in the barn

In preparation for the birth of our fourth child, we've undergone some mighty changes in the upstairs of our house. A wall has been built, a doorway cut, antique beds reclaimed, furniture painted, and everyone has moved from one room to another. Jude now has his own room, and the girls share their own room. It's all been a whole lot of work, in an incredibly short span of time. We've relied on friends and family to donate their tools, expertise, time, and energy, and in less than a month, we have three rooms instead of two. All three rooms have been freshly painted, and a massive toy and clothing purge is underway.

Huzzah for the nesting instinct!

What has been most impressive is how we've managed to do it all on the cheap. The biggest expense, obviously were the raw materials: drywall, boards, and paint. All of the furniture is stuff we had. Mom made a new quilt for Jude's room that completes his "boy cave", and we'll be making curtains in the next few weeks. A visit to Ikea for little details (curtain rods, baskets, shelf brackets, and new foam mattresses for the girls' beds) rounded it all out.

All we needed was a door for our bedroom, and a vision for the decor on the beautiful, uninterrupted white wall that now divided the large bedroom into two. One day last week, something urged me to wander into what we've dubbed "the far barn". I happened upon old doors and windows, and the vision appeared.

We'll be hauling some of those odd-coloured windows and that blue door to the house for a deep scrubbing this week, and will be completing our bedroom just in time for me to give birth in it.

While browsing Pinterest, seeking ideas for repurposing old windows, I saw a comment: "Where does one find windows like these? The answer to that question on many old farms is clear:

In the barn.