The Little Cottage That Could

September 16, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

In the new year, I am embarking on a major renovation of my little cottage. The goal is to work with the existing foot print but make the cottage everything that it should be. After living in the house for ten years, I have come to know it like I know a good friend and have come to understand how I can live better within it. It can be The Little Cottage That Could while continuing to pay homage to the wonderful old home that was built some 80 years ago.

Certain foundational items will be on the punch list like updating the electrical, insulating the exterior walls and replacing all the sheetrock with horizontal wood planking.

Upgrades will include an additional bathroom upstairs to create a master bedroom en suite, creating an additional bedroom in existing space and adding closets and built in storage. Special touches will be exposing the rafters upstairs and tucking a sleeping loft above them and a fire place in the den. If historic guidelines will allow, we’ll do a bump out in the kitchen to give it a little more space.

Several years ago, I was mining the internet and I somehow ended up on a real estate site that had the most wonderful Hamptons Cottage for sale at the whopping price of 1.9 million dollars. Location, location, location right? Of course. But what really struck me about the cottage was its staggering simplicity. I fell in love with it and it will be part of my look book that I present to the contractor when I finally get started on the renovation.

I saved the pictures for future reference so I’ll share them with you:

Filed Under: Discoveries, My Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: antiques, construction, cottage, hamptons, honey pine floors, old, paint, renovations

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

Things as they ought to be…

July 28, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

A vintage enamel bucket next to my garden hydrangeas in a milk glass vase. Classic combo.

I try to make life a little easier these days. Without time enough in the day to do all the things I want to do requires me to prioritize that which is most important.

As such, I try to find furnishings for my home that need not be changed in order for me to like it. I want things that I love in their “as found” condition. I’d be a happy girl if I never picked up a block sander and paintbrush again. I’d rather spend time admiring something’s prettiness than trying to cajole it into something else.

A couple of months ago, I found a rusty, vintage nine piece wrought iron patio set. My first order of business was to get it powder coated to pretty up the finish. But then I thought “no”…let’s not worry about perfection. Let’s just let it be.

A new outdoor rug, some custom cushions, a few market items from Pottery Barn and we are good to go.

So here you have it. A summer porch with rusty furniture. And frankly, I couldn’t be happier.

I hope you find some inspiration.

xoxo.

Always,

Cindy

Rusty and the refined. Linen pillows, custom cushion make these some very comfortable vintage rocking chairs.

Big blue striped pillows, a lantern filled with sand, shells and citronella and an antique pewter mailbox all feel very coastal.

The stripes in the rug play against the flag stripes, the blue in the pillows play against the blue in the flag.

An vintage camp chair covered with a vintage grain sack that can be used for extra seating and folded up when not in use.

Filed Under: Antique Finds, My Home, Projects, Uncategorized Tagged With: barn, blur, cottage, country, cushions, independence day, july 4th, patriotic, porch, pottery, pottery barn, red, seagrass, summer, vintage, white, woodward patio furniture, wrought iron

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

Baby’s Breath

June 16, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

Baby’s Breath in antique vessels.

I’m not prone to fill my house with market items, as I prefer to fill my home with antiques and vintage items. But sometimes when you find a market item with the right vibe, it doesn’t matter that it isn’t old. These mother of pearl drawer pulls with brass centers is just such an item.

Waiting in line to pay for my merchandise at Home Goods, no less…standing by all the impulse buy displays, I spied these lovely little drawer pulls that amount to mother or pearl flowers with a brass bead for a center.

Bunched together, they look like a lovely bouquet of Baby’s Breath. The neutral tone of the mother of pearl flowers against the somewhat tarnished brass makes for a perfect foil of the rustic against the refined….my favorite style approach.

Trying to find the best place for them proved rather easy. I chose a bedside table where some vintage and antique brown transfer ware reside. There seemed to be a parallel between the cream and brown tones of the antique pitchers and the drawer pulls. It didn’t take much convincing…I was sold that this was the right place to put my great little market finds.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Always,

Cindy

Delicate little mother of pearl petals refine the old, crackled paint finish.

The rustic against the refined; beautiful inexpensive drawer pulls add to the charm of an old, antique table.

The drawer pulls reminded me of a bouquet of Baby’s Breath.

