Notes from A Cottage Industry

A new addition to one of my growing collections.

I know you were expecting that this post would be yet another one of the autumn tablescapes. (And, some of you may be relieved to see that it is not!)

I don't think I've mentioned my favorite color in quite a long while. Well, I scored a pretty fabulous Robin's egg blue and florals quilt a couple of days ago, and I am so happy with how well it compliments my growing collection, that I had to interrupt my (seemingly never-ending) series on fall entertaining,

Let me back up a bit. For my last birthday, my Mom made me a beautiful quilt. I got to pick out the colors and fabric, (My favorite Robin's egg blue, with creams and shades of corals, pinks, and greens.) and then she worked her sewing magic.

Isn't it incredible?!

I then found a cute pillow on etsy that was a nice companion piece to my old Marshall's quilt...

..and I have been keeping my eyeballs peeled for more quilts and pillows in prints that could round things out against my white slipcovered sofa, and neutrals in my living/dining rooms.

Fast forward to this week, and I stumbled upon a quilt in much the same colors in an Antique shop. The price was great, but I'm on a watch-what-you-spend budget these days, and I had to debate a good long five minutes before I decided the regret I would feel would outweigh the budget pinch for the next couple weeks. (I can make my spendy hair and face products last a bit longer by using less, or adding a few drops of water to them, right?)

I think I made the right decision, because everytime I look at the new old quilt, I smile.

Clever fuse box camouflage.

My Mom's new home has a nice big laundry room just off of the kitchen, (especially now that my brother painted it a fresh cottage green!) and if the laundry room door is open, (Which is always, because it lets lots of sunshine in!) you have a straight view from the great room, through the kitchen, to the back wall, which contains the ever-so-not-lovely fuse box.

Ugh.

I came up with the idea that if I could find the right sized board or whatever, we might hang a chalkboard there.

Well, ask and you shall receive. I entered the Habitat Re-Store a couple of weeks back, and there I found a new cabinet door front, for a buck ninety nine, no less.

Yeah, baby.

I took it home and used my chalkboard paint, as well as painting the frame white.

I added a hanger and a basket to hold the eraser and chalk and it was ready to go.

Perfection.

All it needs is a grocery list scribbled up there, amIright?

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Inspiration pieces.

I shared a short while back that my Mom (The Sewing Queen) was moving. Now that the actual move is over, we are ready to begin the fun part of making her new place a jewel box of a home, and we needed a starting point.

She really loved the look and feel of her home back in Nevada, and so we are going for a similar, cheerful cottage look, but we were struggling a bit with what colors to use. She was sure she wanted some pastel greens, but beyond that, we were unsure. That is, until I happened upon a fabulous set of china at a yard sale.

I had previously found two place settings of the same china several months ago, and was planning on selling it in my booth at Camas Antiques. So charming and sweet, I was going to do a clever place setting display when I had more things to coordinate with the dishes, but hadn't gathered the right pieces as yet. A couple of Saturdays ago I scored the additional six place settings, and I was thrilled.

I was still planning on selling the set, and finally, this past weekend, the little lightbulb in my head flickered and I realized we had the inspiration pieces we needed to get the ball rolling full speed ahead on the colorway for my Mom's new home.

I hopped on the computer and started searching out area rugs. Her furniture is all neutral, which made it easy for us to get creative. When I landed on Overstock.com's rug section, I found just what we were looking for! My photo doesn't portray the rug color quite right, and we will know for certain once the rug arrives, but I think we have a great match with the rug and the charming china!

I love it when a thrifted find makes all the difference in planning, don't you?

Even brushing your teeth can be charming.

Oh, yes, I did just say that.

We've all got to take care of our mini-pearls, and why not do it with a style that matches our home decor? (It's what Alexandria Stoddard calls "Living a beautiful life" and it's a thing.

I am in crazy-mad love with these sweet bamboo wood, natural soft bristle toothbrushes, and I think you might like them too. They look so sweet sitting in a glass on the bathroom vanity! I also have a couple of them still in their boxes, (which I have foofified up with an adorable label)in a small basket in my guest room that holds little toiletries in case a friend forgot to bring something. (I can see these being a darling, fun, unexpected day-of bridesmaid prezzie too!)

I'm off to brush my teeth.... You can buy your own wooden toothbrushes here.

A little garden work on the patio area....

