One Woman's Cottage Life

Plank Ceiling Installation Progress + Opinions Nee...

Kim — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 21:11:00 +0000

The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous as of late. You just can't beat 70 degree weather!

I know I haven't posted in a while (long story involving my allergies and a stray cat residing in our office...anyhoo) but I thought I'd share some pictures of our plank ceiling progress in the kitchen. We started the install this week and are about 2/3's of the way finished with adding the boards - then we'll need to install some box beams, put on another coat of gloss paint, and add the crown moulding. I was so excited about the impact that the wood ceiling has on our kitchen so far so a snapped a few photos.

Just getting started...We didn't tear down our old (horrifically ugly) ceiling but just installed right on top of it. We are using 5 inch wide X 3/4 inch thick tongue and groove pine.

A whole row completed...

Two rows completed...We'll be putting beams over those seams where the ends butt up against each other.

Next we'll do the ceiling above the dining area. Hubs was itching to do it this weekend, but we had to bring more planks from the garage to acclimate for a week or so before installing them.

On the subject of beams...one of us wants to put beams *just* at the seams and one of us wants to put beams at the seams AND at the middle of the planks. The beams are not going to be monstrous, perhaps only 5 inches wide and about 4 or so inches deep. We will paint them the same color as the ceiling. Thoughts and opinions would be appreciated!

Here is a view of the kitchen area from the living room.

This is a view from the kitchen into the dining area. The kitchen and dining is one big space.

More beams (one every 3 feet) or Fewer beams (one every 6 feet) ???

Inspiration from "A Storybook Life"

Kim — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 21:36:00 +0000

This week I discovered a wonderful new blog called "A Storybook Life". All of you cottage style lovers will surely appreciate the photos of her home and her decorating tips, advice, and articles. During my first visit, I discovered a beautiful set of artful and colorful stacking boxes that work perfectly with my style and color scheme. Pearl was kind enough to let me know where I could purchase the boxes for my home and I ordered them yesterday (from Lang.com), along with a matching calendar. If you haven't done so already, check out A Storybook Life.

Oh, and here is the calendar and all the art within it. These would be beautiful framed, don't you think?

Cottage Style vs. Recessed Lighting? Kitchen Light...

Kim — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 14:57:00 +0000

I really appreciate all the thoughts and opinions below regarding the beams. Hubs is really thrilled that everyone felt the way he felt- just a beam at the seams! I'll be so glad when they're up...I'm anxious to see how they look:)

After we are fininished with the ceiling in the kitchen, we'll start working on the lighting. Once again, I find myself questioning my previous decisions. Last year, I really liked the idea of having recessed lighting to fill in the dark spots in our kitchen and dining area, but I'm wondering if recessed lighting would take away from the cottage/country style I'm trying to create. Would it "clutter" up the look of new plank ceiling? Ack...too many things to think about!

I'm posting a mock-up of my original lighting design. The lighting you see above the island, sink and dining area have just been digitally "installed", lol.

Each proposed recessed lighting location is marked with a letter. I especially wanted lighting above the french door area (A) and the two locations in the dining area (D and E). Then I thought that the "L" corner of the kitchen (B) would need some light. To make things nice and symmetrical, I proposed putting one on the left side of the sink (C) as well. What are your thoughts? Does recessed lighting belong in this cottage kitchen? If so, should I remove any from my plan? Thanks again, you all. After we cut holes in the ceiling, there is no going back!

Also, just a note to add that I've upgraded to Blogger Beta, which gives me the ability to easily add categories to each entry. It will take me a while to go back and add labels to all my previous entries, but hopefully I'll get them all done.

Red Cottage / Farmhouse "Antique" Cabinet Makeover...

Kim — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 15:33:00 +0000

First I'd like to thank everyone that commented on my last entry and for introducing yourselves...it's so nice to meet you all and I hope to hear from you again!

Ok, though I'd love to be able to wait until the ENTIRE kitchen cabinet project is completed before posting photos, I know that it's going to take a while. Plus, there's nothing wrong with "progress" photos, lol. So I thought I'd share with you photos of the one, almost completed cabinet. I haven't been able to work on the other cabinets because we still needed to add the rest of moulding to them. The GREAT news is that all the moulding work is now complete! Last Saturday, Hubs nearly pulled out all his hair (and mine!) trying to get the corner cabinet miter/bevel cuts just right. It's not completely perfect but it's nothing that a little caulk won't fix. We were tired of buying trim everytime we messed up so decided to settle on "almost just right". Buy the time we're all finished, hopefully no one will notice but us.

On with the photos...I haven't finished the doors and the new hardware hasn't arrived yet, but the rest of the this cabinet is complete. I won't kid you. Painting and distressing this cabinet was very labor intensive, for me anyway. I wanted the cabinets to look as though they were antique cabinets I picked up at a flea market. That's quite a process. After the photos, I'll explain what paints and techniques I used...
(Note: I've had a few people email me to ask what color green my kitchen is now...actually, the current color is just a green primer, but in the photos below, you'll see that we've painted a sample beside the red cabinet of the paint we're going to be using- it's called "Homestead Resort Parlor Sage". I think it looks great with the red cabinets, which is called "Cherry" by Waverly...)

(Click photos to enlarge)
Before (the doors removed):

A test run on the red paint and the inside painted Homestead Resort Parlour Taupe:

After beadboard panels were added to the sides:

Bottom moulding pieces added:

Crown and Rope moulding added:

After priming, putty, and caulk:

After painting, distressing, and waxing (doors not yet put back on) See the green sample on the left side?:

Close ups of added crown and rope mouldings:

Close ups of added bottom trim (to hide undercabinet disc lighting...and to look pretty)

Before beadboard and moulding:

After beadboard, moulding, and paint:

The other side...(Do you notice the just added crown and rope moulding to the rest of the cabinets in the background? Yay!)

