My mother-in-law and I have a running joke. Every time I go over to my in-laws’ house (their lovely yellow country home that was built in 1904), I usually see some “new” vintage/reclaimed piece, and I always end up gushing over it and asking, “Where did you get that?!”
90% of the time her answer is “Oh, I just found it in the barn.”
My answer is always, “Jeez. I wish I had a barn that would magically produce cool decor accessories like that.”
That magical barn is nestled in the woods behind their house that, truth be told, I’m sure has seen better days. But it has the coolest stuff in it.
Since we were visiting this weekend for the hubby’s birthday, they let us raid the place.
That’s right. We got down and dirty and went picking in that barn. I have a major snake phobia and Robert isn’t too keen on spiders, but we didn’t give a hoot about any of the creepy crawlies as we dug through the piles of reclaimed wood and farmhouse remnants. It was that fun!
We found an old wagon with broken but still very cool wheels.
And we found an old panel door. We left the wheels and door but they were neat to see.
There were farmhouse windows galore. These were just a few we pulled out.
And piles of barn wood that made my head spin with possibilities. (Believe it or not, there aren’t enough DIY project ideas in my brain to even cover it.)
My father-in-law even pulled out this old sewing table that needed a major cleaning, but the woodwork on it was incredible.
Among all of the barn finds, my absolute favorite was a wooden ladder.
I have had the idea for months now since I started finding inspirations for our master bathroom to build a distressed looking rustic ladder to use as a towel rack.
We have this skinny, bare wall in our bathroom that is absolutely perfect. The wooden ladder find was competely meant to be.
My father-in-law cut this monstrous thing down to 7 feet. From there, I cleaned it up, gave it a coat of matte polyurethane, and that was it. Instant rustic towel rack.
If you’ve been reading this little blog for a while, then it’s no secret that I love pieces that can tell stories. The fact that this ladder came from Robert’s house where he grew up makes it so special. (Who knew a ladder could be special? But it is.)
So I guess the magic barn is looking out for me too. It must have known Christmas is around the corner.
Maybe Santa will bring a magic barn for our own backyard that will supply all of our awesome farmhouse finds from now on. A girl can wish. š
I want a magic barn in my backyard too!! The ladder looks perfect in your bathroom. Is it a little wider on the bottom? Very cool looking!! That sewing table is amazing too! -Amy
I know, right? Magical barns would make decorating so much easier. Haha It is wider at the bottom. I liked that too. Thanks for the love, Amy! š
How fun Lauren! You certainly have some great pieces to work with. Can not wait to see your bath when it is done.
Thanks, Pamela! I’m ready to have this space done. Can’t wait to knock out that to do list.
Hi Lauren,
I just came across your blog and love it!! I have a few antique sewing machines and would love to see the one you found in the barn when you get it cleaned up!
Blessings,
Lanita
I’m so glad you’re enjoying my little slice of the blogosphere, Lanita. š My mother- in-law actually kept the sewing machine but I’ll definitely try to update when it’s all fixed up.
My dad has a barn in his property that is build on the side of hill. It actually has carriage doors on the lower part of the hill where the carriages used to pull in and park. I never thought to go over there and dig through what treasures might be lurking in there!
Oh my gosh! I would go junking crazy in a place like that! Sounds like heaven.