Summer’s Last Hurrah.

September 3, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

Some end of summer Hydrangeas add the personal touch for the end of summer visit.

Mother Nature had the last word this weekend. The warmest days of the summer were upon us. My hope is that it will segue into a fine, fine fall. I am already thinking about my fall décor and the Round Top Antique Show…two things that bring me an incredible amount of joy this time of year.

Just one last summer post before we all move on. My house re-design that I have blogged about previously included completely changing my guest room. As I transition my home to a lighter, coastal feel…this room was a great opportunity to showcase the simplicity of my style.

I’ll be the first to say the room isn’t particularly refined…but that is what I like about it. It sort of feels like a room you would find in a beach cottage.

Here are the before and after photos.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Always.

Cindy

Before.

A collection of architectural objects.

Guest Room.

After.

Late summer guests are greeted by lavender infused water, ocean scented candles and simple surroundings.

With an antique table, heirloom cotton towels and a vintage enamel pitcher and basin, why not create a modern day wash stand? Still every bit as beautiful and useful as it would have been when my old cottage was built.

Simple white is my philosophy when it comes to dressing beds. Seasonal quilts, pillows and lampshades are the opportunity for color and change when you want something new and different. These light weight quilts were a steal from Kohl’s at $32 each.

A mostly soothing, white room, I can’t resist well placed doses of my favorite color, red.

The room formerly had a single queen bed. Now using two twin beds with white cotton sheets and a light, summer quilt for when the ceiling fan makes the room a little chilled, this room has a simple and quiet countenance.

Direct from local lavender farms, this essential oil is a treat for my guests.

Lavender pods along with Lavender essential oil in a vintage basin ready for summer time guests.

My grandmother’s vintage towels, lavender infused water with thick terry washcloths for a soothing sleep time compress on a warm summer night.

What used to house a television in another room, now stores quilts for cold winter nights and a small flat screen for guests who wish to squire themselves away to relax and watch Pride and Prejudice.

Imported Soap, Burt’s Bees Balm and a lovely Ocean scented candle for pampered guests.

Bedside refreshments for overnite guests. A glass and carafe are left bedside for guests and refreshed every evening.

Filed Under: Before 'n After, My Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: antique, bedroom, coastal, cottage, guest, room, vintage

The Renewed Home

August 9, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

A reproduction vintage alarm clock perched on my coastal design books make for great bedside reading!

Post before last, I blogged about having to re-design my downstairs in order to accommodate being able to care for my special needs dog. I had to move the master bedroom downstairs so that I wouldn’t have to physically carry her up and down stairs during the night as she weighs 47 pounds. The truth is that I love the new downstairs. Creating a bedroom that has adequate clothing storage on any day is a good day in an old house. After living out of plastic storage containers in a small guest room, the day I completed the re-design was an over-the-top good day. It is the little things, some times, that mean the most.

True to my word, here are the “after” photos. What used to be a television room, is now my master bedroom. All-in-all, a great improvement. If I were forced to critique one thing, it would be that this room is a pass through to two other parts of the house. But, we who love old houses, learn to accept the quirks in exchange for a time worn interior. A more than fair trade in my book.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Always,

xoxo

Cindy

Before

You will see a number of navigational markers with the decorative items that are given new life in the new Master Bedroom.

Den.

Den.

Den.

AFTER

A reading nook with a comfortable old wicker chair and lamp is perfect for curling up with a good book.

An old quilt, pillows made from vintage fabric and a ambient lighting make this one cozy bedroom.

This, believe it or not…is the only closet in the house and I don’t even use it for storing clothing!

A basket in the corner with a vintage basket cover is a great place to keep extra blankets and quilts.

I formerly used this cabinet to house a television, it now is used for clothing storage in lieu of a dresser.

This lovely white, weathered armoire doubles as my closet.

Can you pick out the two Pottery Barn market items? The poet’s lantern on the left is vintage PB and the mercury glass task lamp is a new item.

A small table is the perfect fit for this little space.

Filed Under: Before 'n After, My Home, Projects, Uncategorized Tagged With: antique, antique wicker, barn, bed, bedroom, chair, cottage, country, french, master, master bedroom, pottery, pottery barn, redesign, wicker, wicker chair

One Room or Another…

July 19, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

Before: Den

After in the same spot: New Side Table/Night Stand in the new Master Bedroom.

