Cozy.Cottage.Cute.

Analyzing One of Your Own Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:48:00 +0000

Thanks for all of your positive comments on our new master bedroom bedding. I think I'll just live with it looking kind of flat and non-poofy for awhile. I'm not really out to create a mini sweat-lodge in our bedroom by adding a goose-down comforter to the bedding that we already have: sheets, duvet, duvet cover, and quilt. Darn those Pottery Barn photo stylers. They should sleep in one of their floofy beds for a night to see if that many blankets is realistic. ;)

I find that as soon as I take a picture of one of my own rooms, it helps me visualize what should be added or tweaked. That's what happened the other day. I looked at this photo for awhile and then was able to figure out what to change:

1. Darker knobs.

Don't get me wrong, I love the tiny glass knobs that I just bought for the bedside tables. Yet when I look at the picture, they're almost invisible! I think I'll use them on our little built-in cabinets in the sunroom and try to look for some knobs that will create a bit of contrast.

Source: http://www.csnlighting.com/

2. A Cozy Rug

Even though I'm in love with our newly done floors, I still think a throw rug or two will add some texture and cozy up the room. Plus, if I can find a comfy enough rug, maybe Roary would prefer to sleep on it instead of hogging my side of the bed allnightlong.

Image: Pottery Barn

3. A Bedskirt

I've been looking and looking for one of these but the split corner ones are so hard to find here. I can't just buy a regular one 'cause we have a footboard that gets in the way. I'd love one with a quilted look to it. That'd be perfect.

Image: One King's Lane

4. White Pillows

I'd like to swap swap two of the blue pillow cases with two white ones, just to tie in the future white bedskirt.

Image: http://www.yvonne-estelles.com/

5. Darker Curtain Rods

I would also like to find some dark brown curtain rods to add some more contrast. I don't want the bedframe to stick out like a sore thumb. Somethin' simple like the rod in the top of the picture below:

Image: Pottery Barn

6. Curtains

You know, to soften up the windows a bit. I am still in all kinds of love with the white linen curtains I got from Crate and Barrel for our breakfast room. I'll probably only do two panels: one on the far right of the right window and one on the far left of the left window.

Image: Pottery Barn

Please tell me I'm not the only one who lays awake at night thinking about curtain rods and pillow shams.... heh heh heh.

So, any other suggestions?

Master Bedroom Bedding (On a Budget)

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:46:00 +0000

Hey there. How was your weekend? Mine was spent limping around all awkward-like since I had some weird shooting pains down my back and right leg. {You know you're getting o-l-d when you start complaining about mysterious aches and pains that happen for no reason. Hahaha.}

I've had the following picture saved on my computer for-ever. The bedding is from Pottery Barn and it's soooooooo dreamy. I love the blue and green colour combo as well as the patchwork pattern. It's just so cozy and cottage-y looking.

Image - Pottery Barn

Unfortunately, Pottery Barn prices aren't as dreamy as their pictures. There is no way I would pay that much money. Check out the breakdown for the items in the above picture:

Nila Patchwork Quilt (Queen) - $243

Standard Sham - $50

Vintage Ticking Stripe Duvet Cover (Queen) - $127

Standard Sham - $37

PB Essential Sheet Set (Queen) - $102

Pottery Barn Bedding Price: $646

Instead, I stalked Homesense every week for about a year, and finally found a quilt with sorta the same style and colours.

I wasn't able to find a stripey duvet cover, so I settled for a plain blue one that I found at the Superstore. I was also able to get a new sheet set from Homesense.

I threw 'em on the bed today to see how they all looked:

Hmmmm, not bad. Not bad at all.

(Maybe a bit wrinkly but pretend you don't see the wrinkles, k?)

The best part? The price. Here's the cost breakdown:

Quilt Set (Queen) - Homesense - $70

Sheet Set (Queen) - Homesense - $50

Duvet Set (Queen) - Superstore - $50

El Cheapo Copycat Pottery Barn Bedding Price: $170

That's a savings of about $476. Not bad if I do say so myself.

Now, my only question is, how do those Pottery Barn people get their beds to look so darn floofy?!?!?!

Ugly Kitchen Quick Fix: Pendant Light

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:06:00 +0000

Last month we ended up deciding to do a few easy quick-fixes for our ugly kitchen even though we're in the middle of a million other reno projects. I started with some fresh paint on the walls and then we added some open shelving for extra storage and display.

Our latest update happened kind of by accident. We were at our local lighting store looking for a schoolhouse light for the master bedroom (no luck, btw). We had been talking about replacing the nasty fluorescent light above our kitchen sink with a pendant light but we weren't sure what style to choose.

See the fluorescent light above the window in the picture below? Eeek, yes I know.

A few months ago we installed a new pendant light above the table in the breakfast room which you can sort of, kind of see way in the back of the above picture. Here is a better photo of that pendant light:

So while we were at the lighting store last weekend, we saw the mini-version of the pendant light we already have. ON SALE! Instead of $199 it was on sale for $119. Still expensive but soooooo cute. Plus, who can resist a sale like that? Not me, not me, not me.

We got home last Sunday and took one last look at the fluorescent light:

We got all excited and decided to install it right away! Except when Alex took it down, we were left with this:

Not what we were anticipating. Why does every single project in an old house take 10x as long as it should? Alex had to patch the holes with tape and drywall putty, sand, prime, and paint the little piece of ceiling before we could install the light. He's such a hard worker. He even did some of this stuff before going to work this past week. I should really pour him an extra coffee right now.

So, we were finally able to install the light last night and take some pictures this morning. It's purty.

Because this style of light allows you to see the light bulb, we got an adorable little round one to give it that extra somethin' somethin'.

We're loving it.

Oh yeah, here is a more current picture of the larger version of the light in the breakfast room:

Next up for the kitchen? Probl'y some sort of window treatment........ and cabinet hardware for sure. Did you see those handles?!? (Shudder.)

;)

P.S. Thank you all so much for your constructive comments about the master bedroom light from Lowe's. You've helped us make the decision on whether or not we're going to keep it. Details to follow! Yay!

P.S.S. Ooops, I forgot a link to the mini-pendant light. You can find it here.

Confessions

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:03:00 +0000

Confession #1

I am secretly jealous of uber-healthy people who eat only organic foods and whole grains and exercise all the time and blah blah blah. The problem is that I really love butter, chocolate, Pepsi, Cheesewhiz, and chips. Another problem is that I enjoy watching episode upon episode of shows like How I Met Your Mother and Modern Family ~~and 90210~~ rather than, you know, moving.

Confession #2

I'm always losing my debit card, credit card, and any bills that Alex gives me (he's my sugar daddy). I always seem to find them again... just days or weeks or months later. I just found the debit card that I lost in the summer. It was in a secret pouch in my camera bag. I also just found the replacement debit card that I also lost in the pocket of a coat that is now too small (note to self: stop eating chips and butter). Alex loves doing laundry because he always finds a random bill or two stashed in my pants or hoodie pockets.

