hesitation as I was painting the first coat, but then I decided I liked it. When I moved my vintage slipper chair in just to see, I loved it.

My Mom’s reaction gave me another reason to love it. Her comment the first time she saw the room was, “Oh, this is the colour we had in the living room and dining room at home!” She was remembering a time that my grandmother (a frequent redecorator) got new furniture, painted the living room dark green, and then sewed curtains to match.

So from my grandmother to Matt to my sister taking care of me on Mother’s Day, my new office paint is full of history and meaning and family. That feels like a good choice to me.