Restoring the Roost

A New Focus

2020-04-25T21:46:00.000-04:00

If you are still reading this blog, I'm amazed! Thank you for sticking with me through lack of posting and energy/time to continue. Perhaps it's having to manage three young children AND working part-time or maybe it is due to lack of motivation during this quarantine........but I find myself very uninspired in my blogging efforts. I'm not sure what my readers are interested in or what might be helpful in terms of the various topics discussed here. So please, if you are able--I would love your feedback!

If I do decide to continue with this hobby, I'm thinking of shifting my primary content to focus on one or two major areas instead of several, like, for example "farmhouse style" or "country living" with tips for those dabbling in homesteading, backyard gardens, raising chickens, etc. Or, if I have enough interest in something entirely different, I could certainly choose to pursue that avenue instead.

I pray you are all staying healthy (and sane!) during this pandemic. Getting outside in our garden every day and playing with the kids in the sunshine has been instrumental for our mental health. It's easy to become overwhelmed with worry, but remember that "perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18).

Blessings,

Sourdough Bread Baking Tips

2020-01-20T09:32:00.001-05:00

Not much beats the wonderful smell of fresh bread baking in the oven--and sourdough bread is particularly luxurious as it fills the kitchen. I love baking bread but since I don't often have much time to do it, I like to put my efforts towards sourdough with its rich and complex flavor. Sourdough bread is often easier to digest and a bit healthier than other types of bread because of its natural fermentation process, which boosts healthier gut bacteria. You don't have to use yeast as the active sourdough starter provides the leavening needed for the bread to rise, so the only ingredients are flour, water, and salt added to your starter.

On the flip side, sourdough can be tough to master, time-consuming, and difficult to produce a great loaf every time. When I first became serious about sourdough bread, I decided to enroll in an online
class/workshop hosted by Jenny McGruther of Nourished Kitchen. She emailed daily instructions for preparing your sourdough starter all the way through baking your first loaf. Counseled by her advice, I ordered my sourdough starter cultures online from a source like this one.

I recommend either following Jenny's instructions which can be found here or following the recipe that comes with your starter cultures. For me, it took a while for my starter to get to where it was doubling, nice and bubbly, with only a couple of feedings.

the starter before feeding

Once you have an established starter, you can store it in your refrigerator and take it out as needed to feed, and then eventually use for baking. I truly believe for me, getting the starter to a point where it was a strong, active starter was the key to making a good loaf of bread.

Now--I'm not the type to continue with a complicated method like so many instructions you see out there for sourdough. And measuring in ounces with a scale--ha! Forget about it......I like to keep things as simplified as much as possible and in order for me to do that while also creating great sourdough bread, I've had to adapt my own way of making sourdough using a lot of trial and error pulling from a few different cookbook authors and recipes.

This is not the best or most precise method for always producing good results with sourdough bread (and definitely not the most detailed), but for me and my lifestyle it works so this is what I do:

1. Take starter out of the refrigerator a few days before you plan to make your Levain and bake bread. Feed it each day. Usually with my starter by the second day it is more than doubling in volume after feeding.

2. The night before you plan to bake your bread, make your Levain. For me, I had to alter my Levain recipe to 1 cup of water, 2 cups all-purpose flour, mixed with 4 generous tablespoons of sourdough starter. Mix all together and let sit overnight. (I usually cover with a towel or plastic wrap) Place your starter back in the fridge.

the finished Levain in the morning

3. The next morning, mix into your Levain 1 tablespoon sea salt, 2/3 cup flour, and 1/3-1/2 cup of water to form a soft dough. Let rest 20 minutes. Fold your dough over into its center 4-6 times, turning the bowl while doing it each time. Cover and let rise 1 hour. Repeat the folding of the dough, cover, and let rise 2-4 hours or until at least doubled in volume. It helps if you have your dough in a warm place (try setting it beside your stove while cooking or simmering bone broth).

the dough after rising, ready to be kneaded and worked into a ball before placing in proofing basket

4. Prepare a well-floured proofing basket. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and lightly knead until tension develops and you have a soft, taught, ball--but not for very long. I like to leave lots of air bubbles in mine and I err on the side of caution when kneading so that the dough is not overworked. You might try experimenting with not kneading hardly at all and see how it turns out--you may like it better that way!

5. Form a ball with dough, turning sides underneath and then place into the proofing basket. Cover and let rise another 1-3 hours. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and preheat a dutch oven (I use a small cast-iron one) that you plan to bake your bread in if you have one for 30-45 minutes.

6. Turn dough carefully out onto parchment paper (you can score the top if you want) and place the dough with paper into the preheated dutch oven. Place the lid on top. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 350 degrees, remove the lid, and continue to bake for 1 hour more until the bread is golden brown.

7. Remove your bread from the dutch oven and let cool. Enjoy!

Don't worry, it's normal to run into problems and bread flops when starting out. My first loafs were too dense, or too hard, or too gummy. I also had issues with my dough not rising. But the more you work with getting your starter activated and healthy, the more forgiving the bread will be.

One of my favorite ways to enjoy sourdough bread is dipped into a hearty soup, but I also love it simply with butter and honey. I typically bake my sourdough on the weekends since you need to be home for much of the day when you bake it, so Saturdays or Sundays are a usually a great baking day for me, with the Levain prepped the night before.

Happy baking!

Simple Christmas Porch

2019-12-16T10:41:00.000-05:00

I actually have a porch decorated for Christmas this year!

Our front porch is about all I can manage (the back screened-in porch will have to wait until another year). I simply added some fresh Christmas tree trimmings to a copper wood basin we had and hung a fresh evergreen wreath on our front door. Not much at all--but that's the kind of simplicity I like.

We got new black rocking chairs this past summer and are enjoying using them out front and for photo opportunities. Our old chalkboard where we often write messages hangs out on our front porch as well.

I have so much fun using fresh greenery to make our home look festive for the holidays. Wreaths are very easy to make from greenery like boxwoods, fresh rosemary, or evergreen trees from your yard. Adding a different colored ribbon each year helps to keep things interesting.

Other than the front porch, we don't do any other outdoor decorating such as lights, etc. Just simply no time!

Just a Touch of Christmas

2019-12-08T20:51:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays, Y'all!

It seems like every year I put out less and less Christmas decor--but with having moved into our new house a little over two years ago and the fact that I have a 10 month old baby and two 6 year olds I guess I'm getting pretty lazy...

I'm starting to have a complicated relationship with Christmas--I dread it more and more every year for a myriad of reasons. Perhaps I will detail this in an upcoming post at some point. The stress, the traveling, family drama, the endless to-do lists, and the over-commercialized celebration it has become make it NOT the "most wonderful time of the year" for me. I hate that we feel obligated to get people specific gifts on their lists-whatever happened to just simply making homemade gifts or surprising them with something you think they might like?

The last couple of years I have LOVED the quiet weeks in January and February after the stress and rush of the Holidays, especially when it snows outside and I can hibernate with a mug of hot cocoa sitting by the fire. And last year being only a month or so away from giving birth I seriously wanted to skip Christmas altogether, so it was wonderful being able to stay home here in NC and relax.

Anyway, most of what I have put out in addition to our Christmas tree ornaments is basically fresh greenery cut from around our property and a few keepsake items. We will start in the kitchen, work our way to the dining room, and end in the living room....

fresh rosemary and Christmas aprons hanging on my Shaker peg shelf

touches of greenery from our property give a festive feel to the corner cabinet in the dining room

Our fireplace mantel is simply decorated with candles, a vintage tractor toy, and a glass urn with some nuts that has been there all year long. Above the fireplace is our "frame" TV, which in real life really does look like a picture or painting that then transitions to a regular TV. This was a Christmas gift to us from grandparents last year and turned out to be a great compromise between me and my husband (who has always wanted a TV above the fireplace....me not so much!)

