We closed on our house a little over two weeks ago, and we are slowly chipping away at our long list of projects for our farmhouse renovation. We are taking on some of the smaller projects ourselves but are hiring out larger projects that we don’t have the time for or experience to complete effectively.
I feel like we have never worked so hard in such a short amount of time, but we still have a long ways to go! I tend to want to have everything done quickly and put in its proper place within a week, so this home is sure teaching me patience!
This post may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I would use myself and hope that these resources are beneficial to you.
The Land: Farmhouse Renovation Exterior
We didn’t even think we would start clearing out the land until a few weeks after moving in, but my mom, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law have spent hours helping us and it already looks so much better! I don’t know how we would accomplish anything without help from our family.
We have been trying to balance caring for our son, my husband’s job, necessary travels, and some unexpected doctor’s visits while making the house safe to move in to. Our family has been so incredibly helpful!
Here are a few progress photos of our land so far! We are prepping for planting gardens… possibly in the fall but more than likely for next spring.
We have at least five HUGE piles of brush that we are hoping to mulch later this summer and reuse throughout the property. Also, our property is covered in mulberry trees, so I’ve been enjoying snacking on them in between jobs!
My mom and I cleared the bottom of these mulberry trees, took a few trees out, and pruned the bushes. I’d love to plant some flowers next spring under the canopy.
The First Floor: Farmhouse Renovation Interior
The first floor of our house had vinyl planks that were coming up in a lot of places. We were going to have to pay for them to be repaired or replaced, and after getting a great quote we decided to replace them with wood planks that resembled what the original floors would have looked like.
The team did a phenomenal job, and we think it was definitely worth the investment! We saved money by doing the demo ourselves (the day we closed on the house!), and we will eventually install the quarter-round ourselves, too.
Warning: Gross Content! We found a few pounds of dog hair, dirt, and other nasty things under the floorboards. We were going to try to save the padding, but they were soaked in dog urine.
It was so gross, and I think I showered for almost an hour that night after demo!
I really wanted to try and save the original floors because so much of our home’s historical character has been covered up over the years. However, we decided not to for a variety of reasons.
For one, they were in pretty rough shape and were missing complete planks. Also, this will be a play space for our kids. Adding new floors will make the house smell fresh and feel clean!
The Second Floor: Farmhouse Interior
The second floor has the original wood floors put they were painted grey. This was probably because of the condition of the floors. We were going to sand them and repaint them white, but we ran into a problem right before starting.
I spent a couple of hours talking to the employees at Home Depot, making sure I had all of the correct rental materials for sanding. I also decided to test the floors for lead paint, not expecting an issue because the grey paint looked relatively new and was in good shape.
Well… the floors came back positive for lead paint, and I found the culprit in the closet. Underneath the grey paint was a layer of dark red lead-based paint which made sanding a definite no-go.
We spent hours researching our options and talked to several paint companies and people with experience dealing with lead paint.
Total remediation would cost up to $30K and could potentially be more dangerous than painting because of disturbing the paint. There are special encapsulate paints you can purchase, but they aren’t recommended for floors because of the wear-and-tear.
Painting the Floors
We decided to get Behr Deck Paint in matte white, and paint on over 3 heavy coats… completely covering the paint underneath. We are planning on removing shoes upstairs and keeping our son’s toys downstairs.
From what we understand, the lead paint is only dangerous if eaten or if the dust is inhaled, so we will monitor the wear of the floor closely for signs of chipping which could reveal the lead paint underneath. If this becomes an issue, we will look into covering the floors completely with something that wouldn’t cause a lot of disturbance to the floors.
We are not lead specialists (obviously) and know that this isn’t the perfect solution, but it was our best option at the time within our budget. We don’t recommend this as advice for painting floors with lead-paint. If you are facing a similar problem, please do your own research or speak to a doctor about the risk of living in a home with lead paint.
Read this post for our favorite farmhouse paint colors and wallpaper picks!
This was our progress after two coats. We ended up doing 3.5 coats total. The floors soaked up so much of the paint on that first coat. I tried using spray paint in the gaps, but found out that switching up the direction we painted in between coats was more effective. We used paint extenders for the middle and a an edger near the trim.
Bathroom: Farmhouse Renovation
The only thing that we will be doing in the bathroom ourselves is painting and replacing the mirror. After seeing the process that our contractor went through and how he approached issues such as uneven walls and needing to drop the floor, we felt very relieved that we decided to hire someone to help us!
I know a lot of people are brave enough to tackle major DIY projects like bathroom renovations. However, this is the only bathroom in the house currently. We needed help and wanted someone who knew what they were doing!
Our contractors have made so much progress in just a few days, and their work is beautiful and precise! We are adding glass shower doors, a toilet, a pedestal sink, a tiled shower, and bead board. I’m hoping to eventually add some dainty wallpaper and a vintage mirror and shelf.
See this post for an update with the complete bathroom renovation!
Other Renovation Projects
My husband and my sister-in-law helped me relocate this pile of debris off of the front porch. We are planning on renting a dumpster or hiring someone to haul it off, but we haven’t gotten that far yet!
We also cleared out the chicken coop and my husband mowed the acre of lawn surrounding our house. We’ve painted ceilings. We went to Kansas City to get our things from our storage unit. We unloaded our belongings with the help of family. Additionally, we traveled for work and a wedding, and celebrated our anniversary and my birthday somewhere in between!
It’s been a long two weeks, but we are working hard to get these projects done. Hopefully we can move in and continue the work soon, but also make time for rest.
Our families have been so, so helpful, and we know that we wouldn’t be this far without them. We are so grateful that my parents have let us stay with them until the renovations are complete.
Ultimately, we are ready for things to slow down a little so that we can establish some routines. We are craving a sense of normalcy for our little family. It’s been over a year since we have felt settled! Thankfully, our little homestead is already starting to feel like home.
Planning your own farmhouse renovation? Try our Home Renovation Planner and Budget!
