Dear sisters,
There’s more to having a beach cottage than fun and sun. As with any home ( no matter the size) there’s always a running list of to-do’s. Our bathroom has been in dire need of an update for several years and it finally made it to the top of the list this season! Come on in to see the before and after of our Beach-y Bathroom Vanity Reveal and find out who won the Garden Shop Giveaway! Continue reading
is a certified farmgirl at heart. She’s happily married to her beach bum Yankee husband of 20 years. She went from career gal to being a creative homeschooling mom for two of her biggest blessings and hasn’t looked back since. Debbie left her lifelong home in the high desert of Northern Nevada 10 years ago and washed up on the shore of America’s hometown, Plymouth, MA, where she and her family are now firmly planted. They spend part of each summer in a tiny, off–grid beach cottage named “The Sea Horse.”
“I found a piece of my farmgirl heart when I discovered MaryJanesFarm. Suddenly, everything I loved just made more sense! I enjoy unwinding at the beach, writing, gardening, and turning yard-sale furniture into ‘Painted Ladies’ I’m passionate about living a creative life and encouraging others to ‘make each day their masterpiece.’”
is a “MaryJane Farmgirl” who lives in a large metropolitan area. She is a lawyer who has worked in both criminal defense and prosecution. She has been a judge, a business woman and a stay-at-home mom. In addition to her law degree, she has a Masters of Theological Studies.
“Mustering up the courage to do the things you dream about,” she says, “is the essence of being a MaryJane Farmgirl.” Learning to live more organically and closer to nature is Rebekah’s current pursuit. She finds strength and encouragement through MaryJane’s writings, life, and products. And MaryJane’s Farmgirl Connection provides her a wealth of knowledge from true-blue farmgirls.
an old-fashioned farmgirl with a pioneer spirit, lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. As a “lifelong learner” in the “Live-Free-or-Die” state, she fiercely values self-reliance, independence, freedom, and fresh mountain air. Married to her childhood sweetheart of 40+ years (a few of them “uphill climbs”), she’s had plenty of time to reinvent herself. From museum curator, restaurant owner, homeschool mom/conference speaker, to post-and-beam house builder and entrepreneur, she’s also a multi-media artist, with an obsession for off-grid living and alternative housing. Cathi owns and operates a 32-room mountain lodge. Her specialty has evolved to include “hermit hospitality” at her rustic cabin in the mountains, where she offers weekend workshops of special interest to women.
“Mountains speak to my soul, and farming is an important part of my heritage. I want to pass on my love of these things to others through my writing. Living in the mountains has its own particular challenges, but I delight in turning them into opportunities from which we can all learn and grow.”
Dori Troutman is the daughter of second generation cattle ranchers in New Mexico. She grew up working and playing on the ranch that her grandparents homesteaded in 1928. That ranch, with the old adobe home, is still in the family today. Dori and her husband always yearned for a ranch of their own. That dream came true when they retired to the beautiful green rolling hills of Tennessee. Truly a cattleman’s paradise!
Dori loves all things farmgirl and actually has known no other life but that. She loves to cook, craft, garden, and help with any and all things on their cattle farm.
describes herself as a goat charmer, chicken whisperer, bee maven, and farmers’ market baker renovating an 1864 farmhouse on an Ohio farm. With a degree in Design, Mary says small-town auctions and country road barn sales "always make my heart skip a beat thinking about what I could create or design out of what I’ve seen.”
Rooted in the countryside, she likes simple things and old ways … gardening, preserving the harvest, cooking, baking, and all things home. While you might find her selling baked goods from the farm’s milkhouse, teaching herself to play the fiddle, or sprucing up a vintage camper named Maizy, you will always find her in an apron!
Mary says, “I’m happiest with the simple country pleasures … an old farmhouse, too many animals, a crackling fire, books to read, and the sound of laughter … these make life just perfect.”
is a budding rural farmgirl living in Palmer, the agricultural seat of Alaska. Alex is a graduate student at Alaska Pacific University pursuing an M.S. in Outdoor and Environmental Education. She lives and works on the university’s 700 acre environmental education center, Spring Creek Farm. When Alex has time outside of school, she loves to rock climb, repurpose found objects, cross-country ski on the hay fields, travel, practice yoga, and cook with new-fangled ingredients.
