Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • Features
  • Stay & Play

Barn Reborn: Reno Turns Raccoon Haven into Studio Space

  • June 22, 2021
  • Mountain Life Media
Total
10
Shares
10
0
0
0
0
0
Total
10
Shares
Share 10
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

words & photos :: Kristin Schnelten.

Kate Civiero’s barn renovation didn’t happen overnight—or even over a number of months.

She’s been chipping away at this passion project for six years. And counting. The once-neglected outbuilding, just steps from the house, was a draw for Kate and her husband Matt when they purchased the property.

Barn Reborn Reno Studio Space exterior full Kristin Schnelten photo
KRISTIN SCHNELTEN

But the vision of turning that barn into a backyard studio sat idle for years while she worked in a local glassblowing shop. When the local studio closed, her closest option was Georgetown—a 90-minute drive. After months of commuting, burnout set in and they finally dove into the barn project.

Clearing out decades of junk accumulation, rotten hay and raccoon nests was the first order of business; when the neighbour they hired for the hayloft-cleanout walked off the site after a single day, they hoisted shovels and did it themselves. That foul fiasco was virtually the last time a contractor set foot in the space. Kate, with the assistance of Matt at times, has since hauled every stick of lumber, made every mitred cut and fought with every batt of insulation. And they salvaged or reused the majority of the materials.

Barn Reborn Reno Studio Space interior tools wall Kristin Schnelten photo
KRISTIN SCHNELTEN

She pried up, sorted and stacked each board of the hayloft floor, periodically re-sorting and relocating the pile around the property while the renovation progressed. “Moving the wood was so annoying, just the worst way to do a project,” Kate says, shaking her head. “But I was determined to make use of every piece I had.”

A cousin donated his grandfather’s discarded corrugated steel roofing, and it’s now installed underside-out, bearing the original “Thornbury, Ont.” stamp. Friends donated their excess building materials and finishes. “My grandfather was a farmer, and he would much rather reuse something he had on hand than go to a store and buy something. It’s just stubbornness, really. At every step I would think to myself, ‘Do I really need to buy that? Can’t I just reuse something?’”

Barn Reborn Reno Studio Space interior shelf Kristin Schnelten photo
KRISTIN SCHNELTEN

“Dying for natural light” along the south-facing wall, Kate and Matt scoured the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for windows. Local blacksmith Dano Harris built the metal railings, and she finally relented and hired professionals for the finished ceiling. But the rest is all Kate, mostly working alone while Matt was at his 9 to 5.

“Every step of the process felt like the worst job imaginable. When we were in it, it was just dreadful,” Kate remembers. “But once you move on to the next project, the last one doesn’t seem all that bad.”

Barn Reborn Reno Studio Space exterior door Kristin Schnelten photo
KRISTIN SCHNELTEN

Throughout the renovation, Kate was creating in the space—huddled close to her glassblowing furnace while snow blew in through cracks in the siding, whirled through the barn and accumulated on her work surfaces. “It was very cold. I would blow glass if it was -5C or warmer, but anything colder than that and the glass would crack and break while I was making it. I was often blowing in my snow pants for warmth,” she laughs.

Kate buttoned up the last interior wall this winter, making her way through the final stack of barn boards. “By the time I finished that wall, I had just a few pieces left, and I used them to build a chicken coop. Possibly the most rewarding part of the project was having nothing leftover at the end.”

Barn Reborn Reno Studio Space interior glass Kristin Schnelten photo
KRISTIN SCHNELTEN

With only a bit of paint, trim and siding remaining on her list, she now spends her days in a spacious studio with room for a glassblowing hot shop and coldworking room, metalsmithing shop, gallery, teaching area and busy e-commerce space.

The completed project is undeniably cool.

Barn Reborn Reno Studio Space interior with beams Kristin Schnelten photo
KRISTIN SCHNELTEN

“I just wanted to use all these rustic materials I had gathered from here, there and everywhere, and somehow marry them with the aesthetic my glass needs—to be displayed on crisp white,” she says. The funky, classic result suits both Kate and her work. When customers file in during studio tours, they’re often as taken with the barn as they are with the art.

Kate is nothing short of gleeful with the space. She grins, “It’s the story of an amazing building, a booming business and a scrappy young entrepreneur.”

From ML Blue Mountains, Spring ’21.

