what's happening in the country...?

Moving to the country has been truly a learning experience...we were beyond naive about many country living aspects....I suppose that is to be expected since we were suburbs born and raised all our lives...we are still getting settled and getting this house together...

we actually believed that we had nothing to do but improve this house design wise...lol that was mistake number 1....looks can be deceiving...so very early on we figured out we are on a very different journey than we had thought we were on...its been rough a lot of the time...and I won't get into that but maybe I will write a book one day, How NOT to move to the country...what I have learned...

although there have been many challenges and very expensive problems it is lovely here...I really do love our location...sadly we went from a very miserable winter to a very crappy wet spring and so far summer....we could really use some dry weather....I'm hoping the weather will improve soon.

Our neighbours have really welcomed us with open arms even these two beauties Jasper and Tori...which we really appreciate as many people in the village have been here for generations...some of the amazing perks are the fresh farm eggs....you just can't go back to grocery store eggs after enjoying fresh eggs...and the animals...oh so many animals....I have seen a deer...opossum...fisher cat and 

cows....

these cows were wandering the road and I was the first on the scene...

not knowing what to do to herd these beauties back in through the gate they snuck out of I tried clapping and wouldn't you know it, it worked...

 Part of the draw to move to this house was to start women's workshops....teaching women most of which are novices, sharing my knowledge and building new skills with these ladies has been so amazing..
I started out with a partner but things didn't work out and things are so much better on my own as it should have been, my good friend is helping me when we need and extra expert on hand, it has been an amazing journey to start White Wood Workshops, it is a positive, no pressure environment to learn new skills and to build something you will proudly display or use in your home...

 So many amazingly beautiful farmhouse clocks...one of my most popular workshops

fireside lounging while the paint dries...

As well as building custom pieces for clients and running workshops I have tried to squeeze in some of my own home improvements....

With having so many many improvement projects that all need our attention the hardest part has been to decide where to focus my attention....we have a kitchen to be re-designed but that functions...a room that needs to be removed...yep removed...I need an emoji here ...new drywall that needs painting in the basement due to flooding....a garage that needs finishing, a bar that needs a complete re-design...windows that will be replaced...and wainscotting that needs painting and floors that need sanding and a front entry that really doesn't work...at all...and and and...

so I am starting there...the closet is gutted and it will get the makeover it needs...

as many shelves as I can squeeze in for shoes...so many shoes...I'm fed up with tripping on shoes....

I will add ship lap and hooks, because hooks work for us...and doors, we will install wood antiqued doors which will allow me to add a mirror and additional storage on the backside of the one door....it's all about functional storage.

I have decided to keep the existing tile and to add more instead of removing it...I'm going to keep things simple and not fix what isn't broken... there is enough broken afterall...

 I removed the glass sliders that were here that I hated!!! really hated...I replaced the thin flat stock trim with a heavier trim around the door...

Here are some fun hooks...I haven't decided quite what style of hooks I will install...I better get on that I suppose....I will go with something classic and functional, these are some cute options...

link

link

 I will be using these tags in the closet because I just love this detail...I used them in my last closet makeover link 

Here is a photo of our last closet that I tuned into a super functional space...

I finally started the enormous task of priming and painting the wainscoting....yikes what a job...but we are loving the lighter look...I have lots of new gorgeous baseboard from Metrie they were kind enough to partner with me on this enormous trim project...it will require a lot of painting but it will make a world of difference to our new home...I selected this french curves scene II as it best complimented our 140 year old trim, I went with poplar because it paints so beautifully, I am really looking forward to seeing it all come together.

I designed some farmhouse style tees to represent my business brand...amazing what you can do thanks to vista print.

 Speaking of my work I should show you my latest piece...this table is so big and gorgeous if I do say so I have named it Monroe, it was my most fun build to date, I am now building a sideboard to match...check out my facebook page here if you are local and would like to have something made.

So there you have it, that is what is going on around the old homestead...lots or everything, work, diy, workshops, new trim...and lots of painting...this is the life of a diy blogger I suppose...always busy....its good.

Bye for now.

