Before and After

While not the bulk of our business, we do some remodels, like the kitchen below: 

We kept the existing boxes/frames for the cabinets and painted them, made new maple doors and drawer fronts, and replaced the countertops with concrete ones, plus a concrete and recycled glass backsplash behind the stove.  The maple was from a tree that we cut, milled and dried in the kiln.  We built the doors and cabinets in our shop.  It was a relatively low-impact and low-cost facelift for a typical older kitchen. 

local birds

In an effort to be more sustainable and self-sufficient as a family, we grow a big garden and hunt for our meat.  However, we have always drawn a line when it came to domestic livestock. 

But we've been chicken-sitting.  And these four girls (and their eggs) are changing our minds.  They are portable, traveling in their own chicken tractor.  Our thinking with the portability is that we could drop them off with some other willing chicken-sitter when we go to the beach.  They are fun too, and great for the kids to pretend that they live in the Little House on the Prairie.  I guess we'll see what spring brings...

reduce, reuse, recycle

So we had this old cracked kayak that we just couldn't leave at the dumpster.  Seemed like something good could be made out of it, or we could fix it, or, or, or...

A snowy day in North Carolina, three kids and only one sled.  Enter the kayak:

Josh cut it in half, opened up the top, added backs and we had two more sleds!  And they were really fast.

some pictures

If I manage to do this correctly, you will be able to see some pictures of cabins Barred Owl Builders have completed in the last couple of years.  Keep your fingers crossed.

www.flickr.com/barredowlbuilders

Getting Started

We are just getting this blog started.  We are hoping it will allow people to see Josh's work and also give Josh an opportunity to share new discoveries and current interests.  Please be patient as we figure out the blog world and get pictures loaded.  Check back soon for more!