The little touches that make this little space pretty and useful

Filed Under: Discoveries, My Home, Projects, Uncategorized Tagged With: antiques, baby's, baby's breath, bed, bedside, breath, brown, cottage, country, drawer, drawer pulls, knobs, mother, mother of pearl, night, night stand, of, pearl, pulls, stand, transferware, vintage

The French Laundry

May 29, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

Fresh, white and clean sheets with lavender scent in the vintage French Laundry Basekt

Fresh, white and clean sheets with lavender scent in the vintage French Laundry Basket

I stumbled upon some french laundry baskets this Memorial Day weekend at an antique warehouse in Forney, Texas. I have wanted one for a long, long time but hadn’t found one at the right price. As luck would have it, DeRidder Antiques was having a Spring Cleaning sale and they were very reasonably priced…so I bought three.

Few simple things bring as much pleasure as line dried bed linens washed in home made lavender laundry detergent. The smell and feel of crisp, white linens pulled taught on a freshly made bed that beckon a heavenly rest.

My laundry closet is like my house; not fancy or well appointed…but simple, straightforward and quaint. No apologies…it just is what it is.

The perfect place for home made lavender laundry detergent.

Simple Washing Powder

16 cups baking soda

12 cups borax

8 cups grated castile or glycerin soap flakes*

3 tablespoons lavender, lemon or grapefruit essential oil

Combine baking soda, borax and soap flakes. Add essential oil and mix with a wire whisk. Use 1⁄8 cup per load.

The basic items needed: Borax, Baking Soday, Soap Flakes and Essential Oil.

Soap flakes just look clean, don’t they?

A vintage enamel bowl is put to good use to mix Borax, Baking Soda, Soap Flakes and Lavender essential oil.

Vintage containers hold linen water, Borax and cleaning supplies

Vintage Mason Jars filled with old wood and wire clothes pins with a sweet home made label

Using office supply oak tags and alphabet stamps for laundry room labeling

Home Made Lavender Laundry Detergent.

Freshly dried and folded linens in the French Laundry Basket.

Filed Under: Antique Finds, My Home, Projects, Uncategorized Tagged With: basket, bed, cottage, country, detergent, french, home, home made, homemade, laundry, lavender, linens, made, sheets, vintage, wicker

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

Apothecary Four Ways

March 18, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

Tarnished German glitter glass is a lovely foil for the beautiful vintage jars.

My inspiration for this article was a monogrammed handkerchief from my grandmother, Mary Keifer. I have had it for years, but it sits in a drawer and that seems not to honor her. And in a moment, I had this thought that I could tie it around one of my many apothecary jars, kind of like a vintage label with the “K” monogram on the front. I really couldn’t think of a better vessel to display her lovely little gift to me. Vintage with vintage. And it is in a spot in my house that I see every day and in doing so, smile at her life and her memory.

As I was arranging the handkerchief around the bottle, it reminded me of all the other ways I use vintage apothecary jars, so I thought I would share them with you.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Always,

Cindy

A wide mouth apothecary jar holds lovely scented votive candles.

#1: A wide mouth (for filling and grabbing) apothecary jar holds lovely scented votive candles.

#2: Elevate a vintage jar by setting it in a vintage matte white pottery piece.

#3: Vintage Handkerchief as a label of sorts.

An homage to Grandma Kiefer

A variety of vintage jars collected from all over next to a vintage reproduction clock.

#4: A lovely little apothecary jar found for $2 now holds make up remover in the most lovely way.

Vintage lamp, a variety of jars used in a number of ways, old bathroom mirror agains a crisp white back drop make for a lovely vignette.

This blog article is in honor of my Grandma Kiefer, who I miss dearly.

My dad’s mother, Grandma Kiefer.

Filed Under: Antique Finds, My Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: apothecary, bead, beadboard, board, cottage, country, grandma, grandmother, handkerchief, jars, monogram, vintage, white

At the Corner of White and Pine.

March 3, 2013 by Cynthia Leave a Comment

Home is where the heart is.

White. Pine. Or Chippy White and Patina Pine. Both of those finishes are the finishes that I am transitioning the antiques in my cottage to. Yesterday while strolling through downtown McKinney on a beautiful crisp winter day, I found this little market item: a little white heart. Painted white it is made of stone or something and has some weight to it. A heavy heart, you could say.

So I brought it home and found a special place for it. So it goes that home is where the Heart is.

I hope you find some inspiration.

Always,

Cindy

The Corner of White & Pine

Filed Under: Antique Finds, Discoveries, My Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: antique, chippy, cottage, country, heart, patina, pine, soul, white

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