One Girl, a Can of Spray Paint, and a Dream....

French Country Cottage Dining Room: Before and After

I'm sooooo excited to post these pics, that I will let them speak their thousand words.

Before:

 

After:

 

I used Behr 350F-6 Fossil Butte on the walls and trim is Behr Frost. The Fossil Butte color looks way different on the wall than either on the swatch or on pages I've seen on the Web.

Before:

 
 

After:

 
 
The drapes are  Anya Crushed Voile in Ivory from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Before:

 
 

After:

  

In the "old" dining room, I had pushed the table against the wall in attempt to make the room seem larger. But for some reason I think the room looks just as large if not larger with the table in the center of the room. In any event, I think it looks much better.

Before:

 

I actually didn't hate my old dining room, other than the chandelier. But I was tired of it and I wanted to change it up.

After:

  

It's not 100% finished, but I LOVE my new dining room so far.

One Girl, a Can of Spray Paint, and a Dream

That's me. Just some paint and some dreams. And a whole lot of DIY and HGTV network programming.

I'm TOTALLY addicted to those shows. So much so that the hubby has threatened to get those channels disconnected. Like that would stop me--I still have the Internets and all the design blogs for inspiration!!!!

So, no. That wouldn't stop me, but one thing is true. Everything looks so simple on those shows. During my very first project, I quickly discovered that doing it yourself is not always that simple. I suddenly realized that those shows have skilled craftsmen, professional designers, and who knows what goes on behind the scene or behind the camera. I came to this conclusion while spray painting a chandelier in my dining room.

Here's the before picture:

 
I HATED this thing...with the brass...and the wood. But upon watching some of those design shows, I realized that I should be able to transform it into something I could live with. What did I have to lose? Worst case scenario, I would just buy a new one.

So here's the after:

 
Much better, dontcha think? I found the lamp shades at Hobby Lobby. Together with the spray paint, they have transformed this into exactly what I had in  mind.

Here's how I painted the chandelier. First, I sanded the brass part with some medium grit sandpaper--I just sanded it enough to dull it up some so that the paint would stick. Then I taped newspaper to the base of the ceiling and taped a plastic drop cloth around the base of the lamp and laid pastic on the floor. Then I went crazy with the can of spray paint.

This is the first time that I had ever used spray paint. It took me a few minutes to get a handle on applying the paint evenly. It would probably have been wise to practice on some scrap wood or metal outside first. Instead, I just used a brush to smooth out the spots that clumped up a little. After the first coat dried, I then sprayed a light second coat to even everything out.  

 
Up next: before and after pictures of the finished French country cottage dining room.

What's Behind French Country Cottage Closet Door #1?

 
 

Well, what do you think would be behind a closet door? Duh, that would be a closet?!?!!!! However, it is a 1940s closet, so I can understand your confusion. It's almost 3' x 3', which is only about 9 square feet. By today's standards, that barely counts as a closet.

But I tried to make the most of the limited space.

 
 

We are trying to make the best by whatever means we have available. This means hooks, wire shelves, and a wooden shelf for shoes.

 
 
We installed under cabinet lighting and small battery operated dome lights on each side of the walls.

  


And because we have two large closets downstairs, we are able to make this space work. I can only store a small number of my clothes here, but that just means that I have to exchange them often with clothes that are stored elsewhere. No big deal. In fact, I had so many clothes smashed into my previous bedroom closet that I always seemed to grab the same items over and over, so this doesn't seem like such a bad arrangement.

 

French Country Bedroom Finished. Well, Kinda Sorta Maybe Finished.

I have a feeling that my experience with remodeling projects is going to be like that relationship that does not end. You know, the one where you break up and get back together later, and he breaks up and you get back together later, and you both know that it's not really over--even when you say that it's over. Regardless to what has been said, you know that it's just a matter of one chance meeting or one of you picking up the phone at any time and it's back on. It's sooooo on.

That's how the remodel stuff is going to go down for me. I've never going to be totally finished. It's always going to be a matter of one chance find or deciding that the vase looks better on the dresser vs. the desk. I don't really know how anyone finishes--truly finishes--a project. I don't think it can be done.

With all of that said, here are pictures of my mostly completed bedroom remodel project. I wish I had taken "before" pictures, but I had not. Just imagine a powder blue room with Cowboys curtains and Cowboys posters on every wall. That's the before picture.

Here is the after:

 
 
Please ignore the Diet Coke on the desk. I am a dork sometimes. The bedding is the Springmaid Bellis collection, purchased at Target.

 

I reclaimed an old nightstand and painted it white for the new room. 

