If you follow my photos on Instagram, you probably notice that I have a fascination with my dad’s old red barn.  It has been there my whole life.  It is beautiful!  My sister and I redid the exterior in 2008, but it is time again for some sprucing.

This time, though, I want to clean up and straighten up (my dad’s favorite phrase when he bought an old property) the inside as well.  It’s got good bones, as they say…or at least as far as barns go!  The hayloft is pretty cool.

I believe my dad’s barn is a Texas-German style barn.  It could be a Prairie barn.  It has a gambrel (Dutch) roof, but design-wise, that is all I know.  He always kept it red with white trim, since red was his favorite color, and so red it will remain.  The barn will have to be a barn because we’ve got farm stuff (read this as junk) to shelter, but I think there will be room for a few extras as well.

My nephew says it is kind of a landmark.  I don’t know about that, but it is a landmark for me and the homestead that my parents dearly loved.

I am hoping to refresh the outside with paint, add windows, and get a new roof.  On one side, I want to add a lean-to that can serve as a place to sit outside.

On the inside, I wouldn’t mind adding a bathroom.  I hope the barn can also be used as a rustic party barn for those times when we can’t fit everybody in the house or we don’t want to clean the house!

The part I am most excited about is decorating the structure.  I have all my dad’s old dealership awards, and a few other items that I know would be right at home in my dad’s barn.

I dread getting the barn spruced up because of all the dust, spiders, and maybe even snakes!  However, I am also looking forward to this project because it will fun and challenging at the same time.  I hope to get to wield a hammer (stand back folks) and learn to use an electric saw (blogging with fewer fingers may be a challenge).  I will keep you posted on my progress!