Notes from A Cottage Industry

Cozy-New-Home-Tour little details...

Before we head upstairs to see the other rooms of my new place, I thought I'd share this post with a few shots of some of the little details around here...Moose poses as I shoot he gallery of vintage family photos in the entry hall... ...to the left side of the entryway, just inside the front door, where I have a mirror, and one pair of my rainboots...

...and here is the really bad picture (Sorry 'bout that danged glare) of the landing near the top of the stairs.. (I'll be hanging family pictures going up the stairs on the left side wall eventally...)
The half bath (The water closet? The loo? The privy?) on the main floor...(Again, cozy in size, and the vanity doubles as kitchen storage overflow, housing my hardly-ever-used coffee maker and some cake pedestals, along with the extra rolls of Charmin...)
I re-purposed a small pewter plate stand to hold stoneware bowls of bathroom toiletries... ...and an apothecary jar of potpourri...
A lil' holiday spirit on the pony wall between the living room and dining area...

Mmmm hmmm....lot's of little spots around here are beginning to make it all feel like home to me.

 

 

Revisited: Decking the halls...and the Cozy-New-Home-Tour (part 2A)...the itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny kitchen.

I know, I know.

I know I just shared pictures of my new little kitchen, but after living with it for a few more days, I decided it needed a bit of cheery-ing up this year. While I adore the pale Robins egg blue and cream colors, I realized that I wanted a pop of color. My number one daughter added red to her holiday decor this year, and I thought that might be just the thing to bring some punch to my holiday decorating as well, so....

I added a few pieces of red polka dot and gingham ribbons here and there, as well as some cotton dishtowels, and...voila'! Lots more energy and a bigger feeling of Christmas in my cozy lil' place, don'tcha think?

Decking the halls...and the Cozy-New-Home-Tour, part 3...the livingroom.

First off, thank you all so very very much for all of the heartfelt birthday wishes and comments yesterday here on my blog and on FaceBook!!! I had an amazing birthday and am enjoying the start of my new year! Now, I'd like to share the next room on my Cozy-New-Home-Tour...my Living room. Like the rest of my new home, it's petite. Cozy, really. The pictures above show the view as you enter the room, and behind the sofa. As you can see, I moved most of my mirror collection. (All that would fit, at any rate)

I ended up taking the doors off of my antique armoire and using it to hold my TV, which seems to be working out quite nicely (Although I still need to move the cords on my iPod docking station and speakers to the back, so please ignore the cords in this picture)

Over the pony wall you can see a tiny bit of my dining room. I know the pictures make it hard to visualize the exact size and space I have here, but it's extra hard to capture an entire room when space is so limited!!!

I ended up putting my Christmas tree behind the sofa, (all decorted, but haven't put the tree topper on it yet.) but you still can see it from the dining room and living room, so I am happy with the way things turned out here.

Decking the halls...and the Cozy-New-Home-Tour, part 2...the itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny kitchen.

I read somewhere that Julia Child had a tiny kitchen. (If that's not true, please don't email me and tell me. I'm clinging to this potential truth as I try to figure out exactly how to creatively bake and cook and create in my newest and teensiest kitchen that I have ever had.)

Anyway.

I've got my kitchen unpacked for the most part, and decked out for the season as well. Storage space is at a premium, with some of my overflow baking supplies and not-often-used appliances (like my coffee maker) stashed in the half bath vanity and coat closet. (I'm not sure where Julia kept her overflow supplies, but this is what's workin' for me) 
My new kitchen is not only...um...petite..it's a little on the old-school side as well.

How's that, you ask?

Well, no disposal, and no microwave. I'm good with that though. Sure I could buy a microwave oven, but it would take up far too much valuable counter space, and I can heat cocoa and make popcorn on the stove top anyway. (And let's remember that I am currently renting, so I don't have any desire to invest in things specifically for this home that I won't need later on, you know?) The lack of a disposal is a non issue with me too, as I feel like I have already adjusted to that in the short time I've lived here already.

I managed to squeeeeeez in a lil' chair for when my baby-love might be over for a snack, and I have it all spruced up for the holidays as well.... I like the oh-so-cottage-y looking cupboards (older oak bead-board style that was painted white...perfect for me!) and the nice sized cheery window above the sink makes the space feel a bit more spacious and happy.

I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I kind of thought of myself as a gas range snob, but I have to admit that the electric oven works great (I've baked cookies in it several times already.) and I'm hosting my first dinner party a week from tonight, so the kitchen will really get a workout then.

Bon Appetit! (I think Julia would be proud.)

Decking the halls...and the Cozy-New-Home-Tour, part 4...the dining room.

My dining room in my newest home is very teeny-tiny like the rest of my place, but so warm and welcoming, I think...perfect for intimate little breakfasts for Moose and me, as well as little dinner soirees with friends. (It is so teeny-tiny in fact, that I had trouble capturing the entire space in my photos, because I couldn't stand back far enough, even by standing in the half bath, as evidenced on the left hand side of this photo, where you see part of the half bath door...) Two new-to-me thrifted cane back dining chairs were a perfect fit. I painted them black and recovered the cushions. Toss pillows add a cozy touch that softens the look.

I felt like my old black hutch was just too cumbersome for the space, so I opted to put it in the living room (as shown in my other post) and decided to place my old shabby sofa table on the back wall, with a large mirror to reflect things (and make it feel ever so slightly larger...) and I can decorate the table with seasonal items. I want to hang a vintage French door sideways above the nine foot wide pony wall dividing the living room from the dining room, so I am on the lookout for one now. (Whatcha' think of that idea? Can you visualize it?) I think that will separate the two spaces better, while letting the limited natural light I have come through. (I'll be sure to share pictures once I find the perfect door or window) Oh, and please ignore the grotesque hanging light fixture. It will (hopefully) soon be a distant memory. I will store it in the garage in the event that I were ever to move again. Speaking of lighting, did you notice the fabulous old coffee urn lamp? You might remember it from a previous blog post...I bought it from my best buddy at Camas Antiques!

One thing I do love about my dining space is the fact that I can totally change things up seasonally or by color, simply by changing out my table linens and accessories. For now I am going with my old standard black and white toile and checks. I'm pretty happy with the dining room outcome. Now that I think about it, I think this is my favorite dining space ever, second only to my kitchen nook on good ol' Norman Drive.

Cozy-New-Home-Tour first stop...Laundry closet.

Mmm hmm. I am going to be officially all the way moved out of my last place tonight when I slide into bed, and I am ready to begin nesting at my cozy-sized new lil home. I've managed to already get three rooms settled- the half bath, the main bath and the laundry room...er...closet.

Interesting, I went from this Laundry Room to this one and now, to this one in my newest place. When you do laundry for only one person (plus a big yellow dog) you don't need the hooba-booba of laundry rooms like I had back in the day. (Wow. That seems like a million and two years ago, now that I look back.)
I love that the laundry closet is upstairs near my bedroom, and I love that it has such a nice bright light when I need it as I spot clean things.(Still, I may add a sweet lil' lamp for pure ambiance for myself like I did in my cottage on Norman Drive.) Okay, that's about all that I love about it so far. The walls are glaringly white, and I so wish I could warm them up with some paint, but I can't, so I will just have to figure something else out. (And I will.) In the meantime, it looks like me (although I am pretty sure I will be doing something more colorful and creative with my W A S H Letters at some point...) and it is ready to do it's job, and that is a very good start.