Confession #3

I seem to be deathly afraid of pattern and colour. I've got a handle on super pale stripes. Other than that, I'm clueless. I ordered something yesterday that is completely out of my comfort zone. I'm going to "live on the edge" and try to add some pattern to one room in our house. I'm nervous just thinking about it. Oh my.

Confession #4

I am way too sensitive (even though I pretend to be a toughie) and feel utterly crushed when I see that someone has gone to the trouble of unsubscribing to my little blog. I spend way too much time wondering what I did or didn't do. It even happened this week. Boo hoo hoo.

Confession #5

Alex and I often read or watch t.v. literally jammed into our two-seater loveseat with both dogs (even though we have a big couch about 3 feet away). It's squishy and very dog-breathy. We just might be those crazy dog people.

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Weird confessions..... to be continued. ;)

A Light Fixture For the Master Bedroom. Maybe.

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:20:00 +0000

I should start this by saying I am soooooo picky when it comes to flush mount / semi-flush mount ceiling fixtures. I can honestly say that I only sort of like about 2% of all of them. The other 98% of them are just so ugly to me.

I've been looking online alot lately, since the light in our master bedroom was in serious need of some serious updating.

Proof? Here it was:

The style that I seem to be digging for the bedrooms lately is the semi-flush mount schoolhouse lights. Kind of like these.

Rejuvenation - $135 + taxes, shipping, duties & customs

Schoolhouse Electric - $119 + taxes, shipping, duties & customs

They're cute right?

Except I just get so nervous to order anything online when it costs so much money for the light plus the taxes, plus the shipping, plus the duties and customs fees.

So when I saw this light at Lowe's....... we went for it. It was $33. $33!!!

Lowes - $33

We had a Lowe's giftcard saved from Christmas so it was kind of like it was free. Ooooh, I like free.

Alex installed it on the weekend to mixed reviews.

I like the contrast of the dark shade with the light walls and trim, plus it matches the bed colour. I think the size works well in the room. It isn't too big or too small. I also like how the shade is closed (no more dust bunnies up there, yay).

However, the overall quality of the fixture is kind of cheap (yeah, I know, that's what you get for $33). The finish is a little glossier than I would have liked, the shade is a bit wobbly and doesn't seem to attach securely to the base. Also, the maximum bulb wattage is 75W so the overall light source is kind of dim.

So, what to do, what to do?

Keep it 'cause it was basically free and still looks pretty cute OR splurge for a better-quality, more expensive light?

Oh, these decisions are hard for a Monday night after going back to work. It's so past my bedtime. :)

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and A Painted Linen Closet

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 21:41:00 +0000

We had some ripe bernaners (yes, that's how we say bananas at our house) lying around so I decided to whip up some banana chocolate chip muffins for a Saturday morning treat. They smelled soooooo gooooooood while they were baking.

I searched the net for a few different recipes and finally came across 'The Best Banana Bread Ever' from a blog called Foodess. I tweaked her recipe a bit but you can find the original recipe at the above link.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

1 egg
1 1/2 – 2 cups mashed banana (about 4 large)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour *
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips **

* I substituted 1/2 cup whole wheat flour for 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* I only used 1/2 cup chocolate chips instead of a full cup

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees*** and prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it or lining it with paper liners. Beat egg, mashed banana and melted butter in a large bowl until thoroughly blended. Stir in milk.

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to banana mixture and stir until just moistened. Gently stir in chocolate chips, if using.

3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

*** I baked my muffins at 350 degrees instead of 375 degrees because my oven is nuclear

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'Member yesterday when I wrote about my mini goals for the New Year? Well I already completed one of the completely un-fun projects that I'd been putting off forever.

Un-fun project: unpainted linen closet.

I had to empty all the linens from the closet before our floors got refinished last month. It was then when I was sorely reminded that I had never actually painted the inside of the closet when we moved in. It was still the crusty beige that the whole house was painted at the time. Ew, ew, ew.

With our upstairs getting all of the finishing touches I've been dreaming about forever, I decided it was time to just git 'er done.

Linen closet in the upstairs hallway.

Doors and trim - white. Inside - yucky beige.

Even Lexie looks disgusted with me.

I used paint that we had on hand (Benjamin Moore Simply White in a pearl finish) to paint the ceiling, walls, and shelving. Everything needed two good coats.

It took me two days to finish since I'm the slowest, most distracted worker of all time. But at least it's done and now I can finally put all of our linens back in.

Even though this is the most non-exciting project ever, I'm still posting it in case it will give you that little bit of motivation to tackle a sucky project that you've been procrastinating on forever.

You'll feel good when you're all done, trust me.

I might go shopping later for some cute storage baskets for this closet but that will have to wait for another day.

P.S. THANK YOU for all your tips and links about breadmakers and bread recipes. I've checked them all out and am still trying to decide...... :)

Mini Goals for the New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:27:00 +0000

I'm not really a resolution kinda girl. I just never seem to follow through with long-term goals. Either I forget, get bored, or lose motivation somewhere along the way. It's funny because I've still loved reading all about everyone else's New Year's resolutions over this past week.

I decided to choose a few 'mini' goals for myself this year instead. Mini goals sound a bit more attainable, right? Well, here goes.

Mini Goal #1

Work on my photog skillz. I took so many pictures in the summer. When I started back to work in September it was like I had zero picture-taking time. It doesn't help that it gets dark here at like, 4:30 p.m. Maybe that's an excuse though, so I'm going to try to break out my camera (and tripod) more often during the week and on weekends.

I also seem to get impatient when taking pictures for the ol' blog and settle when they look, you know, good enough. I know I can do better, so my new goal is to try.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM Lens

I've also been saving up for a new camera lens. It's reallllllly expensive. I've saved up $500 so far which is only about 1/3 of the cost. :S I'm hoping I'll be able to get it before my birthday in May. That's the goal, anyway!

Mini-Goal #2

Learn to knit. Oh how I want to be all crafty-like and knit up some scarves and blankets and other ultra-cute things. Does that make me lame? You won't think I'm lame when I'm busting out goodies like in this book I got for Christmas:

Hats with pom poms? Knee-length socks? Oh how I want thee. Uhhhh, except I don't know how to knit yet. So hopefully, maybe, fingers crossed..... I will learn.

Mini-Goal #3

Learn how to bake homemade bread. I can make cornbread. And banana bread. But I want to be able to make a loaf of this:

Freshly Baked Bread - Image: Simply Delicious

Or this:

Honey Oat Bread - Image: Pass the Sushi

If you didn't figure it out yet, I'm a bread-loving, carb-loving maniac. I could live on bread. I've been doing some online shopping for breadmakers and have read some really good reviews about this bad boy:

Panasonic SD-YD250 Automatic Bread Maker

Any thoughts, advice, opinions on breadmakers? Totally worth it? Waste of money? Help! I really want to eat fresh breeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeead. ;)

Mini Goal #4

Be more consistent on the 'ol bloggy-blog. Sometimes I feel so bogged down with work that I find it hard to make time for good quality projects, posts, and photos. But maybe that's me just being lazy again.

