At long last...The Cottage Bathroom Reveal

Oh yes, I bet you have all forgotten by now. It may have taken forever (the reveal, not the actual reno), but I am proud to say that I am finally ready to share the newly remodeled bathroom with you!

I posted about our bathroom here, but the general details are: it is very small (I literally have to take pictures from the hallway), it is the only bathroom on the 1st floor, and it is a full bath.

We started with a 1933, lavender & black tiled bathroom.



The contractors completed gutted the place, right down to the wood lathes.





Everything was plaster--at least 3 inch thick plaster. As a matter of fact, the contractors swore they would never take on a job like this again. The demo was back-breaking. (Believe me, I'm not knocking plaster. I like plaster. My husband loves plaster. He hates our new "sheet rock crap walls" as he calls them.



Are you ready?





I'm telling you for hours...days...hell...even weeks afterward, I would stand in the bathroom, look around & smile.

Honestly, I have to say my husband was wonderful about this whole project (less the sheet rock, of course). I have a tendency to get out of hand & act as though money is no object. He usually has to reign me in. This time however, he let me run. Oh a girl could get used to that!

I had a hard time deciding on what I wanted, but I knew I wanted beadboard. I also knew I didn't want a modern shower with glass surround (although the contractor tried to talk me into it), I knew it would never work in this old house.

I knew I wanted this shower curtain. It's Sophia, by Laura Ashley.



From the curtain, I picked a wall color. It seemed a no brainer to go with a Laura Ashley paint...Summer Nightfall.

Lots of back & forth about whether to go with a pedestal sink or vanity. Because the bathroom is so small, a pedestal sink seemed the logical choice. However, since this is the main bath on the 1st floor (where the master bedroom is located), we really needed the storage of the vanity. We ordered this KraftMaid baby.







Our biggest problem was the radiator. We thought we would remove the old radiator. Hubby went with measurements to the heating store and the salesman ordered us a new, smaller model. Of course, when it came in, it didn't fit. We wanted to scream.

It was too late at that point to do anything (like put a baseboard heater or put the heat in the floor). So we had to take the old, original, million-ton radiator (affectionately called, Old Ironsides) have it sandblasted & then powder coated. Needless to say, it went from ugly to somewhat attractive. (I wish I had a picture of its original state.)



I spent weeks trying to find something for this wall, with no luck. I kept thinking a painting or print was what I wanted. When I found this shelf on Etsy, I loved it & knew this would work perfectly. (I still need to play around with the shelf display though).





There she is. Before & After.



Our Cottage Bathroom.



Linking to:

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Potpourri Party at 2805
Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Inspiration Friday at At The Picket Fence
Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Fall into Fall at DIY by Design
Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage
Fall in Love at Decor to Adore

My Fall Mantel 2011

It's fall mantel time & I couldn't be happier. Something about all those rich, warm colors makes me very happy.



Let's see...the scroll shutter thingys I've had for years. I believe they came from Michaels. They were white, but once my family/living room walls went from orange to beige, they no longer showed up. Instead of having them collect any more dust in the warehouse cellar, I spray painted them brown for use with my fall mantel.



I found this neat wall centerpiece when we went on vacation to Vermont. On the ride home, we stopped off in Lake George, NY & I found it there. It was filled with red geraniums, but I knew I would want to change them. Someone obviously made it out of an old shuttered cabinet door & stapled burlap pockets on it. Pretty ingenious...I wish I thought of it! Metal birdhouse from Christmas Tree Shops.



I made the Fall banner from felt.



My wire cloche filled with pumpkins. The metal pumpkin candle holder next to the cloche is dear to me...my daughter brought it to me at the hospital when my son was born, October 2001.



Wooden candleholder & ceramic pumpkin both from Hobby Lobby.



And there she is...my fall mantel 2011!

I'm glad you visited me today. I'm going to link this up at:

Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
Layla's Fall Mantel party at The Lettered Cottage
Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life
Fall into Fall party at DIY by Design
Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Fall Decorating Party at Hooked on Houses
Autumn Arrives Party at Savvy Seasons

I'm sure the creativity will be flying at each of them...so go check 'em out!

Fall Decor in the Dining Room

With Fall being my most favorite season of all, I got a jump start on my decorating...early...like in the first week of September before we went back to school. Why I have not shared any of it with you is a mystery. So why don't we rectify that right now by visiting the dining room, shall we?

Instead of using the same decor in the same places, I tried to mix things up this year. Some of the pictures may not be the best...we have had such rainy, gloomy weather lately. I can't remember the last time we saw the sun shine.

This is the centerpiece on my dining room table. I bought this old tool box at an antique store 2 years ago to use as a centerpiece for Thanksgiving (see here). I've made it part of my Fall decor this year because I really do love that box.



I moved my Fall subway art to the dining room this year. I added the pumpkin topiaries (which usually sit on my mantel) to the hutch. Simple, but I like it.



What I refer to as the "clock tower".



A little something on the chandy.



A little matching something on the mirror.



My dining room decorated for Fall. Sorry, again, about the light. Sunny skies are not in the forecast & I didn't want to hold off any longer sharing these with you.



It's getting close to the time where I start adding my Halloween decor. That's always fun.

