Getting Closer...

We're getting closer! Today our designer and one of her design mavens came over with the plans to red-line them. That means we walked through the plans - talked about what it meant in terms of the actual feel in the room (i.e. where the kitchen island would come to etc.) and marked them up with changes. Some of the changes we made included enlarging the kitchen and the kitchen island, making the window over the farm sink bigger and reworking some plans for the kids' bathroom (yes, that is now added to Phase 1, officially). It was SUPER exciting to see the actual plans, but it was also pretty fun to see the cement tile and countertop samples they brought. I cannot wait to see everything begin to come to life - the changes we're making will make this feel like a completely different home!

One step closer to starting all of this fun. Now to enjoy our spring break before the crazy hits!

Weed Wackers & Tractors

It's an interesting thing, the way that the weeds and grass grow out in the country. They stayed pretty low through the winter, and then when spring came, it all seemed to pop up in a weekend. The front of our house is landscaped - and we can use a regular mower on the actual grass. However, the rest of the property is going to require a tractor (ride on mowers apparently are not appropriate for acreage, we learned) . Part of being a responsible landowner means keeping your land clear and your grass cut. It's especially important to do this before everything dries out in the summer. You cannot mow dry grass without the risk of starting a fire - so it's important to get it cut when everything is green. We do have some more rain coming, so Mike and I have a little more time to tractor shop. In the meantime, one of my neighbors had mentioned that a heavy duty weed wacker could trim things down a bit closer to the house. Since the tractor is a larger purchase and requires a bit more research, we thought this smaller tool would help in the interim.

By the time we got it home, it was about 4pm - and we had plans to go out to dinner that night. I was eager to try out the new tool (and no, up to that point I had never operated a weed wacker). I put on my Hunter boots in case a snake was in the grass (people out here wear those as work boots for real, although my purchase was not with that initial intention!) - I figured my Ray-Bans were enough to protect my eyes and fired it up. 

Friends, an important lesson was learned here. As the spinning tool hit the weeds, it cut them alright. Powerfully, even. And just as powerful was the blast of chopped up grass and weeds hitting my face, clothes, mouth, glasses, and hair. I kept going thinking I may have been holding it improperly. No, weeds shot into my shirt and nose. But, I am no quitter. My desire to cut those weeds down was greater than my desire to be clean..and the damage was done already - so why quit now? I kept it up, and when I stopped, I looked down at my boots, jeans, and shirt to find I was completely coated in green. Yeah, we weren't leaving for dinner as quickly as I had hoped.

This is AFTER I removed the worst of it!

My chest actually started to itch like crazy from the clippings that dropped into my shirt. So I quickly shimmied out of everything and got into the shower. The rest of the night was spent eating take out pizza, and carefully cleaning said boots and Ray-Bans. Next purchase? Safety goggles and a TRACTOR. Haha!

Permits & Preparation

The remodeling plans are underway. We had another meeting with our designer, general contractor and draftsman. We walked through the house and detailed all of the changes being made as the draftsman sketched. Listening to the three of them discuss ideas and work through solutions was awesome and had Mike and I pretty excited for what's to come. Our house will definitely have that Joanna Gaines feel when it's finished and I can hardly wait. Because some of the changes being made are structural, we have to get permits.  There could be a little back and forth in this process - so in all reality, we'll be waiting at least a month before we can start demolition. Once that starts, our general contractor expects about 6-8 weeks of work to complete everything. (Summer of FUN!) In the meantime, we have been tasked with selecting appliances (done), counter tops (98% done), choosing new front doors, and picking out our wood stove and insert for the family and living rooms. Though it SEEMS like we aren't starting right away, we have A LOT to do to prep for demolition - and with both of us working full time, that means we only have a handful of weekends to get it all done. First, we have to clear our garage to make space for the appliances and other fun materials that will be arriving. Then, we have to actually pack the master and two little kids' rooms and move everything into the office and our teenager's room. (I keep telling them this will be a fun adventure!) Then we have to fully pack up our kitchen and create a mini kitchen in our laundry room. It's a lot - and will definitely take up every free weekend we have! This will be so worth it though!

