Lodi’s room, Final Paint Choices, the Floors and the Door!

Finishing Lodi’s room! There were quite a few steps to finally getting here: First we scored the jackpot of the perfect door for this space. Then we put a new exterior door (and new doggie door) in the workshop and removed the old exterior door here and replaced it with a window. Finally we built the new wall, hung the “new” door, trimmed everything out and officially, made this a REAL room. Moving on now to finishing it all up with paint! Read More »

Homemade Stock – Healthful Broth Made Easy out of Kitchen Scraps!

Homemade Stock using kitchen scraps. My Grandma on my dad’s side knew my favorite meal growing up and she made it for me for my birthday for many many years. She would buy a whole roaster chicken and boil it all day. She would put the resulting beautiful stock in one pot and all the meat off of the chicken would go in another pot. She would add fine, short, angel hair egg noodles to the broth and heavy cream to the chicken. The cream chicken we would pour over buttered toast and serve it beside the wonderful homemade chicken noodle soup. She liked a splash of ketchup in her soup 🙂 Read More »

Lodi’s Small Room – Building a Hallway and Closet into a Storage Room

Making a large hallway and closet into a small room for Lodi. There were quite a few steps to finally getting to the point of truly enclosing this space and giving it four walls. First we scored the jackpot at the salvage yard getting all four doors we needed in a single trip. Then we put a new exterior door (and new doggie door) in the workshop and removed the door here and replaced it with a window on the back wall. Finally its time to make this into a real space! Read More »

Doggie Door – How to Build an Almost indestructible DIY Dog Door

How to make your own almost indestructible doggie door. It was over a decade ago now (aw to be 23 again) when I finally, totally and completely, lost my mind with the expensive, absolute junk, doggie doors that are on the market. We live in northern MN and we generally went through two of the the most expensive doggie doors every winter. That’s nearly $400 a winter because our winters get so cold the plastic those doors were made of would literally just shatter. We had three 100 pound dogs at the time and I was at my wit’s end. I just could NOT believe there wasn’t another option out there so, obviously, I set out to make my own. Read More »

New Window – Replacing a door, starting on Lodi’s Space

Replacing a door with a new window. If you read my doors post than you know this is one of many posts coming up that all started with the jackpot of four PERFECT doors we found at the salvage yard. It started with taking out a window in the workshop and replacing it with one of those new doors. With the window in hand it was now time to finally get rid of the crappy door on the back of the house. Its needed to be replaced for years… literally since I installed it. Read More »

Exterior Door – Replacing a Window with a Door in the Workshop

Exterior door installation, replacing a window in the workshop. Moving an outside door to a different room to save on heating costs. You’ve heard me mention my back hallway “dog spot” and its numerous problems many times. Its been on my “to do” list for over two years now and replacing its door has been on my list literally since I put that old crappy door in five years ago. I’m glad now though, looking back, that I hadn’t messed with it at all because its new plan now is completely different. That old door will be replaced but not with another door anymore. Read More »

Adding Tufted Upholstery to an old Coffee Table

Adding a tufted top and a new paint job to an old coffee table. I’ve been working on the refresh of my living room for awhile now. It started when I decided I hated my sofa and was ready for a new one! That worked out perfect because I really needed my old sofa to complete my seating area out in my garage. Following my old sofa to the garage was my coffee table and one of my end tables too! That left my living room pretty barren: the perfect time to do a makeover! Read More »

Three Legged Stool Makeover: Paint and stain combo with dipped legs

Teaming up with Chas in our DIY blog hop this month with projects for our bathrooms! (Make sure and check out all of the bathroom projects following this post and feel free to join in!) This little stool has a fun story behind it. My Grandparents’ were wood workers and made and sold lots of these along with many other pieces of furniture. One of my neighbors is an avid follower of my blog and felt she simply had to return it to me so this milking stool came home after being gone for over 30 years! Read More »

Lace Doily Upcycling on my Radio Stand Kitchen Island

Lace doily upcycling across the front of my kitchen island that I made out of my great grandpa’s radio stand. This piece remains one of my ALL TIME favorite transformations that I’ve created. Some projects just work! It was like this old radio stand had been waiting 100 years to be made into a kitchen island. It looks great from the front and the shelves in the back house all my recipe books too. During my recent kitchen remodel I did some surgery on it to work even better for me. Read More »

Thrift Store Lamp gets a Country Makeover with the Farmhouse Hens

So, a few months ago, I went to my local thrift store to get myself a sweater to make mug koozies for my Christmas in a Jar post. I left the thrift store with two sweaters, some shop rags, a mirror tray and a lamp! To be fair I still only spent $8 and no one really believed I was just gonna be able to get one sweater right? Read More »

Lamp gets a country girl makeover using license plates! Before and After!

My new guest bedroom and library needed a reading lamp for the bedside table so, of course, I went thrifting! I found this little dude for only $6 and then went directly to walmart and found what I decided was the perfect burlap lamp shade. From there it was time to decide just how I was going to transform this little lamp into something country and fun! Using two old MN license plates I got to work! Read More »

A little end table gets a full on adult country girl redo!

There are a lot of changes taking place here at my Grandma’s old farmhouse. You guys know now that I got divorced and that means new and very different plans for the whole house. My old office is now going to become my guest bedroom and library and it felt really important to refinish all of the furniture that will be going in there. So, I got to work! Read More »

February 2021 – Two Birthdays and One Serious Cold Snap

February 2021 and January. We had a truly beautiful first half of winter – we literally set records with how warm it was! By the time mid January came around we all agreed that no matter what the weather was like for the last half of winter: we had been spoiled and had nothing to complain about. Remarkably it was still cold enough for ice fishing and we still even had enough snow for snowmobiling. So, everyone was close to happy, and I doubt that’s ever happened before. To be fair though, with Covid and all we went through last year, it sure felt deserved. Lodi and I have our birthdays in the first two months of the year and man how that sucks after the holidays. Read More »

2020 Recap – Major Plan Changes, One Very Difficult Year for Everyone

Writing this 2020 recap I had to keep stopping myself from bringing up everything we already know that we all lived through (and are still living through…) A plague, Australia on fire, quarantine, the tiger king… (Carol Baskin definitely killed her husband) $1200 subsidy checks… all in the first couple of months… where would I even stop if I started recounting everything? And my brain pretty much just stopped recounting stuff after April because there were JUST TOO MANY MAJOR HISTORICAL EVENTS AT THAT POINT. Read More »

December 2020 Starting with Manual Labor Because This is Us!

December 2020, my second Xmas with Lodi. My coworkers know me so well that when I got to work Monday November 30th after our four day holiday weekend I wasn’t first asked how my Thanksgiving went instead I was asked, “What did you do on the house this weekend?” I have no shame lol they all know that with four days off I absolutely could not help myself! Lodi and I divided and conquered rather unintentionally over that last weekend in November. On Thursday we had a small gathering with family, we drank, ate and were totally merry and did NOT work at all. Friday, however, it was GO TIME! Read More »

November 2020 – Gifts to be Grateful for, a Less Stressful Holiday Season

We managed to complete most of the BIG projects by the end of October which was a gift for me of a much less stressful November 2020. No one is going to believe it but I am actually not a huge fan of renovation. I love the finished product. I love improving this home. But this last spring, summer and fall reminded me how I do enjoy smaller projects a lot more. (Projects that don’t have us barely able to get out of bed in the morning and working 14 hours straight because its snowing and there’s a giant hole in the side of the house…) Read More »

October 2020 – Our Fall Photo Gallery

October 2020 – This time of the year in Minnesota can either be Heaven on earth or a great big ball of suck. (Usually it takes turns being both which is exactly what it did this year.) We’ve had snow storms throughout October some years and have also seen highs in the 80s other years. This year it was cool but a pretty much lovely month minus the snow storm we got hit by at the end of it! We had many of those perfect, shiny, fall days where the sunshine feels like liquid silver and the shadows are long and dark and the trees get to take their time turning in for the winter… And then a foot of snow landed on us… I have some catching up to do as I didn’t recap on all of the projects we completed throughout September in my last post. Read More »

September 2020 – Leaving the Emerald City

September 2020 started off quite tragically for all of us here in north country Minnesota. It FROZE two nights in a row. I know we weren’t the only ones hit by the deep freeze but wow did that come on hard and fast. Fortunately we did return to “normal” temps but, of course, summer was just over after that. The constant joke I saw on Facebook was, “The temperature went from 90 to 50 like it saw a state trooper!” And it REALLY did. I’ve seen that meme just about every year on Facebook that I can remember but it has never been more accurate than THIS year. I guess it is 2020 so nobody is exactly surprised… maybe a little disappointed though! Read More »

The Current State of the Garage and What’s Next!