Have a wonderful weekend & hopefully the sun will be shining in your neck of the woods. I'm hoping to catch up on my blog reading. I've fallen behind & I hate when that happens!

Stay tuned...Fall mantel coming up next week.

Linking to:
Fall Decorating Party at Hooked on Houses

Under the Spell of Stitch Witchery

I had a hankering to change some of my living room pillows for Fall. Now I know two things:

1. I have too many unused pillows in my cedar closet.
2. My husband is not too pleased with my collection of unused pillows.

I gave it some thought & decided maybe I could just cover the existing pillows so that way there won't be any added to the cedar closet collection & he'd never know.

Great idea!
Great idea turned bad!
I don't sew!

I decided to search some blogs for inspiration. I chanced upon a tutorial for no sew pillows...hmmm...this sounds good. (I used Kate's tutorial @ Centsational Girl.)

I needed some sort of fusible web to make the magic happen. Stich Witchery was the product I skeptically picked up at Michaels.

Oh my goodness, why have I never discovered this until now? I mean, I always knew there were products like these on the market, but I never knew they actually worked and better yet, that I could actually make them work! (And, no I haven't been paid to tout the wonderfulness of Stitch Witchery.)

Coming from the girl who always wishes she could sew, this may be one of the greatest inventions ever!

Flying by the seat of my pants since I didn't really know what I was doing, I knew I wanted to use big felt leaves on the pillow.



I came up with this pillow cover:



Now I know I have alot to learn yet (I did make it a tad too large) but honestly, I never thought it'd turn out at all, so I'm happy with it.

After making that pillow, I was addicted & had to make another one. I had made felt rosettes a few days before, (tutorial here) not knowing what I was going to do with them.



Would they look cute on a pillow?



You bet!



I added a brown throw & now the wicker chair that sits next to my fireplace has this new fall look.

Do you have any craft projects in the works for Fall?

Linking to:

The Girl Creative for Just Something I Whipped Up
The DIY Showoff for DIY Project Parade
Crayon Freckles for Tip Toe Thru Tuesday
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays







Have a pleasant new week!

Wall Decor Metamorphosis

I had empty wall space in my newly remodeled bathroom. (The reveal is coming soon...really) I needed something, but it couldn't be too big. Of course, I couldn't find anything that I liked.

Then one day, I found this online & quickly ordered it, thinking this was exactly what I was looking for.



When it arrived, the white frame was distressed with red. Deep blood red. Hmmm, I didn't notice that in the picture. Not a problem though.

I took a teeny, tiny paint brush & with the blue wall paint, I painted over all the red.

It looked fine & my husband hung it up for me. I was pleased...

...until about a week later. Something was just not right. I couldn't quite pinpoint it.

Then it hit me!

When entering the bathroom, you saw the side view of this picture. That candleholder sticking out reminded me, oh please forgive me for being crass, of a male appendage. It had to go! I asked the hubs if he would be so kind as to remove the candle holder part. He really got a kick out of it when I told him why. Men!

He took the candleholder off & back on the wall it went, just the picture, no candleholder. I was pleased...

...until about a week later. Something was not right, again.

I decided the blue that I had so painstakingly painted was annoying me, so I told hubs to spray paint the frame all white. I also asked him to pop out the picture part.



I covered it with some fabric (osnaburg). I bought 2 fabric rosettes from etsy (see here), added some pearl beads to the centers & glued them to the fabric board.

And now, I am happy to report, I am pleased as I finally have it right!



That poor picture has been through the ringer. It may seem I'm crazy, but I hope I'm not alone. You have all done something like this too, right? ;D

Linking to:

French Country Cottage for Feather Your Nest Friday
2805 for Potpourri Party #3
Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday

The Copycat Strikes Again

The wonderful Debbie of Debbiedoos is having another Magazine Copycat Party. After not being too successful with this challenge last time, I decided I'd give it another try. I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment.

I found my photo in Autumn with Matthew Mead. (By the way, have you seen this book-azine? It's wonderful, I highly recommend it.)

This is the particular photo I tried to copy:



Here is my copycat:

I opted for a leaf stencil instead of a ghost stencil.

Not quite as bad as my first copycat challenge, yet I think I still have quite a bit to learn. I wish I had cropped in closer. Oh well.

C'mon over to Debbiedoos & join in on the copycat fun!

10 years...Never Forget

When we went to Vermont in August, we stopped at a few places on the drive home. One of those places was the New York State Museum in Albany.

I hadn't been there since I was a kid. My husband & children had never been. Suffice it to say, we all enjoyed the museum very much.

There was, however, one part that I think really affected my husband & I.

The World Trade Center exhibit.





2,973 senseless fatalities.

Having never been to Ground Zero, this is probably the next closest thing. (Sorry, I realize my photos are not the best quality.)



Actual candles & paper roll with prayers & tributes found at Ground Zero.



A destroyed door off an NYPD police car.



Engine 6.



Some of the steel framing from the buildings.

I cannot even put into words the feeling that overcame us by looking at all of this. My husband & I were literally speechless. I struggled to hold back tears.
Just seeing all the destroyed items, everyday items, found at the sight was heartbreaking. This exhibit was more powerful than I could have ever imagined.

I guess the only thing I can say is, we must never forget.

(I found some really amazing photos of 9/11. If you're interested, go here).

God Bless America!