I hope you enjoyed the tour! How do you like to decorate for the season, if at all?

Introducing Baby Johanna!

2019-04-04T12:03:00.000-04:00

So I'm super late getting this post out, but better late than never! Our sweet baby girl, Johanna Judith, arrived on January 31, 2019 at 11:31 pm! She weighed 6 lbs 15.8 oz and measured 20 inches long. We are enamored with her and everyone that sees her just can't get over her head full of dark hair!!

Her middle name is for my dad's side of the family, after my Aunt Judy, and her first name means gift from God, which she miraculously is!

All of the lovely photographs you see here were taken by April Cole Photography--she does amazing work and we love her!

Johanna's birth was an incredible experience and I'm still in awe of how amazing it was compared to the traumatic birth of my twin girls that resulted in lots of complications. I knew this baby was God's miracle and trusted Him that he would bless me with a safe and much better birth for this sweet girl. I'm so thankful I was able to enjoy it (as much as you can enjoy being in pain, and remember every detail!)

I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a few weeks prior to getting some different, cramp-like contractions more in the lower back early in the morning on January 31st. At the time of delivery I was 39 weeks and 1 day, and I remember the day before she was born being super emotional. These continued pretty consistently and eventually got stronger, so we headed to the hospital around lunchtime, dropped with girls off with their aunt and uncle, and arrived at labor and delivery around 1 pm. When they checked me I was 3 cm, and they said I could walk halls for a few hours to see how much I was progressing. After walking a while, I was only 3.5 to 4 cm and unfortunately not enough for them to keep and admit me. However, my contractions were getting pretty strong and painful at this point!

So, we decided to stick around close to the hospital and drove around for a bit before getting a hotel room so that I could take a warm bath and try to relax while my labor continued. As soon as we checked into the hotel room, I laid down on the bed and had a very strong contraction--and my water broke all over the hotel bed!!! So just as soon as we had settled into the hotel room we had to immediately leave and get back to the hospital. I was still leaking fluid with every contraction in the car, in the wheelchair on the way up labor and delivery, and once I got into the hotel room. My contractions at this point were extremely strong and painful, and close together.

We got back to the hospital around 6 pm or so, and I was checked into a room and at that point I was 5 cm dilated. My labor was naturally progressing super fast, and it was at this point I asked for the epidural. I was going to try nitrous oxide gas but things were so intense I just wanted the epidural at that point...haha. In the span of about 20 minutes, I went from 5 cm to 7 cm and probably would have given birth soon, but after getting the epidural my labor slowed down some and I was able to relax a little better. There were a few scary minutes when our baby's heart rate dropped because of the combination of the epidural and the fast dilation, but it came back up quickly. A team of several people came in the room and left just as quickly once the heart rate stabilized. On a side note--although it seems like a good thing to have the attending MFM in your room, it usually means something is going wrong! I was happy to have my sweet resident doctor and nurse back handling my labor for me.

The rest of the evening I was lying on my side with a peanut ball in between my legs during labor, which I could still feel, just at a reduced pain intensity level because of the epidural. I did have to get it boosted once as it started to wear off a bit. My contractions remained very close together and strong. Finally at around 11 pm I was fully dilated and it was time to push and Johanna was born 30 minutes later! As soon as I pushed her out they immediately placed her on my chest and finished checking her out while we did skin-to-skin. She stayed there for a few hours before they took her to be weighed, measured, etc. She even tried to nursed some, it was the most amazing bonding experience and I still can't get over how thankful I am to have made it through without any preeclampsia this time, no induction needed, no excessive bleeding, infections, or any other complications. We went home from the hospital not even 48 hours after she was born. I felt pretty well recovered physically and back to normal much, much sooner with this birth.

I remember the nurses who were checking her out after she was born still in the labor and deliver room saying, "she looks like she is hungry"--how appropriate because she was a BIG eater the first month and so hungry all the time. She has slowed down some now but is still our growing girl and loves to be moving all the time. She is also smiling a lot now which is so sweet and fun :)

Her big sisters have been great with her and are such good helpers. We all adore her so much!

Getting Ready for Baby...

2019-01-12T22:58:00.000-05:00

I can't believe we only have a few or so weeks until our baby arrives! It really has gone by so fast this time around--having twin 5 year olds sure does keep one busy and occupied.

I've felt great so far and really enjoyed this pregnancy. It's been smooth and so much easier than my twin pregnancy--I'm praying it stays that way! We took some impromptu maternity photos recently when it snowed here in NC. My husband and I may have been a little crazy running out in the middle of the snowstorm but I think we got some pretty shots to document this precious little one growing inside :)

Still, we have managed to find time to prepare for this new little one in the most basic ways. I thought I would share with you all the ways we have prepared (early on) for the new baby in our house. I hope this may help some readers out there who are wondering what and when to do the things for preparation of a new little one when you already have young children and most of what you need.

Since we are keeping the baby in our master bathroom (attached to our bedroom) likely for the first six months to one year, we didn't have to worry about a "proper" nursery. We simply set up the crib, changing table, diaper pail and hamper in the area where a bathtub would normally go (but we had left empty).

My mom got me this wonderful changing table on sale from Pottery Barn that can double as shelving for when the baby gets a little older. I outfitted it with some baskets from HomeGoods to hold things like diaper changing necessities, clothes, blankets and extra crib sheets, wipes, and many other things.

The crib fits perfectly in this little nook beside our shower. On the wall I hung some baskets that we used in the girls' nursery to hold diapers so they are within easy reach. The hamper is also new from HomeGoods.

Upstairs in our guest bedroom (we aren't sure where the baby's room will end up being yet), we have added the baby armoire and stocked it with most of what we already had on hand in terms of blankets, crib sheets, clothes, bibs, socks, and any other baby necessity that would normally fit in a dresser.

I started early in the second trimester pulling everything out of the attic, sorting through it, washing anything that could be washed and putting it away. I organized and cleaned anything we had saved that we could reuse for this baby, including things like breast pump containers, bottles and feeding supplies, baby seats and carriers, and baby toys and books.

Each week I did a little bit more until most of the work was completed. I don't like to procrastinate, and I decided it would be better to go ahead and get as much as I possibly could done when I was still feeling up to it rather than wait until late in the third trimester when I may not be feeling so great.

Next I began making a list of things that we would need new and I created a small Amazon baby registry. Some things we added we did not have for the girls and we decided would be nice to have for this baby, and other things we needed new of that we had either lost or needed to replace.

In our living room, I cleared out a bookshelf to house baby books and used one of our cabinets to hold baby toys since the baby will probably be playing downstairs quite a bit the first year. In our bedroom, we moved the glider from upstairs to a corner in our bedroom and replaced where it was in the girls' room with another armchair.

Some friends of ours and my sister-in-law hosted a lovely baby Sprinkle for us which was so nice! We received a lot of needed items and some new fun things for this baby girl--she is already so loved :)

We are excited to meet our baby girl soon and our daughters are looking forward to being big sisters! I'm being monitored for any signs of preeclampsia considering I had it with my twins last pregnancy, but so far everything looks great (for which I'm so thankful!). Praying things will go smoothly during labor and delivery and that we will have a healthy baby and mama :)

The Master Bathroom

2018-11-30T21:00:00.000-05:00

Is it beginning to look a lot like Christmas around your home? We have yet to decorate for the season (even though we don't usually do much--just some natural greenery plus a few more little things). Soon though, I hope to share with you our farm house during the Holidays :)

On to the master bathroom tour! Perhaps the most "improved" room from what we had in our old house. We actually have a much larger amount of space, a much improved shower (no more slipping in the claw foot tub!), ample counter space and storage, and a lovely tile floor that won't warp if it gets wet.

