If you live in the country….
…..you probably know someone with an old barn.
Or someone who is about to tear down a barn.
Or someone who has stacks of barn wood or barn doors or barn ladders or barn troughs…..
…..just lying around.
Usually next to the spare washing machine parts.
In our county….any one who is ever trying to get rid of something calls us.
Usually it’s something no one else wants….like old windows or old doors or barn ladders or spools or old tires.
Except me.
Or maybe some of you.
Good thing I’m the only one in this conversation who lives here. 🙂
They shake their heads and shrug their shoulders and sometimes they ask me what I’m going to do with it and sometimes not.
Mostly they roll their eyes and sigh and tell me I can have the junk if I stop by and pick it up.
And then the conversation at our house goes something like this:
Me:Â (wearing a super cute outfit and extra red lipstick)Â Is there any way you could stop on the way home and pick up some stuff for me?
Husband: Â (pausing with a potential inward sigh) Will I need the truck?
Me: Â Oh….maybe….umm…..I mean it’s just a few things.
Him: Â (with the patience of Job)Â Â Like what?
Me: Â (nonchalantly) Â A barn ladder and some other barn stuff.
Him: Â (without missing a beat) Â No problem. Â I’ll load it after work and bring it home at put it in the building.
Me: Â Don’t you even want to know what I’m going to do with it.
Him: Â Nope.
Me: Â Seriously? Â You don’t even want to know? Â Why?
Him:  Because that’s one conversation away from a project. 🙂
He knows me so well this incredibly patient and understanding handsome man of mine.
Good thing this isn’t his first barn wood rodeo.
Good thing his truck can carry junk from one end of the county to the other.
And good thing his sparkling brown eyes were twinkling at me…..because truly…..we all know that project conversation….
…..is just around the corner. 🙂
PS  Shhhhh……let’s keep this just between us…..but don’t you think the ladder would look amazing like this?
That is cute! You know what my talented daughter did? She put an old ladder - I don't know where she got it-- gut she has it horizontally and displays cookbooks her favorite dishes and some antique table linens. It looks great! I would probably have slapped on a coat of paint :-( she has more of the vision. I'm sure -- you with THE vision-- will dream up something super fantastic.
How funny you should post this...we're building a "cabin" in NW Illinois and guess what I've got plans for...an entire barnwood wall! A word of caution though, barnwood can potentially have bugs so use with caution. Also my contractor wouldn't run the planks through a planer because those pesky farmers are known for putting nails willy nilly. So I'm sanding them myself. Oh and guess what else is in the back of my truck (yup, got ME a truck), an old black washing tub cauldron. I'm using it to store towels at the hot tub but didn't know what or was until the plumber recognized it. Even in the burbs of Chicago us farm girls can find us some good junk, I mean treasures.
You had me at barn… and sealed the deal with ladder! :)
When you casually said "Some folks are tearing down an old barn and asked us if we wanted the wood" at Becoming, Kitty and I just looked at each other…..! That NEVER happens in the suburbs of Atlanta. Thanks to a guy named Sherman, there's hardly anything truly OLD here. And certainly no one is giving away what is here. So another thing in the Pro column of why to live in the country. In Kentucky. Barb
Oh I love barns and barn wood. But oh so sad to see them torn or worse yet falling down. So glad you have the talent to do something with them cforts my soul a bit! But my heart lives to see a barn that is still pretty and I try to remember especially the See Rock City Ones that dotted our highways in My hometown. Yes Kentucky is a beautiful state! So Proud to Be born and raised in the Bluegrass!
Love that ladder and there's nothing quite like old barnwood.
Good thing he loves you a lot...eh? Love barn wood...there's just something about it...like driftwood, you know? ;)
I'm with Stephanie! Why are farmers letting the old barns go? Are they just not efficient? Their beauty is enough of a reason to keep them up and happy, in my book. Oh well, this is probably as good a question as Why can't we stop war?! Silly, huh? Great hubs. And you are the master at "buttering your bread" properly! :) Love the ladder, Barbara
How incredibly lucky are you to have access to all sorts of old treasures?! Around here, people sell the materials (and at a premium price I might add) when they tear down an old building! SUCH a {gorgeous} old ladder! Thank you SO, SO much for sharing my Ladder Shelf KariAnne!!!