So my goal is to post at least 2-3 times per week. I can do that, right? ~~Even if it's just pictures of my puppies?!?!?!~~

But they're so cuuuuuuuute. Even when they give me the stink-eye (Roary) or hog all of the cushions (Lexie).

Mini-Goal #5:

Tackle the totally un-fun projects around the house/yard that I've been procrastinating on for years. Things like:

Paint the inside of the linen closet that is still the grossest beige that ever lived
Paint the railing that is still also the grossest beige that ever lived
Organize the linen closet
Donate random trinkets to charity instead of hoarding them in boxes in the basement
Get rid of furniture, items we don't need, use, or like
Etc. etc. etc.

Ahhhh! Beige!!!

I always want to do the fun projects or the cute projects. There will be NO MORE procrastination. (Okay, maybe a little bit). I will try my very bestest to get some things done that have been on my list forever and five thousand days.

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So, that's my list. I tried to keep it simple this year, in hopes that I can actually see one, two, or maybe all of these goals to the finish line. Note to self: You can do it, you can do it, you can do it.

So, do you have any big, medium, or mini goals for the New Year? Tell me, tell me, tell me!

Bedside Tables for the Master Bedroom

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:29:00 +0000

Holidays are good for the soul. And the blog. Eight posts already since I've been off? Now that's just crazytown! Please try not to get sick of me. Once I go back to work I'm sure I'll simmer down a bit. ;)

Yesterday I posted about some plans for the master bedroom. Truthfully, I've been on the hunt for some of the items on my wishlist for a long time.

One of the items on my wishlist was a pair of bedside tables for the master bedroom. A girl needs a spot to put her coffee down in the mornings while surfing the internet in bed, dontchaknow?

Forever and a day, I've been looking for tiny, chippy tables like this one:

Image: Unknown

They need to be really tiny, because we don't have alot of room on either side of the bed if we centre it in between the two windows in the room.

Back in the spring when I traveled to the Christie Lake Antique Show (you can read that post here) I even mentioned that I found some tiny tables.

'Cept they were $400-$500 EACH. Say what!?!?!?!??!?!?! Obviously, that didn't happen. They did not come home with me and I've been bedside-table-less ever since.

Until Homesense came to my rescue. I walked in one day and saw a set of tiny, white, matching, cottage-y end tables for about $79 each. AND, they were wood to boot. I snatched those suckers up real fast.

Here they are:

Even though I wanted some tables with a little more chippy character, these puppies will do just fine. I can always add some chippy things to the shelves, right?

To give the tables a bit more character, I picked up two of these adorable knobs when we were at The Door Store in Toronto. (P.S. Found this awesome store thanks to Jen's recommendation from Rambling Renovators. The store was awesome.)

So here is one of the knobs before:

And here is one of the knobs after:

What I especially love about the tables is their potential to put cute stuff on the top AND the two bottom shelves on each one. Oh yes, bring on the clutter that I hate to dust. Hee hee.

Woo woo!!! Cross bedside tables off of the wishlist. Done and done. :)

P.S. I'll probably bombard you with another post tomorrow since I think I found a quilt that I actually like!

Sharing here:

Good Life Wednesdays @ A Beach Cottage

Master Bedroom = Blank Slate

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:44:00 +0000

Now that we've got our floors done upstairs in the bedrooms, it's time to decorate. {Insert squeals here.}

Our master bedroom is a total blank slate. See?

The only things we have right now that we'll continue to use are:

a) This Noresund bedframe (Ikea) that we bought for our first apartment. We still have it and will be using it until we can find the perfect replacement.

Image: Ikea

b) White, two-inch wood-look blinds for privacy. We tried some bamboo shades but woooo-weeeeee you can see silouettes through them from the street. And well, I'm a shy kinda girl when I'm getting dressed, ya know? ;)

So there are a few things I'll be looking for over the next few months to cutify the bedroom. Yes, cutify is now a word. I decided.

1) Five-panel doors for the two closets (haven't decided on solid or bi-fold yet since they are so narrow):

2) A blue and green quilt and matching bedding to go with the wall colour:

Image: Pottery Barn

3) Cute lighting for the ceiling. Possibly a schoolhouse light:

Image: Rejuvenation

4) Two tiny end tables for either side of the bed under each window:

Image: Unknown

5) Reading lights for each end table, maybe like this one:

Image: joannagoddard.blogspot.com

6) A tall, white dresser:

Image: Flik and Company

7) A long, chippy bench for the end of the bed:

Image: Heather Kowalski

Image: Pottery Barn

8) Some white, flow-y curtains:

Image: frenchlarkspur.blogspot.com

9) Some architectural salvage of some kind... corbels, shutters, old windows, etc:

Image: bhg.com

10) A gallery wall of interesting wall art and photos:

Image: heartbeatoz.tumblr.com

I can picture it all in my mind but just know it will take forever to materialize. Oh well, that's the fun part right?

Trimming Out Baseboards and A Lazy Day

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:54:00 +0000

We peeked out the window this morning to see the dogs sitting side by side at the edge of the deck.
Adorable!!

It's snowing like crazy here today. With all the stores closed it's the best kind of day to laze around the house and sip mugs of hot chocolate + coffee. Add a knitted blanket, some new sock slippers, two cuddley dogs, and some blog reading? Perfection.

We might be extra lazy since we were out until 1:00 a.m. board-gaming-it-up with some friend's last night. Yup, we're old fogies now and have a hard time staying up past midnight. Hee hee. The best part of the night? The girls schooled the boys every. single. round. ;)

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We spent the last two days adding the finishing trimwork to all of the baseboards on our 2nd floor. The gaps between our newly refinished hardwood floors and the baseboards were super big and noticeable so we needed to add some quarter-round to cover the gaps and finish everything off.

We bought 175 feet of pre-primed pine quarter round in 15-foot lengths (um, those are not easy to work with) and spent the first day setting up, measuring, and cutting all the pieces with the mitre saw.

(It kind of sucked to have drag all the ugly, messy tools up onto our new floors, but you gotta do what you gotta do.)

Oops, blurry photo.

I thought this project would be easy peasy but man, it sure required alot of piddley details. The second day we spent nailing all of our pieces in, filling all of the nailholes, and caulking the seams. Our foreman kept us on task for most of the day.

But once we started working on the final details (painting the caulk and putty) we ran out of steam. The painting needs to be finished today but the couch is just sooooo comfy.

Here are a few after photos of the baseboards in one of the rooms we finished yesterday:

It's amazing what a little piece of trim can do to finish off a spot in your home!

