My name is Tarah and its great to meet you!

New Swivel Grill for our Lower Deck Fire Pit!

New Swivel Grill for our stone fire pit! When I came home for good MANY years ago one thing I did just for newly single me was buy some camping gear. I’ve always LOVED camping and when I was going back and forth working and living in two different states I just never got the chance. So, home for good, I spent a little bit of money on myself and it was SO MUCH FUN. I bought a tent, a blow up mattress, a camping chair, a cast iron pan, a coffee pot and a few other essentials and I totally took myself camping. It was a tradition of mine for many years to go out alone and I’ll never forget how fun and liberating that was for twenty-something me. Read More »

Adding String Lights to our New Lower Deck

Adding String Lights to our new pea gravel deck and fire pit. Wow did this break my brain… Here was our situation: The tall posts on the upper deck are not evenly spaced for two reasons. One, because of the staircase / gate and Two, because instead of cutting them evenly when I built it I started at the side of the gate and worked my way down the deck with as many full size boards as possible. It makes sense: Less cuts – Less waste. However, now with the lower deck and evenly spaced posts adding string lights connecting them all meant nothing would be even… Read More »

Framing our Garage, Stage Two of Adding Another Stall

Framing out our new garage stall. In my last post about our new garage addition Lodi prepped with a skid steer and then levelled it, framed it out, set the rebar and got the slab poured. With our slab set we are moving on to the first step of framing out the new stall! Being a little army of one for so long I always plan things in stages and, fortunately, Lodi is on board with me. It sure does help us out mentally and physically than putting pressure on us to do GIANT projects in only one weekend. Read More »

Deck Staircase Makeover, covering up some ugly with lattice!

Our deck staircase was NOT the prettiest thing ever. To be fair to myself though its not like I had built very many steps or staircases in my life when I put these in so they might look a little rough but they’re very sturdy! I had already flipped the step boards over, cleaned them thoroughly and put in new outdoor screws when I took the before pics. That helped a lot but I really needed to come up with a riser solution to cover up the ugly under the deck staircase. Read More »

Apron Prep and Pour – Adding a larger Apron to the front of our Garage

We ended up doing our concrete in three separate pours in three back to back Saturdays this spring. We started by pouring the slab for our additional garage stall. And then we decided to do our apron in two separate pours to just make it easier for us. Three pours came with the added benefit of “extra” concrete needing a home at the end of each pour. So, that gave us a nice platform in the front of the barn, an additional larger lower step at our front door and a nice big step off of our deck over in our new lower pea gravel deck for us. Just like with the slab Lodi got to work with a hammer drill and A LOT of rebar. Read More »

Stone Fire Pit, How to Inexpensively Build a Safe and Cozy Fire Ring

An inexpensive stone fire pit set in our new pea gravel lower deck. Our previous fire pit was totally surrounded by sand so it gave us a lot of piece of mind, HOWEVER, it was sunk entirely into the ground so it wasn’t exactly safe to dance around! One wrong step and BOOM you were literally in it! That, obviously, always bothered me so I’ve been working on a plan in my head for awhile now for a much safer stone pit that wasn’t quite so easy to fall into. In fact, I decided to take it a bit further and designed the top of it to make a nice spot for a foot rest or even to sit on. Read More »

Cork board and Key Caddy Makeover!

I’ve had this little pine cork board my grandparents’ made for many years now. It comes with the added perk of also being a key caddy so, of course, we put it right by our front door. It really comes in handy! However, it doesn’t exactly mesh with the look we have going throughout our entryway. Varnished knotty pine in that gold color is really not our style so its been on my list for awhile now to give it a little makeover! 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 »

September 2021 – Summer burn out, totally ready for quieter days

Well it wasn’t quite September 2021 when the temperature dropped and it started raining here but I didn’t have time to add it to the end of my August 2021 post. Us locals were all like, “Um so… not that we’re complaining (we’re really not) but, do we HAVE to get all the rain we’ve been missing for three months in a week? It just seems a little extreme… totally not complaining but… WOW.” And suddenly summer was just over. But I don’t think anything the weather could have done would have either surprised us, made us happy or even ticked us off at that point… Read More »

August 2021 Annie Becoming a Farmer’s Dog & August Photo Gallery

August 2021 – I have to start this post out with a disclaimer. Everything I am about to say about The Farmer’s dog food is legit – they literally don’t even have an affiliate program for me to make money from. However, for those many folks I know who follow us who have their own doggos, I just have to tell you about what’s been going on with Annie. After Lodi’s 2012 discharge Annie was assigned to him as his service dog from the Wounded Warrior program. So, to say that she means a lot to him, is an understatement! Read More »

July 2021 Concerts, Total Craziness and Taking a Break!

Well our July 2021 started off almost like a “normal” July before Covid meaning: We did way too much over the 3 day, July 4th weekend and totally exhausted ourselves. It was REALLY hot and sunny and crazy humid. We went to two concerts and had a big family get together at our place. It was A LOT. Deciding last minute to have a party out here meant Lodi and I were scrambling all day to prepare for it and then running to try to enjoy a concert and then working again all the next day before the next concert in some pretty impressive summer heat! It does mean we had our new lower deck and fire pit complete WAY ahead of schedule though I’m not convinced how much we stressed ourselves out was totally worth all we got done… Read More »

June 2021 – So so so much manual labor… in 90 degree heat!

