Building Again!

 I'd love to keep the blog up to date, and I do have the pull to get back into it. Until then, I am posting daily updates on Instagram. 

Instagram Account

In 2020, we started our hunt for land to move our family and give the boys an experience of life at a slower pace. We found beautiful 90 acres and were so close to moving, but not everything was falling into place, so we decided to stop pushing the idea.

Creek on 90 acres

In 2022, we found another beautiful but smaller piece of land and this time, everything fell into place. We spent 2023 getting it ready to build a house and get it ready for animals. 

creek on 16 acres

We broke ground on the house in January and things are moving at a fast pace. We are using a lot of the same contractors, and adding some new ones. We are building using ICF again.

I also bought a drone so I could have my updated version of Google Earth. This has been especially helpful for landscape planning.

I'm excited to bring you along on this new journey!

Hobby Farm Dream

Hello!!! It has been a long while, and the last time I wrote it was about a hobby farm. Well … we are making it happen! Crazy!!!

The dream started so long ago when the boys were little. I wanted them to have the experience. But with Mom living with us, we didn’t want to uproot her, so we squashed the dream… temporarily. 

Mom moved back to FL and we started dreaming again. This was at the beginning of the market rise. The up side, was that land that had been owned for years, was becoming available. Land you thought would never be available. We had our search area wide: Tennessee, Alabama, anywhere within reasonable driving distance. Depending on the location and size, we would either relocate or just have it as a place to visit on the weekends or vacations. 

Mr. JCrew started dreaming of chickens and animals, but that would mean relocating. But we kept our options open. It really depended on what we were drawn to and what worked out.

Back in February of 2021, there was 90 acres we loved. It is a hilarious story about the process of almost having it. I’m surprised the sellers were so patient with our family. We even listed our home to sell, and we were going to relocate. We had an offer on the home and then … .silence. I can’t explain it. I still don’t have an answer. But it all happened for a reason. We begged to remove our listing; we were not going to move. The timing was not right. We were to stay where we were. In hindsight, we see all the positives of staying. This last year has been so rewarding for the boys. 

All of 2021 was wrapped up in making this work. At the end of 2021, we took a pause. We moved on with a plan to save money and wait our turn. We had faith our time would come and we would know when it was time. That’s when the land popped up. It was NOT in my search filter. It didn’t check all the boxes. I was being very picky, but I took a second look at the listing. I don’t know why I was looking either. The were some pluses about it. We visited and fell in love. Then we reached out to the seller. The more we learned, the more it became evident it was THE ONE. 

We went ahead and gave our land a name … ten16 Farms! Mr. JCrew came up with the name. He wanted something that had meaning for us. I plan to share more about the name on social media. We started an Instagram handle to provide up-to-date videos and pictures and use the blog for more information. I’m excited to write about our projects again. There will be SO MANY projects on the land. I can’t wait to share!

Small Farm Design

We love the idea of a small farm, but have accepted it is not in our near future. We have fun dreaming about it and I try to still provide life-lessons that are learned on a farm without the farm to my young boys. That’s part of the reason I would want a farm. It’s for the life-lessons. But those life lessons need to be learned right now at the age they are at. The boys tell us how they’d love to raise chickens, goats, cows, and horses. So, we have told them that we will help them get a farm to have when they are older and our grandkids can grow up on one. By the time we save the money to do it, they will be grown.

Mr. JCrew is the best, because when the kids and I start dreaming, he starts planning on how to make it happen. But sometimes I have to tell him it is okay to dream and we don’t have to make it a reality. But he wanted to pursue it and told me to start looking for land. And I actually already knew of a pretty good space. It was a lot I would see every day on my way to taking the boys to school. It was 7 acres and flat. But they wanted too much money for it (in my opinion).

I actually liked the land so much, that I started planning it. I knew the dream of a farm was not going to pan out, but I really like to design, so I was going to put a couple design options out there and write a post about it and tell all of my local friends that if they were interested, it was available and I’d help design it for you! But as soon as I was about to post about it, the land sold! Seriously, that day. I was shocked. They got their asking price. And I was eager to start seeing the progress. But no progress has been made. I assume they are designing right now or getting permits.

I am going to share with you my thoughts on the space that I designed, just as something to help my friends that are thinking of building.

The first things I always am doing is gathering ideas. I use Pinterest and Houzz to save pictures of things I like. Even if I don’t like the entire picture, if there is a small element I like, I save the picture and write down the piece that I like about it. I then have those saved pictures to reflect on and draw from when designing.

