Cassie Bustamante

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Our Painted Chicken Coop featuring Clark & Kensington

July 29, 2016 by Cassie 24 Comments

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Happy Friday!  It has been an exciting week at our house as far as chicken raising goes.  We gathered our first eggs, and they were quite delicious.  I can’t wait until we have enough to make an entire meal, like a frittata… YUM!  We’ve also started harvesting our tomatoes, and have loads of basil growing, so put it all together and you have one home grown and pesticide free dish of delectability. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy that makes me to see our hard work reaping such wonderful benefits.  Speaking of hard work, today I wanted to finally share with you our chicken coop (which we painted with Clark & Kensington exterior grade paints from Ace Hardware).  Or as I like to call it, home to the Roostamantes- a little play on our last name.Cobalt Blue DIY Chicken CoopPin

I won’t be sharing a tutorial on how to build it because Chris and I are no pros.  My dad was a huge help to us in getting started, and we used these plans.  (Note: We bought the $5 plans, but the free ones ended up being better and the ones that we used).For free, these plans weren’t bad, but there were definitely some things that weren’t thought of, such as the extra protection in the ventilation gap, and our coop is currently without a roosting pole which we intend to add.

As you can see, we all worked really hard to build this coop from the ground up.Emmy in coop framePin

We started this project Mother’s Day weekend, and then we encountered weekend after weekend of rain.  Because of the weather, we weren’t able to complete it until just before the poultry swap, in the knick of time!  Throughout that time period, Chris and I worked on it at every chance we had  There may have been some minor hammer injuries, broken boards, holes ripped in the roofing, and severe cursing along the way, but we freakin’ did it.  And there is something to be said for that… neither of us are extremely confident DIYers when it comes to building things, so we are proud of ourselves, even though there are some minor errors.  (One such error really bugged me, and Chris said in frustration, “What do you want?  It’s DIY, ok!”  Well, OK then.)

Of course the fun part, to me, came in selecting the colors for this bad boy.  The unfortunate thing about selecting the colors is that I really wanted to work with our existing home colors, since those won’t change until I have $11,000 to do make that happen (read: never).  The exterior of our home is brick, a warm light mustard yellow, and a burnt sienna type of brown trim and roof.  Here’s a shot from my porch tour which shows you what I was working with.  Cape Cod with Boho Style Wrap Around PorchPinThis past year I brought in several blue accents in textiles and large planters on either side of my door and it really seemed to work with the existing colors as well as reflect my own personal style.

I pulled out my Clark & Kensington fan deck to choose a blue that would coordinate well with the blues on the porch and settled upon “Heirloom China.”  Now, as much as I would love a blue with white trim and a charcoal roof, that would have stuck out like a sore thumb from our house and coordinating detached garage.  I used the fan deck to find a brown that was similar to the brown trim on the house and selected “Ballet Barre.”  It ended up being just perfect!

For the Heirloom China, I chose a satin finish in exterior.  I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out, and it really fits right in with our home.

Just look at how the pillows coordinate with the coop.  Oh and that minty green shovel?  It was a thrifty find at just $1 at a yard sale.  I love the way it looks, but it’s also what I call my coop poop scoop… and you can guess the task it handles.Blue Backyard Chicken Coop PinI chose to paint the trim and the lids of the nesting boxes in Ballet Barre.  I thought it made sense for the lids to match the brown roofing on the coop.  The cinderblock wall you can see behind the coop is the side of our garage, so you can tell that the browns are so similar.Nesting BoxesPinAnd see the latch on the nesting box and the double security on the door?Chicken Coop DoorPinThat’s to keep out the varmint that left these prints…IMG_0114PinWe’ve now got a high security coop to protect our little ladies.Hens at Blue CoopPinInside the coop, we built 8 nesting boxes.  A seasoned chicken raising friend took one look inside our coop, and said, “Oh you can fit way more than 8 chickens in there!”  Currently we have 5, and they all hunker down in 2 of the boxes together, so I am sure she is right.Nesting Boxes in CoopPinWe still have some minor additions to make.  We need to build a little ramp for them; currently they use this vintage ladder I had on hand.

And I want to create some sort of sign and give the coop a little more decor love, naturally.I’d love to somehow add plant life to it or around it, but I am not sure just how much is possible there.Feeding at Window Box Liner for scrapsPin

Right now, I am just happy that everything seems to be functioning well, and my hens are safe and happy.  These girls are doing well, and have learned to come running when I enter the back yard because most likely I’ll have scraps for them.  I’ve learned that they don’t care much for bananas, but they love pizza. Who can blame them?

This whole process from building the coop to getting our first round of hens (and then losing them) and then our next round has been one huge learning process for our family.  I know we still have so much to learn but I truly and loving the experience of having backyard chickens in a lovely blue and brown coop!

Thanks to Ace Hardware for sponsoring this post.  Sponsorships like theirs make it possible for me to keep this blog up and running.  All opinions are my own.