June 2021 – When we said “come hell or high water” we didn’t know we were making a choice! *laughs while sobbing* May 27th and 28th we had to cover our garden because it froze hard two nights in a row. And then seven days later (Friday June 2nd) we hit a heat record of 100 degrees. (Lodi and I also got our second Covid vaccines that Friday morning.) Unfortunately for us we had chosen that specific weekend, several weeks before, to tackle our yard with the rental of a bob cat, a concrete saw and a ground leveler. That first weekend of June we stoically put on our work boots, took a deep breath, and stepped out into a record breaking heat wave (and several week drought) that we spent two days straight in. Read More »

May 2021, Yard Work, Kitchen Organizing and Vegan Dinners!

May 2021 we had such an odd year this year when it came to the weather. We broke record highs in January and March and then saw a chilly rainy April and a cold early start to May. For us Minnesotans an actual “spring” is kind of a weird thing. Usually it seems like we go from 20 to 90 every year in about a week. But I’d certainly still take a couple months of cold and rainy over what we would have normally had which could be very cold and snowy. It did feel like we were endlessly going back for “just” five more bags of pellets for the stove though and I know I wasn’t the only one getting beyond restless for nice weather. Read More »

April 2021 A Spring Walk About, Gearing up for Summer

April 2021 – This month brought us grief and joy in large quantities this year. April 13th Lodi proposed to me and, of course, I said yes! We are absolutely just annoyingly happy lol no set date yet but it won’t be until next year. Not two days later I got the call we all dread. Lodi got home before me and my Mom’s little mare (Jazzy) was unable to get up and had been struggling for at least a couple of hours. She had a sky high temp and our vet gave her antibiotics to fight the tick disease he suspected. We made her as comfortable as we could and waited for the shots to kick in. Read More »

Basement Bathroom Reveal – Pallet Walls, Barn wood and Black Floors!

Basement Bathroom Reveal, adding a touch of girl to this little space because it was starting to feel like a man cave and not in a good way… I am not a girly girl by any means (as I’m sure you’re all aware at this point…) but even I can attest a balance between masculine and feminine in a space is a real must. Outside of this bathroom our living room feels like just the coolest underground speak easy and I totally love it. But with Lodi’s wood furniture and black leather couches no matter what I do it will always feel at least a little like a bachelor pad. Read More »

Basement Living Room Reveal – Speak Easy Theater and Chill Space

Basement living room reveal. So it all started back in 2014 when I purchased and began the renovation of my Grandparents’ 100 year old farmhouse. I was single and the basement had a separate entrance so I immediately tackled it with the intention of putting in a rental suite. It was a ton of money and work that all went for nothing a couple of years later when my husband (now ex) decided that renters were a NO. I used this unfinished space (what a total waste) as my workshop for awhile until I threw him out in 2017. So, I emptied the space to, once again, try to move forward with the rental idea. A lot of life happened in the years since but, finally, all of my time and money down here is no longer for nothing! Read More »

Lodi’s Room Reveal Complete with New Light Fixtures!

Lodi’s Room Reveal complete with New Light Fixtures! Starting at the beginning… When I renovated this home back in 2014-2015 I designed this as a wide hallway which included a huge closet made specifically to house a 6 foot chest freezer. At the end of the hall I put our “back door” which included a doggie door in it – which was a great straight shot out of the house for my big dog at the time. In 2018 I got rid of the chest freezer and I was playing around with making this wasted area into a reading nook / day bed / dog bed area and putting up some kind of gate so I could lock dogs back here whenever I needed to… Read More »

The Back Hall Reveal Before and After

Besides a random peak here and there from reveals and projects of other parts of the house this is the very first time I’ve ever posted about our back hall! This hall, Lodi’s room, our Guest Bedroom, and even a bit of the workshop, used to be a wide open screened in porch. (Sorry for the before pics but they’re the best I have. Hopefully the before and after floor plan as well as the renovation pics help somewhat.) I designed this back hall during the renovation to be a “T” each wing going to a bedroom and, before we made Lodi’s room, to a hall and big closet and back door which was just wasted space until we started work on all of it. 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 »

To Grandma’s House we go! (Wednesday Link Party #266)

Welcome to the To Grandma’s House We Go Link Party #266. Well we’ve had a truly lovely October so far but the mild temps are moving toward freezing at night here shortly. Monday was 75 degrees though and everyone soaked it up! Fall is winding down and I’m relieved to say our fall check list is about complete. This weekend we went out of town for the day and enjoyed playing hooky and just taking a little time off from house chores. Now, on to the Party! Read More »

To Grandma’s House we go! (Wednesday Link Party #265)