Honestly, the millions of inspirational pictures on the internet have my head spinning a bit - which is why I am so happy to have our designer to help us. I know what I like, but like I've said before, I have a hard time putting it all together.

The doors below are similar to what we're installing for our front doors. We'll paint the house white and keep the doors a rustic brown. I love that I can have windowed doors and not worry about any strangers peering in. ;)

We also are big fans of the classic farmhouse lighting. While I will lean on our designer's expertise quite a bit, these have caught my eye more than once.

We've also opted to forego the stainless steel range hood, and do something more farmhouse. This was my designer's suggestion via text - so because we rely on her eye so much - I canceled  the order of the stainless hood and can't wait to see what she comes up with. We are in good hands, folks!

I'll continue to post the good, the bad, and the ugly of renovating here. Stay tuned!

The Top 10 Surprises in Transitioning to Country Living

The night before we moved, Mike and I wondered if we were crazy. Was this a bad idea fueled by HGTV binges? Suburbia was all we had ever known. Neither of us had grown up on property - much less owned over 5 acres and a barn. It was a dream we knew many had - and we were making our dream come true. But... what if we hated it?? We had no choice at that point but to jump in with both feet. It wasn't a completely smooth transition - I won't lie. The neighbors still jokingly call us "city slickers." Below, in no particular order, are the top 10 surprises we've encountered in 9 months of country living..

10) Wildlife is abundant. We learned pretty early on (read: days after moving in) that if you have a forest in your backyard - you can also expect forest animals. One night we heard coyotes yelping so loud it sounded as if they were next to the windows. Silly me, I muttered something about teenage girls being super loud outside. Then, my brain restarted, and I remembered where I had moved - to the middle of acreage with nary a teenage girl in sight. That's when we learned Boston (our labradoodle) could not be outside after sundown. We regularly hear strange noises at night - one of those noises was even identified as a fox. We've seen (and killed) our fair share of rattlesnakes near the house, the dog has been skunked, we came home to a hawk eating a large jack rabbit on our lawn, and we've seen our resident owl go after bats at dusk. We also see deer, bobcats, and recently heard word of a mountain lion down the street. It's actually pretty cool to have nature right outside our door - but we do think twice about going outside late at night, and definitely pay careful attention to our surroundings. Much more so than we did in the 'burbs!

My (very poor) picture of a coyote in the neighborhood.

9) It's so QUIET! I never thought our previous home was loud at night - until I moved to the country. The still and quiet at night makes my old neighborhood seem like a blaring city in comparison. Sure, we hear the occasional fox or owl - but no traffic, no neighbors, nothing but crickets. It's amazing. The same goes for the day time. It is absolutely peaceful. Summer mornings are perfect for opening up all of the (many) windows and just listening to the wind through the trees and the birds. This is one of the things I was most surprised to love. After a busy work day, coming home is honestly like coming to a sanctuary - a respite from our otherwise very busy lives.

A little end of the work week relaxation on the deck.

8) The scenery is calming. This adds to the respite described in #9. It's tough to be stressed when the views outside of every window are all God's doing. Trees, pastures, wildlife - no fences or cars. Joanna Gaines taught us that a home in the middle of property doesn't always need window coverings. When your views are as amazing as ours, take the window treatments down and let the views be the art. I really think God designed his handiwork to be calming to our souls - and I feel it here when I look out the windows, or walk through the property. It's absolutely serene and helps me to recenter on whose I am.

Starting the day off right. You can't be mad with a view like this.

7) ARACHNOPHOBIA! Apparently spiders like trees. We have a lot of trees, and hence a lot of spiders. In our first couple weeks here, I saw multiple LARGE spiders per day - no two the same. It didn't take us long to get a pest control service to keep the spiders OUT. Here's one that we found outside, thankfully dead.