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P.S. HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and your family. It's so fun to think of a new year full of projects and possibilities. :)

Recipe: Whole Grain Raspberry Pancakes

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:52:00 +0000

Since I've been eating one too many fried egg sandwiches lately (mmmmm, fried egg sandwiches), I decided to switch it up and try a new, healthy pancake recipe.

Did I mention that I love being on holidays? I really, really love being on holidays.

I already have a go-to pancake recipe that I use quite often (Oatmeal Brown Sugar Pancakes) but I thought the honey and cinnamon in this recipe would add a little something different.

They were so yummy and delicious. I'll be making them again for sure. Next time though, I won't be wasting any pancakes on any silly photo shoots. ;)

Whole Grain Raspberry Pancakes
Source: Chef Michael Smith

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat, grain, or almond flour
1 cup oatmeal flakes
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg or cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups any milk or water
1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
2 tablespoons honey
2 eggs, 4 for added richness
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

{1/2 cup brown or white sugar is optional}

*I added 1/8 cup of packed brown sugar
* I added 3/4 cup chopped frozen raspberries

Directions:

A preheated pan is the first secret to pancake perfection. While you mix the batter, preheat your largest, heaviest skillet over your sweet spot, the medium to medium-high heat that gives the batter time to cook through while the surface browns. Your preheated skillet is at the perfect temperature when a few scattered water drops dance on it (just right) without evaporating (too hot) or just pooling still and simmering (too cool).

Whisk together the dry ingredients, including the brown sugar, if using, to distribute the fine powders evenly among the coarser ones.

Whisk together the wet ingredients and then pour them into the bowl of dry ingredients. Lose the whisk and grab a wooden spoon so it won’t clog in the batter. Stir the batter until it is smooth, but don’t overmix.

Spoon the batter into the preheated pan, evenly filling it with a lot of little pancakes or a few large ones. Smaller ones are easier to flip and are easy to pass out to a hungry crowd.

Watch for bubbles. As the batter heats through, the baking powder will activate and release leavening bubbles that rise to the surface. Keep an eye on them. At first, they’ll burst and disappear, but as the batter cooks through they’ll leave behind a telltale hole.

When the pancakes are evenly covered here and there with holes, it’s time to flip. Because the batter is heated through, and the first side is already browned, the second side cooks faster.

You can get ahead of a crowd by stashing a plate full of pancakes in a warm oven. Cover the plate with a bowl, and they’ll stay fresh and warm while you cook more.

Sharing here:

Foodie Friday @ Designs by Gollum
Sweets For a Saturday @ Sweet As Sugar Cookies
Show and Tell Saturday @ Be Different Act Normal

Top Ten Projects of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:18:00 +0000

So everyone else is doing it and I want to, too.

You know, recap all of the projects I did during the year to make it seem like I was somewhat productive around here.

It could work. It could be fun. Here goes......

Project #1: Pie Plate Wall

I searched everywhere for enough pie plates to do this. I needed a bit of help from friends across the country but I finally scored enough plates to channel my inner Martha and make a mini version of a pie plate gallery wall. It adds just a little bit of charm to the breakfast room. Let's forget about the part when they all fell off the wall. They're stuck now alright.

Project #2: Window Pane Mirror

I just love old windows. So when I salvaged this one from the basement to use in our back breakfast room / mudroom I couldn't have been happier. Plus, I did this project all by myself without Alex's help. I think.

Project #3: Framed Botanical Prints

Even though this project was super simple to do, it's still one of my favourites. I love unique wall art and being able to use some botanical prints from my grandfather's old encyclopedia set just seems super cool. Plus, I love how some double mattes can give them a custom-framed look.

Project #4: Antique Desk and Chair Makeover

This project is one of my favourites because I went back about five times before I was able to haggle down the price of this teeny desk. It looks pretty darn cute in a corner of our living room and it's a great place to store my laptop when I'm not using it. ~~Plus it has that secret compartment at the back for me to stash my secret shopping purchases.~~

Project #5: Shelf Makeover

It's just a simple little shelf but it just turned out sooooooo cute all trinkified in the breakfast room.

Project #6: Shutters!!!

Oh how the front of the house wanted these. I'm still so proud of us that we were able to tackle building, painting, and installing these shutters all in one day. Now that doesn't happen too often around here.

Project #7: Leaded Window

This project wasn't too difficult to tackle. It just took us forever and a day to get it done. We must've had this window for over a year before we got the guts to try hanging it up somewhere. I absolutely love how it looks in our dining room.

Project #8: Heart-Punched Valentine's Day Art

I've seen millions of versions of these all over the internet but waaaay back last year I thought it was pretty genious to use old book pages to personalize a little craft for Alex on Valentine's Day. Y'all seemed to like this one so I'll include it in the list. :)

Project #9: Giant Window Mirror

Even though this is similar to the other window/mirror project I did, it still gets an honourable mention. This baby is HUGE!!! And I got all fancy and glazed it. Oh yeah.

Project #10: Open Shelving in the Kitchen

Yes, yes I know I just did this one. But it made our kitchen sooooooooo much cuter.

Well, that's it for this year's round-up. We didn't have any huge room transformations or crazy detailed projects, but there's always next year, right?

Hey, so what was your favourite project of the year? Send me a link, yo! I wanna check it out. :)

Sharing at:

Top Projects of 2011 Party @ Southern Hospitality

Open Shelving Details and Some Questions Answered

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:45:00 +0000

Oops! I forgot some details about the open shelving we installed and posted about yesterday.

Here we go:

We installed the shelf brackets directly onto some studs for extra support and so we wouldn't have to bother with pesky drywall anchors
We pushed the fridge to the far right of the wall (you can kind of see it beside the mixer)(it's ugly, so it stays out of the picture)
The dishwasher that was originally on that wall went to the dump since it stopped working a few months ago (and was a total eyesore)(and it made me flood the kitchen three different times)
The shelves are off-center to the wood counters below so that the hubs could have his way as he wanted to make room for the dog bowls (oh, boys).... all I have to do is roll the carts to the left a little when Alex is gone and everything will be centered and perfect again
So as not to be wasteful, we plan to reuse the open shelves for storage in our laundry room once we decide to go ahead with a full kitchen renovation

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Now, I've been the worst lately at answering questions. I'm never sure whether to answer questions in the comments section of the post, send direct emails to the people asking the questions, or answer them in a specific, separate post. I'll do my best to answer them here for today:

Where'd you end up putting the fridge and dishwasher? (Ugly Kitchen Quick Fix: Open Shelving)

Instead of leaving the fridge in the middle of the wall, we pushed it over to the right as far as it could go to leave us with lots of open space. We brought the dishwasher to the dump since it stopped working a few months ago, was super ugly, and was taking up usable space.

