Behind the Scenes: February & March 2020 – A quick recap of some of the homestead happenings that occurred this month, including some home and property renovations at our new homestead!
Well, hello again! It’s been a while since I’ve posted one of our monthly “Behind the Scenes” posts. So, I thought a little introduction would be nice.
We are Kaylee and Lindy. I’m Kaylee – the one behind this blog. And Lindy is the one backing me up and making stuff happen in real life! ? In February, we moved from our 0.8 acre homestead in Idaho to begin our new life adventure in the beautiful Pacific Northwest!
We now live on 1.8 acres in the little town of Yelm, Washington. And, yes, we absolutely love it here! Best decision we ever made! That being said, moving a homestead is seriously no joke! So I took a little time off from these monthly “Behind the Scenes” posts while we got settled in and recovered.
We are now turning our new property into a fully functioning permaculture homestead. And, I am sharing the whole process (the good, the bad and the ugly) with you here on the blog and on Instagram.
So, let’s talk a little bit about what’s been happening over the past few months! Today, I’m going to do a quick recap of the progress that we accomplished in February and March.
February 2020:
The Move:
Oh February… I honestly have tried to block out most of that month! We moved on February 6th. It was the craziest and most stressful thing we’ve ever done. For reals – at one point, Lindy was googling heart attack symptoms! ?
We bought our home site-unseen in a state and town we’d never even been to. Talk about a leap of faith! We drove 10 hours with all of our worldly belongings and animals through mountain passes that were only open for a few hours due to the winter storms. Honestly, the fact that all the timing worked out and we didn’t have to live under a bridge with our herd of random animals was a miracle! But, everything worked out, we arrived safe and are so happy to have the move behind us!
If you are planning to move anytime soon, I highly suggest that you read my post series detailing everything we learned in the process of moving our homestead:
Bedroom Remodel:
If you know us at all, you know that we love older homes and a good DIY project! You can check out the before and after pictures of the renovations we did on our Idaho property here. So, when we got to Washington, we wasted no time and started renovations right away. Because we have absolutely zero chill apparently! ?
We started with the master bedroom. We said goodbye to the 30 year old carpet, the gold sponge paint, mirrored closet doors, and the ceiling fan coated in a layer of dust. The reno included: new Pergo flooring, completely redone and updated electrical, new paint, new accent wall, crown moulding, baseboards, window trim, new closet unit, new craftsman style closet doors and new decor. We started the project February 13 (seriously a week after we got there – what the heck is wrong with us?!) and finished it on March 4th.
March 2020:
Home Office Remodel:
Once again, because we have no chill, we jumped straight into another DIY project once we finished the bedroom remodel. This time it was the home office. It had a lovely 1990’s hunter green decor complete with 30 year old carpet (mmmm… not so great for my allergies). The only thing it was missing was that fab hunting dog wallpaper border that everyone had when I was growing up. Basically: it deserved a facelift!
I did most of this project by myself since Lindy had to start her new job at the end of February. We began the project March 6th and finished on March 24th. The project included new Pergo flooring, paint, redone electrical, baseboards, crown moulding, new door and window trim and a new-ish desk unit. The entire project cost about $850. Pretty awesome for such a dramatic change! And, timing couldn’t have been better since Lindy ended up joining me in working from the home office mid-March due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Goat Stall Barn Renovations:
Outside the home, we also worked on some renovations to the property. The barn on our new property is aaaamazing! It’s a dream come true and seriously one of the reasons we fell in love with the property!
The property was very much set up as an equine property. So we are making renovations to make it fit a much more diverse homestead full of a variety of animals and purposes. The first renovation we needed to make was creating a proper pen and stall for the goats.
We cross-fenced a portion of the pasture with cattle panels and retrofitted one of the existing stalls in the barn for the goats, which was pretty easy. We also built this bad-ass sleeping bench for the goats that lifts and lays flat against the wall for easy stall cleaning. Pretty cool and I’m super impressed that I had enough brain cells left after the move to come up with this! Keep your eyes peeled – I will do a full blog post soon detailing exactly how we built it!
Compost Bins:
Is it weird to be super proud of your compost bins? Like you want to show them off to visitors who come over? Well, that’s how I feel about our new compost bins! It’s silly but I’ve never had “pretty” compost bins before!
Yup, dem some good lookin’ bins! Check back soon because I’ll post a full tutorial on how we built them!
What progress have you been making on your homestead so far in 2020? Share it in the comments!
My sister lives in Spanaway! Less than 30 minutes away. I’m in South Carolina on about one and a half acres. Wish I would have started when I was younger but as long as I’m alive it’s never too late! Look forward to keeping up with you.
Oh my goodness! Yes, that’s super close to us! Isn’t it crazy how small the world is! And, I love your attitude! You are 100% correct – it’s never too late! You go make it happen! 😀