The beauty of an old house is that each room can be anything you want it to be. Just as antiques can be moved from one room or another based on fancy and feeling, rooms can be re-purposed out of whimsy or necessity. For me, necessity dictated some changes.

I have a special needs dog who often requires care throughout the night. For the better part of three years, she wakes me up 2 to 4 times during the night. The original master bedroom was upstairs, so it required me to pick her up and carry her up and down two flights of stairs (she is blind and can not walk down them on her own) which was difficult, not to mention dangerous.

About two years ago, I felt it was better to sleep downstairs in the guest room because it was easier to take my dog outside without having to navigate two flights of stairs. However, the guest room has no closet and is hardly large enough for decent clothing storage.

The solution was to re-purpose each room downstairs in order to create a master bedroom for myself. Indeed, it would help me feel less like a guest in temporary quarters as I did, storing my clothes in stacking plastic storage containers.

And so it goes, I had a major antique sale to get rid of the furniture that would not fit in the new arrangements and I set out to re-design each room in a way that was more suitable.

I will share the pictures in future posts, but I thought I would start out be sharing the old and new floor plan along with a sneak peak of the results.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Cindy

A guest room, den, dining room and sitting room.

A guest room, master bedroom, dining room and den

Filed Under: Before 'n After, My Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: after, antiques, arrangement, barn, before, before and after, cottage, glass, lamp, master bedroom, mercury, pottery, pottery barn mercury glass lamp, redesign, room

The Days Ahead…

May 12, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

Christmas Pepperberries, now dried juxtopposed against the shiny mercury glass.

Christmas Pepperberries, now dried juxtaposed against the shiny mercury glass.

Please forgive me, I haven’t posted in a while. Simple explanation…I had company for about three weeks and I started a new job. Roll both of those together and it leaves nary a moment to do any kind of blogging. But here I am, in the first weekend when I can breath a little bit. It is such a lovely day, all I can think about is green grass, hydrangeas getting ready to bloom and in general, looking ahead.

Last weekend I spent cleaning from top to bottom. This weekend I can take some time to pay attention to the details like changing out my Winter vignettes for something that says Spring. The dried pepper berries with mercury glass arrangement is just such a thing. Pepper berries have gone by the wayside, mercury ornaments are placed in a wire bowl someplace else and both are replaced with lovely, white blooms.

Something simple makes me very happy.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Until next time,

Cindy

Pepperberries and Mercury glass…the bridge between Winter and Spring

Replaced with simple white blooms. An easy change with great impact that welcomes Spring.

Filed Under: Before 'n After, Holiday and Seasonal, My Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: antiques, blooms, cottage, fireplace, fresh, mantel, mantle, spring, white

The $1821 Kitchen

January 20, 2013 by Cynthia 4 Comments

It seems appropriate to re-post my very first blog article that I published almost a year ago. I still love my “new” kitchen. I hope you enjoy the transformation and find some inspiration for the new year.

Always,

Cindy

After.

Demolition.

More. Free. Labor.

I’m in love with my cottage. However, the kitchen left much to be desired. I have lived in the house for almost nine years, and only done minor painting to the cabinets and had the floor professionally done a couple of years ago. In October, hankering for a change, I wanted to re do the kitchen in a really impactful way under two important conditions: a budget of $1500 and cosmetic changes only. I had to work with the existing flaws of the kitchen. No ripping down sheet rock, no moving electrical junction boxes, etc and nothing structural.

I just longed for something simpler. For a while, I wanted everything on display. Scouring antique stores, ebay and flea markets…everything had to have a great container so it could be on display. But too much of having everything on display starts to feel cluttered and the kitchen never felt clean…even though I clean on a regular basis. Plus it was kinda exhausting making sure everything was always looking perfect because it was all out in the open. Some closed door storage and major editing was in order.

Truth be told, I met only one of those two goals. I went over budget by $321 because of taxes, delivery fees and unforeseen product substitutions that were more costly.

Still, it is a darn good kitchen for the money. It is a very personal kitchen, not just because I did the work but because it navigates the way I do. Having lived in the house for almost nine years prior to this undertaking, I inherently knew and understood what I wanted and needed out of the kitchen. I am not sure I would have the same harmony with a kitchen that I designed and built without having lived in the house first.

I did all the work myself in 14 days, but I have to share that my wonderful neighbor, Darlene Kirksey, spent a day helping me install the counter tops which were too heavy for me to lift on my own and my ever helpful yard man, David Keel helped me with demolition on Day One. Props to my lovely friend/neighbor Kathy Burt for bringing me a sweet surprise of dinner from my favorite burger joint since my kitchen was torn up and I was way too tired to fix even a sandwich. Lastly, I need to thank Gus Tinajero, the GM at IKEA and his assistant. He worked, in good faith to get me the countertops I wanted and offered GREAT customer service. Over the next few weeks, I will be highlighting several individual projects within the renovation:

Beautiful spice storage using lab bottles (click here)
DIY Pendant Lamps (click here)
Re-purposing an upper cabinet as a lower cabinet
Re-engineering a four drawer cabinet for the better
New life for old cabinet doors (click here)
DIY roman blinds (easy peasy for anyone, even a beginner)
Pantry Pride (click here)
Organizing recipes with a deconstructed book

Here are the before and after pictures. It’s a little hard to tell in some of them, but the after pics are shown directly to the right of the same spot in the before pics. For additional kitchen and home tour pics, click here. Let me know what you think!

Remember to click twice to bigify!

Love Always,Cindy

As a post script, I am submitting this article for consideration for a feature in Cottages & Bungalos. Stop by the blog when you have some time, there are some terrific entries already:

[hana-code-insert name='cottagesbungalos' /]

[hana-code-insert name='Half Banner' /]

: Demolition.

: Progress.

: Free. Labor.

: More. Free. Labor.

: Before. Sink and Window Area.

: After.

: Before. Right of the Sink Area.

: After.

: Before. Open Concept Pantry.

: After. Formerly the pantry, now the new fridge area.

: Before. Baking Center.

: After.

: Before. Fridge Area.

: After. Formerly the fridge area, now the new pantry.

: Before. Old Kitchen Layout.

: After. New Kitchen Layout.

[hana-code-insert name='cottagesbungalos' /]

Filed Under: Before 'n After, My Home Tagged With: antiques, budget, cottage, country, DIY, do it yourself, kitchen, makeover

Anatomy of a Redesign – Part 2, The Reveal

July 26, 2012 by Cynthia 1 Comment

Cozy Niche.

I am a person who loves balance and symmetry. I am learning that one trick of design is getting balance through asymmetry. I am not quite good at it, but I am learning!

This re-design is really about one simple change that lent itself to an entire transformation….it has been staring at me for years and I missed it. It involved moving my dining room table from the middle of the room (symmetry) to one side of the room (asymmetry). By using two benches in a window seat fashion, it allowed me to tuck the table into the corner of the room and create a more open space, improve the traffic flow and have a more intimate and comfortable dining area.

Here is a rundown of what I did during this re-design:

Benches. The benches used for the window seat were handcrafted by a local artisan. I had them custom made to mimic the seat depth and height of a normal chair. The decision to build the benches with the same dimensions of a chair made all the difference in the world in making the benches very comfortable. (if you are interested in custom benches, please email me from the “contact me” page and I will give you the artisan’s contact information)
Cushions. Another opportunity to add the vintage touch, I used old quilts for cushion covers and filled them with down. The cushions are very comfortable and along with the throw pillows, make the dining niche very comfy and cozy. They really invite you to linger and use the table for reading and computer work.
Collections. A design trick is to group collections or use repetition to create impact. So I used the various built in shelves to showcase my antique oil lamp collection, vintage compotes and milk glass.
Storage. I was able to add an antique wall cabinet that I had sitting in my garage for flair and extra storage.
Cost. The total cost for this redesign was the cost for the benches, which was very, very reasonable. Other than the benches, everything else were items that I had: oil lamps, milk glass, pillows, wall cabinet, antique and vintage small wares and fabric and stuffing for bench cushions.

I hope you enjoy the transformation and find some inspiration for your space!

Always,

Cindy

Here are the pictures:

Remember to click twice to bigify!

: Full View. Balance thru Asymetry.

: Built In – After.

: Built In – Before.

: Ironstone Display Area – After.

: Ironstone Display Area – Before.

: Cozy Niche.