Like I said, antiquing cabinets is quite a process. Here's what I did after all the moulding was added and cabinet was primed, sanded, caulked, and puttied, :

-I painted the cabinet, inside and out, with Homestead Resort Parlor Taupe satin finish. It's not very taupy but more of an off white. This was my base color.

-Next, I added three coats of the red paint to the outside of the cabinet, leaving the inside "taupe" (four coats of taupe, I might add). Again, the name of the shad of red I used is "Cherry" from Waverly. I chose the satin finish again.

- The next step was to lightly sand the cabinet in just the right spots and down to the taupe basecoat. Sometimes I sanded right down to the oak, but that was ok.

-Then I added a brown glaze to the outside of the cabinet, letting it fall into the beadboard and moulding crevices. Afterwards, I wiped off the excess glaze.

- The next part was kind of tricky for me. To make the cabinet look like it had layers of different colors of paint showing through the red here and there, I drybrushed shades of green and blue and "taupe" to certain parts of the cabinet. I didn't want overdo it so it's all very subtle, but it does add a lot of character and age to the cabinet.

-Lastly, instead of adding a polyeurothane (sp?) protective coat, I decided to use a wax paste instead. I applied a thin coat over the entire cabinet (not the inside) and when it was dry, I buffed it all out until the cabinet had a nice, warm, glow with a smooth, satiny sheen. My wax wasn't tinted, but you can buy it that way if you want to warm it up a bit more.

And that's it! So now I just have to repeat this process with the REST of the cabinets, lol. I hope you all hang with me till it's done - I'm going to need all the support I can get!

JULY 2006 UPDATE: To see the completed cabinet makeover photos, please see this entry.

Keywords: cottage, kitchen, cabinets, trim, paint, makeover, photos

Cottage Kitchen Cabinet Makeover Photos - 1st Cabi...

Kim — Tue, 30 May 2006 15:32:00 +0000

Well, the very first cabinet that I started on in the kitchen is completely 100% finished! I'm reposting the progress photos plus the new completed cabinet photos. I can't wait until the whole kitchen is finished because I'm in love with our "new" old cabinets. They've turned out even better than I personally expected and are just the look the old-fashioned look I'm going for:)

Click photos to enlarge)
Before (the doors removed):

A test run on the red paint and the inside painted Homestead Resort Parlour Taupe:

After beadboard panels were added to the sides:

Bottom moulding pieces added:

Crown and Rope moulding added:

After priming, putty, and caulk:

After painting, distressing, and waxing (doors not yet put back on) See the green sample on the left side?:

Close ups of added crown and rope mouldings:

Close ups of added bottom trim (to hide undercabinet disc lighting...and to look pretty)

Before beadboard and moulding:

After beadboard, moulding, and paint:

The other side...

Shelfpaper (actually wallpaper with several coats of matte sealer)

Completed cabinet with doors

My old-fashioned oil-rubbed bronze door handles. (Thanks for helping me find these, Kelly!) I couldn't wait to put these on!

Close-up of hinges. These were originally old, ugly brass hinges that were spraypainted with Krylon's "Camouflage" ultra-flat brown paint. I'm going to apply wax or oil to them to give them a soft sheen.

JULY 2006 UPDATE: To see the completed cabinet makeover photos, please see this entry.

Keywords: cottage, kitchen, cabinets, makeover, paint, trim, photos

What's Cooking & "Ugly Dining Table Turned Cottag...

Kim — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 13:59:00 +0000

You may remember a few weeks back I posted photos of the $10 dining room table I found at Goodwill. Though this particular table is a very nice, solid wood, solid as a rock table, we don't need a dining table, and if we did, this one would be way too small. But I thought it would make for a perfect oversized coffee table, which we do need. I sanded it within an inch of it's life, hubs cut the legs down to coffee table height, and then I primed it. Now, I just have to figure out which shade of white to paint it. I guess the exact color isn't too critical because I'll be applying a brown glaze then quickly wiping it off, so the color won't be a white, white anyway. I'm going for...you guessed it...an "aged" look.

And just to show that we are making some progress on the ceiling planks, here's a little photographic proof. Love that shine! Normally I'm not a fan of high gloss but I think on ceilings, it's lovely and and fresh and "clean" feeling. We are painting the first coat before we install and will paint the second coat after installation.

With the colder weather upon us now, I find myself again immersed in reading about the "old days". Specifically, old-timey cooking and pioneer living. I wanted to share with you a few books that I've picked up recently and that I've thoroughly enjoyed. I only wish my grandmother was alive still because she, too, was interested in such things and even once asked me to find her some old-time cookbooks online. She would have loved the ones I found a couple of weeks ago. Along with taking in a bit of old fashioned culinary knowledge, I've been discussing with the kids "the way things were" in the pioneer days and just how different our lives are today. I just find it fascinating and my two youngest kidlets do as well. I've been reading to them Little House in the Big Woods and have already bought Farmer Boy and Little House in the Prairie...I'll buy the other books in the Little House series one or two at a time. One of our favorite things to do is to sit by the fire and read about the old days. The books are very descriptive and I think they do wonders for a child's imagination. To help them learn even more about pioneer times, I also picked up If You Were a Pioneer on the Prairie. It's a fascinating full color illustration, question and answer book for children.

"This new addition to the popular question-and-answer history series invites readers to step back in time and see what it was like to grow up on the Great Plains more than 100 years ago.What kind of house would you live in? What kind of clothes would you wear? What would you do for fun? Would you go to school? The answers to these and 34 more questions give eight-to-ten-year-olds a vivid idea of a pioneer child's day-to-day life as well as the hardships the pioneering family faced as they attempted to settle in the vast and often forbidding prairie lands."

