More good Cabin Porn.  Hope you enjoy.

Continue reading “Baby Brown” »

n. pl. Gran-a-ries

1. a building for storing grain

2. a region yielding much grain.

Over the past several months I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be involved with the design of a cabin in Fergus Falls, Minnnesota, created by one of my favorite Architects, Dale Mulfinger. Dale was raised on a dairy farm in Minnesota and is a master of design for rural landscape and vernacular architecture.

This little cottage began its life as a farm granary on the other side of the lake. The owner’s great-grandfather bought it from the farmer in the 1890s and had a team of horses drag it across the ice in the winter to its current lakeside property, then built rooms around it for living. During the course of this project, it has been picked up and repositioned, attaching it to the new cottage via an open breezeway.  The new home will be used for the homeowners—the attached granary, for guests.

Dale’s design (below) shows the old granary on the left and the new construction on the right.

Original granaries had suspended floors that protected the grain from rodents and provided air circulation.  I love that the homeowners had the vision and have taken the time and effort to keep this historic structure in their family.  Is there something beautiful your could do with these?

Continue reading “The Granary” »

Hey Minnesota.  Happy Snow Day!  Get out there and do something fun.

Continue reading “Snow Day” »

No favorites here. I really do love every season equally.  It’s just that, I’m pretty sure I’m ready for the ice to melt and for this one to wrap up.  Here’s to open water and spring.

Continue reading “Spring” »

Hopefully, all of you are settled into your couches, watching the lead-up to the game.  If not, and you have yet to run to the store, here are some quick and easy ideas that I think you’ll love.  It’s a small sampling of what will be in my tv room today and it starts out with my favorite beef sandwiches by Barefoot Contessa.  (Of course , I dumbed it down a bit, by leaving the truffle out.  However, if you’ve got some around, by all means.) 

Also on the menu:

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

Veggie Platter

Caprese Salad

Shoot me a comment if you’d like me to pass along ideas and recipes for those as well!

 Eat a lot and have a great time today!

-Michelle

Here’s an update to my latest post about the famous Globe Elevator in Minnesota. This Save the Globe article further explains the current struggle to salvage this material and  shows you how you can help.  Each contribution earns you a piece of our country’s history, with a great story behind it.

Truly, no gift is too small and a token of appreciation will be sent to you (note that there are limited numbers of these unique gifts).  And if you’re able to be $2500 generous, you can ride in the crane basket with Mike and help cut, rig, and drop a section of the Globe Elevator. (If you don’t like heights, you can be Allan’s co-pilot in the crane cab.) Then have lunch with Ax Men cast members at the world-famous Anchor Bar in beautiful downtown Superior, Wisconsin. This perk includes a signed 8X10 photo of the Woodchuck crew as seen in Ax Men on HISTORY and a Basic Thank-You Package.

To help, click here.

I know this Sunday you’ll all be watching the Superbowl.  But next Sunday is the first of four more episodes of Ax Men on the History Channel, continuing the story of the grain elevator.  I hope you’ll watch.

 Thanks!

Michelle

I love hearing from you, so please say hello in my comment box!

Got old growth wood?

Don’t know what to do with it?

It’s okay, you’ve come to the right place.

In Duluth, Minnesota a gigantic grain elevator, dating back to 1887, is slowly being dismantled by Wisconsin Woodchuck.  Approximately 6 million board feet of Eastern White Pine, along with the iron hardware that holds it together, is coming down, board-by-board, in hopes that this beautiful material will stay in circulation.  The story aired Sunday night on the History Channel’s Ax Men.

Continue reading “Big Trees” »

I was thrilled to learn today that BeDe was included in Houzz’s Best of 2013 in the design category!  You can read the press realease here.

In the coming months, I promise to share with you photos of new projects that will inspire you.   As always, I welome your comments and ideas, so feel free to share!

Thank you!

Michelle