Word of the Year…Gather

So another year has gone by...

2015 is in full swing!!

I can't believe January is already coming to a close.

Being fairly new to the wedding industry

I thought January would be a fairly slow month...

time for me to reflect on the new year,

get my studio organized,

update my website with new inventory...

maybe even start getting back into trail running & yoga.

Ha!!!

Not much of that has happened.

But a lot of good stuff has been going on,

so I'm definitely not complaining!

We finally finished The Barn, my new studio space.

This has been a long time coming. When we first bought our house

we saw the little shed in the back of the property

with 2 & a half walls, a dirt floor & a marvelous tin roof!

We knew we needed to create a magical space in there.

Three years later & we finally finished it. I'll post a before & after in the next few weeks, but here's a glimpse of it.

I've been busy sorting through a lot of inventory

that has been in storage for years. I can't tell you how much

fun this has been "finding" some amazing pieces in my

own collection that I forgot I had. I've also been

able to go through some of my parents collection.

They are remodeling & finally ready to let go of some things

they've held onto for years. I've also been having fun sourcing some items for a few upcoming weddings.

Just a couple of the items I scored...

We feel blessed for all the vendors we've met over the past year

& the friends we've now gained. Jennifer & Carlos

of Farm to Table Catering have been such awesome champions

of Tin Roof Farmhouse. They just purchased a new

tasting room / kitchen in the foothills

where Tin Roof Farmhouse has been able to help

decorate/stage some of our rental pieces.

Check out a few of the fun vignettes we created...

Look at that amazing pallet wall that Jennifer installed!!!

We were also busy getting ready for a

Winter Valentine's Styled Shoot

with Katie of Katie White Photography.

(Find our first styled shoot we collaborated on here.)

We planned to do a dramatic shoot in the snow,

with a long red gown, elegant hair & make-up,

a sweet little settee & gorgeous cakes propped up on

a beautiful desert bar with an elaborate backdrop...

Well, as you may know...It's been sunny & in the 60's & 70's

up here in the foothills, so we had a change of plans.

We quickly shifted plans & created a sweet

French-inspired Valentines Engagement Styled Shoot

More to come on this later...but here's a little peak.

So now I'm scrambling to get product shots completed,

new inventory uploaded to the website &

The Barn organized so I can not only be creative

but also to showcase all the goods we have collected

to potential clients.

So what does this have to do with

The Word of the Year?

I've been thinking a lot about this as the month has passed.

Last year I chose CREATE as my word. (See last years post here.)

It was a good word

& I feel like we were able to create a lot...

website built & launched

new vendor relationships

styled shoots

a new home

The Barn

So this year I'd like to continue to CREATE, but

this year will be all about GATHERing!!

I want The Farmhouse to be a place where friends & family

can gather for relaxing getaways. I'm hoping to create a space

in The Barn for people to gather, collaborate & create.

And of course I'll be gathering even more inventory

& ideas to make Tin Roof Farmhouse even better.

So The Word of the Year for 2015 is

{ gather }

Do you have a word to guide you through this year?

Find more inspiration from Tin Roof Farmhouse on our

Pinterest boards, Instagram & Facebook page.

Cheers ~ Erica

Five Faves for Friday…Crafty Studio Spaces

I feel blessed to be able to turn our second upstairs bedroom

into my dream craft / office space. That being said,

it's a tiny space that I have crammed my office, some storage &

a craft area into. Because of this (& because it IS a

CRAFT room after all) I needed to get creative. These five elements helped me to create a

functional & inspiring space on a budget.

1.  Bookshelf as a Divider

I saw the image below on Pinterest & instantly knew I wanted

to use a bookcase that my father & I made using old bead board as

the back panel. This gave me a display shelf that is seen

directly upon entering the room. I'm able to create

small vignettes of my rental items to be inspired & inspire others. My craft table is sandwiched behind the bookcase

which not only creates a great "wall" to hang things from, but also hides & contains some of the clutter.

I could imagine using a curtain, an armoire or a door in the

same manner. There are definitely lots of options to try if you

get creative. We'll see how this space evolves over time.

VINTAGE

2.  Sawhorses & Door as a Craft Table

I bought some sawhorses from IKEA & re-purposed an old hollow

door as a workspace for my old Singer sewing machine & a space

to craft. I plan to paint the door a bright green (someday),

but for now it is a dingy white & works just fabulously. It's

such an easy & stylish option & it can be

easily adjusted or moved.

3.  Picture Frame as an Inspiration Board

I found a funky old window screen in the barn when we moved

to The Farmhouse & although the screen was all ripped up

it was perfect for displaying items of inspiration on rope with

clothespins. I used this at our wedding celebration to hang 

family pictures & a place to display friends WISHES for us

written on fabric scrap flags. Eventually I'll sew them

into celebration flags to hang in the breezeway.

VINTAGE

But as seen below, you can use just about anything or

even just the wall itself as an inspiration board.

Every craft room or workspace needs one!

Lauren Conrad

4.  Cubbies & Bins as Organization

I love collecting wire bins, wooden boxes, crocks & all sorts

of cubbies for corralling all of my crafty goodness. I like

seeing what I have on display, so I am inspired

(& so I remember what I have!)