 

 The little French landscape prints were purchased in a sales bin LONG ago. I spray painted the picture frames with black spray paint in flat. I also purchased pieces of glass from my local hardware store.

The picture frame came from Target.
 

I purchased the small desk and the oval mirror from Target. I swear that I do shop at more stores than just Target. I do love me some Target though, and I was able to find many items for this room there.  
 

The dresser came from Homemakers, the clothes hamper from Pier 1, and I found the vase and dried flowers at Walmart of all places. 
 
 

The light fixture came from Home Depot.

I made the window treatments myself. I know they are a little old school, but I really wanted French awning inspired curtains to complete my modern French country cottage vision. Of course, it's not really complete because being complete would mean being finished and as I mentioned earlier, that's probably never gonna happen.

I'm Baaaaa-aaaaack

Hello!

It's been a while, I know. I lost focus and motivation for everything: the blog and the remodel project. And I think I know where I went wrong.

First of all, I have ADD--maybe even ADHD. On top of that, I'm pretty much the only one driving this operation. My husband has very little interest in this and only steps in to assist when he's afraid that I might royally mess something up--such as wiring or lifting something heavy. Mix that all together, my friends, and it's a recipe for crickets on this blog and half finished projects all over this house.

Here are some of the things I started last year and have yet to finish:

• I spray painted the chandelier in the dining room, but never touched up some spots along the base, so it looks anything but finished.
• I taped the dining room, but never painted the ceiling.
• In the dining, living room, and the long hall, I repaired several nail holes and cracks in the plaster with joint compound, but never sanded the walls.    .
• I repaired the crack in the ceiling in the living room, but have yet to sand that either.
• I have random paint samples on the walls in both the dining and living rooms.

I had so many projects started, that it seemed overwhelming and I didn't know what to work on when. So I just shut down and didn't work on any of them. All of the projects have sat for over a year. Shameful, I know. Then my eldest son moved out of the house and the sight of his empty bedroom really got to me. I missed seeing his stuff in there. I missed him. And his smiling face.

And I settled into a bit of a depression for a couple of weeks. My bird had left the nest and emptiness was vast. Something was missing. And day by day, I could feel myself slipping into a dark place.

What I needed was a project. Something to keep me busy.

One might think that I would pick up one of the many works in progress, but one would be wrong. Instead, I set out to transform my sons Cowboys bedroom into a beautiful spare bedroom. And I have been focusing on finishing that room. Yes, I said the "F" word: FOCUS.

The ability to focus on finishing a project hasn't been a problem this time. I started on the room the day after Thanksgiving. I painted the ceiling, trim, and walls in that room and am currently stripping the hardwood floors. I hope to stain them THIS week. And the room is turning out so well, that we have decided to move into that room sometime after the start of the new year.

And I think I'm on to something. I need to force myself to stick to finishing one room at a time. None of this starting other projects in other rooms. As soon as the bedroom is complete, I'm going to take my focus into the dining room and finish what I started last year.

Baby, I'm back!

Putting the T(h)ing in Decorating

Whenever possible, I'm trying to incorporate an existing piece as inspiration for the new look for each room. I don't know if I will be able to do so for each room, but I'm definitely going to try.

So far, so good. For the garden cottage bathroom, I used the cute little plates as my inspiration. I actually packed one up in my purse and took it with me when choosing paint, towels, etc. for the room. It worked pretty well and I'm really happy with the results.

Not every inspiration can be taken with me though.....

Here are's my inspiration piece(s) for the dining room:

And this one:

I plan to decorate around these pieces, which I found years ago at a TJ Maxx of all places.

Our Garden Cottage Bathroom

As I mentioned before, our bathroom renovation is just a temporary solution. We plan to go back and install a proper shower wall, retile the shower floor, and retile the bathroom floor. So, this first project was mostly about redecorating.

And you don't know this about me, but I'm not really into decorating. I'm not into stuff. We do not have a lot of wall hangings or knick knack items. And I've collected the items that I do have over the years because I don't throw things out either. Not that there are many existing items anyway.

I knew that I wanted to decorate with some type of cottage style. And that I wanted to reuse some cute tiny plates and other knick knacks that I had received from a friend long ago. Fun fact: These items had always been in this bathroom, but none of the boys who live in this house (The Hubby included) claim to have ever seen these items. They thought they were new, but you can clearly see them in this before photo:

BEFORE

 

And here are most of the same items now:

AFTER

Another feature common in the garden cottage style is plants. Since there is no natural light in this spot of the basement, I knew that I needed a good fake plant. Finding a plant that I liked was easier said than done. In the end I made my own fake plant:

To make the plant, I purchased a small wicker basket, a piece of foam, and two strands of ivy from the local Hobby Lobby. And voila! A fake plant that fits perfectly in this space. And it was fun to get a little creative.