I was able to squeeze out a sliver of time to plant petunias along the patio last Monday evening, and now I am watching them, anxious for them to grow and fill in.

I'm planning a fun party at the end of the month (more to come on that soon!) and I want everything to look nice.

The raised garden bed my sweet son-in-law built for me last summer is doing well. (It turns out that I am mostly a lettuce farmer, with some random herbs.) we will be pulling weeds this weekend, adn working on the side patio garden area this coming weekend.....happy last day of May!

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Personalizing the mailbox.

This is the last outdoor home improvement post for a while, I promise!!!

During the landscape project, we had the mail box moved from out by the gate over to the driveway end of the picket fence. I wanted this done because my mail carrier has trouble pulling up in front of the gate area when it has rained a lot. The ground gets all muddy, even though I had spread more gravel, and it was just kind of a mess during the rainy months.

The new location is working out great for the mail carrier, and for us. I like pulling in  my driveway, and being able to walk over and grab whatever mail there is.

I had been meaning to add the address to the mailbox ever since I moved in. I already have it on the door, but I thought having it on the mailbox itself would be good. I finally got around to it, and thought I'd share today.

I used my usual method of printing the house numbers on paper, chalking the backside, and then flipping it over and taping it to the mailbox. Once I had it where I liked it, I traced the letters, removed the paper, and painted in the letters and numbers.

Easy as pie.

Because we want you to feel welcome from the minute you arrive.

...and we want you to know where to enter the yard, so we now have the gate propped open with potted flowers.

I have had a which-door-is-the-front-door? problem ever since I moved into my cottage, because both my front door and my laundry room door are on the front. To add to the (apparent) confusion, the laundry room door is closest to the driveway.

(I never thought it looked confusing, but sure enough, very nearly every single friend, family member, and delivery or contractor dude, was either perplexed, or never noticed the "real" front door.)

Anyway.

Once we got the current phase of landscaping completed, and the arborvitae were planted around the laundry room stoop, the actual front door began to feel more prominent. To add to this, I decided I would keep the front gate propped open, using a couple of flower filled terracotta pots. I then decided to reinvent an old thrifted sign I have had stashed in my garage for at least three years.

I used the dark grey (It is named Peppercorn) detail trim paint to cover the original sign and then transferred my printed words to the sign by coloring the back of the paper with colored chalk, and then, using an old dried up sharpie marker, outlined the words to transfer them on to the sign. I painted the letters in, and once it was dry, I wiped off any excess chalk still on the sign, and it was all set to be hung on the gate.

It was exactly the detail I was going for....a little touch to set the tone for all who come through the gate to visit.

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Everything is blooming where it's planted.

Remember how my cottage looked when I moved in? Sad, and forgotten, and unloved, with the old tv antennae up on the roof? (Oh, but I saw the potential!)

I moved in and we started prioritizing projects to be done. Some time passed, and we put up some fencing...(For the record, I am not at all sure what I was thinking, attempting to do seasonal out decorating back then! It was like putting lipstick on a pig, for sure.)

 

After much debate on color, we painted it....

 

A little more time passed, and got a new roof, a new front door, and painted the picket fence...

And...more time passed.

We added a row of hydrangeas, meant to grow and peek over the picket fence. They struggled, and I worried over them, fearing they would all die...but they hung in there....just barely.

After yet more time passed, I added house numbers to the front door.

Still more time passed, which brings us to now.

(Somebody pinch me!)

Can you see what all was done this go-round?

I'll give you a clue; besides the grass and flowers, my sweet cottage received several more little cosmetic updates...(remember this post?)

Yes, those are my new shutters! Also, I painted a cutie pattotie welcome sign (another thrifted item) to hang on the front gate, now continually propped open with potted flowers....

And....new shutters! On both the kitchen and living room windows...

A window box full of happy petunias on the kitchen window, and a new carriage house light for the laundry room porch...(a great yard sale find!)

Last, but not least.... quite possibly the biggest update is that I had the painters come back and paint the old fifties orange brick!

I am hoping to add many more shrubs at the end of summer (budget permitting) and I am sure I will be sharing more front yard updates this week as well....

Eeeeeeeeeeek! I am loving the feeling I get each time I round the corner, and pull into my driveway. It truly is home sweet home.

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Finishing touches.

A bit more than a year after adding a new front door and painting it, I finally got around to adding my address. It was one of those twenty minute projects that, when completed, left me wondering what took me so long to get around to.

