Though “Saftey” isn’t the most exciting subject in the world it is a very important part of restoring an old farmhouse. We don’t have the luxury of living off site, so today we just want to share a few of the steps we take to protect our family while living in a construction zone. The only reason this is possible is because we have certain precautions in place to both keep us comfortable and safe during this chaotic season of our life.

For the past two years we have been doing what we call “fancy camping”. This means that we are living in a finished section of the farmhouse while the kitchen and a few other rooms are being renovated. This might sound like a crazy thing to do, but our lil family has grown accustomed to this adventurous and budget friendly way of life.

Michael has always been the more cautious person in our relationship keeping me, the compulsive dreamer, at bay. I tend to just jump in and do things as I come up with ideas, while Michael prefers to research and think about how he plans to address a situation. The result is a balancing act of pushing forward and cautiously processing ideas together. We make a perfect team! { P.S. Our 7th Wedding Anniversary is Tomorrow! }

If you are new to our blog and story you might need to go back and check out a few posts:  Demo Dayz  &  Why We still Don’t Have a Kitchen. Basically when we decided to renovate the kitchen we opened a can of worms, finding extreme water and termite damage that threatened the very structural integrity of our 1893 farmhouse. This forced us to change directions and we are now in the process of carefully opening up the walls and floor to repair the rotted joists and sill plate on the ground floor before we can reinstate the living room and kitchen.

The girls and I are going to visit Grandma and Grandpa for a bit while Michael deals with the initial messy demo and a construction crew is coming in to repair the structural damage. Then the girls and I will return so we can help Daddy put the spaces back together and do all the finishing work and reinstall the original millwork. Michael made a cheesy video detailing his process for creating a safe live/work zone in our farmhouse. Check it out and try not to laugh…

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