To get the garage to its current state feels like a huge accomplishment for me! To recap I started in the early spring of 2019. First I had to clean the whole place out, get everything off the walls and then haul yet another pile of crap to the dump. Then I ran power, insulated, covered the walls, installed the doors, put EVERYTHING back where it belongs, made a path and enclosed my stock tank complete with a barn door on top of it! Read More »

Autumn Deck Reveal with New Seating and Updates!

Autumn Deck Reveal with updates and lots of new seating and additions! OMG Where on earth did this summer go!? I can’t believe its so far into November already and I still have so many fun things Lodi and I finished this summer and fall to share with you guys. I decided after so many changes to the deck (Check out the old reveal here) that I definitely needed to share a new deck reveal with you before 2020 was over and I missed the lovely fall colors! The biggest changes are all the seating we removed and replaced with new! Read More »

Tiny Bathroom Reveal – From Embarrassment to Moody Stunner!

Main floor tiny bathroom reveal! This bathroom was the most difficult and annoying of the planning issues I had here during the renovation. (To get the whole scoop check out my post all about it here.) I think I made the practical choice on where I ended up putting the bathroom but, really, there were few options and I didn’t like any of them. But now that its fixed and finished I kind of love our tiny bathroom now! First though let’s take a trip back to what this little space looked like before. Read More »

Bedroom Reveal – Completing the New Guest Bedroom Unisex Redesign!

I’m so excited to finish the new guest bedroom reveal! My old country girl design and library just wasn’t right anymore and this room needed attention badly. It needed to grow up,l become more unisex and also become a lot more comfortable for any guests or friends that might stay. It all started with a new far more grown up paint color called Flannel Gray by Valspar. From there I tackled the challenging furniture layout and now moved on to the final touches, design and completion. Read More »

Living Room Reveal – Farm Houses can be Classy, Fun & Practical!

Farmhouse living room reveal! OMG you guys this room took me over 5 months to finish – UGH Finally though, we have arrived at the new living room. It probably seems strange and even silly but buying a new sofa meant something to me. Throughout the entire home almost every single piece of furniture here I’ve either inherited or I built. The few other pieces besides I picked up at either thrift stores or garage sales. I literally only have one “new” thing and its my dining room chairs which my mom bought for me as a gift MANY years ago! Read More »

DIY Farmhouse Kitchen Reveal! A Bigger Closet and a Bigger Kitchen!

DIY Farmhouse Kitchen Reveal, somehow I took space AWAY from my kitchen and yet I ended up with MORE storage and a bigger feeling space! In this kitchen I will always think of my amazing Grandma Charlotte who lived in this home for over fifty years before me. I was thrilled that this old farmhouse could become mine and ecstatic at the notion of creating my very own farmhouse kitchen. This space was a VERY long time coming for me. I had no idea it would take me from early spring of 2014 until right now, to finally create and finish the kitchen of my dreams. But, ya know what? It was worth it! Read More »

To Grandma’s House we go! (Wednesday Link Party #232)

Welcome to the To Grandma’s House We Go Link Party #232. Well today is my 35th birthday and wow how the time does go by in a blink – even this past year with covid etc. Fortunately our weather took a literal 60 degree turn into much warmer then we usually are. Generally February is the worst month to live here lol today its nearly 30 and boy does it feel wonderful! Sorry about forgetting to include the party code last week and thank you all who came back and shared once I fixed it. Now, on to the Party! Read More »

To Grandma’s House we go! (Wednesday Link Party #231)