Isn't it wonderful when you can make a small change in a room without spending a huge amount of money? (Ugly Kitchen Quick Fix: Open Shelving)

Oh yes, yes it is. Alex and I both can't stop talking about how we should have done these little, inexpensive changes a long time ago since they have made such an impact already. :)

And I love your console table. Did you buy it new or is it something you refinished? (Reminiscing about Christmas Decor. Sigh.)

The console table in our living room was actually an inexpensive Homesense find! We were on the hunt for something very narrow so as not to block the doorway into the living room and we found this console table kind of by accident. I still love it! And Homesense!

Love your blog, where is Lexie during all of the chaos? (Nothing Like a Little Christmas Chaos)

While the floors were being refinished, we sent both dogs (Roary and Lexie) to my in-laws for a week. Lexie is still very afraid of unfamiliar men (we are fairly certain she was abused before we adopted her, boo hoo) and we didn't want her causing a fuss with the floor guys here. We also didn't want dog fur blowing around on the floors OR the dogs to smell the stinky fumes. So they both had a little mini vacation thanks to Alex's parents!

The floors will be beautiful. What kind of finish will stand up to the 4 legged ones? (Nothing Like a Little Christmas Chaos)

The floor company we used recommended oil-based polyurethane for extra durability with the two dogs. They also recommended a satin finish (rather than semi-gloss or high-gloss) to hide any scratches. That worked out perfectly because I really wanted the least shiny finish as possible.

Gorgeous windowboxes, but how do you water them? Are they on a drip system? (The Longest Windowbox Ever)

I just water the windowbox with a spray nozzle attached to a regular garden hose. We have drainage holes drilled all along the bottom of the windowbox for excess water to run out. So, nothing fancy!!

Once the floors are done, won't you have to put the trim back and paint it too? (Vintage Highchair Find and More About Floor Refinishing)

We left all of the baseboards as is while the floors were being refinished. At one time, there was quarter round all along the baseboards but it must have been removed when they installed carpeting in the house a long time ago. We've been meaning to put the quarter round back on but it didn't really make sense to do it until the floors were redone. The sanding machines did scuff up the painted baseboards a bit but we went around and touched them up with some white paint already. We are hoping to paint some quarter round and install the finishing trimwork this week sometime. Woohoo!

Have you heard of rust-o-leum's cabinet makeover kit? Looks amazing. (Ugly Kitchen Quick Fix: Paint)

No, I haven't heard of the kit! I have tried Benjamin Moore's new cabinet paint but it was so sticky to work with. I'll have to check out the kit you mentioned the next time I'm at the hardware or paint store!

Approximately, how much fabric did you use for the entire stocking? You didn't mention how much fabric you needed for each piece. I really want to make these, so I would love to know..thanks! (Burlap Stocking Tutorial - Just For You)

Oh geez, I really have no idea since this was over a year ago and I haven't even taken those stockings out this year to see how big they are. I'm pretty sure I purchased a meter of fabric per stocking just to be on the safe side (in case I messed up) and had lots left over for other projects. I think it would also depend on the dimensions of the stocking that you choose. Obviously more fabric for bigger stockings!!!

I'm considering blinds like those for our bedroom, would you mind sharing the source? (Tiny Bedroom Progress)

We purchased the bamboo roller blinds from a company called Linens N' Things that used to be in business in our town. They went out of business a few years ago and we were able to buy seven sets on clearance. I think the company is still in business in the States but when I checked the website awhile back it didn't look like they carried those exact shades anymore. Boooo!

Congrats on reaching the double digits! I will do my own awkward dance for you when your file lands in Ethiopia! P.S. Does this mean you will resume making your awesome dolls soon?!? (A Small But Exciting Adoption Update)

Ha, ha! I am SO out of practice with making those dolls. I always intended to make some more but never got around to it. How about I'll say maybe. Haha.

Hi, this is a great tutorial - thanks. I'm about to make one for my bedroom window, but it really needs to be lined (to keep the draft out). I was just wondering if you can see the back of the blind when it rolls up? (Tutorial - Fabric Tie-Up Shade)

I rolled the fabric under so that you only see the finished side!

Nice ... what are your favourite shades? (Tiny Bedroom Progress)

My favourite shades are the chocolate brown ones that you can see in the above post. They are the same ones I mentioned a few questions up from Linens N' Things.

Do tell about your shades...I think I want them! (Tiny Bedroom Progress)

See answers above. :)

So where's the after shot of the newly painted kitchen? (Our Kitchen Is Oogly)

I put up some pictures, I put up some pictures!!!! I'm just slow is all..... :) The pics are here. :)

I've just found your blog and love your style!! Would you please please share the color on your walls here? I'd love to paint my kitchen like this. (Shelf Before & After + A Shelf Vignette)

The colour in our little breakfast nook is called Seagrass. It's a Sarah Richardson colour with her new line of paint called Para Paints. We found it at Lowe's but I know that other paint stores carry it also.

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Phew. I think that was all of your questions! Thank you so much for your comments, questions, and continued blog love. If you have any more questions for me.... leave 'em here. I think I'm on a roll today!

Ugly Kitchen Quick Fix: Open Shelving

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:48:00 +0000

Last month I shared some photos of our super ugly kitchen. Then on a whim I decided to freshen the room up with paint (you can read that post here) since we had left it completely untouched since we moved in.

A fresh coat of paint gave me the bug to see what other easy, inexpensive improvements we could make to the room, knowing that in about a year, we might be ready to tackle a full-on kitchen renovation.

One of the main problems in the kitchen was the layout of the appliances on one wall, as well as the lack of storage. As you can see from this picture, one wall on the left is full of cabinetry, and the wall on the right has none.

On the empty wall sat an ancient rolling dishwasher from Eatons (with a microwave on top), a fridge in the middle of the wall, and empty space on the other side of the fridge which we tried to fill up with an Ikea kitchen cart. The layout completely sucked. The fridge looked like a monstrosity, the Ikea cart looked out of place in the far corner, and the dishwasher, well, was an ancient old dishwasher.

On our recent road trip to Hamilton, we stopped at the Ikea in Burlington to see if we could find an inexpensive solution to our ugly, inefficient wall in the kitchen.

I had seen these wall shelves a million times before but never considered them for our space.

Grundtal Wall Shelf - Ikea - $29.99

Grundtal Rail - Ikea - $8.99

So we went for it and picked up two wall shelves, one rail, and some hooks. We decided that these would be one of our Christmas gifts for eachother. Plus, Alex always likes putting stuff together on Boxing Day. :)

When we got home we moved the fridge to the far right of the wall where it had never been before. That left a large section of wall for us to install the shelves.

This was the layout before:

Here is my very own handyman installing the shelves.

Now that they are up and installed I am in total, utter LOVE. I cutified the shelves with items from all around the house (some practical, some decorative). This is now what you see on that bare wall in the kitchen:

Ooooh, aaaaah, so fancy compared to before. Note: Alex has since gone and messed up my cute arrangement by jamming a cheese grater on the bottom rail when I wasn't looking.