The cookbooks that I have are from Native Ground. Native Ground (as you'll see from their homepage) is a great place to visit and shop if you love everything about the way things use to be...from music to food to manners to folklore.

I picked up what they had available at our bookstore but I see they have many more books online. Just look at these titles! I'd love to have the whole collection! You may also be able to find some of these at Amazon.

The 1st American Cookie Lady
The Lost Art of Pie Making
Early American Cookery
Manners & Morals of Yesterday
Old-Time Farmhouse Cooking (Rural American Recipes, Wisdom, & Farmlore)
Mama's In The Kitchen (Weird & Wonderful Home Cookin' 1900-1950 ~)
Take Two & Butter 'Em While They're Hot! (Heirloom Recipes & Kitchen Wisdom)
*Children at the Hearth (19th Century Cooking, Manners & Games)
*Log Cabin Cooking (Pioneer Recipes & Food Lore)
*Secrets of the Great Old-Timey Cooks
Sing It Yourself! -12 Old-Time Sing Alongs

So, along with reading, I've also been cooking up yummy fall meals like Shepherds Pie, Potato Broccoli Soup, Cheesy Chick Corn Soup with Dumplings, and biscuits, of course! These are great stick to your bones meals (errr, or I should say... "stick to your hips" meals, lol!)

Better Quality (I think) Photos of Painted Living ...

Kim — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 21:40:00 +0000

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

This entry is an addendum to the entry below. It was much sunnier today so I took a few more snapshots of the new living room wall color. I hope the color comes out a little better. I turned the lamp off in the last photo hoping that it would help.

Unearthing the Dining Room + More Cottage Kitchen ...

Kim — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 14:01:00 +0000

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Well, our guests have come and gone. I have to say, the week before their arrival was a killer for me. I have never worked so hard in my life trying to get this house clean and presentable. You may have heard me refer to our home as a "construction site". It is like a construction site in the sense that I can never seem to get rid of the dust, nothing ever seems truly clean, everything (like furniture and other belongings) is always being shuffled around, supplies like paint and tools are (were) everywhere we turn ... ugh. So, for a solid week hubs and I worked on the house. We organized closets and rooms, painted the living room and hallway floor again (it's just subfloor - our hardwood will go down last), made our guest gutted bathroom a little less scary, scraped paint drops off our old ugly linoleum in the kitchen and put down several coats of floor shine, took ALL remodeling supplies that were piled up in our dining area back to the garage (we have a TABLE, folks!), put our cabinet doors back on, mowed the yard, weeded all the landscaping beds, mulched, pruned trees, added lattice to the bottom portion of the deck (I got to use the table saw and nailer to cut and put up all the trimwork myself - yay me!), painted part of the exterior, pressure washed the entire house and deck, and cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned! I couldn't believe how much work the house needed to get it back into decent shape. *sigh*

So like I mentioned, in this whole cleaning process, we managed to unearth our dining room. I wanted to share a few photos...I thought our next project was going to be adding beadboard around the dining room and kitchen and then adding the pine ceilings, but I think we've decided to first remove the door to the laundry room that is in our dining area. Hubs wanted to take this door out months ago when we were doing drywall work in the kitchen and dining area. However, I wanted to keep it because our pantry is also in the laundry room and I didn't want to walk through the living room to go through the other laundry access door that's in the hallway. My mother suggested, though, that we could buy a pantry cabinet to go in our kitchen and paint it up just like the cabinets (see the mock up photos below). I think it's a neat idea so that's what we're going to do. It may be a while before we can purchase a plain pantry to trim out, but we're going to go ahead and get that doorway walled up in order to add our beadboard.

(click to enlarge)

Just to show how far we've come with our dining area, this is what it looked like before our remodeling work began. You may be intersted in seeing some of the demolition photos.

Let there be light!

We'll soon be taking down that white door to the laundry/pantry room. There is another door to the laundry room in the hallway that we can use. I know the table is off center with the ceiling fan, but the fan/light will be replaced and moved to the center of the table after we put up our new plank ceiling.

I recently gave my farm table legs a little makeover. I painted them the same color that my walls are going to be, then aged and distressed them a bit more. Because we'll be adding white (or off-white) beadboard halfway up the walls in here, the legs won't blend in like they do now.

I bought this digital print on canvas last week. It has all the colors that I just adore...nice and cheerful, too! (And just $39!!!)

We have space in the kitchen to add pantry cabinets. See that wall space left of the black dishwasher?

A pantry cabinet would fit there perfectly, I think:) Thanks, mom, for the idea!

I think I'm going to go cozy up with a book now. It's called Once There Was a Farm: A Country Childhood Remembered and looks like a good one!

Keywords: cottage, diningroom, furniture, renovation, kitchen, cabinets, art, photos, windows

Photos: Red Cottage / Farmhouse "Antique" Kitchen ...

Kim — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 20:22:00 +0000

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

I didn't think I'd ever see the day where I could officially say..."The cabinets are finished!". This cabinet makeover was a tedious, major project and I'm so glad that it's behind me now. (If you'd like to see photos of all the steps involved, please see this cabinet progress entry.) It feels great, though, knowing that you can take any ho hum item, be it cabinetry, furniture, or even a knick knack of sorts, and completely revamp it into something totally different and unique. Our cabinets were standard oak, early 1990's cabinets...nothing special about them. Now maybe they look as if they belong in the early 1890's:)

Here is what our kitchen cabinets looked like before the remodeling work began.

And now after the cabinet facelift...