We designed the master bathroom with a double sinks and plenty of cabinetry. It is glorious. The countertops are quartz, although I will say they look and feel just like marble! Sink faucets are brushed nickel and so is the cabinet hardware. The cabinets themselves are painted "rainwashed" by Sherwin Williams, a lovely shade of light blue-green. With so much white, I wanted a little pop of color. Two pendant light fixtures with clear glass shades illuminate the bathroom vanity.

We used a little antique ammunition box and enamel bowl to hold toiletries and a silver julep cup holds toothbrushes and the like. Our builder made these mirrors for us to match the trim throughout the rest of our house and painted them to match the vanity cabinets. Usually we have much more sitting out on the counter but of course I had to clean it up for the photo shoot :)

The floor is a simple porcelain white hex tile with grey grout. I really love it. We designed a walk-in shower with glass doors and white subway tile walls. The shower floor is a multi-colored "pebble" floor that is available at most tile shops now. The shower walls have grey grout and grey rounded corner shelves for toiletries and a little shower seat. One thing I am so glad we decided to include was the extra shower sprayer that detaches from the wall--we have used this so much and it also can double as an additional shower head and is perfect for cleaning.

A shaker-peg rack hangs on the wall for towels within easy reach of the shower.

Our "water closet" holds the toilet which is nice when we want a little privacy using the bathroom and others are using the sinks or getting ready.

The master bath is quite large because we waited on putting in a bathtub to save a bit on costs. Thus, we have a lot of extra space which we have utilized for several things since moving in--random storage, a little indoor space for growing our seedlings under the grow lights, and most recently, we are using it for a nursery for our newest addition due in late January.

Yes, you heard right--the nursery is in our master bathroom! A bit crazy, I know--but a crib and a changing table fit perfectly in there and with it being directly off (connected to) our bedroom, I'm hoping it will be a perfect spot for the baby for the first year. Poor third kid, haha!

We will eventually move the baby upstairs to its own bedroom at some point (not sure which one this will be), but for now this works for us without us having to go up and down stairs constantly. I'm planning on putting the rocker/glider in our bedroom for rocking to sleep and we have the baby's little armoire that was mine and that we used for the girls currently upstairs. Our parents joke that if the baby has a blow out or spit up mess, we can just walk with her right into the shower and hose her off. It will also be convenient to be able to wash my hands at the sink right there too!

One other thing--we have three large windows in our master bathroom that face the front yard. Although I hated to put window treatments on these beauties and I love all the light it brings, it was necessary to have some sort of treatment that we could pull down when we needed privacy and especially for the toilet area. I ordered simple, white Roman shades from Blinds.com and they turned out to be perfect for what we needed. Simple and neutral, they still let in a lot of light even when they are let down.

Hope you enjoyed the tour and stay tuned for more upcoming room tours!

Fall Garden Update

2018-11-19T13:58:00.001-05:00

We had a fairly successful spring/summer garden for our first season at the new house--everything in our raised beds did pretty well. Our main failure was what we planted in the ground--the soil just was not prepped well enough for anything to grow very well even with tilling and some soil amendments added to break up the clay. We will just have to try some other techniques over the winter and early spring to break up the clay and amend it to make a healthier soil.

Earlier this fall we were still getting the last of our tomatoes, peppers, and okra. In October I pulled the last of the surviving tomatoes and okra out of the beds, leaving the peppers as they were still producing.

We planted various types of fall greens, radishes, and beets back in August but with all of the rain we have had I'm afraid the seeds may have been washed out (they never germinated). My other suspicion is that our seed is just too old. I tend to reuse extra seed for 2 or 3 years except for tomatoes and peppers. We recently just replanted collards, kale, onions, and parsnips so we will hope the greens will germinate and grow this time around!

Another garden failure this year were our pumpkins that we planted in July or early August. It seems that the squash borers got to them first and pretty much every vine eventually withered and died, leaving only a single fruit that actually made it despite dozens of seeds planted. It grew well, but could not seem to survive. Our winter squash, of which we only planted a few, also succumbed to the pesky little insects.

Our fall garlic has been planted and is thriving! It will be ready for harvesting in the late spring. We did not have the time to get garlic planted last year with just having moved in so I have really missed it this year!

Next on the fall planting list are turnips which down here in North Carolina are a crop that can grow during the winter. Another winter crop that loves the cold are rutabagas, but I've yet to try growing those. They also say collards love the cold weather down here and will survive and grow through a mild winter.

That's about it for our modest fall garden. Eventually I'd like to try some fall peas and maybe a few other veggies but this is enough for now :)

Fall Living Room Tour

2018-11-02T20:44:00.000-04:00

Even though this room is not "finished" the way I would like it, I thought I would go ahead and share it with you. Welcome to our living room--or the "great room" as our house plan referred to it.

The room is an open, two-story room that has very little wall space on which to place furniture. The rear of the room towards the screened-in porch actually functions more for traffic flow because of the opening into the kitchen, access from the master bedroom, and access to the screened-in porch, leaving a smaller space than we realized that is actually usable. But, nevertheless, we made the most of it with furniture arrangement by placing our sofa against the stairs and chairs around the periphery.

The focal point of the room is our beautiful fireplace and heart pine mantel--made from very old-growth, reclaimed, heart pine wood. We love the natural look and did not want to mar its beauty by staining or painting it. You can clearly see how tight the graining is in the old-growth heart pine. Our builders simply sealed it for us with no stain. The fireplace surround is thin brick that matches the brick used on our foundation and chimney, called "Oakton" from Triangle Brick.

The bookshelves and cabinets to either side of the fireplace as well as the overmantel designed with beadboard and trim to match the rest of our trim were built by our wonderful builders who are master craftsmen. They are painted "sea salt" by Sherwin Williams to match our kitchen cabinets. They are so simple, replicating the Shaker-inspired cabinetry and trim throughout the house.

I had a difficult time choosing a chandelier for this room--something simple with a farmhouse look but also large enough to fill up the tall ceilings and contrast with the white paint. We thought about pendants and so many different styles of light fixtures, but in the end I chose a classic oil-rubbed bronze chandelier with 9 lights that hangs from a generous chain from the ceiling. We also have recessed lighting in the ceiling that illuminates the space really well.

For the stairway, we chose to continue the dark walnut stain with the standard red oak wood for the stair treads, stair railing, and the boxed newel post. We painted the stair risers white as well as the simple "pickets" in the railing. I love how our stairs turned out--very simple but still elegant.

We installed a gallery wall going up the stairway wall with mostly family photographs. We plan to expand this as we locate and frame more old family photos and take new ones :) I did not systematically measure these but rather just by eye placed the frames offset from each other in a balanced way.

The floor is standard oak hardwood flooring stained in dark walnut with a satin finish. We reused a rug from our previous living room but I'm considering getting something with a little more color in it for this space as a nice contrast to the light-colored furniture.

The space between the back doors to the screened-in porch functions as a traffic flow area, with areas to travel from the living room to kitchen, master bedroom to living room and kitchen, porch to living room and kitchen. and from all of the above-mentioned spaces to the upstairs. It gives the space a nice open, airy feel but it is also a large amount of "wasted" space. We have my husband's keyboard in this space but can't really put any other furniture here without crowding it too much.

All of the furniture here is what we had in our old house--nothing new. If you have any questions about specific pieces--just shoot me an email or leave a comment and I'm happy to give you the details!

Currently we have a canvas of a family photo sitting above the fireplace mantel but eventually we would like to frame some artwork for the space that goes along with much of the Shaker-influenced design choices we made for our house. Our thought is to either frame a print or paint ourselves a "Shaker Tree of Life." This emblem is found all over the former shaker communities that are now historic villages. We especially love visiting Shakertown, or the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Kentucky.