Sometimes it may not even be an object in the picture that I like, but the “view” or atmosphere it creates.

That’s how I started with the land. I knew what view I wanted to create as you pulled into the driveway. I actually gathered this view from a childhood friend’s farm entrance. With where this lot of land was, all the other houses could be seen from the road. I didn’t want the house to be seen unless you actually came further onto the property. And that it really didn’t open up until you were right in front of the house. Almost like the forest just opened up into a field.

Now, all my design work is in this fancy program called, “PowerPoint.” HA! I used it when I created the landscape plan for my current house.

I didn’t want the driveway to be straight. I always liked the driveways that wind around. So, I made the driveway go straight, but once the forest opened up, the driveway curved in front of the house and then around to the garage.

Going back to the start of the property and the driveway, I took note to give space for a mail delivery person to be able to pull off the road to deliver mail. This also gives space for a visitor to pull over. I was undecided on a gate at the beginning of the driveway, but if there was a gate, this gave enough space for someone to wait for the gate to open. And I made the mouth of the driveway wider at the road entrance. I take note and notice bad ideas others do and try not to repeat them. There is a house across the street from this lot that has all these concrete/brick pillars right at the road and a narrow driveway entrance. That means someone has to come to an almost complete stop before they turn into the driveway. And good luck to the UPS man or moving truck having to make a wide turn on a busy road to get in the driveway. Didn’t want to create that hazard.

I also wanted the house to be as far from the road as possible. That is always my goal. The space in front of the house could be ornamental or it could be used for the farm. I designed pastures in my plan.

There is a science to farm space planning, and I don’t have it mastered or know it all, but I had fun researching. I didn’t get it perfect nor is it really correct, but it was a start.  Fence planning was interesting. I made sure that the pastures had gates between each other but also to the common area. And I made sure the house was fenced off from the future animals. But I didn’t want a square fence around the house.

And I also made a fenced in backyard so we could have a traditional back yard. Trying to mix urban and country. It could then appeal to all.

The orange blob on the design is a pole barn. Nothing fancy, but shelter for the animals and supplies.

I made a parking pad before the barn for visitors. This is mainly in case whoever owned the land wanted to hire workers, it was for them. Or, it was for those that had horse trailers to park. Giving options.



The green rectangle on the plan was the garden shed. When I was designing all of this, it took me just a couple days, but it was right when an episode of Fixer Upper aired and it was the episode with her garden. It was the dream garden! So when you see this plan, think of her garden and know that was what I was modeling.

Towards the top of the garden is a blue rectangle. This rectangle is the chicken run and the yellow box next to it is the chicken coup.

The fence line around the garden would also have a chicken run around it like Joanna had. But the Blue rectangle gave the chickens more space. 

The garden beds would be raised rectangle in shape.

I used the same shape as our current house, because I was planning on building the same exact thing. But I decided to plant trees to create privacy from the neighbors. Lots of trees at the street line and trees around the driveway and parking pad.

In the driveway near the house, I kept it wide like we currently have. I love the space and would want to keep it. However, I added a painted basketball court. I think the boys would really love it. I was torn on putting the court right outside the driveway or on the parking pad by the barn, but I thought it would get more use right outside the garage.

The two pastures in the front of the house is not the only place the animals would be restricted to. If you look, you can see that the garden is fenced off, the house is fenced off and the driveway is fenced off, so the animals would actually have free reign of the entire space. But I do know that just like vegetable gardening, you want to rotate the animals periodically. Those pastures could be untouched and when the animals eat everything outside the pasture, they could be brought into the pasture where there was fresh vegetation and it would give time to the other pastures to recover and grow new vegetation.

During this design I also looked up chicken coup designs and goat barns. There are some really cool designs out there.

I honestly really like creating spaces and giving thought to it. This was something fun to do. Thanks for letting me share it with you!

New Shower Heads

I mentioned in my last post there were a couple things I would change to our house. Changes I wish were done during the construction phase. Some of those things I do not plan to tackle, but some I would or have changed.

On that short list, I mentioned the addition of showerheads in our large master shower. Mr. JCrew wanted it from the beginning and I turned it down. It became a joke every time the shower was used and then we finally looked into what it would take.

We’d make minimal damage to our walls as possible and add a second showerhead on the opposite wall of the current one and add a rainshower to the ceiling. Sounds pretty fancy!!!

I called our plumber to tell him he was right and we wanted to add the extra showerheads. He laughed. He mentioned it would be an easy update by adding a diverter. I then did my usual thing and researched. A diverter is a control for the multiple output in the shower. Our solution was a 3/6 diverter. This Youtube video was a great resource.