Total
10
Shares
Share 10
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • barn
  • DIY
  • renovation
  • reuse
  • upcycle
Mountain Life Media

Previous Article
Unsung Heroes of the Deep Henry Wang cropped
  • Mountain Lifer

Unsung Heroes of the Deep: Meet Henry Wang and his Merry Band of Divers on a Mission

  • June 21, 2021
  • Mountain Life Media
View Post
Next Article
Rollerblade-ski-Better-Training-mountain-track-rails-feature-crop2
  • SKIING GEAR
  • SUMMER GEAR
  • THE GEAR SHED
  • WINTER GEAR

Rollerblade : Patiner en été pour mieux skier en janvier / Inline Skating in Summer to Ski Better in January

  • June 23, 2021
  • Editor
View Post
You May Also Like
Bora-Boreal-Quebec-winter-cabin-stars
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Stay & Play

Bora Boréal: Frozen in Time and Ice

  • Mountain Life Media
  • March 14, 2023
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • On The Trail
  • Photography
  • Stay & Play

Let It Roar

  • Sarah Bulford
  • February 9, 2023
L'Hymne-des-Trembles-Laurentians-Quebec
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play

L’Hymne des Trembles: Uncompromising Laurentian Skiing

  • Editor
  • January 27, 2023
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play

RED: Big Mountain, Small Town

  • Sarah Bulford
  • December 20, 2022
Red-Resort-Rossland-BC
View Post
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Stay & Play

RED Resort: Sweepstakes for The Good Life!

  • Mountain Life Media
  • November 1, 2022
Blue-Mountain-Agora-lights
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • Ontario
  • Stay & Play
  • Videos

AGORA: An Interactive Night-Walk through the Forest

  • Mountain Life Media
  • September 19, 2022
Floating-spa-Clayoquot-Sound-TOFINO-RESORT-MARINA
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Stay & Play

Hot & Cold

  • Mountain Life Media
  • September 15, 2022
Cottage-Backcountry-Hut-Company-Ontario-Georgian-Bay
View Post
  • Ontario
  • Stay & Play

A Cottage Off the Shelf

  • Mountain Life Media
  • July 19, 2022

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Featured Posts
  • 1
    End of an Era: Another Double Chair Bites the Dust
    • March 28, 2023
  • Skiing at Hudson Bay Mountain in Smithers 2
    Where Eagles Dare
    • March 27, 2023
  • Mountain-Life-20th-showreel 3
    20 Years of ML
    • March 24, 2023
  • Mustang-Survival-WOMENS-HELIX-CCS 4
    Gear Shed: Our End-of-Winter Picks
    • March 23, 2023
  • natural-selection-Redbull 5
    Friday Flick: Natural Selection Tour Highlights
    • March 17, 2023
RECENT POSTS
  • Powder-Highway-BC-ski
    Powder Highway Revisited
    • March 21, 2023
  • AleTrailsSouthernInterior_Vernon_MikeGamble_LookoutTrail_BenHaggarPhoto
    Ale Trails: Southern Interior Part 1, Vernon + Shuswap
    • March 20, 2023
  • Elements-Outfitters-Filson-cabin
    Elements Outfitters Partners with SALTS to Protect Alberta’s Incredible Landscapes
    • March 16, 2023
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
No one called me Feet Banks back in 1987. In those days, most people called me by my given name—except for my ski buddies, to whom I was known by the most badass moniker to ever schuss the slopes: Twinkle Toes.
We’re celebrating 20 Years of Mountain Life!
From The Gear Shed: Last Monday was the official start of spring, but we know there’s still some winter to be shredded. So ML staff and partners have picked the latest jackets, lanterns, bindings, mugs and drysuits for winter-spring.
Exploring the sights around beautiful Sutton, Quebec with ML creator @adv_bird ❄️🫶
Back on the road with three generations, dancing lifties, best-on-planet pizza and elusive-but-exquisite pow days.
Live It Up EP 24 is out now!
The Southern Interior region of BC holds an ecological cross-section of the province with alpine meadows, arid Douglas fir grasslands, damp cedar and hemlock forests of the Columbia Mountains and the warm expanse of Shuswap Lake.
Do Not Disturb mode activated ✅ #mountainlifer
Conceived by superhuman snowboarder @travisrice, the @naturalselection Tour highlights earth’s premier riders, from big-mountain mavens to Olympians, all competing on the most stoketastic—and unpredictable—terrain known to humankind.
Built upon a shared desire to enjoy, respect, and advocate for Alberta’s incredible landscapes, it was a natural fit for @elementsoutfitters to work with a local conservation organization @saltslandtrust to highlight the province’s rugged beauty and outdoor apparel to match.
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

No one called me Feet Banks back in 1987. In those days, most people called me by my given name—except for my ski buddies, to whom I was known by the most badass moniker to ever schuss the slopes: Twinkle Toes.
We’re celebrating 20 Years of Mountain Life!
From The Gear Shed: Last Monday was the official start of spring, but we know there’s still some winter to be shredded. So ML staff and partners have picked the latest jackets, lanterns, bindings, mugs and drysuits for winter-spring.
Exploring the sights around beautiful Sutton, Quebec with ML creator @adv_bird ❄️🫶
Back on the road with three generations, dancing lifties, best-on-planet pizza and elusive-but-exquisite pow days.
Live It Up EP 24 is out now!
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.