: Layering In – Family Heirloom Runner.

: Layering In – Vintage Table Cloth.

: Layering In – Table.

: Layering In – Vintage Pillows.

: Layering In – Cushions from Old Quilts.

: Layering In – Bench.

: New Dining Area – After.

: New Dining Corner.

: Dining Niche – Before.

Filed Under: Before 'n After, My Home, Projects Tagged With: after, before, budget, cottage, country, dining roon, home made, ironstone, milk glass, oil lamp, re do, redesign, vintage

Opportunity for Refinement

July 16, 2012 by Cynthia 3 Comments

Vintage Eastlake Frame.

Alabaster.

White Field Flowers.

Gray Antique Wood.

Ironstone.

Vintage Eastlake Frame. Alabaster. White Field Flowers. Salvaged Wood. Ironstone. Similar in tone, but different in texture and all present an opportunity for refinement.

Lovingly, I say that my kitchen is not the most refined kitchen. It doesn’t have high end finishes like carrera marble, a tiled back splash or a sparkly chandelier. It is a simple straightforward space with plenty of opportunity for refinement. I try to think of it in terms of being a room, not a kitchen. This opens up my thinking when making these small, but impactful changes.

This particular vignette started out with decorative objects that were holdovers from the kitchen before I embarked on my budget friendly remodel. My eye and taste have evolved and I am now setting about to fine tune the style of the kitchen to flow better with the rest of the house.

An antique jug lamp, vintage soda bottles, a bread board and a folk art painting have been replaced with an alabaster lamp, a beautiful ironstone pitcher, an eastlake frame with a 250 year old nautical print and a newish mercury glass hurricane globe paired with and perched on top of an architectural and antique baluster do the trick. These small changes have added a great deal of style to the entire kitchen. The are the first thing you see when you enter the house and the first thing you see when you enter the kitchen and they set the tone for the entire house.

Thanks to my good friend and great shop owner, Vince at Good Look, Inc located the lamp, Eastlake frame and ironstone and Nancy at Ella Elaine, here in DT McKinney was the source for the mercury hurricane. They both have such wonderful taste and style that I have benefited from. Thank you!

Take a look and see what you think. I hope you walk away with some inspiration!

Always,

Cindy

Before.

After.

Filed Under: Antique Finds, Before 'n After, Favorite Shops 'n Blogs, My Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: after, alabaster, before, cottage, country, field, flowers, ironstone, kitchen, refine, vintage, white

Anatomy of a Redesign – Part 1

June 25, 2012 by Cynthia 2 Comments

I would describe myself as a nester. I would also tell you that like alot of people, change is challenging. However, you would never know these things about me by looking at my house and the evolution of my style over time. I am constantly changing things around.

I never know when or why the inspiration to change something will hit me. I had just such a moment in my dining room when I realized one small change would change the entire dynamic of my dining-living room space.

Once I have the idea of what I want to do, the next step is the floor plan. Here is the current floor plan, to scale:

Dining Room Current Floor Plan

You can see from this lay out, the space is very small (narrow) so the options are limited. The new floor plan will open up the space visually as well as practically, by improving traffic flow and allowing more space for the living room furniture by kicking it (slightly) into the plane of the dining room. Here is the proposed new floor plan:

Dining Room Proposed Floor Plan

Here is the “to do” list:

Build window seat
Swag lamp over to new dining area
Move antique cabinet to where the bench is
Find a new home for the bench
Make window seat cushions
Remove leaf from dining table
Store two of the four dining room chairs

Cost wise, this is a very economical re do that will have major impact. The materials for the window seat should be $200, give or take. Beyond that, since I already have the fabric, I only need some foam for the bench cushions which I would estimate to be appr. $50.

The result will be featured in next week’s blog article.

As always, thank you for stopping by!

xoxo,

Cindy

This will be removed and the bench (not pictured) will be removed and replaced with the antique cabinet shown in the picture below.

This area will be the new window seat/dining area and this cabinet will remain in the dining room, but moved to another place.

This won’t change, but will now become part of the window seat area for the dining table.

Filed Under: Before 'n After, My Home, Projects, Uncategorized Tagged With: after, antique, before, cottage, dining, DIY, re-design, redo, room, simple, vintage

Pantry Pride

May 7, 2012 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

Food Gift Tags.