I typed up my address, and printed it. Then, I used colored chalk on the back of the paper to make it a transfer.

I taped it to the door, and outlined each number, and then removed the paper template.

I painted the numbers and called it a day.

Easy peasy. I'm happy with it, and I am pretty sure the FedEx guy is gonna be pretty happy too.

Micro flannel; a life changing experience.

Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration.

You may recall that I am bit obsessed infatuated with bed pillows, sheets, duvets, and bed making, and that carries over to any bed in my home, whether it is mine, or the guest room...or a cot in the tent for Camp Cupcake. I want my bedroom to give me a feeling of calm and serenity whenever I look in as I come down the hallway, and I want my sleeping experience to be a little slice of heaven.

This being said, I am not one to have a linen closet busting at the hinges with a gajillion sets of sheets inside. Quite the contrary. I adore white bedding, and while I do add a splash of color on my guest room bed, for each of the beds I keep only a single set of cotton percale sheets for the warmer seasons, and a set of flannel sheets for the cold weather months.

(It seems like a space and money waster to me, somehow.)

I wash my sheets no less than once a week, (many times more often) because I love the feeling of sliding into fresh sheets, and after two years or so (give or take) flannel sheets in particular get worn pretty thin.

I noticed a couple of weeks ago that it was looking like it might be time to replace my current set of flannel sheets, and since my Mom had given me a giftcard for JC Penneys, I thought I would start my online search for while flannel sheets there.

(Just so you know, bright white flannel sheet sets are not as easy to find as other colors, or plaids, or snowman prints)

Well, I was thrilled to find that not only did they have white flannel sheet sets, but they were on sale 50% off. Even at half off, these sheets, which are called "Micro Flannel" sheets were on the spendy side, and I had to think about it for a bit.

(Okay, I didn't have to think too hard, because I had a gift card, which made the sheet set a screaming deal for me.)

I ordered these "Micro flannel" sheets, and waited anxiously for them to arrive, which happened to be last Friday. I opened the package, and pulled the sheets and pillow cases out.

Oh my gah.

So soft. So smooth.

Like buttah. (For reals.)

So not cold to the touch like most sheets feel in the winter time. I could hardly wait for bedtime once I finished making the bed at 9:30 a.m.

How aaah-mazing are these sheets? Let me say that I am very nearly positive that on the sixth day, as God was wrapping up all of hes creations, he came up with micro flannel, and this is what we will sleep on in heaven.

If your a flannel sheet person, you need to get yourself some of these.

Fast.

(While they are still on sale half off!)

 

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Well, hello October.

Oh, how I adore autumn. It's the coziest season of all, with crisp mornings filled with cocoa, and toast with jam. The first of so many roaring fires in the fireplace, and my pumpkin spice wax wafting through the house. Boots replace my flip-flops, and big sweaters and scarves come out of hiding in the armoire in my bedroom.

I spent this morning putting away my cheerful summer accessories from around the house, and I replaced them with my sunflowers, and pumpkins, and neutral colors.

October, I am glad you're here.

Aother step towards paradise.....in my back yard.

I am not sure if I have shared the little area between the dining patio on the side of my cottage, and the living room patio, behind my cottage. (I do not believe I have...)

This is the area where I had grand plans in my head, envisioning a garden shed, and a raised garden bed, complete with pea gravel.

Well, ask and you shall receive, as they say.

Several months ago, we got the garden shed (special shout out to my Rock n' Roll Buddy) and I painted to match my cottage's new paint job. I put my makeshift potting table next to the side of the shed, which I envisioned would look great, but instead it just magnified the weeds and bare dirt to any visible blades of grass ratio in the area.

Summer arrived. Life was busy, and transforming this little area of yard fell to the bottom of my to-do list. When my son-in-law was dropping off the band of brothers for Camp Cupcake, he pointed out that the area would be a great fire pit area, while I shared that my vision was for a raised garden bed to grow vegetables and herbs. A good idea, he agreed, and I never thought about it again.

The following weekend, Ralph and I went out of town. Imagine my complete and total surprise when my daughter texted a picture of a "little" project her hubbs was working on in my yard. (They wanted to surprise me, but then were not sure on the placement for the raised bed.)

(They had it in the perfect spot!)

I squealed, and launched into an ugly cry face in two seconds.

(Ralph was in on it and was not surprised. The fact that he was able to keep that secret was an even bigger surprise to me.)

