buy this: vintage barn lighting

rustic-exteriorOur biggest inspiration behind The Little Barn was this Cruz Cabin (see above). After coming across it nearly eight months ago, we have tried to model almost every detail on The Little Barn’s exterior after this cabin.

TheLittleBarn6The remainder of the photos are of The Little Barn. See if you can you spot the resemblance!

So, why is this post on vintage barn lighting then, you ask? Prior to selling our last home and finding the lot for our new one, I purchased a barn light for the exterior of Little Green. It was very expensive, but it changed the exterior of our little 1920s bungalow from cute to sophisticated. I bookmarked the seller on eBay, and knew that I was going to purchase more barn lights from their store, Vintage Barn Lighting, in the future.

TheLittleBarn1Fast forward a little bit. One of the first things that I noticed about the Cruz Cabin were its lights. That, the barn doors, and the fact that it reminded me of Little Green’s exterior. Those three elements were what drove me to build something similar looking. It also went without saying that I already knew that I was going to hang several barn lights on its exterior.

TheLittleBarn3Working the lights into the plans was a different story. I told our contractor to draw in five lights (four is bad Chi). I wanted two in the front, two on the side, and one in the back. When we received the blueprints, there were only four. Not wanting to cause a fuss, I went ahead and bought four vintage barn lights. A few weeks later we went out to check on TLB, and Geoffrey noticed that the exterior was now wired for five lights. Confused, I sent my contractor a text asking why there was now an extra light, and he said something to the effect of, “Is there?” Knowing that the lights were vintage and one-of-a-kind, I panicked and immediately assumed that I would never be able to find another similar one to match any that I had just purchased. After a few days went by, I finally got a text back confirming that I would have to buy a second and a replica light for the front of the house.

TheLittleBarn2Taking a stab in the dark, I contacted the store seller and told them my predicament. They were already so kind in reducing the shipping fees on my previous purchases since I had essentially bought so many lights from them. I was told me to wait another few days, and that they would try to track down a duplicate light. So I waited again, and to my surprise, I received a message saying that they found one that would work, and I could have it at a discounted price. I counted my lucky stars and thanked them, and was once again reaffirmed as to why I prefer to shop with small businesses rather than big corporations. Sometimes, you can’t put a price on quality customer service.

TheLittleBarn4Six months later, we’re finally in our new home! The exterior lights were the last thing that needed to be installed. When they finally did go up, The Little Barn went from beautiful to jaw-dropping. The whole wait, confusion, cost, and stress over these lights were worth it. Don’t you agree?

Oh, Little Barn. You are by far the nicest looking house that we have ever owned. 

<3

Emory

Hello, Followers:
Blog // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

moving day: the little barn

MovingDay6I’ve received comment after comment asking (sometimes begging) for me to post photos of The Little Barn. I must apologize, lovely readers. For various reasons, I have been sorely dragging my feet. Let me explain why.

To begin, the move-in date for our new home was pushed back from October, to November, to mid-December, to the end of December, to the beginning of January. While technically we have moved in, our contractors are still putting the finishing touches on the exterior of our house. I didn’t want to show you The Little Barn while it was still under construction, during a time that it was supposed to be finished, all while not knowing when it would be completed. Too much was still up in the air for my liking, thus no photos.

Secondly, and to elaborate on that last point, I am a perfectionist. There, I said it. Our home is still not unpacked, given that neither Geoffrey nor I took any time off to move in. Thus, I have been left to unpack and arrange the entire house for a few hours a day between shifts, while my husband takes over at night for an hour or so, or on weekends. We’ve actually started taking boxes back to our storage unit just to get them out of the way in hopes of not feeling so overcome with stress. To summarize, there’s no way in hell that I will blog a messy house. Capish?

That being said, I am very appreciative for all of those who have been curious to see the final product of a project that’s been seven months in the making! You guys are what’s lighting a fire under my butt to get the house set up. While I may come across as annoyed, I am not in the slightest. I am just extremely overwhelmed. I also feel so emotionally drained, which I think is the opposite of what I should probably be feeling given that TLB is no longer in the construction phase.

MovingDay8Inevitably, I’ve so enjoyed sharing our house-building journey with all of you wonderful and encouraging souls! I promise that in February, the wait will be over. I will be posting at least once a week on TLB, with a final house tour at the end of the month. In the words of Gloria Walker, “Please don’t desert me baby!”

