Cottage Glamour

Another Denim Couch Bleaching Success!

2012-02-20T16:17:00.001-06:00

Stephanie is a reader that emailed me about my bleached slipcover post. She had found a denim slipcovered couch and chair on Craigslist for $85., for the set! Hello. I’m coming to your town to shop. After looking for new slipcovers with no success, she found my post about bleaching. Here is the before: She had pulled the slipcover off of the chair and ottoman to see if she liked the white.

For the Love of Maps

2012-01-20T13:00:00.001-06:00

I just love maps and globes. Vintage or new, I love the colors and shapes. They can be used for crafting, as wallpaper, or decoupaged onto furniture. Oh, the possibilities! Are you a “mapophile” or do you suffer from “globemania” as I do? Good. Come on over to Pinterest (click on the follow me on Pinterest button in the upper right corner) and check out my new Maps & Globes page. It’ll be fun.

Cottage Drive By

2012-01-17T19:58:00.001-06:00

I was running errands in a town about a half hour from mine. I made a little detour because I knew there were some cute cottages to drool over! It’s hard for a cottage to look good in the winter so I’m always keeping my eye out for new ideas. Cruise through the neighborhood with me, k? I love the garden structures and grey railing on this one. Pretty yummy, right? How about some color? Vine

Rachel Ashwell’s Bed & Breakfast

2012-01-12T14:13:00.001-06:00

Of course you know that Rachel Ashwell, creator of Shabby Chic has a new B&B in Round Top Texas. You didn’t know? Well, let’s have a bit of a tour to whet your appetite. There is a main public lodge and four cottages to choose from for my, er, your stay. Main entrance to the Ranger station. Yes please. Bluebonnet Cottage Random glamour shots of the other three cottages.

Hutch Top Turned into a Cabinet

2012-01-11T11:40:00.001-06:00

The cabinet in my laundry room used to be the top of a hutch that I picked up at a flea market for around $30. The only before picture I could find was this one. It’s a simply made (probably homemade) shelf unit. It had the “legs” on it so that it could be on top of a lower cabinet. You get the idea. I needed closed storage in my laundry room in a bad way. After I priced upper cabinets, uh, not

Do You or Don’t You…Wallpaper?

2012-01-10T10:23:00.001-06:00

Several rolls of beautiful, vintage grasscloth wallpaper have found their way into my stash recently. I can’t decide where to put it up at or even if I want to. Wallpaper has been making a comeback and I find myself liking it when it’s done right. What’s right? Well, for me it’s when a fresh print is used as an accent. Or when texture is added in a room. I’m gaga over texture! Bedroom

Cloth Napkins & Tablecloth

2012-01-09T12:31:00.001-06:00

We’ve been trying to use cloth napkins a lot more around here. It works best if I have them on or near the table. This is my solution. Keep them in a basket and they’re easy to use and put away after washing. Rob also mentioned that he really likes a tablecloth on the table,which surprised me because he doesn’t usually have an opinion on such things. I’m not a big tablecloth fan except for

I Still Love Chalkboard Paint

2012-01-05T12:50:00.001-06:00

I had some chalkboard paint left over in the garage. Around here, that can be dangerous. I had painted a little bit on the wall and framed it for a chalkboard as you can see here. That worked great until I moved the brown bookshelf upstairs. Then the frame fell down one night and scared us half to death. I left it off for awhile as you can see in this picture at Thanksgiving. Before. I stuck

Pantry Storage 2012 Goal

2012-01-03T22:28:00.001-06:00

I sat down and wrote a few 2012 goals on the 1st. One of them for the house was to be more purposeful with my food storage. By that, I mean to decide how much “stocking up” that I want to do and in what categories. I’ve been lowering our grocery bill by buying in bulk, etc. But that’s for a later post. Anyhow, to accomplish this goal,it would be good to know what I have to begin with. This led me

Healthy & Delicious Lemon Bar Recipe

2011-12-30T13:18:00.001-06:00

source I’ve adapted this recipe from the Gluten-Free Almond Flour cookbook by Elana Amsterdam. I bought the book awhile back and this is one of my favorite recipes so far. However, she uses Agave nectar for most of the sweetening and we’ve opted out of that because of the high fructose content. Today, I’m making my bars with Lime juice

Hand-made Gifts & Cheap, Chic Gift Wrap

2011-12-20T13:47:00.001-06:00

SPOILER ALERT* Kari, do not look at this post! Ok, now that I got that out of the way….Are things starting to pile up at your house like they are at mine? I’m getting last minute gifts finished and wrapped. Then the cooking and fun will begin. At times I feel like the hair (rabbit?) from Alice in Wonderland. Constantly checking my watch and thinking, “I’m late.” But truly it just goes with