Forever Love

Misch Masch by Nina

5.  Windows or Good Lighting

I'm fortunate to have two big windows in my workspace to

let in a bunch of natural light. These happen to be the only

windows that were replaced with double paned ones before we

bought The Farmhouse & they cleaned up pretty well.

sf girl by bay

Style-Files

If you aren't that lucky…make sure to have some inspiring &

functional lighting to keep things inviting.

Room Designs

All the images above are credited unless they were pinned on

Pinterest without the correct link. If any of these images are

yours please be in touch so I can give you credit…

Find more inspiration on our Pinterest board: studio love.

Although we finally finished painting my craft room / office,

I've just begun to go through all of my fabric, crafts & who

knows what else has been boxed away. Once I make some sense of

the room I'll be sure to post a before & after of the space.

Here are a some snippets of a few corners…

Follow on Instagram to see all the current action.

Cheers ~ Erica

Five Faves for Friday...Barn Doors

We've been lusting over

BARN-STYLE DOORS for The Farmhouse

ever since we bought this place. We plan to use one for the door

between our kitchen & the breezeway, as well as from the

breezeway to the garage. We're not certain if we'll build one

or use a reclaimed door. Here are some images that are

inspiring us right now...

A cool galvanized metal door

Mechant Design

A rustic door with white barn wood & a window

Elle Decor

A perfect pair of chippy shabby chic painted french doors

Cedar Hill Farmhouse

A massive industrial metal door on concrete beams

Ideas for Beautiful Interior Design

I love everything

about this door, tracks, lights & siding

Pinterest

Check out more inspiring images on all our Pinterest Boards!

I'll definitely post any progress on these doors here,

until then...

Cheers ~ Erica

New for 2014

It's been almost 3 months since we moved up to

The Farmhouse permanently...

Sometimes it feels like we just got here & then other moments
it feels like we have never been anywhere else. We have
settled into the chaos & are loving our new life.

As I reflect on the last couple months (& years) & look to
the future I have so many ideas I want to share with all of you.
Although we have a ton of work on The Farmhouse itself
(which I'll share as the progress moves along), I'm still
hoping to have some time to spend on some fun DIY projects ~
the plan is to complete & share at least one a month.
This is about all that I can focus on right now while we're
still trying to get all of the mechanicals of this ol' place
up to 21st century standards. Since we've moved, we've gotten
our propane tank installed...

We also installed a 2500 gallon water holding tank

& updated our well pump & system...

Thankfully, we upgraded from my iPhone hotspot

to legit internet service...

And we're almost ready to switch the sketchy electrical system

that is linked to a telephone pole literally a few feet away

from our kitchen window to a proper 200 Volt system

attached to our garage wall...

And although these aren't sexy projects or pretty images that

I normally post about, as is with life, these are the

important projects that need to be completed so we can move on

comfortably to the good stuff. And, this gives my sweetie

peace of mind allowing him to sleep through the night without

stressing about the house burning down, the well pump breaking

or the propane running out.

Luckily, I have also fit in some time to do some exploring & picking in our new community ~ here's a bit of what I've found...

Follow on Instagram to see what's inspiring me daily.

So here's a little look-see into some of the projects I'm hoping to tackle & share here on the blog in 2014:

1. lots of furniture re-hab projects ranging from painting tables, to making headboards & trying to upholster/slipcover a few chairs
2. a few garden/outdoor projects including composting-made-easy, outdoor shower/tub project & if we're lucky garden beds, a chicken coop &/or a greenhouse
3. room-by-room updates...first on the list to unveil will be my crap craft room, which will hopefully be followed by our guest bedroom (which is sooo close to complete) & the laundry room
4. I'm hoping to get a little crafty once I have a functioning craft room / office, so who knows what projects I'll be inspired to tackle, but plans right now are DIY tutorials of celebration flags, roman shades & wreath-making

I feel blessed that I'm able to create & enjoy

this little slice of heaven up here

in the foothills of California

with my husband & all of our little critters.

~ Happy Friday all & enjoy the weekend to it's fullest ~

Cheers ~ Erica

Check out my first blog post 2 years ago &

see what started this journey...

Our First Snow of the 2013 Winter Season

 We've been hunkered down here at The Farmhouse since it

snowed last Friday...Although we're definitely getting a

little stir crazy we've stayed busy working on the house.

My sweetie has spent many hours with a headlamp on

checking on the temperature inside the pump house

(see image below). It froze three nights in a row. We now know

that we need to re-do the pump house to better insulate

our water pump from the well. In addition to insulation

we hope to side it with galvanized metal, add a little deck

& outdoor shower & tub.

A few images around the house...

I love our long driveway covered in snow. 

Some garden art frosted with snow...

A little Charlie Brown Christmas tree in the back yard...

The pump house that needs a little love...

The sun finally coming out through the trees...

Taking a walk with my sweeties...

Saying hello to our neighbors...

 We continued on to walk to the Post Office & local store about a mile down the highway...

 The snow is gorgeous, but we're ready for it to melt away & get back to "normal" conditions here in the foothills.