Taking you inside

Thought I would take you inside to our current living area at the farm.

Here are some before & afters...

Really basic, this was the Amish family's kitchen area. They aren't allowed to have any cabinets attached to the walls. The floor is simply plywood stained with linseed oil. The other end of the room was the mother-in-law's sleeping area. All curtains that were on the windows were black throughout the whole barn.We brought up some furniture from home & a campstove to cook on. A cooler for a fridge. I made white curtains out of sheets. The gate in the photo was to keep Ginger (our blind & deaf dog) from wandering out of the room. Here's Steve cooking up some breakfast.
We were given a customer's old cabinets & put them to good use in the kitchen.Next came the painting.Then the bottom cabinets and a counter top were installed.Then the wood stove. It's a soapstone. When fully loaded, it will
burn for up to 8 hours, providing up to 12 hours of sustained heat.
Steve's dad Joe came up to help us & they put jam liners around the
windows to seal them up & keep the breeze from coming through.We bought a used door at the Re-use It Center near us in
Illinois to replace the very poorly made door that was there. We are trying to use as much used stuff as possible. We Freecycle, garage sale, buy from Craig'sList & curb shop.Here is a newer pic of the room. Those windows face south for great solar gain.Here is the other end of the room. Since this was taken, we have
added a dorm fridge & toaster oven. All the comforts of home!