Alex grew up near the Twin Cities and went to college in Madison, Wisconsin—both places where perfectly painted barns and rolling green farmland are just a short drive away. After college, she taught at a rural middle school in South Korea where she biked past verdant rice paddies and old women selling home-grown produce from sidewalk stoops. She was introduced to MaryJanesFarm after returning, and found in it what she’d been searching for—a group of incredible women living their lives in ways that benefit their families, their communities, and the greater environment. What an amazing group of farmgirls to be a part of!
Suburban Farmgirl Nicole Christensen calls herself a “vintage enthusiast”. Born and raised in Texas, she has lived most of her life in the picturesque New England suburbs of Connecticut, just a stone’s throw from New York State. An Advanced Master Gardener, she has gardened since childhood, in several states and across numerous planting zones. In addition, she teaches knitting classes, loves to preserve, and raises backyard chickens.
Married over thirty years to her Danish-born sweetheart, Nicole has worked in various fields, been a world-traveler, an entrepreneur and a homemaker, but considers being mom to her now-adult daughter her greatest accomplishment. Loving all things creative, Nicole considers her life’s motto to be “Bloom where you are planted”.
I love your new/old counter and basin. After our small fire in December, we had to have a new counter made and though it is very nice, I would have preferred something like yours. More rustic and certainly less than the $ 1,000 insurance had to pay for it. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Laura!
I’m so sorry to hear about the fire. Bathroom cabinet manufacturers offer new pieces that look vintage but pricey. And if you like to re-purpose it’s fun to personalize a piece to your own liking.
Blessings!
Love, Deb
Your bathroom vanity turned out so nice! It definitely has a cozy beach look. My mother is redoing her bathroom, so I will share your story with her. Maybe I can help her make her own vanity as well. Every time I see that chalk paint being used I fall more in love. I think it’s time that I try it out. Now to find something to re-purpose!
Congratulations to Cheryl for winning the giveaway!
Hi Krista!
Thanks so much. How fun would that be to work on something with your mom. I agree. It’s time you tried chalk paint! You’ll love it!
Blessings,
Deb
You both did a beautiful job. I love the vanity makeover. I second guess myself too much to try that, but love the way it turned out.
Absolutely beautiful! I love everything about it. Very clever, creative and smart!
I’m down South in AL/MS and it is so hot and humid here in the summers. Maybe one of these days I can be one to rent your cabin. I love the water and would love to be where I could spend some time on the ocean. My boyfriend has a beautiful pool to enjoy and a pond (I call it Goose Pooh Pond) that no amount of money would ever get me to swim in. We have lots of ducks and geese that stay on it not to mention the ones as they are migrating. I do enjoy your postings. I think this is the first time I have ever replied. I wish you and your family many hours of creativity, laughter and making good memories!!! Don’t we just LOVE Mary Jane?!?!?!
I love the bathroom re-do, but I really love the picture of you two. A winner!
Great job.
Marilyn
Beautiful! I didn’t even notice the neat spiral thingies until you painted them. You and your Yankee did a great job!
I love this. I may need to do this in my bathroom. It needs a new counter for sure.
Love. Love. Love!!! I am doing a bathroom in my basement, it is totally unfinished but I have my craft room there and the bathroom is a necessity – I am going to do something similar to what you did, thanks for the advice for painting. It is beautiful! Thanks for sharing your talents. God bless.
Beautiful!
Great job Deb. I love it. I just finished one the other day for sale…and also had an old 1950 cast iron sink that could be used with it. That is what I do refinish old pieces. You can always take a look at some of my stuff on my FB page when I have some….Neta Monroe…. Love the floors too, that is what we have in our hall and bath ,and now fixing to do both bedrooms this weekend… Be Blessed. Neta.
Gosh, Deb! This is beautiful! Love it!
Deb, I absolutely love how that turned out! Awesome way to repurpose. Love all your little details. That light is awesome. Good job! Farmgirl Hugs, Nicole (Suburban Farmgirl)
Thanks Nicole!
She was a great find and in need of a makeover for sure!
Hugs!
Deb
Love this!! Turned out so lovely. No what can I paint with that yummy Duck Egg blue?!! Hugs to you, Deb. xoxo.
Thank you, Meg! Oh, I know you’ll find something to paint! 😉
Hugs right back!
xo Deb
Deb! You and hubby did such a great job on your bathroom renovation project! It is totally charming and functional too! Way to go girl!
Enjoy your vacation!
Thanks so much, Pam!
We had fun bringing her back to life!
Hugs!
Deb
How clever…it turned out terrific! And you’ve given me the how-to’s to tackle one myself. Thanks for the inspiration!
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