KariAnne, love the lipstick comment! That works here too! Can't wait to see what you'll do next!
That is a dream come true. I want an old door and ladder for the new house. We just have to find it first. I told my hubby nothing to big but I think it would add so much charm to the new house. He agreed so we will be on the hunt for one soon. He is the best. Cindy
Hi Karianne, great ladder and I like your assortment of pillows and window seat area in the background of your photo. Oh, how I love old barn wood with its distressed and rustic texture. Speaking of texture, here's another possible use for barn wood. Save 6-7 long pieces, bracket them together on the back and VOILA... you'll have a fantastic, country backdrop for some of your food photography. It's a great look. Hope you have a nice day, Lisa
Karianne, That ladder is the cutest thing ever! I love looking at your photos. Your crib is amazing! Hehe Christine
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! And... I feel like I truly know you and your twinkly-eyed carpenter, cause of all these wonderful stories you tell so well!
Lol you always make me laugh! I love the ladder with the vintage linens! I don't have barns close by but I do have an old fence!!! Huuummmm... Ideas! I also need a new red lipstick. It seems to work wonders for you!!! Hugs Claudine
I'm really not old. But I spent the first part of my life on a farm with an olddddddd horse barn. Plus a pretty red one but the horse barn which had no horses after I was three became our play house of fun. Only the loft because you had to climb the ladder and keep climbing til you could step over and begin to play. No worries of the open hole. We just knew not to hang out near there. So I looked at your old ladder, and my heart skipped a beat. I suppose ours was older as it had square nails and sat on the prairies which were homesteader in the mid nineteenth century. But if I knew now what I knew then, I would have said, at age nine,"Daddy? Could. We please pack the ladder to the horse barn loft?? I know we will use it in town in California. And when I'm old--like in my 50's I'll make it into my towel bar in the bathroom, okay? After we play and play like we did on the old farm. So can we Daddy?" I know my Dad. He'd have made room somewhere if all five of his adoring children would have asked....but we did not even think our days of climbing barn ladders were over. How could we have ever guessed that no one played that way in towns in a far away place?? And so ill just lie back and think about Dad using his skip loader to put straw bales in the loft and all of us happily climbing that secure fence so we could, under my older sister's guidance, create Bedrock from those bales and play Flinstones for days !!!
NO! What are you thinking?!? Barn wood is gorgeous and fistic and only needs some assembling and maybe a swipe of white chalk paint. That shelf is adorbs in new wood. Maybe aged up a bit: distressed & thwacked some. But... NEW wood. Save the barn wood for something planked: tabletop? Wall art? SHIP IT TO MEEEE!!!! But new wood for the shelf.
Fistic = rustic in typo.
Ha! I love this! I am still working on mine when it comes to picking up and hauling things. I got him to drive out to Winchester (about 40 miles) the other day to pick up some old chairs I'm going to reupholster. Just found your blog and I am in love! Told my Bf that I have officially found my favorite blog and I can't wait for every update!
Great ladder....have been looking for one for a while now...so could I call Job?...Love it!..
Oh I love decorating with barn wood! We live in the country in Tennessee so I can relate to what you are saying!
Oh that ladder would be heavenly !!! City girl here, born and bred ( Montreal ) and I love barn wood like I can't tell you - just built a plank wall !!! Can't wait to see your project :) xox
I love your website/blog/projects/design ethic, KariAnne. They really speak to me and my own likes/projects/design thoughts. I, too, have a Prince Charming who can create anything and who gets on board for any project. Today he came home with two lanterns and a beautiful lamp that he spied by the side of the road. We're into remodeling and after 43 years of marriage plan to sell our house and travel to Maine to build a cottage near the coast. I'd like to start a blog about that but haven't figured out the best way to do that yet. Any suggestions?
We are surrounded by barns. In the 4 minute drive to the cluster of our schools, we pass about 6 barns. I do love old reclaimed woods of all types. Cute ladder and mix of old and new linens. To the husbands of the world who "do" for us, mine included…thank you.
I LOVE the barn ladder, but I actually have an ulterior motive for commenting. Where did you find the chandelier that's hanging in the room behind the ladder?