Hope you enjoyed our fall tour of the living room and stay tuned for more room tours of the new house! I don't know about you but I am LOVING this cooler weather. We have already had a couple of fires in our fireplace :)

Our Farmhouse Kitchen

2018-10-11T18:28:00.000-04:00

Welcome to our simple farmhouse kitchen! Of all the rooms in our new house this is probably my favorite next to our master bathroom and screened in porch.

There are so many things we deliberately did or did not do for this kitchen to not only save on costs to be able to afford the quality we wanted, but also to achieve a Shaker-inspired, "farmhouse" look for our new farmhouse on our budding homestead.

FYI--this is not how our kitchen normally looks :) I've cleared off all the clutter so that you'd be able to see the details of everything.

The overall layout of the kitchen is a large, open, plan with no island. I wanted traffic to be uninhibited and to me, an island always makes it hard for folks to get through when there are a lot of people in the kitchen at once. Although we don't have as much counter space without an island, we use our kitchen table for a lot of what we would be using an island for. We still have plenty of counter space for prepping, baking, and general day-to-day use.

Our cabinets are a Shaker style painted in Sherwin Williams "Sea Salt," with a simple Shaker panel inset door. The color is a cross between a light grey, light green, and light blue and looks different in all kinds of light. I like that it is neutral but not white and adds some contrast to our white quartz countertops. The floors throughout most of the downstairs except for bedrooms are a standard oak hardwood, stained in Dark Walnut.

We chose a Kohler cast-iron farmhouse sink that I absolutely adore. It is so deep and large to hold our biggest pots and pans for washing. An oil-rubbed bronze faucet that I won in a blog giveaway works beautifully. The three windows above the sink are casements and can be opened all the way--I just love having the fresh air and being able to look out over the garden while I cook and do dishes. The dishwasher is a Bosch with a wood panel placed on it to match our cabinets. I really wanted this feature since we were going for a farmhouse kitchen instead of a stainless version.

Our builder made some open shelves for us that hold a lot of everyday dishes and serving pieces for us. We opted to do very minimal upper cabinets (only on one side) and it saved quite a bit on costs. All the cabinets on the bottom are either drawers or cabinets that open up with pull-out drawers, even the smaller ones.

The stove is a GE Cafe slide-in range with four burners and a grill in the middle that can be converted into an additional two burners if needed. The lower oven drawer also functions as a double-oven where temperature can be adjusted like a normal oven. We chose a very simple, white subway tile backsplash above the stove and our builders crafted a stove hood that matches the look of our trim and cabinetry throughout the house.

One cool little feature that my husband requested are these two appliance garages below each of our large upper cabinets that have the look of small Shaker drawers when closed. When opened, they hold all our small appliances on the counter that can remain plugged in.

We reused our refrigerator from our old house as well as our old kitchen table--except we painted the table "Sea Salt" to match the cabinets. Our builders constructed these movable benches for us that create a little banquet seat by the windows around our table and they are perfect for cleaning up after small children. Overtop of the table is a $20 pendant light fixture we bought from Lowes. The rest of the lighting in the kitchen is recessed in the ceiling. We will eventually figure out some type of artwork to hang on this wall above our table...yet another project to complete at a later time.

We use the small space entering the kitchen from the living room to hold a little table and chairs for the girls that was made for me when I was little :) Above it is a Shaker-peg wall shelf that we had our builders make for us to hang things like aprons, dried herbs, etc. and display some of our collectibles.

Our kitchen is super functional for us, has plenty of storage and is an enjoyable place to be--our old one was quite dark and lacked ample counter space and storage. There are some days when I wish we had more counter space or I wish we could see into the living room with more of an open plan, but those days are few and far between. I am really loving this kitchen and since we cook from scratch a ton, it is truly the workhorse and heartbeat of our house :)

The Guest Room and Bath

2018-09-21T15:54:00.000-04:00

I apologize for being MIA lately--I've been both lazy and so busy that blogging is not at the top of my priority list. But I miss it just enough I've decided to try and finish out the room tours of our new house. Next up on my tour of our recently completed farmhouse is the guest room and guest bath. I'll start with the guest bath:

Because we have quite a bit of company that visit us all throughout the year (lots of family and friends), we really needed a guest room that had its own bathroom. Both the girls' room and guest room have a bathroom embedded in the greater bedroom area that is entered from the loft area on the 2nd floor.

Since it is a small bathroom, we were able to fit in our budget a classic grey and white tile pattern on the floor as well as on the shower floor. The shower is a walk-in shower with glass doors, grey and white subway tile walls and oil-rubbed bronze hardware. We added a wooden teak corner seat for seating and extra storage.

The vanity has a interesting story--we actually found it on Craigslist early on in our house building journey as a washstand and our builders converted it for use as a vanity. It already had the marble top and we selected a vessel sink with a wall-mounted, oil-rubbed bronze faucet. Most of the shelving and cabinets in the vanity are still usable and offer much-needed storage. Because a lot of the counter space on the washstand was taken up by the sink, we installed a little glass shelf above the faucet as well as some storage shelves to the right of the sink for additional storage/counter space.

The mirror is one I already had--a family heirloom. The light fixture is fun and different--I think it fits the vibe of the bathroom pretty well.

We installed hooks for towels on the walls instead of towel bars and I hung some pictures with black frames that contrast nicely with the white walls.

The guest room, on the other hand, is far from "finished." We really have only outfitted it with the bare necessities needed right now for guests--a bed, a chair, a luggage rack. A few furniture pieces like the trunk in this room simply because we don't have another spot for them right now.

The room has two nice big closets with shelving which has been glorious for storage and space for our guests to hang their clothes!

I have not developed much of a design scheme for this room except with what we already had on hand. Perhaps it will get updated later on down the road. I did hang family photos on the walls and above the bed are two Ale-8 One wooden crates (A Kentucky soft drink) that add some visual interest and texture to the space.

The floor throughout the upstairs is carpeted in this color, and even though it may not be the most attractive--I LOVE how it feels and I love its functionality for the girls, us, and guests. It is so comfortable, cozy, and easy to maintain--great for kids!

The view from this room is exceptional--overlooking the rear of our property and the side yard where our chickens and vegetable garden are located.

Before I leave you (hopefully for not nearly as long this time), I'd hate to not share some exciting news our family has been blessed with lately: we are expecting our third baby--a total (and shocking!) surprise. The girls are so excited to welcome a baby sister in late January. Stay tuned for future posts because you'll never guess where we have set up the nursery :)

The Dining Room

2018-02-07T15:44:00.000-05:00

Things have been pretty quiet around here so I thought I'd share another room with you--our dining room!

The dining room is the first room on the left when you walk into the entryway of our house. It is rather large and unexpectedly so--we knew we wanted a good size dining room because we do host a lot of dinners for friends and family, however, we didn't realize it would be quite so long!

It is definitely pretty bare bones right now and as you can see we haven't picked out new dining chairs yet. Our old chairs were getting worn out and didn't fit the style of this table anyway. Speaking of the table--we bought this antique, mahogany (almost Hepplewhite style) table off Craigslist for a steal!

We are keeping the two end chairs for now but I'm searching for six to eight dining chairs to fill in the sides--I have no idea if I will go with a Parsons-type chair or something completely different.

We also don't have a rug in here--mostly because my husband didn't want one that we would have to end up cleaning all the time. I actually like the clean, bare look of the wood floors.

We already had the white antique china cabinet holding most of my brown transferware dish collection and the beautiful dark corner cabinet was brought down by my parents who didn't have room for it in their house.

The walls are decorated with Paul Sawyier prints--a famous watercolor artist from my hometown of Frankfort, Kentucky.

