Maybe you read our article about dating different locations? If not, you should. It’s a pretty cool concept. Anyways, from trying out different places to live with different lifestyles, we have learned so much about ourselves and what we want in this life to feel happy, challenged and fulfilled. Our idea with the Beatnik Farm is to make a compound like a creative retreat, inviting creative guests to come and stay at the farm and work on their own projects. Perhaps someone is coming to film their next online course, or coming in search of peace and quite to write a script, a book or an album. Whatever these creatives are called to come and work on, we want to offer a relaxing, professional and recreational environment, where we can all come together and share visions and ideas. Beatnik Farm will be a safe, fun and joyful center in the countryside where entrepreneurs and creatives can stay and make magic.
It is our hope and believe that you, with all your interesting thoughts, creativity and input can help us form the perfect compound. So please be a part of this fun, dreamy planning process!
STUDIO
What we have come up with is that we need space. And a lot of it. Our production company Beatnik focuses on film, photography and music. Hence, we need a studio, spacious enough to shoot different projects in. We also need a solid editing bay, Lauren’s own post production haven where she can dive into projects undisturbed, sound proof and without too much light bouncing on and off the screen. For the music part of things, we want an audio room, sound proof with a recording set up to enable voice over recordings or laying down tracks. In this room, I also need my piano and guitars so it can’t be a closet-sized room. I’m laughing when I’m writing this because so far, we’re only at the Beatnik Studio part of things, and we have a lot more to go! Please tell us that you’re also dreaming big. That we’re not crazy for wanting all of this magic?
LIVING
Moving on to how we want to live. By live, I’m at this point referring to the time off from working in the studio or out on the farm – the cozy downtime. Lauren and I both love reading. Adding a crackling fire place and some large windows facing open nature – we’re in heaven. A big kitchen is a must! I spent a lot of time cooking and preparing food so we want the kitchen to be the heart of the house. It needs a lot of light for mainly three things; herbal garden in the windows, good light for shooting, and a lovely, bright atmosphere. We believe in a simple lifestyle when it comes to possessions. Keeping too anythings around is both stressful and messy. We also don’t need a very large house, although having children is on the horizon and we’d definitely need some room to grow our little tribe. But all in all, we desire a functional and soulful house with a couple of charming must-haves. We’re curious to know what your must-haves would be for your living space? What are things you never would want to live without in your home? We’re still developing our visions and would love your creative and smart input on things…
PLANTS & ANIMALS
If you only knew how much Lauren and I talk about this aspect, and how much we also lovingly disagree, you’d be laughing right now! If it was only up to Lauren, we’ll have cows, goats, ducks, sheep etc etc etc. Our dream that we’re working towards, is to have as much food as possible on the farm. In addition to all the vegetables, berries and fruits we’ll be having, we’re also going to have free ranging egg laying hens and potentially also a goat to make goat cheese. (Personally, Lisa writing here. I’m overwhelmed by the thought of all this. But Lauren’s determination and calmness makes me believe that it’s all possible! She has that effect on me). Being the big horse-lovers we are, we want our own horses. This subject is something I wrote a whole separate article about – Choosing a horse that’s a good fit for your body, personality and ambitions is hard. Read our ideas about picking the right horses for us here.
I guess that idea of having animals around is not just for us, but for our guests as well. Imagine that you were working on a big project and wanted to get away from the city, find peace and quiet and connection with nature – and you went to the Beatnik Farm for a month. How lovely would it be as a part of your stay, you were offered to pick fresh fruits and veggies from the garden or fresh eggs in the morning? If you could take a break from working to go cuddle with kind horses? I know, right? Magical. If any of you lovey humans live on a farm with animals, would you mind showing us around and teaching us stuff? No, seriously! We’d love that. Please get in touch if you’d want two green farmer interns for a while! hello@thiscolorfulworld.com
ACCOMMODATION & RECREATION
Our guests will have different options for staying at the farm. Either, you rent a romantic and rustic room in the barn, or you rent your own little cottage on the property. Either way, you’ll have your own little space. Apart from your accommodation, there are plenty of things to do in the area. Take the rowing boat out on the lake, hike in the woods or climb a hunting station to watch moose stroll by in the sunrise. Out and around the garden, there are plenty of little rooms, almost like a secret garden, where you can find your own favourite spot for working or relaxing.
The idea with Beatnik Farm is that it should be nourishing for your body and soul – it’s not just about hard work.
To sum up this gigantic plan of ours, we can easily state that we have years of work ahead of us. Some parts will be harder to establish and some easier. But when you share a common goal as a couple, there’s this beautiful synergy that happens. The synergy helps you get through the most tricky things! That’s actually how This Colorful World started originally. Individually, we didn’t have the motivation or inspiration to create a new platform but together we found all of it. Now that This Colorful World is growing and we’re finding all of YOU amazing people joining our tribe, we find ourselves getting closer and closer to making the dream of Beatnik Farm a reality.
Please let us know what you’d like to see or experience at a creative retreat center like this? What would be dreamy for you? Who knows, maybe we’ll get to see you working on your next big project at the Beatnik farm.