Summer Updates in the Livingroom and Kitchen.

Not much has changed really in our home, we did upgrade the free sofa to a Craigslist IKEA sectional. I have re-arranged some of the wall decor and chairs. Added some beachy/summer stuff to the mantel.

 

 

 My slipcover does fit better on the sofa it was meant for. It came with the ottoman, and I haven't decided to keep the black, or buy a different cover.

 Mantel is filled with rocks, shells, drift wood and sea glass my boys found on the beach, along with a couple of large shells from my childhood in Mexico.

 Changes to the dining room include the chairs I bought off craigslist for $50. I painted them with Duck Egg blue AS Chalk Paint. They are a smaller scale and I can fit two on one side without table leaves. I think they are cute, but I have kept the originals, I'm not sure these will be kept if we move the table later.

Touches of fresh flowers from the yard. I put them all over the house to enjoy.

White Wash Brick Fireplace Makeover

Decided to breakdown and try a paint wash on the fireplace brick. The brick has a vintage/rustic feel to it.. like the used reclaimed brick, and the mantel was bespoke made local. Here is a "before" photo, it shows the fireplace insert before I gave it a paint makeover. You can see that HERE.

The orange finish on the fur mantel combined with the dirty brownness of the brick was not doing much for me. I had to think long and hard about putting paint on the brick, as you really can't go back once it is done. I decided to use some of my Country Chic chalk paint in "French Linen" It's a very light gray.. I diluted it to about 40/60 paint and water. Chalk paint dries fast, and I wanted it to go on light.

I painted the wash on with a regular paint brush, then used  an old damp towel to blot the excess off. Work in sections and if you take too much off, just put more on and dab again.


Now you can really see some progress.. all that is left is the right side, and the bottom hearth. It really brightend up the brick, but it still looks like brick.

The last step was to put on a few coats of glossy trim paint on the mantel.. and it sure looks like a different fireplace. The gray cast to the brick has more of a "stone" look. You can still see some of the rustic tones of the brick though it.

The room feels lighter and brighter already with just this small change. 

Making Pillows From Pottery Barn Napkins

I love Pottery Barn's seasonal pillows. They always seem to have just the fabric and print that I would love adding to my home. This year they offered their "painted pumpkin" accessories and I fell in love with how soft the colors were, and how well they would transition from Fall to Halloween to Thanksgiving. Three months of use for that print. Perfect!

 Not so much the price. I didn't want to buy the outdoor pillows, I don't like storing pillows with built in inserts, takes up way too much space. I would have to spend over $60 to get two pillow covers for my sectional. In looking at the other items in that line I noticed they had a set of 4 napkins. And they measure 20" square. Plenty of fabric for a pillow. The napkins cost around $25 ( they are sold out now)

I picked out some fabric from my stash for the back side of the pillows. If you wanted you could simply sew two napkins together and stuff with an insert or poly-fill, but I wanted a cover I could remove and adding a simple back allows you to make 4 pillows. (or use the other napkins around the house) In this case I picked a natural colored linen blend. I already had it, so it didn't add cost to this project. 

Next I cut two pieces of fabric the same height and about 3/4th the width of the pillow. I'm making an envelope opening, no need to fiddle with sewing zippers or buttons. 

Next I did a double fold and sewed a seam to cover the raw edges that will be the opening side.

I sewed this seam on both back pieces. I then lay the pieces over the back side of the napkin and pin in place while turning the edges over. I pin it so the edge just covers the seam Pottery Barn put when the finished the napkins. 

The two pieces will overlap in the middle and I simply tuck the top edges under each other and pin.

Using my machine I top stitch over the original seam. This seam will now look like a small flange on the finished pillow. Go slow.. don't forget to remove the pins on the underside as you go.. and I use a finger pressed on the seam to make sure my fabric is still under it while I'm sewing.

The end result is a pillow that fits an 18" insert well. 

The back side.. (needs an iron)

I made a second one also, choosing one that showed more of the orange pumpkin.

If you wanted a 20" pillow you could pull out the napkins finished edge and sew a regular edge.. I may do that with the other two. For now I will enjoy my two new pillow covers and use my other napkins around the house. 

The Cottage Market


The Charm of Home

French Country Cottage

Shabby Art Boutique

Domestically Speaking

How to Choose Curtains

I love curtains, they can change the feel of a space very quickly. You can add an accent color, soften a wall color or change the way light comes into your room. In this case, I wanted to make my room actually feel softer and bigger. I brought home a couple different curtains that had some of the same colors as room accents. In this case both matched a color in my carpet, and both had a modern cottage vibe. I find the only way to know for sure if they will look good, is to simply hang them and see. Most places allow you to return them if they don't work. I bought these at TJMaxx, they allow returns, though I do carefully fold and put them in the package. I feel it's rude to return in a messy, used looking lump.
The best way to see how a curtain will affect lighting is to take a photo of each, using natural light. In this case I used my phone. I took a photo of each and posted it to my facebook to see what my friends and family thought. Most people voted on the stripes. I had to agree, it was much brighter than the lattice print and didn't compete with the carpet.

The side by side photo really shows how the light and colors of the room were different. 

And when taken with a real camera the room looks even better.

Living Room Progression

The living room has had quite a few different looks, and we only moved here in July. The room pretty much started out as just a place to put stuff that no longer had a home. It's progressed to having a "new to us" sofa and freshly painted furniture to tie it together. Most of the changes were done using what we had. The only purchased items are the new painting, curtains and the sofa slipcover. Oh and the wall paint of course.

Here is the room from when we bought the house. Notice the dark yellow paint, this paint seems to be very common in this area.. we looked at a few different homes painted in what I call "Waldorf Yellow" I think the common thought it a sunny yellow will combat the feel of the dark and the gray outside. I find that yellow wall paint tends to change the other colors inside the house, making things look harsher and more reflective, including skin tone of people living in the house. The wood also blends into it, instead of complementing it.

Here is the room after I painted it with "Creamy Pebbles" and used a mossy brown as an accent. (later I regretted the accent wall and painted it over) The wood floor color is already looking warmer.

Next we moved our furniture into the house, and I tried to do what I could with what we had. It looked dark and had a very BoHo vibe to it. Appropriate for the island, probably.. but not really me. We placed the china hutch as close to the table as we could, on this wall it stuck out into the room a bit and made the space feel smaller. The painting was actually for my sewing room... but it was the only thing that fit the rather narrow wall space above the fireplace. The carpet is from a kids room.

Next came a re-arranging. I had in my mind that this space needed a sectional to truly work, but hubby was in doubt that one would fit. So I arranged the sofa and a chair into the dimensions of a sectional to get a sense of the space and try to win him over with the idea. The black shelf was moved to make a buffer between the dining space and living and the hutch was moved to the corner to allow for easier flow around the end of the sofa.

Next came a bit of good luck. I found this Bauhaus sofa on our local facebook group for free! I didn't have to talk hubby into plunking money for a sectional after all. The white canvas was stained but it was clean and had been washed, the foam under the covers was clean. I decided to give it a go, and it fit the room so prefectly. The lighter color added brightness to the room immediately. All it needed was a slipcover. I guessed that it was pretty close in shape and size to the Ikea Ektorp sectional and next trip to Seattle I picked one out to try.

I chose to get the Risane natural slipcover, It's kind of a drop cloth canvas look with cute buttons on the sides.

And it mostly fits.. there is just some extra on the sides of the bottom cushions and the main cover at the corner. These I can either live with... or tailor at some point if I feel like it. The best part is- it's machine washable. 

The important thing is it fit the arms and the back... and I get really lucky they did. I may have to buy another slipcover to swap and wash, so far i have a sofa that cost me $299.00. Not too shabby. 

Overall, I am quite happy with how the room is shaping up. The painted furniture and slipcover look is much more comfortable in this cottage home. 

Our Living Room

Our move to this house was actually a downsize. What you can get for your money on this little island is quite different from what we can buy in eastern Washington. Over there we had a very large 5 bedroom home with huge great room and formal dining. Here were have a three bedroom and two smaller living areas. Both spaces were much smaller than our old great room, and I had to decide what room was getting our furniture. Most of our stuff ended up going into the family room, and it has more of a "den" feel to it. It's also the room with the flat screen. This living area I have kept electronic free, this room is for conversation, reading and homework. I wanted the distractions out of sight.
When we first moved in the room was basically where we put the extra stuff that no longer had a home. My berry colored love seat from my previous craft studio, a Target shelf and nightstand from our old guest bedroom and the china hutch that doesn't really fit on the wall opposite the table.

 If you would like to check out some photo of it's before and progression click HERE.

It's finally getting to where it feels more "me". It feels cozy and cottage now, though I imagine that it will still have many changes this year. For one.. holiday decorating is just around the corner.

The vinyl covered storage truck will need replacing at some point. We are using it as an occasional table, but it really belongs in our travel trailer as clothing storage. I just haven't found the right cottage piece yet.

I finally settled on this flora carpet. It did look good in our master bedroom... but it looks looks so good with the colors I have down here, I think this will be it's final home. The striped curtains I found at TJMaxx, I love that they are simple cotton (no off-gassing smells) They allow quite a bit of light in the room and seem to make the room feel wider. To see how I chose them check out this POST.

I'm not content with the wall that has the antique mirror. I may be adding to that wall at some point. I do like having a mirror to reflect the light from the windows. I found my china hutch fits best in this corner.. It does feel strange to not have it close to the dining table, but I think I may be more flexible with what I put in it. In the livingroom I can display more than just dishes in it.

 The blue shelf, behind the sofa, was a few weeks ago black. It's a melamine shelf from Target, I bought it and it's matching nightstand off Craigslist three houses ago. In this house, with it's soft light filtered through the trees, I'm slowly making over my black painted furniture in favor of softer cottage colors. We need all the brightness we can get. In this case I painted it with Annie Sloan Duck Egg and a clear wax. I lightly distressed to show some of the black beneath. You can see the before and afters HERE.

In the corner I put my Union Jack dresser. It actually is where we store our family board games and some magnetic blocks for the boys. This dresser was a project from four houses ago.. I found it at a thrift store and painted it black. When we moved into our previous home I had discovered chalk paint and this is one of my favorite make overs. The olive and cream with the rustic black showing through is perfect with my decor. I have some before and after photos HERE.

The sofa is a cozy spot. I love sitting right under the window and reading on a rainy day. It's also a favorite spot for the dogs, they love to sit up on top of the cushions where they can watch for squirrels and raccoons.