Fire Pit

First fire pit of the season. Almost spring.

Table

Tommy finished the farmhouse table….. it’s 11 feet long, made of cherry harvested from our family homestead, and absolutely gorgeous.

Patio

For the back of the house, we decided to install a patio. We needed to do something…. the old ramp that led up to the barn doors was treacherous at best (for reference: here’s a photo from before the barn was painted). And though a deck would be great, we didn’t want its height and railings to detract from the visual of the back of the house (the rear elevation is my favorite). So we went with stamped concrete, and we’re so excited about the results.

Gate Leg

….and we liked the nightstand gray so much, that we put it on the legs of a hand-me-down gate leg table.

(We’ve been using the gate leg as a dining room table until ours is finished…. my brother, Tommy, is hand-crafting a farmhouse table, custom made for our large dining space, with cherry wood harvested from our family’s homestead in Northeast Pennsylvania. So cool.)

Nightstands

Here’s a look at a small furniture project.

Before we got the barn, we never really had a master bedroom – certainly not one large enough to have a nightstand on each side of the bed! So we found these guys on Craigslist for $15 each, roughed them up with some sandpaper, and painted them a true gray.

(True confession: the knobs cost more than the tables, as they cost $8 each.)

But at the end, it was a pretty thrifty project, and we’re quite happy with the results.

History

Out of the blue, a previous owner of our property, Ann, stopped by the day after Thanksgiving. She shared stories of her time at the farm, and took in how the place has changed in the many years since she lived here. Her family owned our barn and lived in our neighbor’s farmhouse. She followed up her visit with a letter to our neighbor, Chuck, and included photos of the farm from when she lived here. So very cool.

Chairs

photo by emma lucier.

Throughout this whole endeavor, we have been collecting wooden chairs of all shapes and sizes. The plan was to paint them white and use the lot for our dining room chairs. My Aunt Marie, Uncle Tom and cousin Emma came to help, and one of the day’s projects was to paint some of the chairs. Emma took them outside and hosed them off, and photographed them as they dried.

Details

photo by emma lucier.

Some detail shots of the place, taken by my very talented cousin, Emma.

Interior update.

the boys by the living room window.

the new light fixture that will hang over the dining room table (to be built by my brother, tom, with wood from my great aunt’s farm in pleasant mount).