The Reveal

We're heading in to winter, and have hosted some friends and family at Front Porch Farm this summer and fall as we finally got ourselves sorted.  Everyone has liked the bright new paintwork and neutral flooring, and now it's just the nit-picky things that go in to making final decisions about what fits where and how rooms will work for our needs.  We're quite pleased with the results of our decisions and efforts, and thrilled to call this our home. There are still a few boxes hiding in cupboards, and tools to be (neatly) returned to the workshop - which itself needs an overhaul.  The kitchen will be a winter project as we strip wallpaper, try and clean things up with some paint, and figure out a way to keep the old cupboard doors closed until we can afford to replace them.  For now, I've been asked for some before and after pics...

Almost all of the carpeting came out, due to age and stains.  The carpet in the living room required extra attention, because the underlay was glued down.  We painted all of the main rooms and hallways, and primed and painted the plastic faux wood walls to either side of the woodstove to make the room brighter.  We also replaced the fan, and are on the way to deciding on art placement and getting blinds installed - which will help prevent our heat from escaping the room as the temperature drops.

  

The upstairs rec room, formerly home to a lovely orange and brown couch from the seventies, has been upgraded to a comfortable boardgame playing area, with armchairs for reading and playing video games.

Everything in the guest bedroom needed attention - the nailed-together, narrow shelves were pulled out, leaving many holes and scratches on the walls, and the dark ceiling trim and corner gaps took a lot of work to seal and paint.

But now, my mother is happy to come and visit!

The upstairs bedroom is largely unchanged, but a new bed, dressers, black out blinds and and some personal items have helped to make it a bit more to our taste.

The master bedroom downstairs has been made over with a softer palette, and a is now a  place to curl up under the covers.... 

We're also preparing the fruit trees for next spring - pulling grass, killing off weeds with cardboard, and preparing areas for mulching and an after-the-fact form of hugulkultur.  We've started to work on one of the large piles of wood debris piled in the corner of the orchard, and are cutting straight poles for next year's peas and beans while we move old, and sometimes punky branches to form raised berms around and between the established trees. My hope is that the branches, manure, and mulching we put down around the trees will help to retain moisture, and the plants we locate there will increase beneficial insect presence, entice pollinators to the fruit blossoms, and improve the fertility and bounty of the area, while at the same time reducing our need to water and mow grass where little benefit will be seen.