Barn Apartment Construction

My housing situation since moving in to assist the elderly parents... well not so good.
First I tryed living in the main house but discovered the three, yes 3 TVs running 24/7 was way to much for me. NowI live in the tepee in the summer and it's awesome. But the winters in the studio....

I built a studio in part of an old greenhouse. It's a pretty good space but no running water and no clothes closet, plus to live in too ... not really big enough.

After building the barn last year my plan was to build a small aptartment in there. I went to my freind Diana at DK Berg Designs. She is a fabulous space planner and since the space is only 12 x 24' I needed every inch to count.

The plan was to start at the beginning of November. Even though this is the busiest time of year in my business it is the best time for the horses to not be using the barn.

After visiting the Habitat for Humanity Restores around Arkansas and finding some great deals on windows, doors and an adorable bathroom vanity I was ready to get started.

I called James and the crew that built the barn. The guys like lots of construction workers these days are very glad to have the work. As with the barn they are just doing the basics and I will do all the finish work.

Most of the framing lumber came from a local sawmill. It was a great price but to get it takes a trailer and digging through the stacks to get to the wood that I needed.
The insulation for the walls I bought at 1/2 price because of ripped bags at the local home store.

The septic system was put together from two 55 gallon drums and these great online instructions.

It's a good thing I did all this to save money because everthing else went over budget, mostly from my miscalculations and all the extra stuff I didn't know I needed. The shower stalll alone costs a whopping $500, twice as much as I figured. But I like it.

     The guys will be finished by next week. There will still be plenty more for me to do.