The walls, like the rest of the first floor living spaces, are painted Sherwin Williams "Alabaster" and the trim is Sherwin Williams "Pure White." The gold chandelier is from Ballard Designs--I wanted something a little fancier and fun for the dining room since a lot of our other fixtures are more classic, oil-rubbed bronze, or simple farmhouse fixtures.

I really love all the windows in this room--it gets such wonderful light and is so bright and cheery during the day. It's a great room to have off the entry because it doesn't get cluttered very much and provides a walkway into the kitchen without having to walk all the way through the living room.

And that--for now--is our dining room. New chairs to come soon! I'm looking forward to making great memories in this room around the table at family gatherings and having good meals with friends. We hosted Thanksgiving for the first time in our new house in this dining room--it was lovely and I so enjoyed hosting (and not having to travel)!

Snowfall at the New House

2018-01-21T15:34:00.000-05:00

Although we have had two other snow events at the new house so far, this is our first BIG snow. We got about 9 inches which is a LOT for here in North Carolina. It was incredibly beautiful and wonderfully peaceful.

The girls were so excited to get out and play in it--sledding, building snowmen, and of course drinking hot chocolate to warm up once we came inside :)

Our chickens, on the other hand, did not think too highly of the strange white cover on the ground. Most of the hens did not come out of their little coop and set foot on the ground until about 4 days after the snow had fallen! Our rooster was the only brave one...

The views from every direction were stunning. I loved seeing our little homestead in a blanket of snow and thankfully my husband was able to capture some great photos on the second day before it all began to melt.

What are your favorite things to do in the snow? Hope everyone is staying warm!

Thoughts on the New Year

2018-01-02T10:26:00.000-05:00

This past fall and the Holidays have been a blur--I seriously wanted to skip Christmas this year. Is anyone else with me?!? With everything else going on it became pretty stressful (and I've been doing a lot of thinking lately on why we celebrate it in the first place). A new year always prompts me to reflect upon what I want to change and improve for the future. How is it that several of my New Year’s goals from years ago are still yet to be fulfilled? Living a simpler, healthy lifestyle while attempting to homestead is so much harder now that I have children. Perhaps now that our big move is completed and we are setting our sights towards the spring garden, our homestead goals will be easier to reach (hopefully).

Still, it feels like we are often overwhelmed with work, kids, activities, church, and day-to-day life (even with me working part-time) and keeping on top of trying to produce and locally source our own healthy farm-to-table food becomes a burdensome task. I so easily fall back into my old ways when I need to get in the habit of planning and preparing nourishing and seasonal foods. Baking my own bread weekly, preparing fermented foods and drinks, soaking nuts and legumes prior to use, canning and preserving seasonal produce, and finding local sources of grass-fed meats and organic dairy are some of my top priorities for the new year. Other priorities include exercising more often in a way that fits in at home and more time for not just Bible study but longer, dedicated periods of prayer and fasting. I'm also hoping to observe the Biblical feasts that are set apart as the Father's holy days this year!

But where do I find the time for it all? Sometimes I can fit it in on the weekends, sometimes at night, other times during the day when the girls are napping or otherwise occupied. But during busy weeks or months it’s awfully easy to fall behind. I usually don't get everything done that I aim for. Basically, I have huge, never-ending to-do list (does this sound familiar, anyone?)

As I’m sure you have been able to tell, I’ve neglected this blog (yet again), and I’m afraid I won’t always be posting regularly in 2018. I still hope to provide updates on the house (room tours for sure!), the homestead, and the garden, but the blog is not something high up on my to-do list and I’m not quite sure when or if I will find the time to update as often as I’d like. Unlike so many lovely blogs out there, it is not a source of income for me and I purely engage in blogging for personal enjoyment and to keep my family and close friends informed of what’s happening in our little corner of the world.

So here’s to a brand New Year! May the Lord Bless you and keep you in 2018!

The Powder Room

2017-11-18T12:15:00.002-05:00

Ya'll, this is seriously the only room that is "finished" being put together for a tour on the blog right now. I know--not much to see yet but we have to start somewhere, right?

We moved in a little over a month ago and are still getting artwork and pictures hung on the walls and lots of little things organized. Plus, there are a few projects we still have to complete (the list is never-ending!)

Anyway, on to the powder room. This room is the first room on the right as you walk into the entry of the house. It's conveniently placed in the entryway just off of the living room for easy access.

Here is a picture with the door to the room closed:

The half-bath, or powder room, is a small, rectangular room, really just the right size for a toilet and sink. It feels plenty big though with the tall ceilings (10 feet) we have throughout the first floor rooms. Nothing special about it except--SURPRISE--the chocolate brown tiolle-inspired wallpaper!!

Everyone told me I should not do wallpaper (this is the only room we papered) but I didn't listen to them and I'm SO glad I went with my gut because I absolutely am in love with this beautiful wallpaper from the Home Depot. Ya'll know how much I love chocolate brown tiolle (like my transferware collection, glider in the nursery, etc.) Our builder literally had to bring someone out of retirement to hang our wallpaper because so few people are using it anymore. I feel like it's making a comeback :)

Above the toilet are two Paul Sawyier prints--something I have a lot of throughout my home. Paul Sawyier was a famous watercolor artist from Kentucky who painted quite a bit of his work near the Kentucky River and particularly in my hometown of Frankfort. I love the soft colors and delicate beauty of his pieces and have collected prints ever since getting married. Most of them were given to me as gifts and a lot of them have special significance--for example, one of the larger prints we have depicts Berry Hill Mansion, where my husband and I were married.

The floors are the same as the rest of the downstairs public rooms--standard oak hardwood floors stained in "dark walnut" and finished with a satin finish.

The sink is by Mansfield and is a basic pedestal sink. The chrome faucet is Delta Cassidy with the cross handles. We opted for a chrome hook instead of a towel bar. The mirror is an inexpensive antique I had at our old house and it worked nicely in this room with its silver finish on the frame. The light fixture is a simple barn-light type fixture with a galvanized/aluminum finish from Capital Lighting Gallery in Raleigh (from where we selected most of our fixtures).

Most of the time we have a cute little stool helping the girls reach the sink in this room. I've decided to show all my rooms how we really use them--because this is real life and I don't want to feed you a lie. I feel like so many blogs out there have rooms "staged" so beautifully but they are not practical nor functional for how people really live. So I'm hoping and planning to keep it real with all of you friends!

The awesome guy who did our wallpaper even lined up and camouflaged the outlets and light switches! Can you spot them??

I love that we decided to do something surprising and different in this room despite the advice of others. It's just such a fun change from all the white in the rest of the house. Hope you enjoyed the first of the tours of our new home. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Transitioning Chickens to a New Home

2017-11-10T23:30:00.001-05:00

Ever wondered how chickens would do when moving to a new house?

Chickens take a while to adjust to their environment when transitioning to a new home and it's important to make the move as easy and painless as possible for them to avoid placing too much stress on your flock. Yup, they get stressed out just like we do when having to move!

We moved in our new house one month ago and are still getting adjusted. Our flock is making do in a temporary coop and pen until we are able to build something more permanent for them. Below is a step-by-step guide based on our experience with moving our flock:

1. Have the new coop, food, water, nest boxes, and everything set up in place BEFORE you move your flock to the new house or property. We plan to build a new coop (in conjunction with our barn) but for now we have a temporary set up with a large electric fence pen that will work for the time being.

2. When you are ready to transport them, gather them up (night time is when they are most docile) and place them in a pet carrier, large ventilated box with bedding, or chicken carrier/cage and carefully place into your vehicle. If you will be traveling a far distance, provide some food and water in whatever type of carrier in which you will transport the chickens.

3. Once you have arrived at your new residence, place the carrier into the new pen or coop and open the door and allow the chickens to come out on their own. Throw some treats out to encourage them to step out and explore.