I wish I had some good (or bad, depending on how you look at it) "Before" pictures, but I don't. You'll have to trust me when I say the difference in the entertaining areas of my backyard are huge, even without any veggies planted yet.

It's turning into a little slice of outdoor cottage heaven, right here on earth, with a lot of help from my family. I am truly blessed, and appreciate them all!

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Let's hear it for the red, white and blue.

I'm adding touches of red, white, and blue to my cottage with the 4th of July just a few weeks away, and I wanted a statement piece for my mantel. I found a vintage photo of a sweet little guy holding a flag and some huge firecrackers, and I had it printed in a large 3 by 4 foot size at my local Staples store as an engineered print. (Costs just a bit over seven dollars here in the pacific northwest)

The print came out slightly digitized, but I was okay with that. (Tip: if you want to do an engineered print from a vintage photo in a huge three by four foot size, try and make sure the properties of the photo show that the DPI's are at least 75 or larger.) I thumb tacked the print over my existing chalkboard print on insulation board, and got out my colored pencils.

I lightly colored in the red and blue on the flag as well as the firecrackers, and placed the poster on my mantel.(It didn't photograph too well; you have to look closely, but in person it's a little more visible.) I added a row of repurposed Starbucks frappuccino bottles with little American flags in them, and called it good.

I'm happy with how it turned out, and now I'm working on adding a few more patriotic touches throughout the cottage. (I'll share pictures later!)

Do you decorate at all for Independence Day? I'd love to hear!

 

Getting the jump on spring planting.

We had a sudden burst of glorious springtime warm weather this past weekend, and I took full advantage of it by running to Home Depot to buy up as many sun-loving hydrangeas as I could find. Most hydrangeas like shade, but I was thrilled when I recently discovered there is a variety that not only likes sun, but only grows to be three to five feet tall. My front yard is pretty much all sun,I needed eighteen to go around the inside perimeter of my picket fence (I plan to keep them trimmed to just over three feet once they grow, so that they will peek over and through my picket fence, much like this photo with roses that inspired my picket fence.)

They had ten, so I bought them all, and I will keep checking back for them to be replenished, or I may check a different Home Depot this week. I got home and later managed to get five of them planted (yippee!) and I will plant the remaining five tomorrow after work.

It's along, slow (and spendy) road to get my little cottage all dialed in like I envisioned it, but inch by inch, I am getting there.

And I am having so much fun in the process!

 

Making more progress outside.

Can you see it? The progress on the outside of my sweet little cottage?

 

I'll give you a clue. there are two things that have been done in the last two weeks.

Okay, one of them might be a little harder to see in these pictures. My oldest grandson and his Mama came over, as well as the Sewing Queen, and we finally got the picket fence all the way painted. (This was no small feat, folks. Two sides, each over 150 feet long, two coats of white stain...and, you may recall that the Sewing Queen and I originally  started this project last October...)

The second improvement is a new roof. (Notice the color change up there?)

Next steps out side...landscaping... a section at a time.

 

 

The domino effect, home improvement edition.

Yeah, so the living room and dining room are now pristinely covered in a fresh milk-white shade of satin paint, and you would think I'd be just squealing with delight each time I enter my cottage, but...what happened was that now all of the dingy, tired, chipped up molding that we left unpainted are screaming louder than ever to be replaced.

Instead of noticing the disappearance of various paint color splashes that had previously been on the wall, I see how desperately I need to (at the bare minimum) paint the mantle.

*sigh*

It's the old "If you give a moose a muffin" thing all over again.

Mind you, this is not a bad thing. No, not at all. What it has done is get me motivated to tackle the trim work right away.

(It doesn't really show in the photos, but trust me, in broad daylight, it's quite visible.)

If you live in the area, you just might see me driving over the I-5 bridge in my old blue truck friday night after work, heading to Home Depot for 36 pieces of trim.

Updates coming your way!

The post where I get my living room walls painted. (At last.)

Can I get an Amen?

(Thank you.)

As I begin the eleventh month of living in my cottage, I am at last, beginning to see real progress. Two weeks ago I had my bedroom, the guest room, and the hallway painted, including the ceilings, thankyouverymuch.

Yes, I could have painted them myself. Two reasons that never happened:

1. It seemed daunting to paint the ceilings and walls of so many rooms. (Shall we just say that I am not the neatest painter? Even when I lay drop cloths down, somehow a fine mist of paint speckles and splatters manages to find it's way to my furniture and floors.)

