Colors, Colors Everywhere

 When I ordered my house, there were several things I had to decide on, such as paint colors, roofing and window placement. The paint and roofing were included in the cost, as well as two windows. I added a nice 9-light door like this one, instead of the original barn-style door.

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I also knew that I wanted a metal roof, so I could collect rainwater eventually. But the hardest part was picking my colors! There are so many colors, how could I choose? I originally thought of going with white siding and a dark roof. Similar to this house. But then I was concerned that a dark roof would cause the house to be hot in the summer. I cleared my canvas and started fresh. We went to Lowe's and looked at all the color choices... That was overwhelming! I picked out several colors, but kept going back to the blue hues. I just wasn't sure...

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Then I found this picture! A cute little blue cottage. I love it. Blue siding with white trim and a gray roof! Exactly what I was imagining!

The builders use Sherwin-Williams paint, so I went to the paint store to pick out my exact colors. I settled on this...

They call it "Tantalizing Teal". A little bold? Maybe. We'll see...

Crazy Ideas Are The Best Ideas

My Mom is awesome! Really, she is.
She always has the best (if not craziest) ideas.

While we were demolishing the barn, she suggested that I buy a small building and finish it out myself. That sounded much more appealing to me. I mean, it really made a lot of sense because (1) it would enable me to get into my house before Winter, (2) it would help me skirt around the city ordinances for getting a building permit, (3) I would be supporting local work, and (4) it would help cut down the cost of supplies.

I was all for this idea! You may not already know this, but about 8 years ago, my family did the same thing. We bought a rent-to-own building, put it on some rent-to-own land and toughed it for 6 months. It was awesome, but it was also challenging. We lived out there in a 12x20 cabin without running water, plumbing or electricity. If that sounds crazy, that's because it was! But it will always be a special memory...

And I want to do it again! But learn from our mistakes and try to do it better this time.

So, Mom and I looked around at different dealerships selling these buildings and she found these guys. Their work and craftsmanship were far superior to the others we had seen.



I originally wanted an 8x16 lofted cabin, similar to this one. But after crunching numbers and thinking it over, I ditched that plan and started fresh. I figured that if I'm paying the money anyways, I might as well pay for more square footage inside the house and build my own porch/deck in the future.



 I drew up some sketches and imagined what I wanted my Fancy Shanty to look like. I eventually settled on the top left building, an 8x12 side lofted barn. I went and put my order in at the dealership. I'll tell you what, the Lord's hand has been over this whole journey! I went and talked with the dealers and quickly found that they were God-fearing, Christian men. They were like a breath of fresh air. I have only known them for barely a month, but I have already been blessed by them so much! Not only was their service great, we also had great conversations. So, if you live in the Ozarks and are in need of a vehicle or out-building, I would strongly encourage you to visit these guys!

By buying this building, it's really going to help me stay out of debt, which is a big priority for me. In three years, I'll have it paid off (God willing!), which is way better than a 30 year mortgage in my eyes.

Now the fun part begins... creating a floor-plan!

Just Calving Around...

Sometimes, you just gotta take a break!
After days of scrapping and cleaning up the huge shingle mess, we were pretty much fed up with shingles. I took Hagen to the farm with me one evening.
She loves taking farm pictures, plus the weather was beautiful!

My crazy little Jersey friend, Quervo.

She'll headbutt and kick until she finds milk.
She discovered that it doesn't come from knees...

It's Way Beyond Me

Last week was crazy busy!
My grandparents came up from Georgia to celebrate my mom's birthday, everyone was getting over the flu and I still had a lot of demolition to get done.
I wanted to get everything cleaned up before they arrived, but I wasn't sure it could be done...

Gabe helped me finish up the de-shingling.
It was so tedious, I'm glad he was willing to help!
We were rocking out to Beyond Me by TobyMac when I snapped this pic...

I love this song! Not only do I enjoy the beat and guitar, but I also like the lyrics.
It is way beyond me. Even when I am working on my own projects and going through this journey, God is showing His hand in everything, whether big or small!

Once we got all the shingles done, I had no idea what to do with all those annoying bits of tar.
Thankfully, my mom remembered all the empty feed sacks my boss let's me keep!
They really came in handy. We filled the dumpster and about 12 sacks with shingle rubble.

 The shingles have been conquered!
I never want to deal with shingles again in my life...

The roof is down!
Time to call in the clean-up crew (which is me!).

Viola!

The foundation is all clean.
Now I just need to finish cleaning up the yard...

