oh, to live in a barn

if you've been a studio wellspring reader for a while you'll know i have this thing for barns turned in to homes. whenever i see one i get weak in the knees. it's a long time dream of mine {we're talking i've been drawing up floor plans on graph paper since 6th grade} to use modern interior design in a vintage barn. so it's always incredibly inspiring to see what others have done with similar dreams ~ to see how ingenius their concept is, or to imagine how i'd do things differently. lately i've stumbled across several great resources for aquiring & moving barns, renovating barns & decorating in barn-house style.

first off, the barn pages ~ it lists more than 200 barns for sale, which are priced according to condition. most of the barns need to be moved from the land they're on ~ which is just fine, since often barns are located in an out-of-the-way place without easy access to utilities & such. so you can buy a barn and have it disassembled and shipped to a more desired location, where it can be put back together again. or you can just use the barn timber to build something new. it's a fantastic recycling concept, isn't it?

for help with the restoration and reassembly of barns, check out the barn people in vermont, berkshire barns in massachusetts, and the new jersey barn company. they've all been dismantling, restoring and reassembling vintage barns for over twenty-five years. even if your favorite barn isn't in the north east, they would still be great resources for any project location.

for lots of lovely barn related decor items & furnishings, the barn house blog is a lovely place to visit.

and to take part in a blogger's project of turning a barn into a modern home, check out bare hill barn ~ it's fascinating.
lastly, some eye candy from the barn pages: