Putting the Final Touches on the Dairy Conversion

As you know by now, we have been renovating our little dairy building for almost a year. It’s been a long process to return this shed to how it might have looked like a dairy. There have been a number of bumps along the way. Just when we thought we were about to see the finish line we electrician installed the power on the inside of the walls. The walls on two sides are brickwork and the ugly conduit is not a good look. We had to come up with a solution and I asked my email subscribers to help me out. Obviously, the budget is tight and we will do the work ourselves, so we wanted a cost-effective option. I wrote about the initial progress on the dairy conversion late last year. Here is how we are finishing off the job.

Leveling the Floor

The floor of our shed renovation was in need of serious help. Being an old dairy the floor was on a slant for easy cleaning. The drop was around 10cm across the entire floor so nothing was flat. To lay a timber floating floor over the top would have cost a fortune so we chose to keep the industrial look of the original structure and level the floor with a screed of concrete. It’s amazing the difference that makes to the look of the interior.

The floor will be finished with a few coats of varnish to enhance to colour and make cleaning the floor easier. We have also considered painting the floor as we have done inside the house. Our floors are holding up well to dog and human traffic in the house. We won’t make this decision until the end though, as I’m keen to see the amount of light in the room first.

Putting the Doors on the Dairy Conversion Project

The dairy had the most awful 70’s doors when we bought the house. So one of the things we did as part of the dairy conversion was to source doors for the front and back. We found a four-panel door like the ones in the farmhouse for the entry to the dairy. Gavin sanded some of it back to a natural state but I think he gave up as he now says it’s too hard to get in the grooves and wants to paint it. No patience 😉 We had a glass door already which we have put in the back to let in light. Personally, I hate this door. But I can make it work. It was free! To finish our doors we added traditional doorknobs and locks that match with those inside the farmhouse.

Changing the Look of the Rafters

When we gutted the dairy we exposed the ceiling rafters. The ceiling was quite low so I’ve always wanted to see the roof above to create a feeling of height. To do this we’ve taken out half of the ceiling joists as we no longer need them to hold up a ceiling. We’ve also lifted the height of the rafters. This has strengthened the roof. To clean the rafters up we removed the old nails and light sockets. Then we sanded them with a belt sander and brushed them with a wire brush. I didn’t want to paint or varnish them as this will spoil the original character.

Adding a Planter Box

One of the big mistakes I made in the dairy conversion was when we had the walls repaired by the bricklayer. I forgot about the raised up slab of concrete that used to house a shower/cleaning area. Gavin and I decided we would incorporate this inside the dairy and build a storage cupboard around it. I completely forgot about that decision and asked the bricklayer to continue the wall behind the concrete. We ended up with a weird raised part on the corner of the building. To solve this problem we came up with the idea of using the rest of the bricks to create a planter box. We can now plant a climber in it and add some ferns to soften the exterior. The only problem is keeping the chooks out! They seem to love scratching in it.

Lining the Walls of the Dairy

As I reported to my email subscribers earlier this month, the electrician made a decision on his own to put the wiring on the inside of the brick walls. This led us to look for options to cover the walls. We ended up finding an entire apple shed that had been demolished and scored a heap of roofing iron for almost nothing. I think this will add tonnes of industrial charm to the dairy. As long as I decorate it with lots of texture and warming elements.

My plan now is to add patterned linens, lots of creamy ceramics, and a large Persian-style rug. But more of that in the big reveal post.