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A Pretty Happy Home

Life, DIY and Random Things That Make Me Smile

  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
  • Shop
    • Apparel and Shoes
    • Books
    • Crafts and Sewing
    • Decor
    • Furniture
    • Home Improvement
    • Kid Favorites
    • Kitchen
  • Projects
    • Cleaning
    • Clothing
    • Colonial Farmhouse
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY Projects
    • Holidays
  • Adventure
    • Moving to Ireland
    • Living in Ireland
    • Visiting Ireland
    • Travel
    • Family and Parenting
    • Humor
    • Learning
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
  • Shop
    • Apparel and Shoes
    • Books
    • Crafts and Sewing
    • Decor
    • Furniture
    • Home Improvement
    • Kid Favorites
    • Kitchen
  • Projects
    • Cleaning
    • Clothing
    • Colonial Farmhouse
    • Crafts
    • Decorating
    • DIY Projects
    • Holidays
  • Adventure
    • Moving to Ireland
    • Living in Ireland
    • Visiting Ireland
    • Travel
    • Family and Parenting
    • Humor
    • Learning
  • Privacy Policy

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  • newly rebuilt curved fieldstone wall using lime mortar and natural fieldstone
    DIY

    Curved Fieldstone Wall: Part 4, REVEAL Section 1

    August 27, 2025 /

    It’s reveal day for section 1 of our curved fieldstone wall! Can I get a WOO to the HOO? I know some of you made a woohoo sound in your head, so thank you for that! We are fortunate to live on a property that is framed by low fieldstone walls. 250 years ago, our property was much larger than it is now and would have been farmed. We assume the stone walls or fences were built as a practical way of dealing with all of the stones that were pulled out of the soil to make it arable. Fast forward to the present, and there are multiple sections of…

    read more
    annisa 6 Comments

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    Stone Carriage House Gym: Part 3, Old Windows

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    July 17, 2023
    DIY fieldstone stairs building fieldstone stairs outdoors

    Building Fieldstone Stairs: Part 3, The Reveal

    July 28, 2025
  • colonial farmhouse may 2025 exterior sunporch with rhododendrons
    colonial farmhouse

    Colonial Farmhouse Six Year Anniversary

    July 16, 2025 /

    Time flies when you’re restoring, renovating, and generally making a home! We have been the stewards of this colonial farmhouse for 6 years now. The anniversary was actually in June, but I was ankle deep in mortar dust with the Carriage House renovation. Besides, it’s really a blip, as is our ownership, in the grand scheme of this old gal’s 250(ish) year history. If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know I enjoy poetry. It is so relatable because it often captures what we are feeling but don’t know how to express with our own words. There’s a poem called Old Houses by Robert Cording. It…

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    annisa 2 Comments

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    Colonial Farmhouse 5 Year Anniversary

    June 12, 2024
    The Doors of Our Colonial Farmhouse

    The Doors of Our Colonial Farmhouse

    July 8, 2019
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    The Case of the Closet Mystery

    January 20, 2020
  • buried treasure searching for treasure on a 250 year old property but mainly finding old trash in the ground like tin tiles from vikon tile company in washington new jersey
    colonial farmhouse,  DIY

    Did We Finally Find Buried Treasure?

    April 30, 2025 /

    If you’ve been reading this blog for five minutes, you’ll know that I am unabashedly on the hunt for buried treasure on our 250-year-old property. Surely, surely, there must be something hidden around here somewhere. Preferably, this something would be valuable enough to pay off our mortgage, but I’m not picky. We recently dug a trench alongside our Carriage House and that trench was full and I do mean FULL of buried treasure. I don’t mean the valuable sort of treasure. More like this was someone’s garbage pile. An actual garbage pile that had been buried over time, and now I’m donning my proverbial Indiana Jones hat and saying under…

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    annisa 2 Comments

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    Removing Rotten Trees and a Chainlink Fence

    August 12, 2019
    colonial farmhouse exterior with sunporch

    Colonial Farmhouse 3 Year Anniversary

    June 13, 2022
    colonial farmhouse kitchen mini makeover progress

    Kitchen Mini Makeover Progress

    February 10, 2020
  • carriage house gym expansion demo a fieldstone wall to prepare for repointing removing concrete from a stone foundation with a chisel attachment on a hammer drill
    colonial farmhouse,  DIY

    Stone Carriage House Gym: Part 2, Demo

    April 28, 2025 /

    If you missed it, we are expanding our home gym. This space, that I affectionately refer to as the ‘little torture chamber,’ is located in our stone Carriage House. The part of the home gym we completed in 2024 looks like this now. The other half of the building, where we want to expand the home gym, looked like this (see photo below) last month. It was a tad bit creepy. When I say creepy, I mean that’s where the cave crickets lived. I think they are gone now. *fingers crossed* You can catch up on why we are doing this expansion and feast your eyes on all the creepy…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    All About Rim Locks (Vintage Door Hardware)

    September 14, 2020
    The 1971 MLS Listing For Our Colonial Farmhouse

    The 1971 MLS Listing For Our Colonial Farmhouse

    September 4, 2019
    time capsule installed in a basement in a home in new jersey in 2024

    Basement Time Capsule Has Been Installed

    June 10, 2024
  • recreating historic trim on the exterior of an old house in new jersey from the 1780s
    DIY

    Recreating Historic Exterior House Trim – It’s A Process!

    October 21, 2024 /

    Recreating historic house trim on the exterior of a house. If ever there was a labor of love, this is it. We own a really old home. The oldest section dates back to the 1780s and it has been added onto since. Like many homes of that era, the exterior trim is ornate, beautiful, and rotten in spots. whomp, whomp Guess what most contractors want to do in this situation? Gold stars if you answered, “Take it down and replace it with something you can get off the shelf.” In essence, make it look like every other house on the block. I will also award gold stars if you answered,…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Did We Finally Find Buried Treasure?