Never Ending Shingles- Part II

The first side of the roof has been de-shingled, had it's boards ripped off and seperated into "burn" or "keep" piles.
Dad once again used his manly strength to bust the supports and bring down the other side of the roof.
And we are back to pulling shingles!

 Oh, the carnage!
This is exactly how the first side looked...

Let's take this thing DOWN!
I really can't tell you how happy and blessed I am to have a family that is so willing to help out.
It's just awesome!

Never Ending Shingles

Okay!
So after days of pulling off two layers of decroded tar shingles, we are down to the old-school cedar shingles.

 We stripped the tar shingles first, and loaded them in the dumpster.
I wish I had gotten a picture of the crazy mess it was.
But I'll save you from seeing that carnage...

A close-up of the cedar shingles.
I tried really hard to save them, but it was pretty impossible.
We've had a fire going for days now.
Peel and burn, peel and burn. That's the process right now...

TIMBER!

And there it goes!
Dad knocked the supports out with the log mauler. I actually wasn't here to watch, I was at work. But I am so glad that my family has been willing to help with this project!

 Double checking the stability...

Although this looks like a fun place to play under, it was absolutely 'off limits' to all little children!
Let the de-shingling begin!

Making Some Progress

As you can see, some progress has been made. I got the window frame pulled off, which was a pain. But I am enjoying the hard-work. It makes me feel accomplished, knowing that I am working towards a future goal!

 Photo-bombing while singing into a spoon: Nailed it! 

Just keepin' it real, people...

 Short person problems:

 Not being able to pull off the top pieces of siding, even while standing on a ladder. 

Thankfully my Dad was willing to give me a hand!

After pulling down two walls, this barn is starting to get a little wobbly. Mom looked up how professionals take down old barns on YouTube. Apparently they start with the roof... oops!

Next step: taking this thing DOWN!

Pullin' Nails

 Now that most of the siding has been ripped off, it's time to start salvaging some planks! This whole barn is made of cedar, which helped keep out a lot of pests. But it's just so old, I had a really hard time pulling off the boards without splitting them...

Making some progress, but I still have a long way to go!

And here is my jar-o-nails. Just ten planks of wood held this many nails. Phew! It's been quite the workout so far, I wonder how many jars I'll have filled by the time this barn is down...

It's Poison!

What's poison? The siding! Yeah, this old barn is covered in aspestos siding. Hopefully I won't get lung cancer when I'm old... just kidding, sort of. I looked up this siding on the internet and apparently aspestos siding isn't as dangerous as other forms of aspestos.

 So, sporting a green shamrock bandana around my face and yielding my trusty hammer, I ripped that aspestos siding off!

Eli set up a sign next to the siding pile that read," Everyone, keep away from this wood! It is POISONOUS!" I wish I would have gotten a picture of his sign, but the rain washed it away.

So, yeah. Siding is being ripped off, and I'm stuck with a St. Patties bandana on my face in 80* weather... 
I guess you could say things are getting pretty serious...

A Tough Decision

Okay, so here was my original plan:

  Take this old barn you see below, clean it out (and I mean sanitize the heck out of it! ) and finish it out. But, after moving the rabbits and chickens over to the lean-to, I found that it was nastier than I thought... The baseboards are rotting out, and that would certainly be an issue. So, after talking with my parents, we decided that it would be best to rip it down and salvage as much as possible.

A 10x16 barn... it's gotta be as old as our house, which is around 100 years.

Take a look at that awesome roof! Apart from the cob webs and dirt-dobber nests, I think it looks pretty cool.

And the inside, which is trashed. We've already scrapped out most of the hay and put it on the garden beds. But, obviously there's more work to be done!

It almost seems like a shame to rip down this old piece of history. But, as I said, I'm going to salvage as much as possible. That way, I can use the cool old wood in my new home. So, I see it as giving this ol' trusty barn a new life. It's gonna be good...

A Journey Awaits...

What kind of a journey, you ask? I'll tell you.

  I'm on a journey to make my own place, a tiny house, with a goal of having it in a liveable condition by this Winter. Can it be done? I believe so, but it's definitely going to be a time of learning. This journey will involve hard work, demolition and building, lots of building. Although this may be a journey for something small, there's going to be blood, sweat and tears, I already know it. But I'm not scared. This blog is going to be like a digital journal, where I write the chapters in this journey, share my victories and frustrations, and document the evolution of my Fancy Shanty.
Will you join me?