Sharing here: Thrifty Decor Chick

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Filed Under: Chickens, making our home, Porch

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Comments

  1. Pam Bustamante says

    July 29, 2016 at 7:50 am

    I am soooooo impressed!!!!!!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      August 2, 2016 at 11:36 am

      it’s been so much fun! the highlight of my day right now is feeding them scraps, and walking outside and saying “here chickies!” and watching them run as fast as they can for the food!

      Reply
  2. Eliesa @ Pinterest Addict says

    July 29, 2016 at 10:22 am

    I love your coop! My husband has always wanted to have chickens, but with all our naughty dogs, it made it quite impossible. So we’ll live vicariously through yours 🙂 our Ace hardware has a oops quart of paint in that color – I think I’ll go pick it up. I’m sure I’ll find something else that needs to be a beautiful blue.

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      August 2, 2016 at 11:35 am

      thank you so much, eliesa! yes, we wanted them before but our old dog would have eaten them so we had to wait until he was gone. i get it!

      Reply
  3. Darrielle Tennenbaum says

    July 29, 2016 at 11:34 am

    I love your coop! the color is great and it is very functional!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      August 2, 2016 at 11:35 am

      thank you, darrielle!

      Reply
  4. Brenda Kula-Pruitt says

    July 29, 2016 at 4:43 pm

    What a pretty color you painted it! I just hope you have much better luck with these chickens. You’re due some good luck!
    Brenda

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      August 2, 2016 at 11:34 am

      thank you! so far so good and we are getting eggs now so it’s exciting!

      Reply
  5. [email protected] says

    July 30, 2016 at 4:05 pm

    Well, of course Roostamante is my favorite part of this post ;), but I love your little coop, too–adorable! and great color!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      August 2, 2016 at 11:33 am

      haha! i knew you would love that. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Kristen says

    July 31, 2016 at 8:15 am

    Such a fun color! What a fun family project!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      August 2, 2016 at 11:32 am

      thank you so much, kristen!

      Reply
  7. Shelley | Crazy Wonderful says

    August 1, 2016 at 9:15 am

    Now that is impressive!!! Love the colors, especially how the blue looks with the minty green ladder. So happy things a going well with your hens!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      August 2, 2016 at 11:31 am

      thank you so much, shelley! me, too!

      Reply
  8. [email protected] says

    August 1, 2016 at 2:40 pm

    This is GORGEOUS. The color blue is so elegant – perfect for those elegant hens. 😉

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      August 2, 2016 at 11:20 am

      haha! they really are full of grace and beauty. 😉

      Reply
  9. [email protected] says

    August 12, 2016 at 12:06 pm

    It looks so cute and I’m glad the security features are working and keeping the adorable ladies safe

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      August 12, 2016 at 12:15 pm

      oh me, too!!!

      Reply
  10. Kimberly says

    September 15, 2016 at 3:27 pm

    From another seasoned chicken raiser: Put your vintage ladder up before it gets messed up. Those chickens don’t need a ramp, those are for looks. If you don’t believe me take it out and come back at dusk and watch them jump in. 🙂

    You did a FABULOUS job on the coop and I don’t agree that you and the hubs aren’t good at DIY. I think your hen-house is adorable.

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      September 18, 2016 at 2:03 pm

      oh we don’t actually keep it there because they can jump up and down- that was just at first when we weren’t sure. it’s already moved! we did use it when we got our latest round of pullets as one was really little, but no more- she is fine without it now!
      and thank you so much!! we had a lot of fun creating this space and even more fun raising these hens!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Gifts for 40 Year Old Man - Cassie Bustamante says:
    September 20, 2016 at 5:00 am

    […] here and there; a hammer? Well, who knows where that may have landed.  As we worked together on our chicken coop this past year, I heard lots of squawking (pun intended!) about how screwdrivers were hard to find […]

    Reply
  2. Eclectic Christmas Tour Part 2 - Cassie Bustamante says:
    December 7, 2016 at 5:00 am

    […] hung a small wreath on the gate into our back yard.And I’ve also hung its mate on our chicken coop– I could not leave the chickens out of the christmas decor!  Also, you might notice that […]

    Reply
  3. Rerouting: Life, Miscarriage, and Uncertainty - Cassie Bustamante says:
    March 21, 2017 at 4:38 pm

    […] we worked together to build our chicken coop last year, while nailing away at the boards, we talked and talked.  That project gave us several […]

    Reply
  4. Fall Home Tour: Vintage Style Porch - Cassie Bustamante says:
    September 26, 2017 at 5:00 am

    […] seating area just behind the porch is our herb garden and the gate which leads to our backyard and chicken coop. Oh, and that teeny little dark line on the porch was a fuzzy caterpillar; as a child those black […]

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Cassie!

I believe that you don't have to spend a lot of money to live a beautiful life and be your best self.  Here you will find budget friendly ideas to live happily, healthily, sustainably, and most importantly authentically.  We all get one chance at this life, and this ordinary girl plans to make hers extraordinary. How about you? Read more...
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Hi! I'm Cassie.

Mother, wife, shop owner, blogger, writer, incurable diy-er, furniture painter, coffee and wine drinker, friend. Seeking happiness and passing it on. Read More…

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