Welcome to the To Grandma’s House We Go Link Party #231. BRRRRRRR. We just had over a week of constant negative temps and hitting at least -20 every night. My gosh I don’t know if I’ve ever been so excited to see ABOVE ZERO before! Even if its only 3 above lol Wow that was a long one! I feel so bad for all the little critters and deer etc. that are outside in this. My horses act like its no big deal but its a big deal. Finally though the temperatures are improving – we’re seeing above zero every day from now on! Now, on to the Party! Read More »

To Grandma’s House we go! (Wednesday Link Party #230)

Welcome to the To Grandma’s House We Go Link Party #230. WHEW did winter come to Minnesota! Our highs this entire week are in the minus! Even with my car in the garage she really didn’t want to start Monday morning after it hit -25 night before. I’m going to be plugging my poor little Honda in for several more days. Let’s hope this is the one and only serious cold snap. March isn’t far away thank goodness! Now, on to the Party! Read More »

To Grandma’s House we go! (Wednesday Link Party #229)

Welcome to the To Grandma’s House We Go Link Party #229. Lodi and I took a little getaway this last weekend to a resort not too far from us. It was great to have a break from just the daily grind. This is SO SO SO the off season for anywhere in Minnesota right now. So, it was quiet, which I liked a lot. A lot of resorts just close down here in the winter time which is fair. Glad we found one that remains open all year! Hope you all had a great weekend, I don’t know about you but I’m starting to day dream about this spring and my garden! Now, on to the Party! Read More »

To Grandma’s House we go! (Wednesday Link Party #228)

Welcome to the To Grandma’s House We Go Link Party #228. Well our days of very mild weather are behind us. Though a high of ten still isn’t bad at all for this time of year, we’ve been spoiled. I’m cold lol. We have a special weekend planned for Lodi’s 39th bday coming up. I got us a little room with a balcony and hot tub to dissolve in for a couple of days. We’re really looking forward to some real time together and a break from our regular routine. Hope you guys have a great weekend as well! Now, on to the Party! Read More »

To Grandma’s House we go! (Wednesday Link Party #227)

Welcome to the To Grandma’s House We Go Link Party #227. Lodi and I had a wonderful “no plans” weekend which, in my opinion, as far as weekends go, doesn’t get any better than that. I even had the bonus of it being a three day weekend for me so I was able to really “putter” and take my time knowing I had three days. I had two blog projects I wanted to take pictures of and I spent all day Sunday making eight quarts of turkey stock. Lodi spent much of the weekend playing his guitar and I made homemade turkey and dumplings for our Sunday night dinner. Those quiet, easy weekends are really where its at! Now, on to the Party! Read More »

OMG Pumpkins everywhere! Hometalk Fall Decor Inspiration board

Hometalk Fall Decor Inspiration board! Summer is absolutely my favorite time of the year – you will NEVER hear me complaining about the heat lol But I honestly think that’s a fact simply because fall and spring are such short seasons here in northern MN. Fall for us could truly last all of three weeks like our spring did this year! And that’s just depressing lol because that means we’re settling into at least four months of some serious cold and snow. Read More »

Hometalk’s Outdoor Projects I Can’t Wait to Build! Do it Yourself!

Inspiration Board of the Outdoor projects on Hometalk that I’ve been drooling over! I received a comment on my outdoor bench saying, “You’re SO crafty, that’s amazing!” And I admittedly got a bit offended, eventually I just laughed about it but I’m not sure how I can build a wrap around bench for my deck and still be called “crafty”. I could’t help but think that if I was a guy she certainly wouldn’t have looked at that bench and called him crafty! I am a builder at heart and I spend most of my time building things in my head or drooling over outdoor projects like these: Read More »

Let’s build some swings! Pinterest Do It Yourself Inspiration Board!

Well now that spring has FINALLY arrived, my dreaming has turned to swings! Let’s build some! These are some of my favorites I’ve found on Pinterest and stashed away for a later time because, seriously, who doesn’t want to swing away a beautiful summer day? Contrary to popular belief, I do NOT feel that swings are for kids in any way. Many of these are very grown up swings for us “adults” lol Read More »

Nooks and Getaway Places: Pinterest Inspiration Board

Nooks, crannies, special getaway places, some of my favorite escapes via Pinterest Inspiration board. It has been a very difficult few weeks here at Grandma’s House, tailing the end of a very, very hard year. I will tell you guys why and what’s been going on when I’m able to get my feet back under me again. To say the least though I have found myself on Pinterest, looking longingly at getaway places and nooks that promise quiet and PEACE. Read More »

Inspiration Board: Six more Summer Projects I can’t wait to build!