Another garden cottage decorating tip was to include an antique bowl or wicker basket with rocks or colored marbles. I considered adding something like that, but then I found this basket at Target and thought about how usable it could be. It is a bit big, but perfect for some hand towels, wash clothes, soap, and TP. It's nice to have a little extra storage place in addition to the small cupboard.

I expect to learn a lot during this home remodel journey. One of the early lessons has been that I really do enjoy the decorating aspect of this. I enjoy picking paint color and finding just the right items to pull the look together in each room.

Defining Our Cottage Style

I began this journey of creating a cute cottage house inside and out because I was inspired by the beautiful homes I had seen in issues of Cottage Living magazine. That magazine has since been discontinued, but the inspiration stuck.

In the beginning, when I thought of the cottage style in terms of interior decorating I pictured floral prints, floral wall paper, bird cages, teacups, and lots of trinkets and clutter. And I knew I would have to tone all of that down because that's not my style. I'm just not the floral/bird cage kind of girl. A few flowers go a long way. So, I was delighted to find the Cottage Home Decorating Web site and I was ecstatic to learn that there are at least ten different cottage styles to choose from. The cottage styles I was most familiar with would be the English, country, or romantic cottage styles. The cottage styles that appeal to me the most are the beach, French, and cottage garden styles.

As I mentioned in my earlier posts, I decided to go with garden cottage in the downstairs bathroom. However, the decor in the main rooms: living, dining, and kitchen will be French cottage style. I am in love with the French cottage style. I'm ready to embrace warm colors for the walls and rich accent colors within the rooms. Here's a link to some ideas and tips for French cottage decorating. I will be adding more links to French cottage decorating and design sites and resources as I find them.

Three Weeks In, One Room Down -- Part Two

Typepad is giving me fits tonight, so I will be posting this in two entries. This is a continuation of my earlier post.

Here are the before pictures of the bathroom on the other side of the shower stall:

 

This is the sink before. You can see the old yellow paint that was left behind when we replaced the sink a couple of years ago.

 

Here's the toilet and knick knack shelf.

 

You can see that this room sustained some water damage when we had the rain and flooding last summer. The hubby replaced the faulty gutters and repaired the windows to prevent water from getting in again, but as they say: the damage was already done.

Can't wait to show you the after pics, so here we go!!!!!!

We painted both the bathroom and the shower stall with Behr 420C-2 Water Sprout. This is a light melon color. The boys who live here like to say that it is mint green or Shamrock Shake green, but that is because they want to see my head explode. I wanted something light, but didn't want white. I like it. It is the affect I was looking for.

 

These are just a few items to achieve the garden cottage look I was going for.

 

I couldn't find a fake plant that I liked, so I "made" this one. More about that later.

 

We didn't have anything on the walls before and I wasn't originally planning to get any; however, it seemed that something was missing and then I found this and it seemed to be what we needed. I like that it ties the french cottage look that I want throughout the rest of the house with the garden cottage look that I want in this room.

Overall, I am very happy with the changes we have made to this room. We're not finished, of course, but this is a good start.

The Room Up Next: The dining room.

Next blog entry: Defining our cottage "style."

Three Weeks In, One Room Down

We have a finished room. Well, I should clarify that we consider this a temporarily finished room. It is finished for now. However, we do plan to return to this room and do it right. But for now, this is what we have.

Here's the before picture of the shower area:

 

What you're looking at is a brick, basement wall surrounded by a shower stall made out of beadboard. Yes, you read that right. Beadboard. Stall. Our downstairs shower is basically just a stall, not unlike what you might find at a campground. The sink and stool are located on the other side of the stall wall and there is a door in that room. The shower stall is enclosed by a shower curtain. It can best be summed up as it is what it is.

I know that this is not ideal setup for a shower. However, we are not up to speed on home remodel projects yet and I think we may need to consult a professional in order to make the shower right. Not exactly the investment we were planning to make on our very first project and one that has very low guest impact as this is just a small bathroom located off of the laundry room in the basement.

Here's the after pic:

 

Here are pics of the new shower caddie, towel rack, light fixture, and shower curtain.

New shower caddie. You can see that we kept the existing tile floor. I'm not crazy about it, but don't see the point of replacing it right now when I know that I want to remodel this space entirely. 

New towel rack. This replaces a flimsy rack that could barely hold one towel. We can now store some extra towels and won't have to wander upstairs everytime we need a fresh towel.  

New light fixture and peek into the weirdness of this space. The sink and toilet are located on the other side of this stall wall. 

 I love this new shower curtain.