2. I'm crazy busy at my grown up girl job all day, and coming home to try and muster the energy to paint in the evenings wasn't happening.

*sigh*

Never mind the reasons.

(See the paint splotches? See the plaster repair that I did actually tackle myself?)

I know I could have done the inside paint job. (God knows I've done it before, plant of times.) The simple fact is stated up above, where I state that I am entering my eleventh month in my cottage, folks.

That would be ten months since I slathered some blue, grey, and off white paint on various areas of the living room walls to finally decide I was going with an all white interior.

My painter-guy was cheaper than I imagined, which made this all (finally) doable.

Tonight I will mop the hardwood floors, wash my sofa slipcovers, and curtains, dust and oil my wood furniture and admire the serene atmosphere in my sweet living and dining room of my cottage.

I will then repeatedly step in and out of the room, admiring it from both the hallway and the kitchen doorway, pinching myself.

Next step will be new baseboards and trim. (Yippeeeeee!)

Meanwhile, back in the laundry room....

I am taking the extra-long route on completing the many home projects with my cottage, in case you have not noticed.

I think it's a combination of being a bit more...ehem..mature... with more life experiences, (I know that it's just not worth it to sweat the small stuff, and if I have the chance to be making a memory instead of working on something, that will take precidence.) or the fact that spare time to work on things is at a commodity these days. At any rate, I am on closing in on month eleven of living in my cottage, (I know, crazy, right?!) and I still do not have the vinyl-square flooring completely installed, my door trim replaced, nor my curtains hung in there.

Until yesterday.

Today, the curtains are sewn (Thank you, Mom!) and hung, creating a whole new look from the kitchen, the laundry room and from out front.

I am loving it!

I'm so inspired I just might tackle completing the flooring in here this Saturday.

(No promises.)

And, the picket fence is a work in progress.

I spent the afternoon Saturday starting the bigger-than-I-had-hoped project of staining my new picket fence.

The sewing queen joined me, and worked tirelessly doing the detail work.

By 5:00 we had a vision of what the finished project will look like.

(Sweeeeeeeet!)

It then proceeded to rain buckets all day Sunday, and the forecast for the week is continued rain. (Which we need desperately, so I am not complaining.)

Looking at our work so far also sealed the deal in my mind that the bricks will absolutely be painted the soft gray house color, once the picket fence staining project is complete.

Apparently there will be lots more weekends spent with a roller and paintbrush in my hand.

One more detail.....and thanks for all of your input!

Thanks so much for all the input on yesterday's post! So many great ideas, and I feel like my gut instinct (About the brick) was right all along. My daughter called me, midmorning, and said, "Well, I guess we will be painting the brick!"

I laughed, because originally I was planning to paint the brick and the paint contractor didn't add it into the bid, and we ended up deciding to see how it looked unpainted.

(Just goes to show that you should listen to that little voice when making these kinds of decisions.)

I added another detail, my umbrella full of sunflowers, to the door last night, and I am on pins and needles, wanting to get the picket fence and adirondack chairs painted, so that I can get the full visual to make the final, final decision on painting the brick, and possibly the pillars. (as we are calling them.)I see painting the brick as no-brainer. It needs to be the soft gray, I think.

It's funny, but looking at these two pictures, the door looks like different shades of green, depending on which photo you look at. The further away shot is the green I was after, yet the close up looks to washed out and milky to me. (Do you see that too?) Let's look again, just one more time, shall we?

After our long, hot, dry summer, we are finally having rain this week, so things will remain as they are our front for the next few days, at least.

The big door color reveal, and second guessing things.

Sigh.

I'm bad about that. (Second guessing myself.)

I'm an over over-thinker.

I am thrilled with the new paint on my cottage, but I am not sure I made the right choice on my door color.

Or maybe it is the fact that I am thinking I should have painted the bricks.

(Which I can still do.)

(And changing the door color is an afternoon project, if I do decide to change it.)

And I haven't re-hung my umbrella full of sunflowers yet, which are very yellow, and may make the door seem more green.)

I think I thought the green was going to be more granny smith apple green than it seems to be. (A teensy bit more vivid maybe, without being Seahawk lime green, if you can picture that.) Then  again, certain times of the day, when the sun hits it, I love it.