Six more summer projects I can’t wait to build for us outside and out on our deck! Some DIYs and things just have to wait for some nice weather not only for us to enjoy them but for us to build them as well. Currently I’m sitting here in late October and we have a winter storm warning 🙁 So, hears to dreaming about next summer and all the things to look forward to building. I posted earlier this year a few summer projects I just can’t wait to build but I’ve seen so many build projects on Pinterest I had to share a few more that I can’t wait to build next summer! Read More »

Inspiration Board: Gorgeous Bedrooms to swoon over!

I spend a certain amount of time on Pinterest gazing with my mouth open at some of the gorgeous bedrooms people have. As far as Inspiration Boards go I’ve published quite a few over the years but I think this one might take the cake. I am absolutely in awe of a few of these. Considering how much time we spend in our bedrooms (albeit it is with our eyes closed) I am a firm believer that they are a VERY important part of our homes. So, without further adieu here’s some gorgeous bedrooms via Pinterest!! Read More »

DIY Lawn Restoration 101: 5 Tips for Reseeding Your Outdoor Spaces

Lawn restoration: what a wonderful thing to be thinking about in January in northern MN! Though you guys know I’m not a huge fan of “lawns” these same steps will work in overseed your yard with anything you choose. I still dream of someday tipping over our entire backyard and planting dandelions, clover and creeping charlie to remove our grass, eliminate most of our mowing and give all of our visiting critters and insects some much needed nutrition throughout the spring a summer. Here’s to thoughts of spring and summer! Read More »

Home Renovation on the Horizon? 7 Budget-Friendly DIY Projects

You guys already know that DIY projects are my absolute fav especially when it comes to furniture! I love taking an old beast that a lot of people would have tossed and transforming it into something magnificent. I think I enjoy it the most because it takes an amazingly small amount of time and resources to do it! Whether getting a home ready to sell or doing it for ourselves (which are both equally important in my opinion we shouldn’t make our homes beautiful just to sell but for ourselves too!) tackling the furniture around our home can be a simple way to really make our homes shine again! Read More »

12 DIY Tricks To Effectively Secure Your Home

Our homes should absolutely be the safest and most secure places in our lives. Fortunately we don’t live in a high crime area, we don’t even live in a high people area lol We’re pretty well out there on a little dirt road but we still take caution when it comes to keeping doors locked etc. There is still the possibility of vandalism etc. Owning a dog makes me feel safer even though Annie would happily go home with anyone who offered her treats. She still barks and lets me know if something is going on and I really appreciate that – it helps me feel secure especially when Lodi isn’t home with me. Read More »

How Do You Know You Are Buying The Right Home?

I think when it comes to buying the right home location is probably the biggest one that comes to my mind. A home can be changed, renovated, added on to, replaced etc. But no matter how much you love it the one thing that can never change is its location. Being close to family was always important to me and where I grew up in northern MN will really always be the place I hope to be. Read More »

How to Create a Reclaimed Barn Wood Accent Wall: A DIY Tutorial

A wood accent wall is definitely becoming more and more popular nowadays. What’s really great is to get the look is now easier than ever! I’ve seen a lot of tutorials online using everything from real wood to vinyl flooring. In our own basement bathroom I used pallet wood and, though it didn’t come out perfect, we still like it a lot! And, because its in our basement, we’re going to keep it because of its uniqueness and character.

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Steps To Help You Regain Control of Your Home’s Landscaping

Landscaping: what a wonderful thing to think about right now that its literally -17 degrees outside! I would LOVE to be weeding my garden right now or planting some flowers! But spring is not so terribly far away for us here and even in this current cold snap no one can deny that Minnesota was really given a wonderfully mild winter so far. Can’t wait to get to landscaping our yard this spring and that’s only a few weeks away! Read More »