Welcome to the To Grandma’s House We Go Link Party #265. Well our weather is slowly winding down and, I’m glad to say, we’re about finished with all we wanted to complete by winter. I still have some siding to fix on the South side of the house and to build a little awning over our garage side door – but we’ll have the garage addition complete with new garage door and everything by this weekend! Even siding and all of the trim! Woop woop! As usual I am not excited to see winter coming our way but I am glad to be ready for it. How are you guys coming along with your fall check lists? Now, on to the Party! Read More »

To Grandma’s House we go! (Wednesday Link Party #264)

Welcome to the To Grandma’s House We Go Link Party #264. We had a lovely time this last weekend going to see Eric Church a few hours away and then enjoying bumming around and playing hooky for the majority of the rest of the weekend. As urgently as we feel we need to get our fall chores done I’m just going to admit it: The weather has been SO gorgeous its almost impossible to do anything but just enjoy it while it lasts! Its looking like we won’t be seeing even freezing temps until late October which, at least for us northern Minnesotan’s, is totally something to celebrate! I hope you guys too have been seeing a lovely fall. Now, on to the Party! Read More »

To Grandma’s House we go! (Wednesday Link Party #263)

Welcome to the To Grandma’s House We Go Link Party #263. We were so fortunate to have such gorgeous weather this weekend. Besides just about completing our garage addition we were also able to meet up with some friends of ours to go ATVing together on Sunday. It got to be too late of a night simply because it was just so so beautiful outside none of us wanted it to end! Of course we all dragged ourselves to work blurry eyed Monday morning but no regrets! Now, on to the Party! Read More »

To Grandma’s House we go! (Wednesday Link Party #262)

Welcome to the To Grandma’s House We Go Link Party #262. Well fall is just so entirely here. I am both upset about it and relieved lol which is typical of this time of the year for me. We did (and are still completing) several big projects on the house this year that I am just SO over with. I’m just not as strong or as tough as I used to be I guess. I told Lodi the other day, “I just want a little project… maybe paint something…” But we’ll be very glad to have all that we completed this year for all of the years to follow. Next year we have promised ourselves that we’ll stop adding and just work on what we already have. Promised ourselves a less trying year which I am so relived about! Now, on to the Party! Read More »

To Grandma’s House we go! (Wednesday Link Party #261)

Welcome to the To Grandma’s House We Go Link Party #261. Well I have officially reached that time of the year where I’m secretly hoping our garden would just die already LOL! Of course I don’t really mean that but this year seems particularly worse than other years. After having to water the pour thing for practically three months it just seemed like a bigger chore this year than its ever been before. How are you guys all fairing, did you have a garden this year? Are you currently drowning in cucumbers like we are? 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 »

First-Time Home Buyers: 6 Ways to Avoid Getting Ripped Off

First-time home buyers. Buying a house can be scary and daunting especially for the first time. For most of us our homes will be the largest purchase we make in our lifetimes. Still though it will often be a wonderful and gratifying moment for us giving us the feeling of finally “making it”. Purchasing a home requires decent credit and, often, a down payment proving we can truly be responsible adults. But that doesn’t change that it can also be a very scary moment! Read More »

Why Gardening Is Good For Your Home And For You

I used to joke that gardening helped keep me out of trouble but, seriously, when its harvest time a couple of times a week and then pickling and preserving etc. Gardening can be a big time consuming job! That being said though I also believe it is one of the best of jobs. Its nourishing for every part of me just like this article says: Mind, body and soul! Having a garden might be a lot of work but the benefits are so many! Read More »

Keen To Go Green

I was really pleasantly surprised by how much our lives improved when we decided to “go green” with several areas of our household. My choice to start making all of our household cleaners, laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent were, initially, because of my own allergies. But to find out how much money it saved us too was a double whammy! There are MANY easy ways to go more green in our homes than I think many of us realize! Read More »

Three simple tips to vacuum more efficiently around the home

Two things I am just not good at: Vacuuming and mowing the lawn. Fortunately Lodi excels (and even seems to enjoy) both things! I don’t mind vacuuming honestly I’m just not as good at staying on top of our floors as he is. We have different forms of OCD honestly lol I can’t stand dust and clutter and Lodi can’t stand dirty floors so it really works out! We have two vacuum cleaners now a little hand help battery operated one that’s great for the couches and smaller jobs and Lodi got a big one to do all of the floors about once a week. Read More »

5 Online Security Tips Your Family Should Know

Security is a huge importance at my day job in IT and server management. We’re not a huge company by any means but we are constantly storing the personal data of hundreds of individuals. With Covid and the push to move so much more of our work online and “non contact” it became an even larger situation than it had been back in 2019. Already with a job in internet security (not to mention this blog and the other websites I host) I was already changing every single password of mine AT LEAST once a month. When I told one of my co workers that she said I was crazy lol but, seriously, no one should have passwords older than a few weeks! Read More »

How to Stay Connected to Your Crafting Community Online

Crafting Communities. Finding ways to be social changed a lot for many people over the last couple of years. Though I think many of us have started reaching out more now that things have “loosened” up a bit in the United states I actually can’t see going back to the normal we were used to before quarantine. Its funny but its totally true, many of us realized how often a meeting could have been an email and there’s no going back now! To be able to join a fun and great crafting community and even make life long friends from our living rooms is pretty awesome! Read More »