(Should I have chosen a burnt red? I love red doors, and I know they are some sort of Fueng shui thing for brining wealth into your home, which I wouldn't mind, but.... I just feel like red doors are so...expected.)

(Add another happy-but-undecided sigh here.)

Okay, I'm not making any rash changes until I paint my adirondack chairs and picket fence. Then I'll share the finished-as-it's-gonna-be project and see how I feel.

Aaaaaand...we're midway through the outside paint job....

I arrived home yesterday to see a fabulous shade of soft gray covering my cottage...

...and I love it! 

(Did you pick the gray for my cottage, when you read this post?)

The old school-circla-1960 TV antenna was gone.

(Yippeeeeee!)

Some charcoal (actually named "Peppercorn") accents, like the garage doors were in the works too.

I'm one happy girl.

Today, the trim, and details like the doors.

(No new front door hung yet. I got busy and put off running to Home Depot to buy it, and then scheduling a door guy to hang it. I finally did that last Tuesday, and now it will be going in today or shortly there after. Stay tuned!)

Following that, the picket fence will be painted..er...stained..white.

I can hardly stand the anticipation and excitement of seeing it all done!!

It's happening!

After more than ten months in my little cottage, weeks of debating over color combos,and front door choices, the outside paint job is finally beginning, and I am fairly confident that my entire neighborhood is watching through their windows as the magic unfolds.

The painter dudes arrived the day before yesterday and began the lead paint abatement, which is  a fancy name for water blasting your home, and then scraping off all of the peeling areas of paint. It's apparently a big deal, because you have to be licensed to do this, and it is done with a lot of prep work, and plastic drop cloths.

And, as is true of so many other projects, the outside of my little cottage now looks even worse than before we started.

(I am okay with that.)

They finished the abatement portion of the job yesterday, and will begin with the paint job today.

(Can I get an Amen?!)

My new front door is set to be installed this afternoon, if it works out for the door guy to not be in the painter guys way, and then the painters can work their magic on it too. I can only hope it will all look as charming as it does in my mind right now.

Oh, this is just like waiting for Christmas!

I heart autumn in a big way.

I told myself that I was going to wait to decorate outside for autumn, because I am getting my cottage painted in a few weeks.

I mean, why decorate when everything looks so weathered and sad out there?

When I would have to move the bales of straw out of the way along with an un-Godly number of real and faux pumpkins? (Bales of straw that have been multi-purposed from the back of my truck for car shows, to Camp Cupcake for seating at the table, and finally to the front entrance to my cottage, to add to my fall decorating touches.)

(Because, I am a more is more girl in the pumpkin arena, and probably need a twelve step program for over-the-top seasonal decorating issues.)

Yes, it would be best to wait.

But then, it happened. This week, the weather here in the fantastic Pacific Northwest turned to fall in an overnight kind of way, and all deals with myself were off.

I scampered to WalMart after work last night and filled my cart with four of the biggest pumpkins I could find.

(This involved moving several medium-ish pumpkins to the watermelon display while I dug around, and then had to move them back to the pumpkin bin when I was finished.)

I loaded the great pumpkins into my car and happily drove them home, where I then positioned them on my newly-relocated-near-the-front-door bales of straw.

I replaced the straw basket of spring looking tulips on the front door with a black umbrella full of sunflowers.

(Yes, I know I'm getting a new front door hung in the next three weeks, but until then, the umbrella will be happy here on the very old door.)

As if that were not enough, I headed out to my new-but-not-yet-painted gate and hung another basket of sunflowers there to welcome anyone who might look my way.

(This is the very reason I longed for a picket fence with a gate!)

 

*sigh*

Autumn is my most favorite of the seasons and I am not going to miss enjoying a minute of it just because I am waiting on a crew of house painters.

More baby steps in the home improvement department.

My cottage is waiting patiently for it's paint job, which has now been pushed back to the first week in October (I am praying for good weather for my painter-guys.) and in the last week I got my picket fence installed.

Since so many of the houses in my neighborhood have picket fences, or hedges around them, I wanted to do a picket fence that was different than the rest. I chose to use the lap eared fence boards left over from the privacy fence, and do a high-low look.

Oh, my.

Instant gratification.

(Remember my cottage without the picket fence?)

Of course, having the picket fence painted will add further instant gratification, but for now, the definition and charm it adds to my cottage is beyond anything I could have possibly imagined.

Can you see the improvement?

Can you envision it painted a crisp white?

