This Just Saved Us €2000 on Our Old Stone Cabin Renovation

This week we found a way to save over €2k on our old stone cabin renovation! 🤩 Say whaaat??! Building our own home as amateur DIY-ers always results in challenges, & budget control is a constant battle as we transform our abandoned farm stone house.

Quotes for custom-made shutters for our cute cottage’s 3 little windows blew the budget for this building project right out of the water, so we calculated what it would cost if we did it ourselves & were pleasantly surprised….albeit a bit daunted!

So like most jobs here, we’re going DIY & creating our own bespoke wooden shutters - but we weren’t prepared to compromise on style or quality! Well, after decades of neglect, this old abandoned cabin only deserves the best right?! 😉 But if we were going to pull this project off, we’d need to do some tricky calculations, precision woodworking & have patience by the bucketload! 😅 Wish us luck! (Confidence going into the project….50/50!)

LIKE THIS VIDEO if you enjoyed it and SUBSCRIBE to follow our journey as we document our life here in Portugal and the many DIY projects that we'll be tackling including renovating a tiny stone home, setting up systems to grow some of our own food and finally restoring the 100+ year old farm house.

Also say hi in the comments! We'd love to hear from you 😊

Ricky and Victoria x

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We're Ricky & Victoria 👋 We're slowly bringing an abandoned off grid Portuguese farm back to life & transforming it into a beautiful homestead for us & our two rescue dogs Teddy & Poppy.

We both agree that we’re not experts in anything that we do here, however we don’t let that stop us from giving it a try. We live our life by trying. We live our life by doing. We live our LIFE BY LIVING.

#stonehouse #abandonedfarm #renovation #homesteadlife

[bobhale]

Beautiful shutters and well worth the learning curve. Your work benches are a great addition and really a crative solution. My wife is 77 and I am wife says "She's cute". Ricky, you have yourself a great working partner.

[AudreyORourke-eu]

You have a great sense of humour Victoria adds a touch of frivolity to some serious renovating days!

[psnchsky]

I love watching you two grow in confidence. Tackling things out of your comfort zone. Entertaining your audience. You have a great relationship and wholesome attitude to life. You truly are a joy to watch.

[lindamaldonado]

When you guys made the work tables, you really did yourselves a big favor!

[kitchenworker]

You two are so resourceful and full of ingenuity...I bet that the only people who can see these tiny imperfections are you...and let's face it if you had bought the shutters they would have had imperfections too...things are rarely perfect...even bespoke. Well done.xx

[tracyplath]

Beautiful! I think given the age and the handmade nature of this lovely old building, your handmade shutters fit the whole aesthetic so much better than something machined. I love it that so much of this renovation is done with your own four hands, just as the original owner and builder. Just lovely.

[genevaharner]

I love watching your videos. You two are amazing. Love your sense of humor Victoria. And Ricky's work ethic. He can do anything.

[HT-ioeg]

Wow! Actual joinery, building complicated shutters from scratch! Impressive

[StevePassehl]

I think we have seen all of your vids so far...and I have to say that the two of you are the most endearing people we have ever enjoyed. Definitely cheering for your success. Please find projects to add well after the house is completed. Additionally - I have almost convinced my wife to take a trip with me to Portugal...probably Porto and it is your success that has her leaning into the idea. Be safe...life is so precious and we could not be happier seeing your success from our home a zillion miles away in Indiana - US.

[katherinekurash]

Pea- lishous and Pea-lightful!!! I love watching you guys!! Great job, Victoria and Ricky!!!

[ginacrusco]

Love your spirit, love the shutters, love the dog therapy. But best of all is the "Fresky" ad.

[joycerogers]

Victoria & Ricky - Your YT channel is growing so fast! I am so happy for you. I feel like I am right there with you building and repairing your little house. I look forward to seeing the progress every week.

[lindamaldonado]

Wow! Now you know why the custom shutters cost so much—all that precision measuring! Etc.

[andrewroland]

Very impressed with the shuttering, no wonder they’re expensive to buy. If they’re slightly out of whack they’ll look more rustic.

[larrygould]

Ricky is turning into a quite skilled carpenter!

[lacyoflittlerobincottage]

We must say making those work benches has to be at the top of the list of brilliant things you have made so far.
Having that work bench will go a long way to saving your back and knees.
The shutters look beautiful and will be useful during rainstorms and such.
Fantastic haul from the garden there Victoria. I bet anything they miss labeled the seed packet, because they sure looked like bush peas to us.
Always great to see those two sweet pups out and having fun.
Take good care of yourselves ~ 💖🤗Lacy, Mike & Hamish🐾

[martindevlin]

Wow Amazing team work and no rows, love watching you two and the silly jokes it is a real joy. Thank you fort the videos.

[tammyslater]

The shutters look absolutely beautiful… good job. You both are adorable together, I love the joking around so much. Fantastic video guys, the house is looking fantastic

[TheWebtuts]

Brilliant work/craftmanship - ignore your quirks, trust me as a carpenter what you did free hand looks amazing well done 👍

[sth.]

At the end of the day, you've not only saved money, but you've built something yourselves that you know is solid quality, custom-made to your needs, and has been built with pride. Those will last a lifetime!