I really am in love. Stay tuned for my next kitchen post where I'll share how we scored some extra counterspace. I'm also seeing new knobs in my future somewhere........

{Note: I forgot some details in this post and added them here.}

Sharing here:

Tuesday's Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm, Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch, DIY Project Parade @ The DIY Show-Off, Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Creek Cottage, Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge, Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Refinished Hardwood Floors

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 16:25:00 +0000

As much as I hate to admit it, getting our 2nd story floors refinished a week and a half before Christmas probably wasn't the best idea in the world. It really added quite a bit of chaos to an already hectic time of year.

The fumes were waaaay stronger than I had anticipated. (We went with oil-based polyurethane for extra durability with the two doggies.) Not only did I need to have 10 nights worth of sleepovers out of the stinky house, we STILL have the windows open upstairs with fans blasting all crazy-like. Alex is really impressed that we've been heating the outside for two weeks. Hee hee hee.

We weren't able to move our furniture back upstairs in time to host Christmas Eve dinner so we had to do a last minute venue change and host it at my mom's house. I also ditched the turkey, stuffing, and gravy plans (boo hoo) and bought some locally made lasagna and perogies to serve to the fam. Yup, it was that crazy around here.

We did end up getting our Christmas tree up with lights on it by 1:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve (after we got home from hosting dinner). I guess you could say we went with the plain-jane style of decorating this year. ;)

Despite all of the setbacks and chaos that refinishing these floor caused us, it was SOOOOO WORTH IT. They are so dreamy and pretty and smooth and shiny. They make the whole upstairs look so fresh, crisp, and clean. It's making me SO excited to start decorating the upstairs bedrooms.

Without further ado, here are some of the after photos. Forgive the lighting, I snapped them late one night in a mad rush.

Since our house is so old, we have very large gaps between the floorboards and the baseboards. Our next step is to finish the rooms off with some freshly painted quarter-round or shoe moulding as some call it.

We did have to do some paint touch-ups to the baseboards where the sanding machines scuffed up the paint. My trusty handyman did that for me the other day while I was wrapping presents. He's such a good worker.

So now that the 2nd story floors are refinished, I'm so antsy to get the main floor done, too. I think we'll wait for the summer though, when we can stay at camp for a few weeks and have the windows open without the furnace running. ;)

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I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas with friends and family and holiday cheer. Okay, and maybe a few fun presents. I'll be back tomorrow to share one of the gifts Alex and I purchased for ourselves / eachother on our shopping trip to Hamilton. I'm off to take some pictures as we speak...... MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Sharing here:

Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Reminiscing About Christmas Decor. Sigh.

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 18:09:00 +0000

Phew! We’re on our way back from our 4-day road trip. I am SO excited to get home and see how our refinished floors look. We won’t be able to put any furniture back down on them until Monday or Tuesday but that won’t stop me from walking on 'em ~~and kissing them all over~~. I’ll post some pictures of the floors tomorrow! Did I mention that I am so excited???

Since I have not one single Christmas ornament or decoration out I thought I would get all sentimental about some holiday decorating that we did last year. Maybe it will inspire me to dust some boxes off when we get home tomorrow. Or put our tree up since it’s still in a trailer in the backyard. :S

So here are some photos of our Christmas decorating last year. Please forgive the photo quality. These were all taken pre-DSLR.

I made a go at my own version of a burlap stocking using inspiration photos from the web. I wrote a tutorial here. I think I promised a mini-tutorial on how to make that little rosette thingie but it's still on my to-do list. Whoopsie.

I sewed up a matching stocking, this one with buttons.

I hung a fresh boxwood wreath in the centre of our mirror in the living room, and hung the stockings from the console table.

I set the dining room table with some plain white and green dishes, candles, mini-pinecones, and fresh greenery.

I made a simple garland with some spray-painted bells and braided twine.

I set up a little vignette on our dining room hutch using all natural stuff. I had a green and white theme goin' on.

I put up a real Chrismas tree in our sunroom. I ended up taking the red decorations off because apparantly I had time last year to be picky. (Picky is not an option this year I'm afraid!)

And finally, I wrapped all of our gifts with brown paper and ribbon. I even hand-stamped all of the gift tags. Sigh. They were purty.

Well, that's how our place looked during the holidays last year. No pictures this year as our mattress is still in the middle of the dining room floor and our clothes are in garbage bags all over the house.

Oh, renovations. What would I do without you?

Nothing Like a Little Christmas Chaos

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 01:22:00 +0000

There's nothing like a little Christmas chaos to make you feel like you're losing your mind.

{While I'm spinning out of control, Roary keeps lazing around all cute-like. I heart him.}

Is your Christmas tree all decorated and pretty-like? Mine is frozen in a trailer in the backyard.

Are your Christmas decorations unpacked and giving your home some holiday cheer? Mine are buried somewhere in the renovation disaster in the basement.

Are your gifts wrapped and under the tree? Half of ours are piled in our breakfast room and the other half are still items on a shopping list.

Did you sleep in your bedroom last night? I slept on a mattress on the dining room floor.

Did you have a shower this morning? I had to have a "shower" in the sink. (Try not to picture that, k? It could get awkward around here.)

;)

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So on Sunday, when I should have been getting all of my Christmas stuff done, I was finishing the last of the painting on the main floor. (We recently painted the kitchen, living room, dining room, and front entry but had left the sunroom since we were lazy and didn't want to take all of the blinds and curtains down.) It feels good to be done but it took a long time (lots of windows and shelving to paint around). Plus, that's the room our Christmas tree is eventually supposed to go in. It had to get done.

The last of the yellow. See ya, wouldn't want to be ya.

We also spent most of the weekend moving all of our furniture on the second story down onto our main floor (Thanks J & J!!!). The furniture wasn't the sucky part. It was all the other stuff! We filled up like, 12 garbage bags full of clothes and linens. 12 BAGS!?!?!?!

We got it all done though, and had all three bedrooms emptied out by 8:00 a.m. this morning. Phew.

Then......... the floor guys came today!!!!

I'll show you some pictures of their progress and I'm soooo excited. (Note: These pictures show the floors partially sanded.)

We got home from work expecting there to be dust everywhere. The floor guys have some vacuum thing attached to their sander. Awesome.

The stairs are all being done by hand. (We'll have to get a runner on them once they're finished so that the dogs don't scratch 'em all back up again.)

That's how rough the floors were in some spots.

Here's kind of an in-progress before and after. I'm so amazed at the difference already!

That's the tiny bedroom.

That's the stripey room.

And that's our bedroom.

To top all of the chaos off, we're heading out of town for a few days so that we don't die from inhaling stinky floor fumes.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! To be continued......

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Oh yeah, I've had a few questions from readers that I haven't gotten back to yet that I will try to answer in my next post. Please be patient with me, it's been sooooo crazy around here!!!

