jwfarmhouseproject

recent posts

about

  • Weekend 2: Little DIYs

    Weekend 2: Little DIYs

    This past weekend we did a lot of small things that made a big difference at least for me.

    We had some electrical work done (breaker box redo—wiring etc) so we got the electrician to also swap out the front porch lights for beautiful black farmhouse lanterns that I found on Amazon. I loved the look so much that I got the matching smaller version and got it installed by the back door as well. The lights have a built in sensor and turn on when it gets darker outside. That instantly made the front porch look more modern.

    Before changing the lights
    After changing the lights

    Next came one of the biggest transformations for the smallest investment: painting the front door matte black. It’s amazing how a simple coat of paint can completely change the look of an entryway.

    We also pulled out the pressure washer and cleaned the walkway leading up to the porch. I didn’t get to the entire front porch this weekend, I did the pathway first. 1/2 of the porch Sunday and this week will finish the other 1/2. The difference is night and day!

    Inside of the house the girls and I kept the DIY projects going. I taught my 13 & 10 year old how to use a drill properly (working on theatre sets for years gave me a handy skill set). I had them remove every hinge from the interior doors that we’re keeping and replace them with matte black hinges. Then we swapped out all of the old door knobs for modern lever-style handles. They loved working on this surprisingly. The hinges and doorknobs were super affordable on Amazon.

    None of this weekends projects were huge— but we are progressing along. It’s exciting to watch it all slowly transform.

  • Welcome to the Farm

    Welcome to the Farm

    After looking around for a home for a few months, we finally found the one; and it is nothing like we thought that we would move into. It’s a lot like what my husband thought that we would move into but I expected for it to be a bit more put together. We purchased an older farmhouse that is actually about 50 square feet smaller than the home we live in now. The trade off is that we got approximately two acres of land— my husband gets a piece of the country life that he wants and I am close to all of the city stuff that I like (at least in our smallish city).

    We are about five minutes away from a Target, six minutes from our new shopping center development/mall, and just a few minutes from shops and restaurants in the heart of town. Hopefully it turns out to be the best of both worlds.

    This house itself definitely needs some love put into it. So we are renovating some things before we move in (and trying to speed up the process as we still need to sell the house that we are currently in).

    To help stretch our renovation budget, we’re taking on as much of the demolition and DIY work as we can ourselves. That means plenty of learning, a few mistakes, lots of dust, and hopefully a lot of satisfaction when we can step back and say, “We did that.”

    I will be sharing the real process here, not just the finished rooms. You’ll see what went well, what didn’t, the design decisions, budget-friendly ideas, and everything in between as we transform the farmhouse.

    I wanted to document all of this to look back on and also remember everything that we put into it.

    If you are reading, thank you for following along.

  • Quick Update: A Simple Upgrade

    My favorite projects are turning out to be the most simple projects lol. Since our budget is a bit limited, I wanted to preserve some of the fans that came with the house, but they were very dated and I thought that the lighting that was in them was definitely dating them even more.

    Instead of replacing two perfectly good ceiling fans, we decided to give them a quick refresh. We swapped out the old frosted glass shades for clear glass, and the change instantly made the fans look more modern and let a lot more light into the rooms.

    I love finding little budget-friendly updates like this because they help stretch our renovation dollars while still giving the house a fresh, updated feel.

    One simple swap, a little time, and a whole new look. On to the next project! 🏡

    I used this glass from Amazon, which I liked a lot. It came in really quick. I liked the weathered look and I did Edison bulbs.

     This one was  a tiny upgrade. Everything together was about $70, but it helped me to preserve the fans that were already there not have to switch out any type of fixture or mess with any electrical and once the paneling is gone and the room is painted it should fit right in.

  • Weekend 1: Demos, Sweat…and Carpet Surprises

    Our weekend was spent doing a lot of labor lol.

    My husband, the girls, one of their friends, one of my friends, and I spent about four hours pulling some of the house apart. We pulled up the old vinyl flooring, removed the accessibility grab bars in the bathroom that had been installed for the previous owner’s parents, and started taking down chair rail throughout the house.

    We took everything down using a large crowbar and a smaller crowbar piece ( I learned the hard way about pushing too hard and put a hole in the drywall).

    Then came the carpet…

    I never really thought or knew about what was hiding under carpet and now I know. On the surface everything looked great and wonderful-we even considered not changing the carpet in one of the rooms, but that quickly changed after seeing what was underneath. There were years of dog accidents hiding underneath. My friend who helped couldn’t keep it together and left the room gagging. That was probably the worst part of the weekend.

    We were going to remove the wall paneling ourselves, too. That plan changed after we pulled back a section and found some very dark insulation along with what looked suspiciously like mouse droppings. That was enough for me to decide that we will just pay the contractor to take that part down for us.

    Thankfully, it’s only a small section on about three walls, so our contractor can take care of that part.

    Another big accomplishment this weekend is that we got the roof replaced on the metal shop. It’s now nice, shiny, and beautiful—but there is a lot to renovate inside of the shop. This replacement we did not do our ourselves. We actually used one of our good friends who has an amazing company CG roofing.