I treated myself to new white dishes after completing this project! I'm so glad aI painted the inside of the cabinets, too:)

My favorite part...I bought these little scrolled carvings at Lowes and hubs nailed them on to the false drawer fronts:)

Now that the cabinets are completed, we'll be moving away from the whole cabinet area for a while and will work on putting beadboard halfway up around the kitchen and dining area. Then we'll put up our pine ceiling up! We'll come back to installing the new countertop and backsplash after all that:)

Keywords: cottage, kitchen, cabinets, makeover, paint, photos

Cottage Accessories Part Deux (or I Have Nothing M...

Kim — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 17:28:00 +0000

Nothing exciting to report on the homefront today. Life and the cold weather is slowing us from painting those planks as much as we need to be now. Last night I spent hours on school related things...helping my oldest kidlet with pre-algebra (oy!), covering toilet paper rolls with white paper (of the non-absorbent variety), tracing and cutting out paper pretzels, priming a shoebox to be painted later today - all for my middle child's upcoming Octoberfest/Germany study. Hubs worked eight days straight...some emergency came up at his company and he couldn't get away for the weekend. He finally took today off and he's spending it with our youngest girl (they're out on their "date" now...). Tonight, we're having dinner with some dear friends who will be moving out of state in a few days, and before that, more homework/school-related things to do. Hubs says we may have to set up our plank painting station on our dining table (protected, of course). I foresee more mealtime chaos in our near future:)

So with no work related photos to post, I thought a share a few more cottage accessory photos. The other day, Kim from Daisy Cottage shared a photo of some sweet little Italian gold boxes she had. I told her that I would try and post a photo of an Italian gold box that I've had for many years, plus some Italian and Spanish gold mirrors. I bought the mirrors at a yard sale for $10 (for the set!) shortly after hubs and I got married and later found the gold box at another yard sale. The box isn't in great shape but I still enjoy having it. I pulled these mirrors out to photograph them but they've been wrapped up and stored for a while...excuse the dust! You can click on the photo to enlarge.

Even though we don't actually *have* a real working guest bathroom yet, when I run across things that I would like to use in there someday, I pick them up if I can afford it. I bought this little cabinet and shelf at Hobby Lobby a few months back. They are solid wood, distressed, and less than $40 for the both of them!

I found a couple of 12 X 12 inch plaster floral reliefs at a consignment shop recently....just $1.99 each. They're nice and heavy.

No, that's not me trying to make shadow puppets, lol, though I think it is my hand partially covering the flash. I had to precariously perch atop our kitchen countertop to snap this photo. I have this relief above our kitchen cabinets.

I have a weakness for colorful mosaic "anything" so I was happy to find this mosaic candle holder. I keep it in the bedroom beside the bed, but photographed it the bathroom because the lighting was a bit better...

I guess I'm going to go and try to be productive now, though while the house is empty it sure is tempting to find a good book and a warm corner!

Be It Ever So Humble, There's No Place Like Home

Kim — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 15:52:00 +0000

Often times it's so easy for me to fret over everything that needs to be done to this little house. I could probably fill up a notebook. Older houses are a lot of work, and ours isn't even old old...just about 30. I am such a homebody and for some reason, no matter how down I get about the work to do here, when I'm gone, I can't wait to get back home. Today I won't go into all the things that drive me nuts about it or the myriads of things, inside and out, that need work. (I believe in the past I've referred to our place as a slightly glorifed shack, lol...not far from the truth...if you only knew!) Instead, I thought I'd share some of the simple things that make me glad I have this roof over my head:)

This is our morning view from our living room window...about 6:30 am. Many homes on our street have paved drives. We have gravel and I wouldn't have it any other way. It reminds of the country road I grew up on which for many years was gravel.

This photo is for my mom in California...we were just talking the other day about how it's turning colder and she asked me if our gas fireplace gave off heat or if it was just decorative. I'm so happy to say that it makes our little living room and kitchen just as toasty as can be! The bedrooms don't get as warm as the main living areas, but they don't really need to be, either. They are comfortable enough for sleeping, and I've always heard that you should sleep in a cooler room anyway. We all use goosedown comforters, so we snuggle down in them and stay nice and warm:) We also have central heat that we set at about 69 or 70 at night, so it won't get colder than that. Anyway, I'm thankful for our fireplace. This photo was taken around 6:30 this morning as well and I intentionally didn't use a flash...this is exactly how our fireplace looks in early morning light.

You may have noticed the pillow on the hearth. That is one of our two dog beds. Usually we have two flanking the fireplace (one for each dog). Actually, they aren't real dog beds but are large chenille pillow shams stuffed with large pillows. I was really frustrated over the fact that the store bought beds were (1) so expensive (2) didn't match our decor or style and (3) couldn't be thrown in the wash when dirty. I had this pair of creamy white chenille shams in storage and decided to put them to good use. They've been wonderful! The dogs love them and so do I. When they are soiled, I simply remove the shams and toss them in the wash. You can put a pillow protector on the pillow as well and wash that when it gets dirty. When the pillow itself wears out or gets too flat, just by another inexpensive pillow:) I often move them around the room, depending on where the dogs want to nap. This morning, Penelope my beagle wanted to nap close to me when I was on the couch. So I brought her little chenille bed over and plopped it on the floor. Minutes later, she was in Doggy Dreamland...

Speaking of chenille, a few months ago I bought a chenille quilt that I just adore. It has puffy dots all over it and little bobbles on the edges. I bought it to use as a tablecloth for a very special party in which I served soup. I thought that it would add a lot of texture and "grandma-like" warmth to the table and it was just beautiful! After the party, I washed it and now it graces our bed. Because our dog Penelope is sometimes naughty and naps on the furniture when she knows she's not suppose to, I keep a sheet on top of the quilt most of the time. I found this particular sheet at Goodwill several months ago and loved it for it's color, pattern, and feel (it's SO soft!) I thought it was just too pretty to put *under* the quilt, lol...

In the background there you see my goosedown pillow with a red polka-dot pillow case. It might as well be my teddy bear, it's so cozy and comforting:)

Another thing that brings me great pleasure is having a "home-y" smelling home. I LOVE the smell of cinnamon so a couple of weeks ago, I bought two cinnamon brooms. It's wonderful walking into a warm house that smells like someone is baking snickerdoodles:) I put one in our ( incompleted, wall-less but cottage style) bathroom and boy does it smell yummy. Now after every shower, I crave a cinnabun:)

Finally, I'm happy that we have a secluded view from our dining room table. On the other side of those trees is our neighbor's house, but you'd never know it looking out our window. When we lived in an apartment a few years ago, we had neighborhood children coming up to our dining room window to watch us eat, so this is a refreshing change to say the least. This window wasn't here when we bought the house but hubs and a friend knocked out the wall and added it about a year and a half ago. The difference is amazing and now we have a weeping willow to look at instead of a dark wall.

Well, those are a few positive things to say about this ~~neverending project~~ house. Every house has something nice about it, I believe, and if you can't find it, then look for the potential, for there is always that:)

Have a great Saturday!

Cottage Accessories

Kim — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 00:09:00 +0000

It's been a while. With the changing weather, I've had to deal with some health problems so I've just been shuffling around here like a little old lady and haven't managed to get much accomplished. First hip problems, then my neck went out. Joy. We're still painting all those pine planks that will be installed as our kitchen ceiling. The color is called "Pale Bloom" and it's a pale creamy white. We have about 10 more painting sessions to go...painting 15 planks at a time. That's all the space we have to work. When they are dry we, stand them up on end to cure and will eventually bring them into the house to acclimate before we install them.

So in between painting sessions, I've just been puttering. I've collected lots of cottage accessories over the months and thought I'd give the empty space above the cabinets a trial decorating run. Everything will have to come down soon when we work on the ceiling (and we still have so much work to do in the kitchen...I just got the decorating bug that day, I guess!), but it was fun to experiment and get some ideas of how to display my wooden bowls, baskets, and "white" items. I bought some thin little long twigs to put around the edges and this gives kind of a rustic, natural look. I may need to elevate some of the items a bit...we'll see.

Oh, in case some of you are wondering about what I've decided to do with the backsplash, I've made a decision! My choices were beadboard or painted and antiqued brick pavers, or 1 inch travertine tile. I was really, really leaning toward the tile because it just matched perfectly with the countertop we've chosen. Upon further consideration, I felt that it might just be too busy with all the other patterns we'll have going on. Some also felt that it might look too modern for a cottage. Since we'll be putting beadboard halfway up the kitchen and dining walls, I felt that also using it as a backsplash would be a little redundant. So to add more texture and for that old-fashioned feel, I've decided to go with the brick pavers. You can see a couple in the photo below that I've painted up and antiqued.

Gotta love red flowers! I'd like to paint that planter an antique brown or antique white. I picked up that gumball machine at a yardsale last week. I did *have* some chocolate malt balls (Whoppers) in there, but they didn't last long.:)

I found a home for that 100 year old painting of a cottage I bought a few weeks back. I put it above my armoire in the bedroom. There's just something so home-y about it. Ah, and the bedroom furniture. Yet another painting project for the future. Am I obsessed or what?!

My Indoor Cottage Garden

Kim — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:51:00 +0000

With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures
and some books, I live without envy.
- Lope de Vega

Someday I hope to throw myself into the exterior landscaping of this place. With our time so divided as it is, I'm afraid I would only succeed at killing any plant or flower I attempted to nurture. There is so much potential here, so many garden beds that have pretty much sat vacant for a couple of years. I can't wait to fill them to the brink with all kinds of colorful flowers and plants. Someday...someday. For now, I'll be quite content caring for a little indoor cottage garden over the winter. I've already made up one small window sill "garden" and will be creating a second one for the other living room sill in a few days. I really love how they look in baskets. I'm supposing that I'll need to line the baskets and get the plants out of their little pots and give them a bit more room to grow.

I also found a sweet little plant, commonly called a "Sunny Ficus" to go in one of my "new" old urns. After looking at it for a while today, I decided that it looked like a chia head. The worn spot on the urn looks like puckered lips, lol. But that's okay.

Speaking of windows, I'm happy to say that we are now the proud owners of real wood (white) blinds for our living room! We haven't had any kind of real window covering in there for probably a year now and...well...I've really gotten use to our naked windows! I've chosen a slightly different trim color that is a t a d more creamy (as opposed to the stark white) so I'll need to repaint the trim before we can install the blinds. I think I might be a little sad to cover up our uninterrupted view, but we really need the extra insulation on the windows this winter.

A Love Poem

Kim — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 19:03:00 +0000

Yes, this certainly isn't house related. Below is a note I received from my 6 yo. I'll cherish it always. These are things homes are made of...

Poem
I love you so much
I may never leave

"Ugly Dining Table Turned Cottage Coffee Table" Pr...

Kim — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 15:45:00 +0000

Update on the ceiling planks for our kitchen...they were primed all primed a few weeks ago and now sit waiting to be painted. We have to paint them in the garage (as opposed to outside where we primed them) to prevent the wind from blowing grass, leaves, and bugs onto our paint job. Painting in the garage required us to first completely clean out our garage to give us lots of space. We have close to 200 planks to paint and we need to let them dry in an upright position. We'll be starting on the painting this weekend.

Another project I'm working on now is converting a very beaten up but SOLID wood small dining table into an oversized coffee table for our living room. I purchased this table at Goodwill a few months back and had in mind that I would refurbish it, paint it shabby white, and resell it. But I really like it! We don't have a coffee table and I've been looking for a good one. I've started sanding it down and we'll be cutting the legs down to coffee table height. I want to paint it white or white and distress it just a bit. I'll probably end up putting a piece of glass on top to protect the surface.

Some will probably think that the table is too big for the living room. Lol, maybe it is, but I've always loved cozy living rooms with a big table in the middle. I see the kids playing games, putting together puzzles, doing homework, coloring or just playing at the table...I see hubs and his friends putting their drinks and snacks at this table on TV night. I see me having a pretty fresh floral arrangement, lit candles, and my favorite books and magazines stacked in neat piles. Lots of possibilities!

I'll be sure to post photos when I'm finished:) Hope you all are doing well!

Oh, I almost forgot, we found a cute little frog on our house the other day...we don't see too many around here anymore!

Blankety Plank Plank Plank

Kim — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 15:33:00 +0000

Seventy-seven ceiling planks primed!

Only 109 more to go...

Our plan was to prime *all* the planks yesterday, but we had to mow the lawn which took a chunk of time out of our schedule. *sigh* (Plus hubs and I decided to go and have a finger lickin' good lunch at Famous Daves Barbeque...Hot wings and rib tips to die for!)

We've decided to go ahead and put one coat of paint on all the planks after priming them. We tested a couple of primed and painted pieces yesterday and they fit together just fine without any force. So we're good to go.:)

Imitation Cottage Cheese Ceiling vs. Real Cottage ...

Kim — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 16:26:00 +0000

Tomorrow it's back to work time for the Cottage Life crew (hubs and me). It has been so nice taking this long two month break from house projects, namely p a i n t i n g. After working on our kitchen cabinets for as long as I did, by the time I was finished I just knew that if I saw another paint brush, I'd find a dark closet and curl up into a fetal position...either that or I'd be fit for a straight jacket. But as of late, I've been antsy and eager to pick up the brush again. These household projects are a lot like childbirth...difficult and exhausting...but how soon we forget all of that after a bit of time has passed!

Tomorrow hubs and I start on our kitchen ceiling. Our current ceiling is horrid...just...gross! The rest of the ceilings in the house are covered with "cottage cheese", which is bad enough. But the majority of our kitchen is an addition which was built by the previous owner several years ago. The kitchen ceiling is not the same 'spray on' cottage cheese that is in the rest of the house, but is instead some type of plaster that was textured to look like cottage cheese. Yes, folks, we have an imitation cottage cheese ceiling in our kitchen!

What is worse is that you can actually look at the ceiling and see where the additions in the eating area and kitchen where added. In those areas, the "cottage cheese" just seems to look...festered? *gag* Look at the photo to the left...see what I mean?

So to rememedy the problem - and to add more cottage style of the non-cheese variety - we'll be intalling tung and groove pine plank ceilings and painting them white. The first step is to prime all the planks. Priming before installing will prevent any unprimed wood from showing when the ceiling expands and contracts. Hubs wants to go ahead and put the first coat of white paint on, too, before installing, but I'm afraid that a build up paint on the tungs will make them harder to install and might increase the chances of damaging some of them while trying to snap them into place. Plus, I'd really like to cover the festering cheese on our ceiling ASAP.

When the new ceiling is in place, we'll install most of the new lighting. We have some new recessed lighting plus oil rubbed bronze fixtures for above the sink, island, and dining table. I think, though, that I'll want to put back up the old brass fixtures temporarily until the dust settles from the rest of our projects here. The oil rubbed bronze fixtures have off-white linen shades that will just become filthy if we install them at this point.

But first things first, tomorrow we'll be laboring on Labor Day and will get our pine planks primed. I'm actually pretty excited about the thought of reuniting with my paint brush again!

Hundred Year Old Cottage Art Piece ... What a Find...

Kim — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 14:23:00 +0000

It has been months since I've done any yard saling but hubs and I decided to hit a few yesterday...and I'm glad we did! I didn't buy much yesterday but around 10 am, we found a particular yard sale and as I was walking up the driveway, an old oil painting instantly caught my eye. What I noticed first was that it was a painting of a cottage:) It was just beautiful and full of details...and just the kind of cottage that I'd live in if I could. There are swans and a trellis and a garden pathway and if you look hard enough, you can see the sun peeking through the sky. The painting has a lot of reds and greens in it, too, and you all know how much I love red and green. The next thing I noticed was just how old the painting was. The paint is crackled and when I turned it around to see the back, I could tell that the canvas was very old, as well as the frame. I asked the lady hosting the yard sale if she knew how old the painting was and she went in the house to ask another family member. She returned and told me that it was over 100 years old. She said it had been painted by a family member. Why they were selling a piece of their family history, I don't know. I bought the painting for just $25!!!! When I got it home, I examined the signature more carefully and it says "McClark". It now sits propped up against a wall in my dining room. I'm not sure where I'll put it. It needs to be cleaned and I don't really know how to go about doing that. It does have a few scratches here and there, but overall, it looks great. Here are a few photos and close ups...

For a brighter smile and fresher breath, click to enlarge:)

Partying and School Shopping

Kim — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 16:20:00 +0000

Folks, I've been scarce, I know. Thank you so much for still visiting to check in on me and our little cottage. We had a farewell party here on Saturday night (which I think went great!) and then I've been up to my ears in school shopping for the girls. They register on Thursday on their first full day is Monday! Though my little one has one more year at home, we shopped for her, too - and clothes shopping for three girls who have definite opinions on both fashion and comfort...whew - it is not easy! For instance, I always start shopping at my favorite childrens consignment shop. They carry loads of really nice quality barely used new looking and often *brand new* items. I like to try to find the girls jeans there (jeans run from 5.50 to $12 a pair...can't beat that!) So I found tons of jeans for my middle girl to try on...probaby about 15 pairs. Of *all* of them, she found *one* pair that she liked. ARgh!!! There were many others that I liked and that looked great on her, but I knew that if I bought them, I'd have to listen to complaints everytime she wore them. After the consignment shop (where we saved $20 off our total purchase because I had a completely stamped frequent shoppers card!), we headed for The Children's Place, Ross, Old Navy, and Kohl's and found lots great deals. Oh, and we shopped on the state-wide "tax free" day (no taxes on clothing, school supplies, and computers) which saved us a lot of money. Today we have to shop for shoes, a zip up sweater for my oldest girl,...and more jeans.

The farewell party here on Saturday was nice. It was warmer in the house than I wanted it to be, but other than that, everything was perfect. Oh, except for the part where I was *getting in the shower* at 6 pm (guests were to start arriving between 6 and 6:30). Hubs was here to greet guests, so it didn't bother me too much, that is, until I came out of my room at almost 6:30 to find that hubs was not here, lol. He had left to go and pick up the guest of honor and our children were the ones that greeted the guests instead. I was wondering why they kept coming to my bedroom door and saying, "Mommy! Somebody else is here!". I would say, "Oh, ok!", thinking that hubs was present all along. Oh well, these are are dearest friends so I don't think they thought much of it...and I had appetizers out, lol.

Dinner was lovely and guests brought great food! The food theme of our party was "comfort food" and I made "Chicken and Cheese Corn Chowder" and "Potato and Bacon Soup". We had garlic parmesan bread, fresh veggies and dip, and my oldest girl made herbed tomatoes. She also made fresh lemonade:) Of course, we had sweet tea and champagne, too:) Someone else brought chili, and we also had carrot cake, a yummy cake with coffee liquor, and Mississippi Mud Pie. Silly me forgot to take pictures of the two dining tables we had set up, but I was so pleased with how it all came together, I'm going to "recreate" it and take photos to share. I found some photos of friends that I had printed up (lol, just a couple of hours before the party!) and I strung a long piece of wired twine across the mantle and attached the photos with little wooden laundry pins. Under that was the table for gifts and cards.

It was very cozy sitting around our little living room with all of our friends after dinner, sharing funny memories and thoughts from our hearts. One of my favorite sayings is, "Friends are relatives you choose for youselves" and I truly felt like we were having a family reunion, which made the "farewell" part of the party a little less sad.

So...that's what we've been up to as of late! Hope everyone is doing well:)

Even If Things Get Heavy We'll All Float On

Kim — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 14:21:00 +0000

Hubs and I are still on our month long hiatus from house projects. It has been nice just spending lazy days with the kids, who, by the way, go back to school in a little over a week. Where did the summer go?

Currently, I am planning a Farewell Party that will be held here on Saturday for our best friend that is moving across the country. I've mentally put the party planning off for a while now (and literally moved the party date back a week) so as to absorb the reality of it all. Now I can't procrastinate any longer. Today, another friend called to see what she could bring to the party and I was doing just fine until the end of the conversation...then the floodgates opened...again. I know, though, that once I get into all the preparation, everything will be ok. Meanwhile, if you have any great Farewell Party ideas, please email them to me at onewomanscottagelife@hotmail.com. Oh, and the food theme for the party is "comfort food". Everyone will be bringing their favorites...:)

Take care, everyone:)

"Artsy" & Whimsical "Framed" Wallpaper

Kim — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 14:36:00 +0000

We all may have heard of displaying pretty wallpaper scraps in frames to use as art, but what about wallpaper that you can buy that has frames printed all over it for you to display your own art?

I found this really cool wallpaper and thought I'd share it with you. I think this is such a neat idea for an art themed room or kids room, or just wherever. It's wallpaper with "frames" all over it and you can paint within the frames, hang children's artwork or photos in them, tack recipes on them in the kitchen, paint or hang printed single words in them ...just so many possibilities. You can find the wallpaper online at Graham and Brown. It's $30 a roll, but I'm thinking just doing one wall would be plenty. (OR...if you're even the slightest bit artistic, you can try painting your own frames on a wall!)

From the site:

"Artists Wood and Taylor, designed Frames. It's a completely interactive wallpaper - you decide what you want it to be - whether you want to put up your youngsters art, paint directly in to a frame, or put up family photos - it's up to you!"

"I Wanna Talk About Me-Me-Me-Me"

Kim — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 18:51:00 +0000

i feel: pensive

i am a: loner of sorts

i am wearing: floral jammie bottoms and a tank top

i hate: the telephone

my best friend is: plural

i look: comfortable

i am often mistaken as being: put together

i am becoming: hot in this sunroom

the song that is playing right now is: just the sound of birds, cicadas, and kids

my favorite memories are: those of heartfelt talks with family and friends

my worst memories are: only memories

my favorite vacation place is: a cabin in the woods complete with a fire, books, music, and friends

the song that best describe my life is: All Four Seasons & Banana Pancakes

i want: more patience

i am making: goals

i want to be: reliable

i try hard to: be understanding

my fear is: losing touch with loved ones

my hopes are: real and wonderful

i enjoy: reading and creating

when i get older, i: am afraid I might grow up.

i am trying to decide: paper or plastic? j/k What to make for dinner...

the leisure book i’m reading now is: Sweet Apple Farm along with four other books...