    April 30, 2025
    modern country laundry room in a colonial farmhouse with wainscoting stained glass horse art basket wall and inset wall shelves

    A Modern Country Laundry Room For Our Colonial Farmhouse

    March 29, 2023
    how to fix broken concrete by a garage door

    How To Fix Broken Concrete By A Garage Door

    November 13, 2024
  • fall front porch with paint blue ceiling and potted mums and pumpkins
    decorating,  gardening and landscape

    Fall Front Porch And The Funny Place I Buy Mums

    October 14, 2024 /

    Can we talk restraint? Restraint is experiencing the calendar flip from August to September and knowing you can’t decorate your fall front porch yet because Mother Nature didn’t get the “it’s fall y’all” memo and it is still 85 degrees Fahrenheit outside. So what do you do instead? You console yourself with an apple cider donut (or two, I won’t judge) while you wait for the weather to catch up to the commercialized hype of our existence. I waited 25 days. Twenty five! There are no prizes for this sort of restraint. I know. I checked. Some of you wise ones might say the prize is that the mums I…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    In Praise of a Church Pew for Home Decor

    July 5, 2021

    Gold and Turquoise Wood Arrows

    January 25, 2016

    I Just Don’t Understand: Two-Handle Kitchen Faucets

    April 18, 2018
  • white colonial farmhouse exterior with sunporch
    colonial farmhouse

    Drone Photos of Our Home

    August 26, 2024 /

    When we had our siding redone, the siding company took drone photos of our home and sent them to me! Best. Thing. Ever. I’m not even kidding. This was like Christmas in August for me. But it was better because I didn’t have to pretend to be surprised by what Santa had brought me. These drone photos remind me of how far we’ve come in the last five years in reclaiming the property and restoring this home. The below photo of the side of our house shows what it used to look like in July of 2019. I don’t know much, but I do know that you shouldn’t “hide your…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Plan to Makeover Our Decks

    June 10, 2020

    All About Rim Locks (Vintage Door Hardware)

    September 14, 2020
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    Why We Installed a Tongue and Groove Ceiling In Our Carriage House

    May 16, 2022
  • saving historic window drip edge trim detail on a 250 year old colonial farmhouse
    colonial farmhouse,  DIY

    Saving a Historic Window Drip Edge Detail

    August 19, 2024 /

    When we had the rotten siding on our colonial farmhouse replaced, the window trim needed replacing too and I was adamant about saving the historic window drip edge detail. It was not a necessary component of the window trim but it was part of the home’s character. I just didn’t realize this decision would cause a bit of drama later. To be clear, we were not able to save the actual boards that made this historic window drip edge detail. They had served their purpose and helped direct water away from the house for decades. Decades! And it showed in how the wood had rotted. Some of our windows already…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Removing Rotten Trees and a Chainlink Fence

    August 12, 2019
    winter home inspiration from new jersey

    My Home Could Be In a Movie

    January 29, 2020
    Five Old Books I Found in Our New Home

    5 Old Books I Found in Our New Home

    July 31, 2019
  • colonial farmhouse with hardie fiber cement siding in arctic white how installing fiber cement siding changed our insurance premiums
    colonial farmhouse,  DIY

    How Much Our Insurance Changed With Hardie Fiber Cement Siding

    July 10, 2024 /

    When the wood siding on our very old house started to rot away, everyone told us to reinstall new wood siding because that’s what buyers of old houses on the East Coast expect. Clearly, “everyone” hasn’t had to maintain painted wood siding. We decided to have HardieĀ® fiber cement siding installed instead because our priority for protecting our almost 250-year-old home was to make it fire-resistant, deter wood-eating pests, protect it from severe storms, and add resistance to moisture-induced rot. If an owner of an old house isn’t sleeping well, you know why. We have a lot to worry about! Fiber cement siding protects our home from all of those…

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    Updating Our Home With Antique Hardware

    June 7, 2021
    Colonial Farmhouse One Year Anniversary

    Colonial Farmhouse One Year Anniversary

    June 15, 2020
    old new bathroom closet

    A New Old Closet Door for our Bathroom

    November 2, 2020
  • old house construction techniques timber framed home from 1800s mortise and tenon carpenter's marks
    colonial farmhouse,  DIY

    4 Old House Construction Techniques We Found When We Replaced Siding

    July 8, 2024 /

    While putting new siding on our very old house (circa 1780s with later additions), we had a first-hand view of 4 old house construction techniques that blew our minds. Not everyone has the opportunity to see the “guts” of their home, so we’ll use my home as an example so that you’re not shocked someday. Fasten your proverbial tool belt and come check out the 4 old house construction techniques we found. #1 Old House Construction Technique: Timber Framed Construction Our home was built before power tools existed. It was built before electricity was invented. It was built before modern nails and screws were invented. In fact, the frame of…

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    annisa 0 Comments

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    Five Old Books I Found in Our New Home

    5 Old Books I Found in Our New Home

    July 31, 2019
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    My Dining Table Is Now a Coffee Table

    July 29, 2019
    black painted doors

    Painted Black Doors in our Colonial Farmhouse

    July 13, 2020
 Older Posts
Hi! I'm Annisa.

Recent Posts

  • Curved Fieldstone Wall: Part 8, Progress Section 2
  • DIY Floral Witch’s Hat
  • Happy List: #404
  • Curved Fieldstone Wall: Part 7, The Stairs
  • Curved Fieldstone Wall: Part 6, Demo Section 2

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