Basically, you can turn each showerhead on separately, or turn on a combination of the showerheads, all by the turn of the diverter. I couldn't buy just a diverter to add to my handle because it would not allow me to turn on all three showerheads at once. So the existing handle turns on the middle showerhead only. The new handle with diverter, turns on the two showerheads on the side. 

I went to our local plumbing supply place and picked out the finishes. Our plumber came and worked his magic to connect the fixtures. I ended up doing the demo to save money.

Originally, I thought the tile would need to be torn out and reinstalled, but we went through the back side of the wall, so I only had to replace drywall instead of tile (cheaper). But while the idea was on tearing out tile, I thought about changing some more things while I had the tile guy out here. I liked the trim border I have, but am not in love with it. And if you remember, he was suppose to install the tile in the 1/3 staggered pattern and he messed up and did it in the ½ staggered pattern. I could have him rip it all out and do the 1/3 pattern, too.I found a pebble tile square that I could cut into strips. I really liked it. But since we didn't touch the tile, I didn't get to change my border.

This was a project we thought about doing later down the road, but we wanted to take advantage of the time while our boys are still using our shower. They may get so spoiled they never use their own showers! Ha. Until they are teens.

One of those things we should have done from day one. If I wasn’t so stubborn!

Things I Would Do Differently

Now that we’ve been in the house for almost 4 years, I’ve had time to think of things I would do differently. I would build the exact same layout I designed because it has really been perfect! I find other things I like, but I just still really like our layout. It suites our needs. 

1. The bathroom window
   I picked tombstone-shaped mirrors for the master bathroom and LOVE them! They are such a sophisticated shape and dress up the bathroom vanity area. What I would change is matching the shape of the mirrors on the window to the shower. The shower window has always looked plain to me, but I didn’t know how to dress it up. An arch top would be perfect. And actually, an arch top to the door, too! Once I saw this picture of Holly’s shower, I knew I should have added more arches. I didn’t think arches were my thing, but I like them in certain places.
   
   

   

   Current

   
   

   

   Current

   
   

   

   inspiration - OurFauxFarmhouse

2. Sealed Brick
   I bought unsealed brick pavers for my flooring and I regret it. I love the flooring, but it is not at its full potential. Our installers quit on us while laying the brick floor. It was frustrating to them. If I had bought sealed brick, the grout process would have been easier. The grout would have cleanly wiped off the brick instead of having to avoid getting it on the brick. Had our installers read the box, they would have seen it said to seal the brick before you grout it, and then seal it again after your grout it. But if I had bought pre-sealed brick, it would have been one less step. Instead, I have dull brick that I have been sealing the heck out of. It is so pourous, that it took so many coats to seal it. That still didn’t make it shiny. To make the floor shiny, you have to wax it. I learned all this as I read the box THREE years later. I was going through the attic and read all the instructions. I have since waxed them and they look beautiful. I will now have to wax them once a year. You live and learn!
   
   

   


3. Not Dig Holes
   We learned a lot with landscaping our own yard. I would have had a more elaborate sprinkler system and French drain system installed from Day 1, but we have added to it, so it’s not bad, but recovering from the mess of an add on is temporarily unsightly. But the biggest thing we learned was to not dig holes for the plants. We dug them and then within six months, we dug every single plant back up and raised it above ground, then piled dirt around it and topped with mulch. Below is a diagram of what we did. If we would have done that, it would have saved us so much time not digging holes. It was a great workout, though. Oh, and I’d add good dirt on top of the clay before adding sod. And not trample on my newly laid sod until it was established.



4. Better placement of outside faucets
   What should have been the backyard faucet ended up being in the front yard because of where we put the fence. We ran the hose underneath the fence, but had to run to the front to turn it on and off. We later added faucets in the flowerbeds in the backyard.
   

   

    
5. More Showerheads in Master Shower
   Mr. JCrew requested two showerheads in the master shower and our plumber plumbed for two and I said, “No.” I thought it was excessive and didn’t need it. Now we are tearing down tile and adding shower heads! I realized how we use our shower, we need more showerheads. Mr. JCrew was right! And it would have cost less to do it then than it is costing to do it now.





6. Insulate Interior Walls
   With an open floorplan, things get loud. We insulated the walls of the laundry room and that was very helpful, but I wish I would have done all the walls and the space in between the first and second floor.