little luxuries of mine are: coffee with whipped cream while checking my email, chocolate for breakfast, warm and fluffy towels from the dryer, a nap in my cozy bed, iced green tea on a hot summer day, staying up late and sleeping in, the smell of a bookstore, a homecooked southern meal, dining by myself at a restaurant - my only companion being a good book...

when i ~~fall for~~ like someone, i: think of them often

one of my weaknesses: not staying motivated

my favorite colour is: not pink

my favorite television shows are: about forensic science, home makeovers/ decorating, history, Monk, King of Queens, ugh...can't think of anything

a person i adore is: Do I have to name just one?

places i would go in a heart-beat are: North Carolina Mountains

the person that i’m thinking about is: Jeffrey

i love the way: my bird struts when he's happy

i hate the way: some things work out

a vexation of mine is: my laundry basket of mismatched socks

my favorite time of the day is: after dark

summer time is: hot and lazy

i try to block out: heartache, fears, and worry

my life is: full

my favorite season is: spring and fall

after school, i: dreamt for years that I was still *in* school and hadn't studied for that all important test

one thing i can’t be happy without is: my relationship with Jehovah

i’m trying to: be strong

it hurts when: I'm misunderstood

like my father always says: "You'll always be my little girl."

the hardest thing i’ve ever had to do was: make the right choices despite the consequences

before i go to bed, i: enjoy the silence of a quiet house

the first thing i do in the morning is: sigh

the best thing about life is: you get to start over each day

i never knew that: pigs could fly

my room is: restful and full of children's books (and a few toys scattered here and there)

i cannot: watch sports

i love going to: goodwill

i dislike: shallow people

i cry when: I feel helpless

it’s: going to be ok:)

i love the movie: A Beautiful Mind

i am feeling: hungry

i listen to: what people have to say

something that makes me smile is: an inside joke

something about a person that attracts me is: humor, selflessness, honesty, humor

love is: strange & complex

traveling is: something I look forward to doing in the future

it is time to: go get some iced green tea

i’m ticked off because: where did the day go?

Immersed

Kim — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 19:52:00 +0000

Lately, I've been keeping up with the household chores but I've put projects on hold. I've been nostalgic for a time that I never knew or experienced and it seems that every few months I get like this. Just a crazy, bluesy, sadness of sorts, a mourning over the fact that I can't go back to a simpler time. I was just telling a friend that I really need to be a hermit in the middle of nowhere...perhaps out on a farm or deep in the mountains. Just a little old quaint home and a garden and fresh air...

When my folks were visiting from California, I went with them to stake out some new construction homes...spacious and beautiful and perfect. They may be moving here in the next five years so they wanted to see what was available. What is wrong with me that en route to such lovely homes, I couldn't help but to do double takes when passing by all the sad little old, dilapidated, ivy covered, tumbled down and forgotten houses? I swear, it's nearly the same feeling I get when I stumble across a stray animal that needs some TLC. Someone help me.:)

When I visit big box stores, internally I grumble every time over the plastic and mass-produced era that I have to live in now. I groan about the shoddy "craftmanship" (can you even call it that?) of merchandise for sale. I sigh over the lengthy ingredient lists on the foods we buy, half of which are chemicals because I know that way back when, people not only could pronounce the ingredients in their foods, but they knew exactly what those ingredients were and probably produced them themselves. I wince when my children ask for some new fangled plastic toy (that holds their attention for about a day). I'm frustrated that I don't know how to make biscuits or pies from scratch, that I haven't a clue how to garden or can my own foods, that I wouldn't know where to begin making a quilt (or how to operate my own sewing machine, for that matter), that I don't have a woodburning fireplace, that I live on a semi- well traveled street, and so on and so forth.

I was even irritated at Joe Bob Shelf Stocker at Wal-Mart yesterday because he had never even heard of the Farmer's Almanac. "Farmer's what????" *sniff*

Where is that time machine when you need it most?

Oftentimes when I find that I need to "escape" to another world and time, I go to the library and check out many books of the same theme and bury myself in them for days and days. One of the books I checked out recently is called, "A Place Called Sweet Apple - Country Living and Southern Recipes" It was written in 1967 by a very prolific columnist for the Atlanta Constitution (she's been gone for quite a few years now) who discovered a deserted country cabin and fell in love with it at first site.

I knew after reading the first page that this woman, Celestine Sibley, was really me.

Someday I know that my world will be simple and wonderful and for now, I'll work hard be content with sustenance and covering. But, oh, isn't it wonderful to daydream about how things are suppose to be?!

Housebloggers Featured In Chicago Tribune This Wee...

Kim — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 21:24:00 +0000

I'm excited to report that in this weeks Chicago Tribune, a few fellow houseblogs along with One Woman's Cottage Life were featured in an article entitled True-life Confessions of the Weekend Warrior. Other houseblogs included in the article were House in Progress, Nightmare on Elm St., and Chicago Two-Flat. These and other great blogs are worth checking out if you haven't done so already:)

I wanted to also mention that though it wasn't posted in the article, lol, my husband is indeed the other "remodeler" here at One Woman's Cottage Life. Most of the time, I have the easy part which is coming up with more projects for him to work on:) He knows he's in trouble when I get that pensive look on my face and say..."You know, I've been thinking...." or "I just had a great idea!" I'm just waiting for the day that he responds by quickly turning on his heels and running away while sticking his fingers in his ears and declaring, "LaLaLaLaaaa! I can't hear you!!!!! "

Yet Another Backsplash Option - Tumbled Travertine...

Kim — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:56:00 +0000

So first I wanted beadboard...and then I thought painted brick pavers would be really neat, but now, I'm thinking little one inch travertine tiles would look pretty, too! (And no cutting!) The travertine gives kind of a warm look to the laminate. Which backsplash would you use? The countertop shown is what we'll be installing...