In the meantime, here is a look at the little bit of hell what we went through leading up to, and including, our moving day.

MovingDay2Two weeks prior to move-in, one week overdue on completion date.

We arrive to the house with my dad who is visiting us from out of province. After being told by our contractor that even though he was a week late, it would still be completed within the next day or two. This is what we saw. My dad said that they were weeks behind. We couldn’t even tell what was left to be done because of the mess. Christmas was days away, and we felt hopeless. I almost cried.

MovingDay4MovingDay3MovingDay5MovingDay7MovingDay9One week prior to move-in, two weeks overdue on completion date.

We returned to the home to drop off an armoire for our kitchen storage after not visiting it for a week. It was much cleaner, but was still missing soffit and fascia on one side of the house, stairs off of the back deck, a bathroom, plumbing, a hand railing for the interior staircase, exterior lights, and some trim and electrical. We were nearing January, and over two weeks late with our move-in date. Again, the feeling of hopelessness set in.

MovingDay11MovingDay10MovingDay13MovingDay14MovingDay12MovingDay21Move-in day, three weeks overdue on completion date.

By the grace of God, our contractors were somehow able to pull it together. On a Saturday morning, Geoffrey, Holly, Truman, and I finally move into TLB, being more than three weeks late. We still don’t have back stairs, exterior lights, soffit and fascia, a working bathroom, a kitchen sink that’s hooked up to plumbing, or a hand railing for our front, side, or back deck. The plumbers and our contractors meet us at our house around 11 am, after Geoffrey and I have already went to our storage unit and loaded up the U-Haul. It was -30°C that day, and we still froze our hands and feet even though I was wearing three pairs of socks and two pairs of mitts. However, the weather was not going to deter us. The plumbers stayed until 5 pm and finally got our bathroom in working order. Our kitchen sink would have to wait another week. We were finally in.

MovingDay15Second storey view.

MovingDay16 MovingDay17Shopping for still-needed supplies.

MovingDay19 MovingDay23Morning and afternoon walks on the lake.

MovingDay20As you can see, the last two months have been anything but smooth sailing. I felt like I needed to post this in order to be clear with you patient folks as to why you haven’t seen much of TLB yet. Whoever said that building a home would be easy?

Have a great weekend! See you on Monday!

<3

Emory

Hello, Followers:
Blog // Instagram // Pinterest // Twitter

a day in the life (two)

BeFunky_001.jpgOn October 18 2013, I published my first Day in the Life. That’s almost one year ago exactly. I love these types of posts, and I especially love when other bloggers take part in them. They’re so interesting. Even if that individual doesn’t do anything particularly interesting that day, their own take on, and how they relate to the world, is what makes it so intriguing.

I randomly chose one day last month to highlight here today. Below is a list of each event as it unfolded:

7:00 am. Get up. Take the dogs for a walk.

8:00 am. Get back, throw on clothes, pack the dogs up, and leave.

8:15 am. Drive into town.

BeFunky_002.jpg9:00 am. Arrive at the Vet College and drop of Holly for her all-day appointment. When I get back into the vehicle, I call my mum and bawl my eyes out. I return a missed call from my contractor. I’m needed at our new home, which is out of town. I start making my way out there with Truman.

BeFunky_003.jpg9:45 am. Arrive at our building site and start making decisions on lighting, electrical, appliances, fencing, decks, and anything else that my contractor needs an answer for.

10:15 am. Building inspector arrives. I introduce myself and then leave. 

PicMonkey Collage10:20 am. Drive down the street, and take Tru for a walk. I hang out on the dock for a bit while Tru plays in the water. It’s going to get up to 31°C that day, and it’s already a gorgeous morning.

BeFunky_004.jpg11:00 a.m. Head back home.

11:45 am. Get back and start making breakfast for myself and Tru. We’re starving! 

12:15 pm. Tru and I finish eating. I haven’t heard from the vet in regards to Holly, so to distract myself I clean the entire house and then get ready for work later that night. 

BeFunky_007.jpg1:45 pm. I get overly impatient, so I call the Vet College. Holly is ready to be picked up. I make the 30 minute drive into town and to the college for the second time that day. 

2:15 pm. Grab Holly, load her up, and leave to go back home. We’re both so relieved to be with one another again. 

