Welcome to The Farmhouse: Our Big Plan!

Folks!! I am so so excited to finally share this blog with you, along with our very first farmhouse episode. As soon as we took possession of the farm we knew we wanted to document the entire process and all of the highs and lows. So today, we are giving you the deets on exactly what we’ve been up to at the farm these last few months; let’s just say it’s been an absolute dream and a complete sh*t show all rolled into one!

We took possession of the farm in March, and you’re probably wondering why it took so long to reveal the very first episode. The truth is, we have been racking our brains on how exactly we wanted to tell this story to make sure that we brought you along every step of the way, but we were trying to figure out the best way to share it. We finally figured it out, and I can’t believe I was able to keep a secret from you for this long!

Today is a super exciting day as we are finally revealing the very first episode and all of the inspiration behind the farmhouse refresh. Throughout the first episode, you’ll see a glimpse of what it’s been like being newbie farm owners and what our plan with the farmhouse is!

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you live at the farm?

No, we don’t live at the farm full time, but we usually spend some evenings and almost every weekend there as we spend lots of time working on the farm!

Our hopes and dreams are to build our forever home somewhere on the property but somehow find a way to keep this adorable little farmhouse intact. This little farmhouse has SO much history, the folks that owned the farm before us were born in that house, and their mothers were born there too. So 3 generations were born in that little house, and we just hope we will never have to tear it down.

What was your initial plan for the farmhouse?

Initially, we were never going to renovate the farmhouse. To be honest, the house was in pretty rough shape; at first glance, I didn’t think it was salvageable. At one point there was someone living in it but it has been vacant for about 15-20 years, and then after that, it was being used as a business, to my understanding! Because it wasn’t habitable for so long, other four-legged (and even six-legged) residents decided to move in… there were lots of dead mice, rodents, bugs, and some very bizarre smells.

With all of that, I didn’t feel connected to the house when we first bought the property, and our original plan was to just leave it be and maybe one day fix it up. However, we knew that we didn’t want to tear it down, as it has so much history, and we thought somewhere along the line it could be super useful, whether that be incorporating it into the business or having someone live there.

What was the inspiration for the farmhouse refresh?

So, with that, the plan was not to do anything with it and leave it be. BUT after a few glasses of wine with my mom, Sam, and Tori, they convinced me to give it a little bit of love. So, our intention was to just spend a few hundred dollars painting it all white and having it as a space we could go to escape the rain, make some chilli, have a dance party, or play some cards in, nothing fancy. We never planned on sleeping in it or furnishing it… that was until I talked to Charles (my cousin & contractor) about hiring him to paint it. He asked me to give him some specific colours, and so when I got home that evening, I started doing some research… one thing led to another, and before you know it, I had an entire Pinterest board of inspo created for the space.

Once I started the mood board, I was so INSPIRED. Truthfully, I haven’t been this inspired in a very long time. For those of you reading this, I stopped filming Love it or List it back in 2019 and I was never really as involved in the design process as I wish I could have been. On the show, I was the visionary and signed off on the designs, but when it came down to it, I didn’t actually pick the paint colours and furnishing; there just wasn’t enough time. So, this is really the first time since we built our house that I have been able to have fun as a designer and do whatever my heart desires!

What made this project even more fun is the fact that I wanted it to be as sustainable and eco-friendly as possible! This meant using items from the community that were already used, reused, and reclaimed, including the pillows that I just so happened to find thrown out in a dumpster (don’t worry, I made sure to give them a good scrub!). As of right now, the farmhouse is about 95% complete, and almost everything is from Facebook Marketplace, ReStore, Value Village, a few custom items from our favourite local businesses and I also did cave and get a few things from Wayfair (don’t worry, I will link that in the final blog!).

What was your budget?

Our goal was to keep this project low budget as I wasn’t really sure how it was going to turn out, so we didn’t want to spend $100,000 renovating and fixing it up if we weren’t going to use it! Originally our budget was $5,000 and when I told Charles that he laughed. He said that the painting alone would be $5,000 and there was just no way that we could do this entire project for that amount! So quickly, we went from $5,000 to $10,000 but he still had doubts that this wouldn’t be enough. So, with the roof needing some love, plumbing, and electrical work that needing to be done, in the end, our final budget was $25,000 which includes absolutely everything you can think of! I’m talking furniture, fixtures, bedding, and even down to all cutlery. You’ll have to wait and find out in the final blog if we stayed within the budget or not because, at this point, I still don’t even know! 😅

Can you share all of the design details?

I know a lot of you will be wondering about what paint colours we used, and all of the design details… but you’ll have to be patient as we are revealing all of that in the fourth and final blog! The next blog will be all about the construction, the third blog will be about the furnishings, and in the final blog, I will share all of the design deets with you!

Well, that’s it for now! I am so so excited to bring you along with us on this wild journey of ours. The farmhouse is just about complete and I can’t wait for the final reveal!

xo

Jilly