The Reveal

I thought that since I have been absent from the blog for so long I should show you what I've been up to all of these weeks.

To start let's take a look back at what the little red cottage looked like when we moved in a year ago.



Lot's of dark paneling, out dated furniture and a rug well past its prime.

And today, after 3 coats of paint, a new floor, and several excellent flea market finds the room has a whole new look.



Believe it or not the chairs are the same ones from the photo above.  They lost their skirts and are sporting a bright new apple green print fabric.  (If you don't love it like I do, keep it to yourself...please.)



The little stand in the middle was a $5 flea market find.  Score for me!



The coffee table also received a makeover.





The floors were our first purchase in the spring and the last thing installed.  They were finally finished two weeks ago compliments of The Kid, nephew Josh and brother-in-law Jim.  Thanks guys, you rock.







The table and chairs are on loan from my big sis.   I always keep an eye out for one that fits our small space.  Until one surfaces this one works just fine.



The bunk area, which truly is our second bedroom, is one of my favorite spaces in the cottage.



New mattresses were the first order of business.  The ones we inherited were original to our 1950's home away from home.  It was scary to think what might have been living in their depths.



This summer we had the mattresses slip covered,



and filled the corner with bright colored pillows.



I uncovered my grandmother's old sewing machine ( which is also vintage 1950's) and resurrected my sewing skills.



The bunk under the double window belongs to Henna.  It is her perch and window on the world.  The telephone stand belonged to my parents; the key holder is a cottage original.



Most of our time and money has been spent on updating the main room.  We know (hopefully) that at some point there will be major changes to the kitchen, porch and bedroom and are trying to refrain from focusing our attention on things might eventually be removed.



While we don't have enough room to store a lot of "stuff" now for future use,  I'm always on the look out for pieces that can be used both now and later.  Things like this old shipping trunk I found in an antique shop in Ohio (for less than $50 I might add).

(I have challenged myself to find inexpensive items and give them new life.  Flea markets and yard sales usually produce more keepers than antique shops which tend to be more costly.  However nothing is off limits, not even sifting through a pile of old doors and windows sitting at the side of the road awaiting the trash man.  There is nothing quite like the rush of finding a piece of a rusty iron gate sitting in the mud at a flea market and bringing it home for a mere $2.  The bigger challenge is explaining to The Kid just why anyone would want a rusty iron gate part in the first place.)



The kerosene lamp is an old railroad lantern my neighbor (and partner in crime) found when they purchased their cottage several years ago.  It is one of a pair she had in a bag to donate to a yard sale.  After seeing how this one turned out, she decided to keep its twin for herself.




The kitchen is very much a work in progress and a reveal will have to wait until things are a little farther along.  I'm not great at details and there are a lot of those left to finish.  But hey, I've got nothing but time.

And now you know what I did with my time all summer.   I hope you think it was time well spent.