An Update on the Dairy Renovation

We began renovating our dairy late last year. It’s been a long process, slowed by the fact we had lots to repair and a small budget. I’m excited to share our shed renovation so far.

(PS: Mr GGF took the above pic while I was at work. It’s a great shot!)

Before the Shed Renovation

Let’s talk about the little dairy a week after we moved into the farm.

When w moved to the farm we had a contract with the previous owners that they would remove the remains of their stuff within two weeks of the handover of keys. This was because they had been renting the house out and had stored their belongings in various places around the farm.

We had NO IDEA how much stuff they actually had hidden in the back of the shed. The picture below is about third of the junk they left which we ended up having to dispose of. It was not a fun time.

Fast forward a month or two and we had a relatively clean space. We didn’t know what we would end up doing with it but for the past two years, we have used the dairy as a car parking area and hay storage. During the major renovations on the house, we used the shed to store materials we would use again. I’m happy most of these materials are now gone. The only problem is, we now have the hay in the garage that took us all day to clean out!

The First Steps

The first thing we needed to do before we began our shed renovation was to decide on how we wanted to use the space. I had ideas way back in Spring to redo our other shed and it’s eery how similar the exterior of the diary is to my original mood board. That garden shed has had nothing done to the exterior this year but I have not forgotten it!

Anyway, back to the dairy. We need space to store hay and knew it wasn’t going to be in the diary, so we decided on a lean-to on the right side. This area acts like a barn. It can also be a place where animals could be stabled if they are sick. Gavin built a stockyard next to this area using his favourite post and rail fencing technique.

To begin the shed renovation we had to completely gut the interior of the space. Two of the walls are made from brick, so we hired a bricklayer to sure them up and rebuild the corner part. You can see this on the left side of the photo. We saved most of the hardwood timber, stacking it behind the shed. We also pulled off the rotting porch section. Gavin thought the area would look cuter with a small porch and the old concrete shower bay converted into a flower bed at the front.

The dairy had windows made from clear roofing sheets, so I asked our builder to make us sets of casement windows (1920s style) to fit the openings. I love how they look old, as if they were meant to be there.

Finishing Touches to the Dairy Renovation

The next part of the shed renovation was to clad the building. To do this we had weatherboards milled from wattle trees which had been felled on our property. It was around a third of the price of boards from the hardware store. Gavin oiled the boards using sump oil. I love the rustic look of this. Plus, it was free! We have added a couple of wine barrel halves for planters and completed the lean-to area at the side. This houses our ride on mower until we can get a real barn built.

To complete the dairy we need to install the doors and finish painting the windows. Internally, the walls need to be lined and electrics installed. The floor also needs to be made level as it has a huge dip at one end for the previous drainage of water. I cannot wait to start the fit out and decorating of the space inside.