THE TANKHOUSE

THE TANKHOUSE

Knock Knock!  Who’s there you might ask? It’s me, Jerri.  You remember me don’t you?  I’m the one who lives in this 100 year old farmhouse.  You know, the one who had a dream with her sweet hubby and they both grabbed hands and jumped into a crazy fixer upper adventure?

Yes, that’s me, you kinda remember now don’t ya?  Hello, how are ya?  Well I guess I’ve been doin a little California Dreaming as usual and while Mr. Farmhouse Fun and I have been on summer break from teaching, we’ve been up to our old tricks of always revamping and fixing up this old gal.

Lately, I’ve been staring at this outbuilding as they call the other buildings that often exist on old farm estates, and feeling kind of sorry for her.  I mean just look at her.  She looks so sad and tired and would probably feel a lot better if someone just showed her a little love.  Well, as you might have guessed, that someone is me.

This diamond in the rough sits right next to our farmhouse and while she may look like an over grown dollhouse or something the kids from the Sandlot movie would’ve loved to adopt I’m sure as a cool new clubhouse after their tree house lost it’s luster.  It is officially known as a tankhouse.

Don’t know what that is?  Well it’s a two or three story building that towered above the property with a windmill attached.  It housed a huge water tank that the windmill would pump water from the well far below into it.

Some properties just had a water tower propelled up into the sky, holding all the family’s water that could descend down to meet their needs, but we have this glorious tank house instead.  Although, no water tank or windmill is left, only the house where it used to all be.

Mostly we’ve just used it for storage and our sons did use the upstairs for a music room.  (Ain’t nobody wants to hear drums in the house, let me tell ya.)  Hey but those boys are all grown up and married now, so I’m thinking this building needs a little tender loving care and maybe a She Shed overhaul is long overdo.

First things first, I felt she needed a little fairy dust sprinkled over her to transform her outer appearance.  They say you can’t judge a book by it’s cover but this building needed a story book transformation and I (a fairy tale – story book reading – kindergarten teacher) is just the one to make this ol Tank House Gal’s dreams come true.

Cuz I just know she’s probably been hoping wishing for this summer to come.  And I’ve been feeling all fairy godmotherish too, so I rolled my sleeves up, grabbed my magic wand and got busy.

Even though I had no pumpkins and mice hanging around to help with the process, I did have some tools and always my handsome prince to help me get this job done.

I focused on the outside and tried to envision how I could create a beautiful appearance that conjured up a welcoming, cozy feel yet still captured nostalgia and charm.  When all was said and done, would I be able to picture Rapunzel opening up the window and trailing down her hair?  Yes, that’s the image I was going for.

So of course I thought she needed some shutters, but nothing fancy.  This is not an elegant place, it’s a humble cottagey farmhouse so the shutter style would be something a simple farmer would have crafted easily.

Next a flower box so needed to be added for all the charm I could muster up.  Now, my inspiration for this was a visit I took last year with my sweet mama and sissy to Magnolia at the Silos!  I knew I would be keeping the paint white with black accents and Magnolia had the same color scheme but the flower boxes were these rustic wood ones that I remembered.

I love the contrast of the creamy white walls, dreamy black trim and accents along with the rustic chippy wood boxes filled with beautiful flowers.  Such a gorgeous combination!

I was thinking it might be tricky business though, mounting a flower box up high and filling it with the heaviness of soil and plants, so we decided a shelf was in order.

But I didn’t want it to be part of the look, so while we made the brackets a little cute and scrolly, I painted it all white so it wouldn’t stand out that much but instead just kind of blend into the white walls.

It’s always fun hopping over to Home Depot to fill up my cart with some bright and colorful annual flowers like white and different shades of pink vinca.  Then I wanted some lime green color in there for a nice pop so I found some coleus that had these pretty leaves I was looking for.  There was also this variety that had a deep burgundy color that added a nice balance to it all.

So fun and pretty!

Well that took care of the second floor, but I still needed to give the first floor a little more love.  With the window and door being so narrow, it’s whole look was kind of plain and boring to me.  The shutters ended up adding some width to it above but I thought I’d add more interest to the bottom by filling it up with greenery in potted and hanging plants.

I found some old pots I hadn’t been using and painted them grey and black then actually transplanted some plants from the yard into them so everything was so green and full of life up against this woods and white back drop.  Then I hung an easy to make fresh Magnolia Wreath I made on her door.

Aw, then I created the sweetest chalkboard sign out of a cast off piece of old ply wood stored in a pile out back.  I just taped a boarder and painted with chalk board paint in the middle.

Naming the property The Smith Farm & Gardens came to mind because it really is what it is: nothing fancy, very simple. It’s a small little one acre of a farm/ranchette.  Half of it is landscaped into gardens to stroll through, or sit back and enjoy and the other half is a large lawn area for events or just family to gather on, play games or feast at holidays.

But adorning the sign on this ol gal, I felt. made her part of the family saying, hey I know know you’re not an addition to the house, attached right up to it, but you’re still part of it sort of adopted and only a step away.

So here she is in all her glory, just shown a little attention and already she is shining like a beacon to all who stroll by her welcoming happy door.

There’s still so much to do inside her doors to she shed her out and maybe a guest room or even a bride’s room above might even be in store for her.  Aw, all in due time.  But for now, I’ll just let her enjoy and revel in her new make over cuz every girl needs a pretty new look every once in a while.

XO Jerri