Farmhouse furniture

 When you move it is almost always the case that not every piece of furniture will suit your new home...either in style, function or size...this was the case with our bedroom...it is only slightly smaller than our last bedroom which makes it the smallest bedroom we have had, we have never had a large bedroom I suppose...but one non negatiable is having a king sized bed... our last bed we loved but it was a four poster and it took up more than a foot of space that we desperatly need...so I sold our bed frame and built this farmhouse style headboard... it is 5'2" tall just about as tall as I am...but we needed height with our very tall ceilings.
I built it in a barn door style construction...I wanted a rustic simple design with framed panels...

here is the black four poster that we sold, we couln't even have the foot board posts installed it was so tight in there so it only made sense to replace it.

 I stained this headboard brown then applied a couple of thinned coats of white and distressed the white after it dried to achieve that white washed look.

The other piece we didn't even bring with us was our outdoor table...it was 10' long and it wouldn't have worked in our new smaller space.

 I wanted a super simple farmhouse table with the most basic construction which is just this design...with a long bench we can easily seat 7.

 It is so sturdy and simple, I made it out of rough pine and sanded and painted it with the same paint used on the exterior of our house, I love the simplicity and it pairs nicely with our chairs we got from lowes years ago.

We created a courtyard between our house and the garage to allow space for a fire pit and a dining table...we also have a deck along the back of our house we have a four seater sofa and two arm chairs up there and a lounge seat area...

How do you like our string lights at night, we love it...it is magical.

So there is my little furniture update...we are really embracing this new farmhouse style, it just is so casual and suits our house in farm country.

thanks for stopping by...

chris 

Getting set for summer fun around the house

 hello again friends....I hope you are all doing well and enjoying some sun, we have been getting so much rain here...but everything is very green...so that's a plus I suppose.

I am longing to spend  a whole lot of time outdoors very soon...so we have been focusing on our outdoor spaces...I finally got around to getting some flowers for our pots to brighten up our front porch.

The weather had finally warmed enough for me to get rid of the big brown door colour that we didn't love. I had planned on painting our garage door a pale shade of grey but it turned out to look like fleshy peach so I ditched that idea and went straight for the safest choice...white... and I love it.

I wanted to add some colour to my White wood workshop, why not have a pop of colour on the side of our house facing the farm behind??? I started by framing the back window with farmhouse trim and adding a nice header then I flanked the window with the cutest barn door style shutters I painted the colour Perfect Landing by Behr...it is a soft greyish blue with a whole bunch of perwinkle...I figured why not have a little fun with the back of the garage since I don't have a barn or bunkie...

it is the most charming addition to our outdoor space, the barn style light from Home Hardware goes a long way to personalize this space and to add that farmhouse charm I was after.

Before

 I used steel gate hinges that I painted black as non functional hinges to accent the shutters.

 I built these shutter out of 1x4 pine in an overlay construction and used kreg joinery for the frame and of course I used my Ryobi airstrike brad nailer and impact driver

 One of the must haves for our outdoor spaces would be string lights...we have been known to use them year round on a timer at our last house...we will have to take these down here in the winter due to snow sliding off our metal roof...but for the warmer months these are so charming...

I picked up these Canvas montmarte heavy duty garden lights from Canadian tire...they are very nice lights and the package came with extra bulbs which is appreciated, these lights really require a support line to hang them from...I wasn't expecting this step but after installing the lights I can see why the support line is needed.

 I picked up a medium gague coated wire, some clamps and eye hooks to create the zigzag formation wire framework.We used zip ties to attach the string lights to the wire support.

It's truly magical...and a very simple project to tackle in a couple of hours.

One more small project I was able to complete was this simple yet pretty gate from scrap wood I had in the garage... a bit of white paint and some left over hardware and now Moe has a nice leash free perch to enjoy...

I used this easy to install method to attach the gate to the deck, I just simply nailed the support to the gate then to the deck leveled it and did not have to fumble to attach the hinges...who ever came up with this method was a genius.

It also makes for a great back drop...

I hope that you are all enjoying this time of year...I'm just happy to be spending a good amount of time outside without a parka on.