Are you living in survival mode? We are often asked, “Why did you move from your beautiful “finished” Victorian home in the city to a shabby little fixer-upper farmhouse in the country?” The answer to that question may surprise you: with Bryarton Farm we broke out of survival mode and started living our dream.
This week we have been working on taking out one of our chimneys, which will create more room in our new kitchen and in the nursery. It has been a tedious and very messy process, but we are having a blast! Michael and I are learning and saving a lot of money by doing most of the farmhouse renovations ourselves.
Some people might think we are crazy! Each week for over a year we have been posting about our journey of restoring our farmhouse, creating art, and enjoying the country life. But why did we do it?
In late fall of 2013, Michael and I were living in a beautiful 1910 Victorian Cottage. We had a great church, friends, family, and every modern convenience at our finger tips. We should have been happy, but honestly we were just in survival mode. Michael was working 5-7 days a week, we were living paycheck to paycheck, dealing with insane neighbors, and completely stressed out.
We sat down together that night and dreamed of what it would be like to break out of the pattern we had lived in for years. Together we prayed that God would give us direction. We dreamed of a vintage farm with wide open spaces where we could pursue our loves: Art, Design, Historic Restoration, and Simple Country Living. It was that night that we dreamed up Bryarton Farm.
Our goals were:
- Pay cash for a vintage fixer-upper farm
- Be debt free
- Restore an 1800’s farmhouse
- Have a large art studio in a vintage barn
- Live in a rural setting with pastoral views
- Simplify our life and commitments
- Spend more time together as a family
- Have farm animals
- Be able to adopt
- Have a blog & shop to share our journey and passions with others
Since buying our little farm in May of 2014, we have been pursuing our dream wholeheartedly. We are still working on many of these goals, but most of them have been at least partially fulfilled. No matter what people think of your dreams, don’t be afraid to take a leap of faith and pursue what God wired you for.
Bryarton Farm is the combination of all our passions and we feel so blessed to share it with you each week!
If you love art, design, and the country life follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Subscribe to be part of the Bryarton Farm family.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks