Our 2018 Homestead Resolution is nothing groundbreaking or over-the-top. Rather, it is to simply

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For those who may not know, our home is a solid Fixer Upper of a place. Built in 2015, but with bits from the 80's, our $20k Homestead has been a constant DIY project for the last few years. 2018 looks to be the year of big changes and improvements though!

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This year we are planning some big DIY projects on the homestead...

• Bathroom Remodel
• New Roof
• Large Covered Front Porch
• Home Addition
• New Garden Space

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Bathroom Remodel

Our home has two bathrooms. One was rebuilt at the time of our home construction, but we saved the other one for later. Later has arrived as of today, January 4th. The whole bathroom will be rebuilt, including the subfloor and all fixtures! We don't have super extravagant plans for the rebuild, but will make the following changes from the original design:

1. Downgrade from 2 sinks into 1. We don't need two sinks in our bathroom, it's just another thing to clean or maintain.
2. Add storage! We want to build at least one linen closet in the bathroom and two if we have the room. We need all the storage we can get in our small home.

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New Roof

We plan to add insulation to our roof in the form of foam insulation panels, then do what is called a "roof over". We'll frame up a roof and install metal corrugated roofing over top of the new insulation and frame members. Doing so will give us more insulation and better reflection of heat in the summertime. We're going to use the same roofing as our workshop and well house -- a bronze colored energy efficient panel with a 50 year warranty.

When we do the new roof, we're going to frame an overhang and gutters as well. As it is now, there is no roof overhang on our house and the rainwater runs down the side of the home.

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Covered Front Porch

This is an item on my Wife's Wish List for the year. She wants a 12' x 28' covered front porch on the front of our home with a second entry from our Dining Room to easily entertain and move freely between the home and porch as needed. We plan to convert our two windows in the Dining Room into a Sliding Glass Door. The covered porch will be great for enjoying thunderstorms under, as well as helping to keep the hot summer evening sun off our home to aid in cooling of our home.

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Home Addition

This is an ambitious goal, even for us! We're planning to expand out the back of our home to add a Laundry Room, Craft Room (for my wife's Soap Business), and possibly a large walk in closet for our bedroom.

Moving the laundry and soap items out of our kitchen and dining room will free up a ton of space and help to de-clutter our home. The de-cluttering alone is worth it for me!

The realistic goal is to get this addition initially dried in (floor, roof, wall studs, house wrap), then work on finishing the space paycheck-by-paycheck as we can.

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New Garden Spaces

We have a large garden space near the creek, but it's about a 1,500 ft hike down to it. In addition, we've found that land to be too wet for some of our crops. So this year, we're going to add another garden space up behind our home on the knoll! Details are still being figured out, but I'm thinking of a raised bed type design, with a Back to Eden flair. The new garden space will be about 500 square foot with walkways and such within it.

In addition to this space, we're planning to add Grapes near my workshop and some fruit trees in the field with the Sheep.

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Holy Moly!

Can we do it??? We sure hope so! Follow us to find out!

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This is our entry into @kiaraantonoviche's latest #HomesteadingChallenge #7 where she asked what our New Year's Resoultions were. Check out her contest post!

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Join Link: https://discord.gg/VKCrWsS Community Link: http://homesteaders-online.com

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