No words.

Yes, that's a tarantula. A TARANTULA. If I see one in my house, I may actually die. Thankfully, that has been the only one I've seen.. so far.

6) SPACE. Enough said. What do you do with over 5 acres? Whatever the heck you want! Right now we have a barn and several pastures. Longer term we'd like a vineyard, pool, pool house, sports courts and the list goes on. If we can dream it (and save up the cash for it) we can do it. It's that simple.

5) PRIVACY. See above - when the pool goes in, we're surrounded by nature - there aren't any fences for neighbors to look through. (Yes, that happened before) We don't have to worry that our kids are too loud, or our music offensive (hey, Tupac). No one can hear us - except the deer, and surely they'd appreciate the company.

4) A walk to the neighbors' is actually a hike. I brought cookies to a couple down the street a couple weeks ago (after my dog roughed theirs up a bit) - the distance between our doors was enough to have the kids whining for a break. That's been a big change. Old house - my neighbors across and down the street were a staple in my daily sanity. One step outside and we were having a glass of wine together. Here, I have to put on my running shoes and pack a bottle under my arm to share.

3) The work is truly endless. There is always something to do on over 5 acres. Hundreds of trees means hundreds of leaves. Rain storms make every flipping tree drop large branches EVERYWHERE. My dog really works to spread his droppings across every corner of the property - and heck no I don't trek through every inch to find them. He's not trying to make anything any easier though. In suburbia, you plant your flowers, trim your lawn, weed, and you're done.. satisfied that all is pristine. Here? You can't ever really say that you're done, because you're not. You won't ever be.

Mike and his new toy. Didn't need a blower in the suburbs!

2) Lots of trees also means free, endless firewood. We've already had a tree go down and chopped it up for the already full wood pile. We used to purchase a cord of firewood every fall - no need to do so anymore! With two fireplaces, we'll use it too!

1) It's the most amazing way for my kids to grow up. Back in the suburbs I couldn't just let my littles go out front without supervision. Here? Our actual property is gated so I don't worry about them.. and they play for hours. HOURS. Even the teenager. There is so much to explore - Christian actually found an owl pellet the other day and dissected it. (Yes, gross - but your kids will do it in elementary school and think it's awesome) What is amazing is that there really isn't anything fancy outside right now - we have a swing and a trampoline, yes. Still, they will explore for hours on end, and just come in to grab a snack to bring back outside. I love that - and I love that they can grow up this way.

It's safe to say - spiders and snakes aside - the good far outweighs the bad for us out here on our piece of land. Mike and I both agree - this is the life for us. God knew it when he planted the dream in our hearts - this place fills our souls in a way nothing else could. We're officially those country folk.. still figuring it out.. but country nonetheless. 

Shiplap, Barn Doors, & Farmhouse Sinks.. OH MY!!

The ball is officially rolling. Our amazing designer, Leyla (aka local Joanna Gaines), came over and we began planning out the scope of work. I am on cloud nine, people. Having a true expert come in to help make decisions and guide us in the design is just what we needed! In addition to learning that most of my summer will be spent living in chaos - I was able to start to see our home through a true designer's eyes. (I need help in this area, because my brain just doesn't work that way.) To start, we're blowing out walls to open up the house more - completely remodeling the kitchen and adjoining family room and then doing a complete master bedroom/bath reconfiguration and renovation. We'll also be finishing the hardwood throughout the house. That's just phase 1. I was also told I'd need to move my family into one corner of the house and eat outside on the deck for the summer. Bring on the crazy - let's get this done! :)

One of the questions Mike and I had to agree on was the overall style for our home. As we're renovating it from top to bottom, we want to keep a consistent style throughout. Since we bought an actual farmhouse, on an actual farm - we thought it made sense to stay true to that modern farmhouse style. Today we discussed shiplap, barn doors and even a large trough sink for the bathroom. Joanna Gaines would be proud.