4. Keep the chickens inside of the coop with access to a run or pen for several weeks before letting them roam free (they might try to return to their old home).

5. Visit the chickens regularly to make sure they are adjusting to their new environment. You may even want to add some fun new things to their new coop/pen like new roosts, nest box areas, a sand box for dust bathing, and areas where they can be in the sun or in the shade.

We are hoping our chickens will like their new homestead--they will certainly have a lot more room to roam once we allow them to free range (which will only be on occasion). Breeding will also be a top priority for my flock once we have the new coop built. As you can see, we literally haven't done anything with the outside of our house since we've moved in. No landscaping yet--just one little project at a time.

Have you ever transitioned your flock to a new home? Please feel free to share any tips!

Bare Bones New House Tour

2017-10-18T23:42:00.000-04:00

It's moving time!! Excited? Check. Stressed out? Check. A little nervous? Check. Thankfully, all went well and we are starting to settle in nicely. It feels like a dream and we are so in love with our new home :)

I thought I would share with you a few photos that I snapped of the finished new house before the big day of the move. It looks so clean, peaceful, and lovely--here's to hoping it won't become too cluttered with all our stuff.

It's amazing to see how much stuff one can accumulate over the course of several years--we are really trying to purge whatever we can and pare down to the necessities, things we love, and keep in storage only the few things we can't bear to part with yet.

Anyway, now moving on with the house tour.....

Let's start with the entry (viewed from the dining room). Also included in this photo is the door revealing the powder room. There is a pop of pattern (surprise!) from wallpaper that I just love in that room, but you'll have to wait for a later post for more photos :)

Next we have the dining room:

The "great room" is two-stories high and features a fireplace with brick surround and old-growth heart pine mantel, built-in bookcases, and beadboard above the fireplace mantel. Floors throughout the first floor (except in the master bedroom and bath) are standard red oak hardwood floors stained in dark walnut.

Here is the view from the great room looking into the kitchen where the kitchen table or "breakfast nook" will be:

I am so in love with our kitchen. We opted for a wide galley style with no island since I wanted a big open farmhouse kitchen. If need be, we can always pull in a cart to the middle for extra prep space but honestly we have plenty of counter space as it is. The cabinets are shaker style all custom made by our builder who specializes in cabinetry, with a custom range hood to match. The big cast iron farm sink is one of my favorite things in this room and I absolutely love the view of our future garden out of the casement windows.

The view from the kitchen into the little bar nook that accesses the pantry and the laundry room:

Our wonderfully large laundry room also doubles as a mud room. It's a great storage and utility space which we desperately needed.

Continuing on to the master bedroom, located on the first floor:

In between the bedroom and the master bathroom (shown below) is a hallway with a walk-in master closet on one side and a large linen closet on the other. Glorious storage!

A large vanity and mirrors built by our builders provide ample storage and counter space. The master bath shower features white subway tile, grey quartz and a "pebble" shower floor. We plan on adding in a bathtub later to the room. A water closet is located on the other side of the vanity.

Walking up the stairs to the second floor, a nice view from above of the great room:

Upstairs we have a miniature "loft" leading to two bedrooms each with their own bath and a bonus room. The bedrooms and baths mirror each other in their layout. Below is the girls' bathroom:

And the girls' bedroom is, of course--pink!!

The guest bath turned out so adorable with all the classic grey and white tile, an antique washstand used as a vanity with a vessel sink and wall-mount faucet.

The guest room:

And finally, the room with the most beautiful view: our screened-in porch. These pictures were taken before the floor was stained in a dark slate color. We can't wait to entertain out here and relax in the peaceful countryside.

Hope you enjoyed the brief tour. It's been a crazy week getting everything moved and unpacked. I can't wait to share with you each room once I have it set up and decorated. It's been tiring but oh so much fun!

Shaker Design Inspiration

2017-09-21T12:31:00.000-04:00

I've always been a huge fan of Shaker design and Shaker architecture. Every time I took a visit to Shakertown, or Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Kentucky--not far from where I grew up--I would come away inspired and in love with the beauty scattered all over the village's rolling hills.

Me and BJ at Shakertown (photo by Orange Sheep Photography, 2011)

Numerous volumes have been written on the architecture of the Shakers and their well-known, simplistic designs for furniture, use of materials, and interior arrangements.

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I feel like Shaker design and furniture has a timeless appeal--it almost never goes out of style if used in the right context. I love the clean lines and the look of a well-made, primitive piece.

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We choose to go with several Shaker-inspired designs for our new house--mostly embodied in our cabinetry, simple interior trim, stair and stair railing, and shelving with Shaker peg rails underneath. I'm not strictly married to Shaker principles because, after all, I still want an overall farmhouse feel, but I love the simplistic look enough to opt for it over something else more fussy when forced with making a design choice.

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For example, we decided to forego any crown molding--including any on the top of our cabinetry in our kitchen and our built-in bookshelves in the great room. We do have baseboards--but those are common in farmhouses of all types and serve a practical purpose rather than just decorative. Our cabinets are simple, Shaker panels with inset doors/drawers and wood knobs--no beading or any other decorative detailing.

Below is a sneak peek of some of our kitchen cabinetry. Sorry for the poor photo quality--I've only had time to take pictures on my phone at this point:

I think Shaker design goes well with a farmhouse and I love that I'm able to pull inspiration from one of my favorite places in Kentucky to visit :)

Flooring: Hardwoods, Tile, Carpet and More

2017-09-12T21:23:00.000-04:00

So. many. decisions.

I thought I knew what I wanted going into this house build and I have surprised myself so many times with our final choices for materials. Flooring is no exception. There are certain types of flooring that simply couldn't fit into our budget and also other types that I had no idea I would end up using but am excited to see installed.

looking from second floor down stairs into living room

Since we are building a farmhouse and I love the look of classic farmhouse style that will stand the test of time, I knew I wanted wood floors throughout a good portion of the house. We decided to lay hardwood in most of the downstairs (living and dining rooms, kitchen, pantry, powder room) and are using a standard oak hardwood with a dark walnut stain. I would have loved to have done reclaimed heart pine throughout but it proved to be too expensive to fit into our budget.

first floor oak hardwood flooring, dark walnut stain

Our master bedroom is also located downstairs and it (along with all the other bedrooms) will be carpeted. We did this to make our budget work but also I just love the feel of carpet in a bedroom (even if I don't like the look as much). We chose Mohawk Smartstrand Natural Splendor II in "soft linen" for the master bedroom. The entire upstairs (except bathrooms) will be carpeted as well since most of the rooms are bedrooms anyway. For the upstairs we chose Mohawk Horizon Collection in a light beigish grey color. None of the carpet has been installed yet (it's the last thing that happens), so I don't have any pictures to share yet!

The bathrooms are the only rooms we chose to do in tile and the girls' bathroom is actually vinyl plank. We chose Armstrong Luxe Plank in "Farmhouse Plank."

the girls' bathroom flooring

girls' bathroom flooring, Armstrong vinyl "Farmhouse Plank"

Picking out the tile was so much fun and I ended up choosing some tile that was way out of my "comfort zone" in terms of classic tile patterns and colors. Still, most of it is pretty neutral in color, classic in pattern, and hopefully will give the rooms a timeless appeal.

master bath tile flooring

The master bath floor is a white hex tile with grey grout, white subway tile walls in the shower with grey grout, and a (surprise!) "pebble" or stone shower floor in a white-grey-black color scheme. I've been told it feels super nice on the feet. The shower threshold and shelves are a grey quartz.

master bath shower "pebble" tile flooring

The guest bath is a classic white and grey hex pattern tile for the floor and shower floor and grey subway tiles with white grout for the shower walls. The shower threshold and shelves for the guest bath are a white quartz.

guest bathroom tile flooring

guest bathroom grey and white tile shower

Can you tell I'm afraid of going with anything too trendy or committing to color?!?

laundry room flooring, vinyl plank "Meridian Stucco"

For our utility spaces, like the laundry room, we chose a vinyl plank in order not only to save on costs but also because wood flooring in a laundry room can be problematic with moisture issues. We chose Adura Max in "Meridian Stucco" for the laundry room which has more of the look of a light colored tile or stone.

laundry room flooring

With so many different wonderful options for flooring it certainly can get overwhelming at times. The key is to have an idea in your mind of what you like best, then chose an option that will match that but also be practical for your needs and your budget.