With flowers and shrubs planted in front of it?

And a clever sign hanging on the gate?

I can.

And it is a thing of beauty. 

Let the transformation begin.

...On the outside of my cottage, that is.

Yesterday morning, right and early, my son-in-law arrived in a ginormous truck with all of the materials needed to build a privacy fence for my soon-to-be backyard.

You see, my cottage is on a corner lot, and it has never had a fence of any sort, other than a short chain link fence across the very back of the house, and one small section of privacy fence added by the neighbor behind me a few months before I moved in.

It's gonna be a whole lotta fence. (nearly 300 feet of it!) This will define my backyard, and my front yard, and enable my to use the carport area by the garage as an entertaining space until I add a deck on the other side of the hose hopefully next summer.

I can hardly wait, as it is coming not a moment too soon, with my Camp Cupcake just around the corner. (More on that later this week.)

Labor of love.

I'm being very brave here today, and I am sharing photos of my cottage in it's current "Before" state.

(Scary, I know.)

I'm sharing this with you because I am at a stand-still trying to select a colorway for the outside of my diamond in the rough. I getting ready to tackle some of the outside issues, and I want it to reflect my style, and say who lives here.

My own personal style is cottage with a side of farm house. When I googled up Chip and Joanna's farm house, (The folks on my favorite HGTV Show, Fixer Upper) I was immediately inspired, because what I saw there was a house in the before state that looked quite honestly like much more of a project house than what I am tackling.

Here was their farmhouse from the front, in it's before state.....

and the rear as well...

It looks pretty daunting, doesn't it?

But, my-oh-my, just look at it now. Here is the newly restored front....

...and the ash-mazing new rear..

See?

Inspiring, for sure.

(Squeeee! I love that metal roof!)

Both time and money are challenges for me in regards to breathing new life and lots of love into my little cottage. Here it is in it's current state....

What?....Why yes, that is an old school TV antenna on my roof. (If you are lucky enough to be under 35 you might not know what that is.)

You can tell it's mine by the attempt to foofify the all-too-ghetto front porch.

(Just you wait. It won't be this way too much longer!)

Anyway, I am now choosing colors for the exterior of my soon-to-be jewel of a cottage, and I am desperate for your input. You see, my cottage sits on a nice big corner lot, and I'll be getting a new privacy backyard fence here in a couple of weeks, followed in mid-September by the guys certified to do lead based paint removal. (Can you believe it? There is a wait list that long!)

Once that step is complete, I will have the exterior painted, and adding a new front door and shutters. I am getting a new roof, so I don't have to take that into too much consideration, although that will be another decision. (Color of roof? Shake, shingles, or maybe even a metal roof?)

That is where your two cents is needed. I have so many ideas, and I am not at all sure which way I really want to go. Do I go with a grey house, white trim, dark grey shutters,,,

and a fabulous green door? I think the green adds a fresh look...

...or do I stay with the white, only brighter and all fresh and clean, with red accent shutters and doors? (In this scenario, I would paint the old 50's brick on my cottage white as well, so it would be invisible)

Cheerful and happy, no?

(Although, maybe not quite this much red in the details...)

As long as I am considering white, what about a simple black and white with the unexpected pop of black and white awnings? Many of the larger homes in my sweet neighborhood have them, and I do love the look, plus they block the strong sun on the front of my cottage...

....or do I really step out of my comfort zone and try this Robins egg blue with white trim, and red door?

I am really torn here, as I want my house to reflect me, and I want it to be a showpiece on the block.

(Currently I am the ugly duckling in case you had not guessed. The rest of my neighborhood is filled with everything from charming smaller cottages and stately larger homes. It's a fabulous little spot, and I want to make my lil' home the jewel of the street.)

I would truly lov your ideas, and input on color selection...please share!

 

And.........we're still in the laundry room.

Mmmmm hmmm. For at least another one or two posts, anyway, because....

A. That is what is going on in my life this week each night after work, and, B. I am completely enamored with the way it is coming out, and cannot seem to stop talking about it.)

So, yesterday before work I primed the metal cupboards above the washer and dryer, and then after work, I painted them with a coat of white satin enamel.

Then I took a break and went to the Taco Tuesday Pool Tournament with my Rock n' Roll Buddy. Our friends Helen and Jonathan were there of course. Ralph entered the tournament and he ended up playing Helen. So much fun.

(Ralph had some good shots, but in the end, Helen won.)