Window Tinting

When we bought new furniture for the Living Room, we were concerned about the sunlight fading the furniture. We installed shades on some windows in the back of the house to use when the sunset is a little intense, but we aren’t always home to draw the shades to protect from the sun.

Our answer = window tinting! I did research on tinting that is okay to be installed on double-pane glass. Tinting reflects the sunlight and it gets trapped between the double-pane glass and can cause it to crack or break the gas seal and allows moisture to get trapped and you have fog between the glass panels.

Our glass doors in the back became foggy within 3 months of moving in. It use to only happen in the Winter, but then it stayed. And when I contacted the manufacturer, they conveniently wouldn’t return my calls or emails. I received a quote to fix the glass, but I might as well buy new doors. It is on my to-do list in 5 years.

In the meantime, I used window tinting found at Home Depot to put on the doors. It’s awesome! It gives reflection from the outside, so it is harder to see in during the day, and it looks like we have sunglasses on in the house. The house is not as bright, but I have now gotten used to it.

Window on right is not tinted.

We installed the tint on the breakfast nook windows as well, because the sunsets in the Winter come through those windows as well and hit the living room. During the Summer, the sun shifts and it won’t be that much of an impact.

only bottom half is tinted

Windows on right tinted

In the picture comparison above, you can see how the inside of the house disappears with the tint. The bottom picture has the windows on the right completed and you can't see the window sill trim. But you can still see the trim on the left window. As long as the light on the outside is brighter than the inside, you cannot see inside.

Tips I learned while installing that I want to share:

1. Buy the install kit
   It comes with a razor, soap solution bottle, scraper and lint-free towel. They are all useful.
2. Don’t buy the liquid refill
   When the soap solution runs out, put a cap-ful of Johnson’s baby shampoo in bottle and fill with water.
3. Clean window
   Make sure window is extremely clean and if there is painted trim (like there was on our doors) that it is not on the window. Use razor to get excess paint off.
4. Measure window and add a half inch to the measurements on all sides for tint size
   I used graph paper to get efficient use of the film and have less waste. It is all about planning! Sometimes I only added 0.25 inch extra to the window measurements.
5. Mark tint with sharpie and cut
   Make sure your lines are not slanted. One side slanted will not be able to be installed on a straight line window edge. I used a sharpie to mark my lines. You have to work to get it off, but it should be on the excess that you will cut off.
6. Wet tint in sink
   To save on soapy solution, I filled up my sink or tub with water to dip the tint in before separating it from its protective film.
7. Spray window with soap solution
   Overload the window and film with soapy solution. This allows you to move it around freely while lining it up.
8. Use tape on corners to separate film from protective sheet
   A small piece of tape, facing each other become handles to separate the film from its cover.
9. Spray film as you separate it from cover
   To help with static and creasing as you peel away the two films, pull it down some and spray the sticky side with soapy solution. If the window is large, have someone hold the film while you spray it. This makes it less sticky while you install.
10. Work the air bubbles
    Spray the film outside with soapy solution and use the provided squeegee card to work out major bubbles. I kept a regular hand towel ready to get the soapy solution excess. I went back and forth getting the solution out and the air bubbles. I wanted to make crease of the edges so my razor knew where to go.
11. Cut corners with scissors, not razor
    The razor is great and takes time to figure out, but I noticed I had errors if I used it all the way to the corner. It would cut in. So I would start an inch from the top and take the razor down the edge until one inch above the corner and stop. Then I lifted up the corner and cut with a scissor along the crease formed.
12. Look for debris
    There might be debris that gets between the glass and film. If that happens, left up the film, spray it with soapy solution and use your wet finger to wipe it off. Spray the film again and repeat the process of getting the bubbles out.
13. Keep checking it as it dries
    You will think you have it perfect and leave. But go back and check ten minutes later. An edge might pop back up. When I noticed this happen was when my film was not cut exactly right and had overlap on the edge beyond the glass. The slightest sliver over makes a large air bubble.
14. Use ammonia-free cleaner for maintenance.
    Ammonia will break down the film and shorten its life. I suggest using the soapy formula used during install as your new window cleaner. Cap-full of baby shampoo with water.

Once you get the hang of it, it becomes very easy. Plan to buy extra because your first attempt will be a practice run (Even if you don’t think it will.)

We used this tint in the dormer windows upstairs, too. Not only does it block the UV rays, but it is suppose to help with heat transfer. Our ICF walls are awesome, but with so many windows, that is where you lose heat the most. I wouldn’t trade my windows, but even with Low-e glass, the tint should help. I’ll let you know how the Summer goes.