Welcome to our first blog!

Despite being town dwellers for most of our adult lives, we had both enjoyed childhoods in the countryside (of Slovakia and Canada) and increasingly felt the pull to a simpler life.

The lockdowns put it all in perspective for us - and although we couldn't do much, they didn't stop us from getting backyard chickens (and designing and building our own coop), getting married or getting a puppy!

Three years was all it took for our lives to change completely- from living in a town center apartment with no garden (although that didn't stop us putting a chicken coop and run on the grass verge...) to living in the countryside, with bees, chickens, pigs, dogs, babies and a whole lot of house renovation we're doing ourselves.

Building the chicken coop really sparked something in Peter and we both realised that it was possible to achieve something beautiful and practical without breaking the bank, when you're willing to make it yourself.

The same principle has applied to so many of the projects we have undertaken since moving to our bungalow in the countryside. We would never have been able to afford to buy a custom oak kitchen island, so we designed and built one ourself using reclaimed oak beams. Similarly, paying someone else to replace our front fencing would have been too expensive, so we both spent a summer of sunny evenings planing, sanding and painting over 150 pickets to do it ourselves.

It's only when we started to put together the timeline for this website that we realised quite how much we have done these last few years and we're excited to take you through this journey in the coming weeks and months.

You can expect to see blog posts about:
-building a mezzanine floor
-fencing your property yourself
-garden design on a budget
-gardening with chickens and dogs
-how to install an off-grid solar system

We're always happy to answer your questions about diy skills and tools, how to approach a project in your home, where to find the best resources and anything else you might want to know about how we make this life work (and how you could do). Please drop us a line below or message us on instagram.