Another tip I highly recommend is going to one or two local flooring stores to make your selections--it keeps your options much more limited and manageable rather than having to search and compare everything on the internet and at all the big box stores.

living room oak hardwood flooring next to brick fireplace hearth

The house is moving along fast--our lighting fixtures and plumbing fixtures have been installed and all the little details are getting completed. Looks like we will be moving within the month (*deep breath*). Can't wait to share pictures with you!

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Cooking from Deep Run Roots Cookbook

2017-08-25T22:57:00.000-04:00

Y'all--I'm obsessed with this cookbook.

If you haven't watched the show "A Chef's Life" or heard of Vivian Howard and you love southern food--you are missing out! We have watched the show since Season 1 came out and I fell in love with all the recipes, the stories, and the culture of Eastern North Carolina foodways.

Vivian Howard stars in "A Chef's Life" and recently released her first cookbook--Deep Run Roots. If you are not familiar with her story, after being in New York working in the restaurant industry for some top chefs, she returned to where she grew up and started her own restaurant--Chef and the Farmer in Kinston, North Carolina. It features local ingredients and showcases food grown from farmers all within something like a 75 mile radius of the restaurant. We have been once to the restaurant and it was amazing!

I got the cookbook for Christmas this past year and I haven't been able to put it down--I just love how it's organized and I can't wait to try all of the mouthwatering recipes. The commentary, stories, and photographs are wonderful as well. The cookbook is quite large--it contains 24 chapters each showcasing a different but significant Eastern North Carolina ingredient.

I'm gradually working my way through the cookbook and have been pretty pleased with the results of the recipes thus far. Some of them are a bit more involved and time consuming than you might want to take on for a simple week night meal, so I try to save them for weekends or a special occasion. So far, I have tried a handful of recipes including:

Sage Honey-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Bacon-Roasted Rutabagas
Mom's Cornpone
Turnip Root and Green Gratin
Crispy Ginger Rice with Leeks, Shiitakes and a Fried Egg
Grandma Hill's Hoecakes
Salt and Butter Roasted Pecans
Brussels Sprouts, Apples and Pomegranate with Blue Cheese Honey Vinaigrette
Slow-Roasted Beef Short Ribs with Herb-Scented Turnip Puree and Turnip Gremolata
My Favorite Beet Salad
Squash and Onions
Blueberry Rosemary Pudding
Grilled Corn with Bacon Mayo and Pecorino Romano
Shirred Eggs with Stewed Tomatoes and Ham Chips
Blueberry Cobbler with Cornmeal Sugar Cookie Crust
Squash and Fontina Casserole Pudding

Today I'm going to make Fried Okra Hash since okra is in season and we are getting it from our CSA!

The recipe is as follows (on p. 402 of Deep Run Roots):

1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 cups okra sliced 1/3 inch thick (about 15 medium okra)
2/3 cup vegetable oil

Combine cornmeal, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cayenne in a medium bowl. Rinse okra well with water and toss the damp okra with the cornmeal mixture. Set aside. In a cast-iron skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add okra once oil begins to sizzle, spreading it out in a single layer. Lower the heat slightly and sizzle on one side for 4 minutes.

Toss the okra around and cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer okra to paper-towel-lined-plate to drain with a slotted spoon. Season with remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Serve warm.

I'd love to know if any of you have Vivian's cookbook and which recipes are your favorites. Happy cooking (and eating)!

How We Cut Costs in our Farmhouse Build

2017-07-31T21:48:00.000-04:00

Even though we are building a custom home, which tends to be more costly, we have deliberately made many decisions that aid in cutting expenses to stay within our budget. In other words, yes, you CAN build a custom, high quality home on a reasonable budget! (especially if you have a great builder who will work with you and give advice to keep costs down).

One of the most important ways we stayed within budget was allowing most of the things we wanted within reason but also compromising on quite a few things too. I learned to be very flexible and to be content knowing that not everything on our wish list was going to be feasible for us to do. The items we splurged on were windows, the front door, countertops, tile for our master and guest bath, and the height of the ceilings.

It seems like many aspects of the new house that are standard for our builders are pretty high-end, but it turns out that's just how our builders roll. For example, custom wood closet shelving systems at no extra cost? Built-in cabinetry in laundry room? Yes, please!! Interestingly, our cabinets for the kitchen and bath vanities are custom-made by our builders who are master carpenters and do all their own cabinetry work, and they were no more expensive than any other basic cabinets (even ikea!) that we could have bought elsewhere.

Below is a partial list of what we did to help with cost savings:

-simple house plan, no fussy exterior (the more corners there are the more expensive!)
-two stories instead of one is more cost-effective
-addition of a full-length shed dormer on the rear of house
-removed gabled dormer windows on the facade of the original house plan
-hardieplank siding exterior rather than brick or stone, with a brick foundation
-wood-burning fireplace insert (with gas pipe) with a brick veneer rather than a full masonry fireplace
-metal roof (one of the more budget-friendly materials for roofing)
-budget-friendly (but still high quality) flooring choices: basic oak for hardwood downstairs, carpet in bedrooms, tile in some bathrooms, vinyl plank in girls' bath, vinyl plank in laundry room.
-no fancy wall treatments and simple interior moldings
-composite but still solid core interior doors
-fiberglass French doors to screened porch and steel door in laundry
-regular decking on screened-in rear porch instead of tongue and groove
-screen tight system on screened porch instead of custom fabricated panels
-no bathtub (yet) in master bath (just shower for now)
-high quality but reasonably-priced ("mid-grade") lighting fixtures and plumbing fixtures
-recessed lighting in closets, kitchen, utilitarian spaces instead of higher-priced fixtures
-re-using our current washer and dryer
-re-using our current refrigerator
-re-using a few of our light fixtures
-taking advantage of holiday sales for fixtures and appliances
-no doors (just framed openings) on master closet, bonus room, and a few others
-minimal upper cabinetry in kitchen
-designing and completing landscaping ourselves

Of course there are a lot of building material costs that are difficult to cut down and the only way to really save is by cutting square footage. Still, we were able to make quite a dent in the cost of our house by choosing our house plan wisely and being conservative on high-end finishes or treatments. Additionally, since we were going for a simple farmhouse look, this lends itself to simple, cost-effective finishes anyway (think beadboard, subway tile, simple cabinets and trim, etc.).

The funny thing is, many things I thought I wanted in the beginning or "compromised" on, I don't even miss! I'm just so thankful to be able to design and build a homestead of our own :)

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My Paint Color Scheme: White and Soft Neutrals

2017-07-06T12:55:00.000-04:00

Wow...this has been tough. Who knew there are SO many different shades of whites to choose from even just from one brand of paint! We are painting the exterior of our new home (under construction) as well as a good portion of the interior white and selecting the perfect shade of white has been a daunting task. Will it be too off-white? Too cool or stark? Too grey?

I decided the best way for me to determine the white that we needed and liked was to look at lots of pictures of the color I was wanting to use in context (and in different lights). I also plan to simply test out the paint on whatever surface we are intending to paint.