By the time we got back to my cottage the cupboards were dry and we put the pulls back on the cupboards. I stood back and marveled at my progress.

I love it, I love it, I love it.

I then painted my first coat of paint on the laundry room door to the front yard, while listening to the end of the Mariner game, and called it a night.

My quick, easy, and free fix for a hole in the wall in the laundry room.

One of the items on my to-do list in the laundry room was to add a board and batten wall treatment to one of the walls. You see, sometime before I came to rescue this little cottage, a door knob hole was popped into the wall. Since it is an older home, the wall texture is nearly non-existent, and to try and repair the hole so you couldn't tell it had been damaged would be nearly impossible.

I figured with a board and batten treatment, one of the boards could be strategically placed going up and down right over the hole.

A great idea I thought. It requires a trip to Home Depot for the wood, and borrowing my daughter's chop saw and then painting the newly attached wood white.

Then, I spotted my small pile of three assorted old washboards.

And I realized I could do the board and batten look later on down the road. For now, I could hang my collection of washboards on that wall, and make sure one of them covered the door knob hole. My daughter had two more washboards she was going to sell in her yard sale this weekend, and that rounded my collection up to five.

That ended up working out just fine, for the tie being.

And, it was easy and quick to assemble.

(And, best of all, it was free.)

What do you think?

Progress is being made in my laundry room, at last!

(And I have found my home project mojo!)

I haven't made a whole lot of progress on my new-to-me cottage because I seem to be easily sidetracked by life's little fun activities. (Little league, trips to vintage flea markets, motorcycle rides, and various sports seasons on television...)

This past Friday, my daughter came over to help me...ehem...get on track. Now, if you are a long, long, time reader, you might remember that this is the same daughter that got me on track to finally finish painting my kitchen cupboards back at my home in the biggest little city. She worked on the flooring in my laundry room while I worked on skirting my utility sink, and when we took a quick lunch break, we made an itemized to-do list with deadlines.

(I know. I shared that I had plans for projects, along with a semi-detailed to-do list for my home projects a while back, but as it turns out, I realize now that I am apparently motivated by deadlines, because once we made that list with calendar dates, and I finished the sink skirt, I was on fire to get the laundry room done.)

(It is either that, or the fact that my daughter is going to be checking in weekly on my progress has thrown me into creative over-drive.)

Regardless of the what (or who!) the motivating factor is, I am loving the progress so far in the laundry room, and you will be seeing much more as I complete the various projects!

My personal goal for this past weekend was to paint the walls. I had already attempted painting, but there were lots of bare spots and nail holes that needed filling in. Not only did I complete the wall painting, (Yay, me!) but I created (and hung) the utility sink skirt.

Making the skirt was a cinch. Two and a half yards of a lightweight black and white gingham fabric (Hello Walmart! I am embarrassed to say I bought this fabric more than three months ago...) with a casing made at the top using iron on fusible bonding (I am too impatient to actually sew.) and made to touch the floor, I ran elastic through the casing and then installed a cup hook on either side of the sink wall and then hung the skirt there by using a safety pin at each end.(I pulled the fabric back and took a picture so you could get a visual here...)

I added a bit of hot glue from my glue gun to keep the skirt held tightly in place under the lip of the sink.

(Please ignore the awful stained condition of the sink; I am on the search for a replacement, but I cannot seem to locate one without faucet holes. I have a wall mount faucet...which I am also looking to replace for a cuter one with a soap dish attached.)

Pretty cute though, no?

I am in utility sink love with it myself. (I keep going back to look in at it, in all of it's laundry room cuteness.)

Stairway to heaven.

Or should I say a heavenly staircase?

(In case you haven't noticed, I've been on a bit of a song-title-for-my-blog-posts kick this week.)

Anyway.

Would ya look at this Before and After?!

Talk about inspiration.

Yeah, baby.

The picture on the left shows the formal stairs in my daughter's home as they appeared when her family moved into the house two years ago. Pretty, sweeping stairs in a huge, elegant yet homey entry. White rails, banister, and carpet. (Did I mention that she has four boys?)

Very pretty, but they knew they wanted the wood on the stairs exposed and a carpet runner from day one...however, as I mentioned just now, they have four boys..so it took a while to get this project completed, between little league, birthday celebrations, soccer, and life in general. They completed this project yesterday.

I'd say it was well worth the wait, wouldn't you?