Christmas Tour

2011-12-19T15:52:00.001-06:00

Here’s my tour with not a minute to spare! Still wrapping, baking, and finishing up hand made gifts so I’ll keep it short and sweet. I found a lot of vintage items at Estate sales this fall to add to the decor. Gold bird’s nests, retro florals and greens, vintage ribbon (beautiful colors), and even a couple of gifts! I’ll let you browse and I hope you have a Merry Christmas! View Full Album

2011-11-04T11:17:00.001-05:00

Book Page Wreath

2011-11-01T12:03:00.001-05:00

I love old dictionaries and books in general. So it’s a little hard for me to tear pages out. But I love the end result! The patina of the pages mixes in perfectly with my fall decorating. I’ve been adding a few pumpkins and fall type accessories here and there. I’ve really gotten away from any “over the top” seasonal decorating lately. A more natural, organic theme has suited me (

Turquoise Eggs

2011-10-29T01:52:00.002-05:00

See that pretty, lavender hen up there in my updated header? She’s earned her “claim to fame” because she started laying the most beautiful turquoise eggs a couple of weeks ago. She’s a Bantam so her eggs will always be a little smaller than even the smallest, full-sized chicken egg. As a friend put it, “It’s like a Robin egg on steroids!” It doesn’t even move the lever of my vintage egg

Cupcakes

2011-10-03T16:11:00.002-05:00

I bought Martha Stewart’s cupcake book and spent some time making cupcakes on the weekend. Who can resist? Chai tea, dark chocolate, yellow buttermilk with Swiss buttercreme frosting. What’s not to love? Tanya

Shabby Chic Aquarium

2011-09-19T16:06:00.001-05:00

We have this 29 gallon aquarium that we bought last Christmas. Sounded like a good idea at the time. You know how it goes. Anyway, it was in my dining room and it was becoming an eyesore. Not really, but I can’t handle furniture that I can’t move around! So it had to go up to teenage son’s room or get a makeover. So we went on a thrift store shopping hunt for anything funky, kitschy or just

Repurposed Baskets to Nightstand

2011-08-01T12:05:00.001-05:00

It’s a simple idea. Try some alternatives by your bedside; baskets, a stump, crates, books. Use what you have, throw a lamp on it, crawl in bed and read a book! While you’re at it, why not put a vintage blanket up (on clip rings) for a funky,re-purposed curtain. I used this one for my linen closet upstairs. No sewing required! More thrifty ideas to come. I’m full of it them! Tanya

Thrifty Outdoor Table Setting

2011-07-20T10:36:00.001-05:00

Summer is the perfect time to have dinner outside. I gathered a few things from around the house and garden to set an inviting table. Come and see… I have a chippy picnic table and benches that I picked up at a garage sale. I plan on refinishing it. But for now, I’ll use what I have. I pulled a vintage glider up to the table to make it more comfortable and interesting. I added a lace

Summer

2011-07-19T08:44:00.001-05:00

The flowers are blooming… The chickens are scratching… The rocking chair is waiting… How is your summer so far? Tanya

Closet Door Before & After

2011-07-15T08:40:00.001-05:00

When we carved out a space for our pantry in the kitchen, some of the closet under the stairs was sacrificed. This was ok by me because it actually made the odd space at the back more useable. However, I hated that it didn’t have a door! You might recognize that shoe rack! Anyway, I now have a door and I want to show it to you. Ta da! I think she’s lovely. We (of course by “we” I mean

Thrift Store Frames

2011-07-14T09:41:00.001-05:00

Most of my house has what I call “awkward wall space.” These are spaces that traditional art or wall decor won’t fit or just looks…awkward. Besides, although I love it, I’m too cheap frugal to spend a lot of cash on art. Of course up-cycling has become an art in itself, no? The first place I’m showing you is in my kitchen. There’s a hallway that leads to my garage but it has a nice big window.

Loft Transformed to Family Room

2011-07-12T21:25:00.001-05:00

Another day, another tour! I want to show you our upstairs loft. I’ve tried to use it in several different ways and none of them seemed to work. It has wonderful light, high ceilings, and large windows. However, it doesn’t have a closet or any privacy. So it’s not practical for a bedroom. Here it is before I ripped up the stained carpet. Yuck! I pulled up the carpet and put a couple of

Living Room Reveal

2011-07-11T15:10:00.001-05:00

Here we go. A little tour of some changes that I’ve made. I got rid of a lot of “stuff” that I just didn’t love. The only money that I spent was on two vintage chairs and a very used ottoman , which I slipcovered. Otherwise I shopped the house. I’ve really pared down a lot of the clutter. Some of the elements that I wanted to include were: I pulled my Ikea Ektorp couch out of my

Thrifty Decorating with Garage Sale Finds

2011-06-15T15:45:00.005-05:00

I have Garage sale goodies all over my house. Sometimes they started out as treasure, but often I have to apply some tlc. I could get carried away with picture frames. The big, chunky molding type frames are my favorite. I found a huge one for just a few dollars. I spray painted it white and just held onto it, until… I turned it into a chalkboard of course. Maybe you’re tired of seeing