Fairly early on we decided to go with Sherwin Williams paints (as advised by our builder) so that we could still have high quality paint but not go too over budget. This automatically limited our color choices (which was a good thing) but there are many other great brands of paint out there for those that have time to sift through all those thousands of choices :) There were so many beautiful whites and soft neutral colors to choose from that I gathered several samples together, took them home, and researched what they looked like used in homes from pictures online. If you didn't already suspect it, I am seriously afraid to commit to color--and I just love the clean look of a neutral colored space with smaller pops of color. For some reason too much color becomes too busy for me.

Above is a collage of most of my paint colors for the new house--it's a bit deceiving because our furnishings we already have will add color and make a big difference in the overall look of the space. I ended up going with Sherwin William's "Pure White" and "Alabaster" for the interior trim and walls, respectively. I think they nice true whites--the Alabaster is a softer, creamier white and I liked that they didn't present too cool or too warm for what I was going for. It looks like a lot of blue-greens in our house too but in reality we are only using these in small amounts--for cabinetry mostly and for the laundry room. Likewise, the pink, Sherwin Williams "Faint Coral," will only be for the girls' bedroom.

Below are some design boards I created using Olioboard (I love this online tool!) to envision what our furnishings might look like with the paint colors selected for a few of the rooms in our new house. Most of the items I chose for the boards are representative or inspirational rather than actual furnishings we have or plan to use.

Living Room:

Dining Room:

Master Bedroom:

Girls' Bedroom:

My overall thought is that we will start with white (and neutrals) and as time goes on if we want, we will slowly move into more color as we live in the space. After all, it's just paint!! And easily changed.

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The Scoop

House Build Progress: Exterior Updates

2017-06-17T22:50:00.001-04:00

Since nothing too exciting has been happening on the interior of our farmhouse build lately, today I'd thought I would share some updates on the exterior. It's hard to believe we are at the point of picking out paint colors but yes--it's true!

Since my last post our builders have finished the siding, all exterior trim, the front and back/screened porch flooring, and they installed the roofing!

I love our new roof--it's a "5 V-crimp" metal in the standard silvery galvalume finish. In addition to being very durable and economical, I really think it fits well with the farmhouse look as most older farmhouses in our area have metal roofs.

The hardieplank (cement fiber board) siding comes standard in a grey color but we plan to paint it and the trim white. I never tire of classic white for a farmhouse--and it really makes the windows and brick foundation pop. With the dark exterior window sashes, the white will definitely give the house that "modern farmhouse" look. Currently most of the house has been primed already--and all exterior painting may be finished by next week!

The porches will have painted or stained floors but their trim will also be white. If we don't like the paint--as my husband says--we can always paint over it later. So glad that he has this attitude :) I'm really looking forward to painting the ceilings of our porches a robin's egg blue color--an old tradition that was said to mimic the color of the sky.

Other than the front porch steps, the carpentry work for the porch posts, lighting, and the screening for the back porch, all of the exterior work is complete for the most part. The interior has had all plumbing, electrical, HVAC, gas lines, and a fireplace installed. The next big project for the interior will be installing drywall and making the cabinetry for the kitchen and bathrooms--it has been a little overwhelming trying to plan the layout and design for all the cabinets but by keeping things simple it hasn't been too bad. We are so fortunate that our builders make their own high quality custom cabinetry--it is their specialty--and for extremely reasonable prices.

Every week it is so fun to see what has been done --it's really starting to come together!

House Build: Windows

2017-05-25T23:07:00.002-04:00

A lot has happened in the last few months on our farmhouse build for our 11 acre homestead--we now have all framing completed, sheathing, wrapping, plumbing and HVAC, some siding, trim, a fireplace, and WINDOWS!!!

Let me just say if you all only knew how much we debated over our choice of windows for the house--I mean this was a HUGE point of contention between my husband and I. The windows were the ONLY thing I was set on and not really willing to compromise. Yes, my husband was frustrated :) But there were plenty of other choices and desires that I have conceded in order to stay in budget. The windows? Nope--I was stubborn and did not budge!

I think that's because I'm naturally a lover of old houses which have amazing often times old wood, double-hung, true-divided light gorgeous windows with original casings and surrounds. Windows in historic houses are classified as "character-defining features," meaning they have a major impact on the look and feel of the building. I wanted this for our new house too but it does present a problem--to get something like the wonderful windows of old is very difficult, expensive, and the window by itself wouldn't be as energy efficient. You simply cannot make new windows like the old anymore anyway unless you are using reclaimed old growth wood and producing reproduction-quality sashes.

So, I settled on something that I know I will like that still provides some of the same features as a traditional wood window: an all-wood window, double-hung, with aluminum-clad exterior and as close to true divided lights as we could get with a dark brown spacer in between the two panes of energy efficient glass. Most of our windows will be two-over-two sash and we will have three six-light casement windows in the kitchen.

We vacillated between going with Sierra Pacific and JELD-WEN, but ultimately chose the JELD-WEN "Sightline" because it was the company that our builder's supply warehouse is most familiar with. It certainly is a top-of-the-line window and made up a good portion of the overall house budget but I know it's something that will last a very long time and adds so much character to the house. I'm pretty sure I'm going to ditch doing any window treatments--I'm leaving these beauties bare and enjoying them!

My husband not only scoffs at my insistence of this particular window type but he also can't believe that we have 31 of them in the house! That's a lot of windows!! The exterior aluminum cladding color we chose is a dark bronze and we plan to paint the interior of the sashes white to match the surrounding casings and interior trim.

Our front door has four lights to match the sash pattern of the windows and the pair of French doors leading to the screened porch will have six-lights-over-one-panel. I love tons of natural light which was another reason why I chose for our doors to have plenty of glass.

The only thing that surprised me a little about the windows we chose was the "reflectiveness" of the new glass (low-e) they are using in windows these days. We were just unaware (in certain kinds of light) how tinted and mirror-like the glass actually looks. The upside is that it actually provides a little bit more privacy since one is less able to see inside. Other than that, we are extremely happy with how the windows turned out and look forward to enjoying them.

Mothering in Decades Past

2017-05-12T15:32:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wondered how mothers did it all 50, 100, 200 plus years ago? I do--all the time. I think about how stressed, overworked and struggling to juggle so many different responsibilities the mothers of today often are. I wonder if the mothers of yesteryear felt the same way--not to say mothers back then were not stressed out too--I'm sure they were. But it just seems like they had a better handle on things.

I struggle to get through a day without yelling at my girls, I let them watch too much TV, and I let them eat far too much processed junk than they should be. I often feel frazzled when I'm home with them all day and it makes me want to scream when I get a fun project set up for them (that they requested) and then they don't even want to do it for 5 minutes. I need grace and forgiveness in this area--parenting is. so. hard.

My priorities are often pulled in so many directions--even at home. I work part-time (partly from home), so work duties are constantly calling me. Then there's the homemaking chores and the homesteading and the gardening that all take time. I feel guilty enough not spending much time really "playing" with my girls but I just don't have that luxury a lot of times.

For one, I think because a majority of women in decades past did not work outside the home (or perhaps they worked on the farm), work-life balance was not as much of an issue and the childcare situation--at least financially--was taken care of somewhat. Two, those that did engage in pursuits outside of home life were privileged to have help in the form of nurses, nannies, or relatives that served as caregivers for young children. It seems that in order for one class of mothers to have the necessary help needed to care for their children, another class of mothers--namely servants--would have sacrificed their family life.

Oh how I would love to ask the advice of those mothers long ago who were able to juggle the responsibilities of home and farm and raise up multiple children without the help of modern conveniences. Because this mama needs a lot of help most days. To do everything that society expects of a mother in today's world as well as a professional in the workplace requires us to be "supermoms"--is that really sustainable and healthy?

So what is the solution? Is it impossible for moms these days to both work and raise a family and do a fine job at both? Would love to hear your thoughts.