The next step in our process is to get the plans drawn up, and in the meantime we'll start picking out fun things like appliances and countertops. Let the fun begin!

How Did We Get Here?!

It all started with HGTV's hit show, Fixer Upper. My husband Mike and I had been living in "master planned" suburbia for our entire married lives. You know the type - cookie cutter homes stacked in so close to eachother you could hear the neighbors' conversations in their backyard. We were over it, and longed for space and something we could make our own. Watching Joanna Gaines take these old homes and turn them into dream houses is what finally convinced us we could do it. We called our realtor and had our home on the market in a few short weeks. Just 6 miles from us (and still close to our kids' schools and grocery store) was a quaint gated community of nearly 100 homes on 5-7 acre lots. THAT was where we were aiming - and although nothing was on the market there in that moment - our realtor helped us by calling and sending mailers to the residents. Now one would *think* that would have been what helped us land our dream property, right? Well - it helped - but what helped more was my SUPER social husband, who had no problem walking door to door - asking the kind residents if they planned to sell anytime soon. While most of them did not plan to sell - they always were willing to point him to the neighbors that had discussed the possibility.. and off Mike went. Before I knew it, Mike was missing dinner on multiple nights because he was having a beer with one of the country residents on their back deck.. after having just toured their home. It really was crazy.

While we toured a few, and even were beat out by another buyer on one we made a formal offer on, I still hadn't walked into one that totally felt like home. That is, until I heard about this 5 bd / 3 bath ranch style home on over 5 acres on the end of a country road. The owner planned to move - but hadn't listed yet. Mike had spoken with her, and our realtor was kind enough to schedule a personal tour for me. Having just been beat out on the previous home, I knew that if we found a property we liked, we'd have to make a strong offer and fast. We knew we would update anything we ended up buying anyway.

The home was set pretty far back on a gated property, so I couldn't get a good look at it from the road, which caused me to fear the worst. But when my realtor arranged the showing, and I was able to drive in the gate for the first time - my jaw dropped at how beautiful the property was. The house was in good condition, a canopy of trees covered the circular drive and there were open pastures with hundreds of oak trees for days. My heart was in my throat. We got out and walked to the front door, where the lovely older woman welcomed us in. I was so amazed by the views through the many windows - I hardly saw all of the cosmetic changes we would need to make. All I saw was pure potential. I could not wait to get in the car and call Mike. This was the house, I knew it. The only problem was that the owner wanted to sell to horse owners only. The property was set up for horses with fenced pastures and a barn. I had no intention of buying horses, and though my labradoodle is the size of a small pony - I was afraid I wouldn't be able to convince the owner. Fortunately, my 5 year old daughter won her heart - and her desire to have children grow up in the home (as her own daughters had) overrode her need to have horse owners buy the property.

We made a full offer before it even hit the market, and waited on pins and needles until it was finally accepted. Flash forward to a few weeks later - and Mike and I stood in the middle of over 5 acres, with a barn, our kids running all around - and a 30 year old home that we swore would take a few months to remodel. Well folks, life does not imitate HGTV in this case. It turns out renovating a home takes lots of planning and T-I-M-E. While we did install new wood floors, and repaint inside most of the house, we knew we also wanted to knock out walls and turn this maze of a rancher into an open concept beauty. That means SOME of the floors and walls were left to wait for the first big update. It has been 9 months - and we've hired a local designer to help us turn our dreams into a reality. She comes next week, and I can hardly wait!! She has encouraged us that the waiting period, though frustrating, was a good thing because the things we would have changed before we moved in will undoubtedly be different now that we've lived in the home in its current state. (I can attest to this - there are now lots of little features that I plan to keep for functional reasons.) We will start demo shortly thereafter and I plan to document everything here - for my sanity, and your amusement. Thanks for joining us on this journey!!