2:45 pm. Get home, feed Holly, and take her outside for a stroll around the acreage. Once back inside, I begin to cook Geoff’s supper in addition to getting the dog’s meals together. 

3:15 pm. I finally have about an hour to myself. I use that time to start a blog post and work on my store. I’m trying to keep busy, but am having a hard time concentrating.

BeFunky_008.jpg4:15 pm. Make my final trip into town for my shift at the library. I forget to take supper.

5:00-9:00 pm. Work at the library. Later in the evening, I continue writing my blog post on my break. Working my other jobs while at work, it’s something that I’ve come to master over the past year.

9:00 pm. Finish my shift. I’m exhausted, but it’s time for the gym. First though, I have to make a quick stop at my store.

BeFunky_0010.jpg9:15 pm. Arrive at my store. Grab what I need, then head to the gym.

9:30 pm. Get to the gym and try to have a good workout.

10:15 pm. I’m too tired to do anymore. I get changed, and make the drive back home.

10:45 pm. Get home. Eat supper. Blog some more.

12:00 am. Bedtime. I’m dead. 

Not everyday of my life looks like this. For the last few months however, they have followed a similar suit. I mostly wanted to write this because up until I stopped caring, I was getting tired of my in-laws and friends complaining that they don’t see my husband or I anymore. When we tried explaining that we were busy, their response was that “everyone is busy.” Yes, to an extent. 

On this particular day my mom told me that she didn’t know how I kept it together. When she initially said that, I didn’t have a response. Now I do. I am able to keep it together because I have the support of my mom, my step-dad, my husband, my sister, my brother (via phone), and my competent contractors. If I didn’t, I know that I would have already fallen apart.

BeFunky_006.jpgWhether it’s a photographic or written hourly journal of one’s day, the A Day in the Life posts offer such an intimate portrait of that particular blogger. I challenge my readers to do the same, and then to link their publication here, to HSB! Let’s start a movement! Or at least, another take on an already established series. ;-)))

<3

Emory

finding my dream home.

eb0dbf557aa41048c90be5ba223e31b5(Image via Pinterest)

Whenever I tell someone at work that we are building a home, without fail, the first question that they always ask me is, “Is it your dream home?” 

The rest of the conversation plays out like this:

Me. Laughing. “No!” I say.

Them. “Oh.” Awkward silence. “So, um … when do you think it’ll be done?”

shot0069_originalI wish that I had a better response to that inevitable dream home question. Truth be told, I find it such a ridiculous thing to ask me. It’s actually quite similar to asking a newly engaged or married person if their significant other is their soulmate, and acting disappointed if their answer isn’t a resounding yes.

So what exactly is a dream home? In my mind, it’s an idea that is either fictitious, or else attainable but only for that specific stage in a person’s life. Why? Because in the end, dream homes are fleeting. Sooner or later, we all want something different, or something more.

Now I can’t be expected to go into a rant every time that I am asked about this so-called dream home of mine. What I can do is summarize a few points that I have come up with in regards to this topic. So here we go:

shot0072_original1. First of all, I’m only 28 years old. I can’t even plan the next year, month, or week of my life, let alone my forever dream home.

2. Secondly, I’m the breadwinner. I’m not sure if that has anything to do with it other than I just like to keep reminding my husband that he makes less than I do. ;-))) I suppose what I really mean by that statement is that right now I simply can’t afford to build the perfect house.

3. Thirdly, my dream home (at least at the moment) would be quite unrealistic. To summarize, it would involve a very old and very derelict mansion. It would also be haunted, but with nice spirits and not evil ones. It would be filled with secret passageways, and each room would be incredibly big, dark, and not overly furnished. Basically, it would be modelled after the house from the film that I have been obsessed with since birth. The hill house from Clue

4. Fourthly, and most importantly, is the fact that I don’t know where I want my dream home to be located. Only twice in my life could I say that I actually loved the city that I was residing in. The others I either didn’t care for, or only grew fond of once I moved away.  Even though I’ve lived in Switzerland, Australia, and in 4 of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories, I have yet to come across a place that I want to call home for the remaining years of my life. 

It’s as simple, or not so simple, as that. 

What is your take on building or finding a dream home?

<3

Emory

  • Hello! My name is Emory. I am a wife, mother of four (three on earth in heaven). This is our life on the Canadian prairies.
    email: helloscarlettblog@outlook.com

  • Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 2,919 other subscribers
%d bloggers like this: