Tuesday, December 27, 2016

2016 Projects Review

It always helps me see what I have accomplished when I go back and review the projects that I got completed in the past year. There are many gaps in my blogging story each year because I do so many projects that I don’t consider “blog worthy.” I rarely publish any of my Christmas decor because I have some paid decorating jobs which I do first and by the time I get my own home decorated the blogosphere has been overdone with Christmas photos out the wazoo! One project that has not yet made an apearance on the blog was a fixer upper home that my son and daughter in law purchased this past fall that our family and my daughter in law’s family spent many hours making cosmetic improvements on. You can click on any of the green highlighted text to go directly to the post about the photos.

My biggest project this year was updating my dining room for the One Room Challenge last spring.

complete dining room 2 You can read about that project by clicking here. That post also has links to previous posts with all of the details.

updated porch 2

I gave the screened porch at our summer cottage a much needed update. You can read about that by clicking here.

My son got married in May and I completed a couple of projects for the wedding.

mason jar chandelier-2

I made this mason jar chandelier for the reception tent. You can get the details here.

lazy susan on table 1

I also made these lazy Susans for the rehearsal dinner tables. You can see those here.

pagoda chair

I refurbished this chair for my mother.

beverage stand close up

Even though it has a plant in it in this photo, I completed this beverage stand as a Home Depot DIH workshop project. Unfortunately it was not a positive experience. My hope is that my local Home Depot will work to improve these workshops.

a painted teapot

This copycat tea kettle was a quick and easy project.

Of course my year also included plenty of travel, most undocumented on the blog. I did blog about our trip to Arkansas to visit Allen Smith’s Garden Home at Moss Mountain Farm.

garden home exterior 1

I can’t tell you how many homes I have toured but this is one of the few that I could move into today and not change a thing! There is so much to see in that post!

driveway border garden planter

The gardens were the icing on the cake. I did 4 posts on them so you can start with this one and follow them through here, here, and here.

Wow! That was a busy year! I’m linking to the Top Projects Link at Southern Hospitality. Click over to see lots of inspiration!

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Monday, July 25, 2016

Updating the Screened Porch at the Summer Cottage

I recently updated the fabrics on our screened porch at the summer cottage. They were beginning to get a little worn looking after 7 summers.

porch furniture with new fabric

When we were planning to build our little summer cottage one of the things at the top of our “must have” list was a screened porch. Because our lot is pie shaped our house is only 30 feet wide and 40 feet deep. We insisted on a screened porch all across the back on the lake side. Actually we have double screened porches. I had originally drawn the porch to be 15 feet wide by 30 feet long but the builder talked me into 12 feet wide. His reasoning was that 15 is an odd size for lumber and it would cost less and be less labor if I went with 12 feet wide. 12 feet wide is sufficient but 15 would have been even better!

screened porch

We spend a lot of time out here and eat most of our meals here too. We love the view of the water.

lake view

If you have followed and read this blog then you may already know that I don’t change things very often. When I find something that I like I buy it and I usually keep it for a long time. If you compare the new fabric to the old fabric you will notice that they are almost identical. I searched and searched for a fabric that I love but kept coming back to the old stuff. The new fabric is not identical but it is very close.porch furniture with old fabric

The photo above shows the old fabric. When I found that fabric it was the end of a bolt and there wasn’t enough so I had to use a solid color for the backs and bottoms of the cushions. This time I was able to get enough fabric for everything. While the old ones were not torn or worn out the color was a little faded and dingy looking with a little mildew on it. These cushions stay outside 6 months of the year and are stored inside 6 months of the year. It is outdoor fabric. For the new cushions I did take time to put in invisible zippers so that they can be washed if needed. The old cushions did not have zippers. I found the fabric online at fabric.com.  They had a great selection and I was able to order samples for $1.75 each before making my selection.  I was very pleased with my purchase although shipping took longer than I expected, more than 2 weeks.The name of the fabric that I chose is called Snow Leopard by P Kaufmann. (If you missed my dining room update using PKaufmann fabric for wallcovering you can see it here.)

porch furniture with new fabric 3

The new fabric had to coordinate with the blue paint on the house without clashing and I think this one does that pretty well.

screened porch seating 1

In the photo above you can also see the old curtains that I used. There were very inexpensive sheers from Ikea, maybe $5.99 per pair! I don’t see those on the Ikea website any more. Those were hung with rings on tiny nails. For the upgrade I went with the cotton Lenda curtains from Ikea. They were $19.99 per pair when I purchased them. Now they are a little more.

Ikea Lenda curtain panels

So far the curtains have held up very well. They are not outdoor fabric and I did not add waterproofing or any weather protection.

brackets for curtain rods on porch

I used the Betydlig brackets and the Hugad rods from Ikea.

curtain rods for porch

All of my Ikea purchases were made last summer so I don’t now if they are still available. If they are not, I’m sure that Ikea has an affordable alternative.

porch furniture with new fabric 2

I also made new cushion covers for the dining chairs. I didn’t realize how much the cushions show up due to the tabletop being glass.

new cushions for dining chairs

updated porch 2

updated porch cross view

updated porch dining area 2

updated porch dining area

updated porch

I plan to do another post with a fresh tablescape and another more instructional post on putting the porch together step by step.

I hope that you are enjoying this hot summer as much as I am!

I will be doing a follow up post on creating an outdoor room step by step. I hope you will come back to read it too.

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I’m linking to Metamorphposis Monday, to Inspire Me Tuesday,  to Wow Us Wednesday, to Thoughts of Home on Thursday, and to Grace at Home. Click the link for lots of inspiration!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Another Treasure for the Porch

My mother recently gifted me another treasure for our screened porch. You may remember the piece pictured below that I purchased from the roadside for a whopping $20. You can read about it here.

porch server 1

I had already found another mirror for the other side of the doors and was looking for another piece to use as a server. My mother gave me an antique music cabinet.

IMG_7775 The idea is that it will provide a little symmetry. Here’s another view.

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It was purchased from an estate sale many years ago.

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The shelves inside were originally designed to hold sheet music.

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I carefully pulled the back off and removed a couple of shelves then replaced the back. Since I won’t be using it to store music, I thought that it would be more useful with bigger spaces between the shelves. As I turned it over to take the back off, I found this on the back.

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The “helpful information” from factory number 14 was nothing spectacular.  It was the handwritten notes on the margin of the paper that intrigued me.  It was very hard to photograph.

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It says “got this cabinet Feb 6, 1918”!!!!

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Across the other edge is written “wartime.”  That would have been World War I.  This little cabinet is almost 100 years old!! I love a piece with history!

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A couple of thin coats of black paint and she was all done.

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Even though the pieces are not identical, I like the balance it gives to the porch.

I hope that you are having a great summer!

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I’ll be linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style and to Home Work Wednesday at Worthing Court. Click over for lots of inspiration.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Tour of the Summer Cottage–Part 1

I have so enjoyed the summer home tour at the Shabby Creek Cottage and wanted to join the party. Click on the link to see lots of inspiration! I have never gotten part 2 of this post done but that is on my “to do” list for this summer!

Lakehouse exterior 1

This was our fourth summer here and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I have done many hands on projects but it has truly been a labor of love. You can read my post about the construction process by clicking here. The rust stains have been removed from the sidewalk and you can see how I did that here. I’ll start with the view when you step inside the front door.

hall view 1A

It was difficult for me to get a good picture, but I think you can get the picture! The French doors leading to the screened porch are aligned with the front door so that you can see the lake from the front door. Our main living area is on the lake side of the house, putting the bedrooms near the front door. The master bedroom is to the right. Warning……I LOVE color. This is NOT a neutral house!

master bedroom 1

The furniture was all bought second hand with the exception of the mattress and box springs. I made the custom bedding from Robert Allen’s Summerlin fabric. The drapes and bed skirt are silk. I’ll do a post later on the headboard which I purchased at Scott’s in Atlanta.

master bedroom 5

The light fixture is one of my favorite things and you can read about how I made it here.

master bedroom 9 

The comfy chair in the corner is a hand me down that I re-upholstered in a coral colored upholstery velvet. I used the same fabric on the headboard.

painted secretary32

The painted secretary serves multiple purposes:  storage, a desk for bill paying, and it houses the television. You can read about that project here and here.

master bath 1

Because of the small footprint, it was hard to get good pictures, but the master bath is done in the same colors and fabrics as the bedroom.

Guest room 1

The guest bedroom and bath are directly across the hall from the master bedroom. All of the furniture in this room was either hand me downs or purchased second hand with the exception of the mattress and box springs.

Settee and floor lamp

The settee and floor lamp were two fun projects that you can read about here and here.

hall bath 1

Because the guest bath also serves as the powder room, I added a shower curtain made of very loosely woven linen in front of the glass enclosure to provide a little separation.

hall bath 3

The framed humming bird prints were vintage prints that I purchased at Metrolina Antiques in Charlotte. I considered buying all of the prints that she had and using them as wallpaper but changed my mind.

hall bath 2

I asked the builder not to install any bathroom mirrors and I purchased framed mirrors instead. I think that little detail adds a lot of  interest.

hall bath 4

This is my favorite piece of granite in the entire house! It is honed instead of polished. The texture looks like leather but it is very soft to the touch. Because we only needed a small piece here, we were able to use this which was actually a remnant.

laundry room 1

The laundry room is nothing fancy but it is very functional. It is the only white room in the house!

laundry room 2

laundry room 3

I painted the ironing board cabinet with chalkboard paint to use for shopping lists.

laundry room 4

laundry room 5

The vintage locker baskets were purchased at a flea market and I built the shelving of plywood so that everything would fit. Since we have a considerable amount of company here, the idea was that guests could put their things in the locker baskets.

lake house entry table

Because the hallway is so narrow, our “entry table” is at the end of the hall but it provides a place to drop keys and phones. You can read about how I built the table from parts of my grandmother’s piano here and you can read how I made the slipcover for the lampshade here.Our main living area was designed to blend the indoors and outdoors together.

den 1

The den area is to the right.

den 2A

The kitchen and dining area are opposite of the den area. Three sets of French doors open to the screened porch.

den chair with casters

Because this club chair sits in front of the doors, I removed the feet and added swivel casters with rubber wheels. That makes it very easy to move it around without damaging the hardwood floors.

kitchen 1

The kitchen is also on the small side but very functional. I added the under cabinet lighting to the custom cabinets.

kitchen 3

To make the most of the small space, I chose to use drawers instead of cabinets with doors.

kitchen 4

I also used some drawers in the island.

kitchen 5

For the kitchen sink, I chose a large, extra deep single bowl. It is great to have a sink that is big enough to wash things in.

kitchen 2

The dining area adjoins the kitchen.

painted dining table 3

The dining furniture was handed down from my mother. You can read about how I painted it here.

screened porch seating 1

The screened porch may be our favorite space of all. You can read a post I did about it here. You can see  how I made the lamp here and you can read about the black server that I rescued for $20 here!

screened porch upper dining 2

When the weather is nice, we eat our meals here.

screened porch 3

That’s it for the main floor. This is our view from the porch.

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As you can imagine, we always enjoy our time here.

 I hope that you are enjoying your summer. I certainly am.

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