Vintage Highchair Find and More About Floor Refinishing

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:07:00 +0000

Ever since we made our first adoption plans I've been on the hunt for an old-school wooden highchair. To refinish of course. In white. With distressing. And cuteness.

Basically I've been looking for a highchair that will look more like a piece of furniture and less like a neon hunk of plastic in the dining room. If-ya-know-what-I-mean.

So I've seen a few here and there over the past few years but none of 'em came home with me. Some of them had trays that didn't work. Some of them didn't have trays at all (um, where does the food go?!?), and some of them were too ornate for my taste.

I hit up Kijiiji (kind of like Craigslist) the other day and actually found a vintage highchair listed locally. I drove right over to have a look, bartered the guy down 20 bones from his asking price (yay, me!), and lugged it home.

It needs a makeover ba-ad. Hunter green cushion? Come on now.

But, it does have good bones. And a tray. Woohoo!

So here it is pre-makeover:

I guess that means I'll have to dust off my sewing machine to make a new cushion, too. Eek! I'm scared!

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In floor refinishing news, the floor guy came over on Monday to look at the condition of our floors, take some measurements, and give us a final quote.

We said yes!!!

Because we are oh-so-crazy, we are getting this done from December 12th - December 16th. That means we will need to empty three bedrooms and put all of the furniture, clothes, and miscellaneous contents of those rooms into our living room / dining room A WEEK before Christmas.

I'm telling myself that this is totally do-able. I'm also telling myself that it will be a fun little adventure.

Okay I'm lying to myself. I'm freaking out.

But it'll totally be worth it, right?

Right???

Right!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

;)

Drooling Over Doors and a Floor Quote

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:51:00 +0000

Lowe's had a sale on their interior doors last week. We didn't end up making any purchases ~~yet~~.But we did go in to drool and to get some ideas for the basement. I think we're going to end up using two different door styles, even though I usually like to have everything pretty consistent.

You see, we have a storage room with one window and a laundry room with two windows. We want to let as much natural light as possible into the living space down there. So we've pretty much decided to use frosted french doors on those two rooms.

They would kind of look like this:

We will also need a few other doors for a bedroom, a bathroom, and the furnace room. Since we already used shaker-style bifold doors on the main floor closets, we are thinking we might also use 5-panel shaker doors for the other rooms in the basement (and eventually to replace some plain doors upstairs as well).

The solid doors would look like this:

Even though they're different, I think they'd both look good down there. What do you think? A cute door is a cute door, right?

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I finally made the big call to a local floor refinisher for a quote on getting our hardwood floors refinished. I've wanted this for sooooooooooooo long. Even though it's a chunk of change (we're talking 4-digits, oy) I know it will be so worth it once they're done. This guy has been recommended by several friends so now we just have to decide if we're gonna go for it. We also have to decide when to do it. He gave us two possible dates before Christmas and will need about five days to finish the job since they will be doing three bedrooms, a hallway, and a staircase. The dates he gave are: December 5th or December 12th. Uh, that's coming up kinda quick. The fun part will be camping out on a mattress in the living room and having no shower or tub to use during the work week. What a fun little adventure to look forward to!!! Any tips on that one?

;)

Ugly Kitchen Quick Fix: Paint

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 02:56:00 +0000

I gave you a peek at our ugly kitchen last week. We've left it as is since we moved in with the intent that it would get a full overhaul within the first few years.

Hmmm. It's been more than a few years. Five actually. With no kitchen reno in sight.

I finally had enough of the crusty walls and trim and decided to put in a little effort to spruce them up with some leftover paint that we had on hand.

Even though I already know that paint is the easiest (and usually the cheapest) way to transform a room, I still left this easy quick fix for way too long.

First I painted the walls with some leftover 1/2 tint Gray Owl paint from the living room / dining room.

Today I finished painting the window and door trim, baseboards, and pantry door with some leftover Simply White.

Now I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to do this. Silly, silly me.

Here's how it's looking now. Still ugly, but not as bad.

Except now that the walls and trim are nicely painted, the cupboards look extra dingy and chipped.

Hmmm, do I see more painting in my future???

Maybe a light fixture?

Maybe a window treatment?

Maybe new cabinet hardware?

Uh oh. ;)

A Small but Exciting Adoption Update

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:40:00 +0000

It's always fun when I click on over to a 'decor' blog and get to read a tidbit or two about the person's real life, so I thought I'd share a bit of good news from ours.

I mentioned before that my hubs and I decided to start our family through adoption a very long 2 years and 10 months ago. We had a rocky start considering that 10 days after we submitted our completed file and adoption fees, our local adoption agency declared bankruptcy. It was a horrible experience and one that made our adoption wait so much longer.

After the bankruptcy, our file was given an estimated number on the wait list. Since we were one of the last families to sign on with the agency before it went under, our number was waaaaaaaay down at the bottom of the list: #222.

Our small, but exciting news is that our wait list number is finally in the double digits. The last referral put us at.....................

Wooooohoooooooooooooo! And since some families ahead of us have different age and gender requests, that number could technically be a bit less. I'm starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel!!!!

Our other good news is that as soon as our documents are updated (they all expire after two years), our file will finally be sent over to Ethiopia. Since we were so far down on the list, it's been sitting in a filing cabinet in Ontario this whole time. Once I get the confirmation that our file has been sent overseas you can bet I'll be doing my own awkward version of the Carlton dance. :)

Let's hope our next update will be soon!

Tiny Bedroom Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:25:00 +0000

I'm heading upstairs to show you some progress we've made on the tiny bedroom. Yup, that's what we call it. It's a cute little 9.5x11 room that's had a few improvements since we moved in.

Here's how the room looked on move-in day:

Ahhhh, pink carpet with blue walls and trim. So dreamy! Not.

One of the first things we did was to rip out the pink carpeting to reveal the hardwood floors underneath.

Then we sanded all the walls and trim, patched and sanded all the cracks, and painted. The colour is called Old Prairie by Benjamin Moore and it's the same colour as the stripes used in the stripey bedroom. The colour is actually a lot subtler in person but the photos are trying to trick you. It's a lovely light greyish-green colour that looks green in some light, grey in other light, and cream in others. It's purty.

I painted out the ceiling, window trim, baseboards, doors, and the interior of the closet in Simply White by Benjamin Moore.

Alex changed all of the painted electrical outlets and light switch thingies to new ones.

I spraypainted the metal heating grates with white to blend in with the baseboards.

And last, I installed my favourite roller shades of all time on both windows for a bit of privacy since this room faces the street.

If you're wondering where this post is coming from since we're all over the place over here, blogging about renovating the basement, repainting the main floor, building the deck, decorating the breakfast room, etc. It's because I've finally convinced Alex that it's time to refinish the hardwood floors on the whole second level.