In my old kitchen, I had what I referred to as the “open concept pantry”, which is really a fancy way of saying “everything is out in the open.”

Tired of open concept, I insisted on closed door storage for the pantry. As luck would have it, I had an old hutch I had purchased on Ebay several years ago. I liked the look of it and the price was right, so I bought it even though I didn’t have a place for it at the time.

Some cleaning up and a few coats of paint later, tah dah…it is a righteous pantry! Right after the remodel, I pretty much just threw everything in there. I knew I wanted to reorganize it, but wasn’t sure exactly how at that point.

Like most things with me, if I live with something for a while, I eventually figure out how to make it fit the way I do things. The pantry was no exception.

Here are a couple of highlights:

Chalkboard Contact Paper. Found on Amazon, it comes in a roll and can be cut into any shape. I used my die cutter and cut labels in a vintage shape for the bail wire jars that hold various staples. I also sourced chalk pens and keep them handy for when I change the contents. A simple wet cloth wipes the old chalk off so I can write something new. For the pasta jars, I also have a chalkboard label on top of the jar that has a number in it to remind me how long to cook each kind of pasta.
Bail Wire Jars. I love these gems. Found at IKEA, they are extremely reasonably priced and because the seal so tightly, they keep things fresh longer.
Plastic Air Sealed Bins. In order to get maximum storage efficiency, no shelf space was tall enough to handle a common cereal box; this allowed me to have more shelves. The alternative was to use Better Homes & Gardens air sealed containers (found at Walmart) that were short and squatty, but large enough to handle the contents of a box of cereal. Actually these are much easier to access and close than a normal cereal box. And it keeps cereal fresh for alot longer than just a regular cereal box.
Canvas Bins. For the lower cabinet, I purchased (from Walmart), the white canvas bins, (3.99 ea). They help me access condiments, bread, extra baking items much easier. Instead of mining shelves and moving things around to see what is in the back, I just pull the bin and I see everything I have….without disturbing the rest of the pantry.
Vintage Enamel Trays and Basins. As you may know by now, there is a little bit (or a lot) of vintage in everything I do. I used what I believe to be old medical instrument trays to organize the drawers in the hutch to keep things in place and I have an old enamel basin to hold fresh lavender that I use through out the house. As a second benefit, the Lavender always makes the pantry smell lovely every time I open the doors.

The before and after pics are posted. Remember to click on the pictures twice to increase the size. Let me know what you think!

Love Always,

Cindy

: Fresh Lavender at the Ready.

: Food Gift Tags.

: Lower Pantry After.

: Lower Pantry Before.

: Upper Pantry After.

: Upper Pantry Before.

: Pantry After.

: Pantry Before.

: Pantry Drawer Using Vintage Trays for Organization.

: Pantry Pride.

Filed Under: Before 'n After, Uncategorized Tagged With: bail wire, containers, enamel, food, organzie, pantry, vintage

Some of the Best Solutions are Very Simple.

April 30, 2012 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

My inspiration from Swedish Interiors.

I fell in love with this book.

Same house from the kitchen photo above.

Some of the best solutions are very simple. Part of the mandate of my kitchen remodel was to keep the existing lower cabinets. However, they were construction grade, big box, off the floor cabinets that possessed neither quality or style…but I had to make them work on a budget. One idea that crossed my mind was to mine the Internet looking for door and drawer fronts and while there were some at reasonable prices, there wasn’t anything that would fit my very modest budget.

The solution was to clad the existing door and drawer fronts with a simple bead board fascia and paint the cabinets. A leak under the sink had bowed out the two lower cabinet doors so the budget conscious solution was to use a fabric curtain. For continuity, the same fabric that was used for the roman blinds was also used for the sink curtains. It took very little time and helped salvage drab cabinets and give them some character. The cherry on the sundae were the over-sized, vintage, reproduction glass knobs. Total cost for bead board and new knobs/pulls: $43. I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Love Always,

Cindy

Before.

After.

Result.

Filed Under: Before 'n After, Projects, Uncategorized Tagged With: bead, board, budget, cabinet, cottage, glass, influences, knobs, re do, swedish, vintage

Before.

After.

Before

AFTER

Remember to click twice to bigify!

Remember to click twice to bigify!

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