From Miniscule to Grand

Intro

Allow me to introduce myself!

My name is Gigi - I am a longtime musician, artist, and writer with a passion for country living.  I grew up in a small house - a VERY small house - in Northern NJ.  It had always been my mother's dream to raise me and my sisters on a homestead, with the ultimate goal of knowing how to grow our own food and live self-sufficiently.  Since the youngest moved out, that left me and the middle child still living at home.  Let's not forget the lousy economy leaving young people unable to afford solo living, much less basic necessities.  It was a struggle to make it in NJ due to the high cost of living.  But now, 29 years later, my parents bought a farmhouse built in 1911, sitting on approximately 26 acres of land!

This was the only house out of all the ones visited that suited the needs of 4 family members.  Imagine, going from a 1,200 sq-ft home to now over 2,600 sq-ft of space! The first night here, we could barely navigate the rooms without getting lost a bit.  While it wasn't quite move-in-ready, we all fell in love with it and started thinking of ways to make it home.  After a bit of a rough start, my family and I are now renovating this beautiful brick farmhouse in Somerset, PA!

The layout indicates the house was owned by a wealthy family, as evidenced by a servant's staircase between the dining room and family room (I'll share a photo in a future blog post) in addition to a large floor plan suitable enough for 4 or 5 people.  The original land consisted of 150 acres, complete with a well-house, smokehouse, 2-room schoolhouse, a pole barn next to the foundation of the original barn, and a little tool shed.  We also have apple trees, a pear tree, and tons of soybeans ready to be harvested.  Not to mention, random pokeweed growing among the soybeans.  

Believe me when I say, there's a lot to take in!

First Project

Before I give you a tour, I'll kick off the blog by sharing the first project I tackled: 

Removing ugly green 1970s carpet!

I'm really not sure why this color was so popular during the 70s, but this needed to go.  

Thankfully, it came up easily, even with tacks and staples holding it down.  No silly tack can stop me!

So much dirt and dust lived under these carpets, it was repulsive!

Sweet relief seeing fresh wood floors virtually untouched by time!

A good washdown freshened the place up! I thought these could be refinished but it's probably just best to leave it.  Only a couple spots in the floor need to be filled in with wood putty.

Before I go...

So that's the start of the renovations! The house is in a state of disrepair for the most part: walls are dirty, window hangings haven't been updated in 20 years it seems, some floors are only partially refinished, and the remaining carpets are full of stains and smell musty.  It's been a process so far but one worth diving into! This house just needs some TLC and that's why my family and I are here!

The next few blog posts will dive further into the makeover, and you can expect to see a lot of interesting finds from around the property.  Our goal is to have the house ready to go and at least feeling more lived in before the cold weather sets in.  

Gear up for life in the Somerset Farmhouse! I'll see you in the next post!

~Gigi