I've been giving, selling, and tossing old furniture and decor items in an attempt to declutter and empty out the rooms. Alex will have to move everything from the second floor down to the main floor while the floors are being refinished. My goal is to call and get some estimates from two recommended companies this week so the floors can hopefully be done by Christmas.

What!?!?! We're not DIY-ing the floor refinishing ourselves, you ask? Nope. We were gonna, but we just have too much on our plates right now. Alex is working full tilt on the basement and I have a million and one projects to finish before we host Christmas dinner and my cousin's wedding shower here in the new year.

Plus, workers can get our floors done and the whole place spotless in like, two days. Totally worth it if you ask me.

So, that's our progress on the tiny bedroom so far. The next few items on the to-do list are:

- refinish the floors

- install crown moulding
- intall quarter-round along bottom of baseboards

- stencil one wall (more on that later!!!!)

P.S. I've got a bit of an adoption update to share tomorrow so come on back!

Our Kitchen Is Oogly

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 23:05:00 +0000

Just keepin' it real here peoples. I was thinking about it last night, and if you're anything like us, renovating your home room by room (by ourselves)(on a budget) then you know it takes time. And rooms can't look perfect all at once. It takes time, patience, and well, money.

Since the kitchen is one of those rooms that needs a lot of dough, we haven't touched it yet. When I say we haven't touched it, I mean we really haven't touched it. The walls are dingy. The cupboard doors and drawers have knicked, dented, and peeling paint. The hardward is old-fashioned (and not in a good way). The 25 year old wheel-to-the-sink dishwasher is broken. The fridge sits on a completely empty wall with no cupboards and looks like a monstrosity. The vinyl flooring is starting to break off in places. The ceiling is cracked. The outlets have about 20 layers of paint on them. The trim is yellow, not white.

Just. Plain. Narsty.

Here are some photos but keep in mind these are conveniently disguising the hideousness.

After repainting some other rooms on the main floor I decided to use up some extra grey paint and give the kitchen walls a fresh coat of paint.

Why oh why did I wait so long to do this!?!?!???!?!?! The walls look so much better. So much better that I have to paint all the trim now too 'cause it looks extra dinged up, and yellow next to the freshly painted walls.

But, even a little bit of paint can't create the Country Living kitchen of my dreams. You know the one: white shaker cabinets, hardwood floors, brushed nickel hardware, pendant lights, apron sink. Dreamy.

So yeah, that's our ugly kitchen. For now. How's your kitchen treatin' ya?

Raspberry Streusel Muffins, More Butterflies, and Leaves

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 18:46:00 +0000

After promising to make some homemade muffins yesterday and then conveniently forgetting (heh heh heh) I woke up this morning and started searching for the perfect recipe.

I came across a baking blog called Baking Bites that had a recipe for Raspberry Streusel Muffins. I had a huge tub of raspberries in the fridge to use up so I went ahead and tried them out.

These muffins were like juicy little cakes. SO GOOD I can't even tell you.

Raspberry Streusel Muffins

Source: Baking Bites
Makes: 12 muffins

Streusel Topping

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground ginger (I used cinnamon)

4 tbsp butter, cold

Muffins

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries (I used fresh)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a standard muffin tin with 12 paper liners.

In a small bowl, make the streusel topping. Stir together all dry ingredients, then cut the butter into small pieces and add to flour mixture. Rub in butter thoroughly until mixture is very fine and sandy. Pick up the streusel mixture and squeeze it in your hand to form small clumps, repeating until streusel appears to have a much coarser texture. Set aside.

Next, make the muffin batter. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, stir together melted butter, sugar and egg until well combined. Stir in half the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk, vanilla and almond extracts. Stir in remaining flour mixture, mixing just until the dry ingredients are incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Fold in raspberries (toss frozen berries in 2 tsp of flour to keep them from “bleeding” into the muffin batter).

Divide muffin batter evenly into prepared baking cups. Cups will be fairly full. Divide streusel mixture over the muffins (be generous, and don’t worry if some of the streusel doesn’t seem to “stick”).

Bake for 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached.

Turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cooled muffins can be stored in an airtight container.

*Note: If using fresh berries, you may need to reduce the baking time by 1-2 minutes. (I baked mine for 18 minutes).

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A long time ago I used a craft punch to make a butterfly collage for a friend's baby shower gift. I recently found out that another friend was expecting a girl and was doing a butterfly theme in her nursery.

So I busted out my craft punch again and created a new set of matching butterfly prints. This time I tried out some dark frames to match the crib in my friend's nursery. I also used a bit more blue to tie in the wall colour that she used. They turned out pretty darn cute just like last time.

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Al and I just finished doing a team front-yard-clean-up. There were soooooo many leaves out front that we decided to be lazy and use the lawnmower to chop up the leaves and the lawnmower bag to suck 'em all up. Little did we know that we would only be able to do ONE STRIP of the yard before emptying the bag. We came up with a good system though. I mowed a strip, Alex emptied the lawnmower bag. I mowed another strip, Alex emptied the lawnmower bag. It was like I had my own little lawn boy at my beck and call. Heh heh heh.

The sad part is that our silver maple still has almost all it's leaves and we'll have to do hours more raking or mowing in a few more weeks. See? Check it out. After a 1/2 hour, look how many leaves have fallen!?!?!? NOOOOOOOOOO!

;)

Loving Your Living Room Suggestions and Other Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Sarah @ Cozy.Cottage.Cute.) — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 15:13:00 +0000

I just want to thank those of you who commented on my living room dilemma post with various suggestions for furniture layout. You guys rock!!! I'm going to do a more detailed post with actual pictures and dimensions of the room very soon but we still have furniture everywhere 'cause of painting. So save up your ideas because I sure do love hearing them all.

Today we woke up early, hopped in the car (all bundled up), stopped at the drive-though for some coffee, and took the pups on a nice, long hike on a local trail. The sun was coming up and the leaves were all frosty and pretty-like. We are so not morning people so we're ultra proud of ourselves that we were out of the house at 8:00 a.m. this morning.

Alex is psyching himself up to work on the basement today. We decided to take out another wall in the basement and so we will end up with an extra little nook to decorate and furnish. We'll need lots of storage down there so I chose this as my inspiration picture:

Source: Unknown

Except in the middle section under the picture we'd try to add a built-in desk. Sort of like this:

I'm trying not to get too excited since the basement still looks like a warzone but Alex is almost at the stage where he can start insulating and putting walls back up. Can't wait for that let me tell you.

My mission today is to get a bunch of paint touch-ups done on the main floor before I lose my painting mojo. I ended up having almost a gallon of extra paint so I threw up a coat of that light grey in the kitchen, too. The walls in there still hadn't been painted since we moved in (shame on me, I know). I did one coat the other day and I'm going to finish up the second coat as soon as I hit publish on this post. No pictures of the kitchen though because it is still Hideous with a capital H. Well, we'll see. ;)

I'll be back tomorrow with some other random stuff just because. Have a great weekend!!!