I cried...

It was bound to happen and in fact had already happened before.  When you take on a project the size of my cottage, you are going to shed some tears.  Yesterday was horrible.  Let me update everyone a little.  Here is a picture of what my kitchen used to look like.

Here is what the kitchen looks like now:

Dramatic change, right?  But truly that is not the reason I cried.  See all the braces going across where the floor should be?  That is why I cried.  Dad and me spent hours upon hours leveling this floor.  We even had to purchase a new level because dad's poor level that he has had for probably over 20 years finally warped.  Do you know what good a warped level is?  Not a whole lot.  So we have a new level and everything is good, right?  We think so.  Until dad gets his new toy......a laser level.

To understand my understanding of a laser level, you have to remember one thing, I am definitely a creative mind.  Mathematical though and logistics passed right over me and landed directly in my dad's and sister's lap.  That being said, dad sets up his new toy and guess what it says.  That's right, basically all that we had done levelling prior to yesterday was all for naught.  Nothing seemed to be level.  Well, there were a few areas that were level.  But then when you moved the level to another spot in the cottage, the area that was level was not anymore and a new area was level.  Hence, I cried.  And I cried, and I cried some more. 

Me and dad came home so he could work it out and mom was standing at the door with our new cat, Bobby Jo, and I just burst into tears.  It was all me, and it was.  I was feeling very  frustrated and didn't know if it would ever be right.  Dad came in and explained some more.  --Let me break in at this point and say that dad was wonderful.  Never once yesterday did he yell.  I think more than anything I was upset that we had done all that work for nothing. 

The night passed and I was resigned that we would have to rip out everything and start over.  This morning dad tells me that even though he read the directions on the laser level, he calibrated it wrong.  Good news for me!!!!  However, we didn't make it over there today to see how on-target we are.  I am remaining ever so hopeful....


Now on a brighter note, I got 3 things out of layaway from Witherspoon's Antique Mall and am so excited.  The first is a shabby chic antique wardrobe that I am going to use as a linen closet in the space at the bottom of my stairs.

It has a working lock with a skeleton key.  Can I just say that I absolutely LOVE skeleton keys and that I own something that requires one is the greatest thing next to mac-n-cheese!  I just think there is such a Romantacism to skeleton keys.

With the purchase, I also bought 2 little nightstands.

They are super cute as is, but of course, I have to do something to them.  I want to strip the night stands as much as possible and then either antique them or crackle them.  Not sure which yet.  Since I'm doing a sea cottage look, I am thinking about choosing plain hardware and hot gluing seashells to them for something different.

I have also made some design changes.  I had planned on using an antique dry washstand that I had purchased at Montgomery St. Antique Mall in Fort Worth as a sink.  The more I thought about it though, the more worried I became.  You see, it has this beautiful granite top that I could just see crumbling into a million little pieces when we tried to drill a hole in it for the plumbing.  And I didn't even consider drilling a hole into the tile in the back of it because it was original tile.  So, Home Depot, one of my favorite stores ever was running a sale on bathroom sinks.  This one had caught my eye ages ago, but I couldn't bring myself to pay $170.00 for it.  Thanks to HD, I didn't, I only paid $69.00!!!!  I was so excited & it will fit in the little guest bath just perfectly!

Now I'm just tossing around how big to make the guest bath.  The footprint for it is already set, what I keep tossing back and forth in my mind is whether to make it a 1/2 bath or 3/4 bath.  I keep telling myself a 3/4 bath is much more practical, but a 1/2 bath is cheaper.  Lowe's has several shower stalls that I'm interested in and they also have a new shower stall I'm looking at for the master bath.  Decisions, decisions....

My refrigerator was almond color with lots of rusty spots on the outside.  The inside was still in good shape after a lot of elbow grease from the previous owner.  I wanted to do something different.  My house is going to be unique, to say the very least.  I saw where a woman in one of the magazines had painted her refrigerator with chalkboard paint.  I thought that was super clever.  So, here is the final product of my re-purposed refrigerator:

I'm going to cover the handles in jute to tie-in with the burlap that I'm going to use for the window treatments.  That's right - burlap.  I want everything to look very homey and welcoming.  My walls, I have decided, are going to be 1"x8" boards that run horizontally, and are going to be white-washed.  The ceiling is going to be tongue and groove siding that is going to stay natural.  The trim, I'm thinking about a blue-gray color with the same color showing through the crackle paint that I'm thinking about doing to the kitchen cabinets.

It is funny how in my mind everything is coming together, even to the point of completion, but when I go over there it is still in stage one.  There are not any little elves that take care of everything, dang it.  Oh, but how I wish there were.  I would give each of the little buggers a big ol' kiss right now!

Mom and dad have been wanting to do raised plant beds.  Well, 24 cinder blocks, 24 bags of top soil (40 lbs. each), and 12 bags of cow manure later, we have 1 raised plant bed.  That's right, one.  I was sore for 3 days carrying that stuff (I'm sure mom and dad were too, but this is my blog, so I get to be the one to complain!)  I'm really excited about the raised garden, because in the cinder block holes we are going to plant herbs.  In the first garden we have lettuce, onions, asparagus, strawberries, and potatoes.  It is going to be great!

We have harvested our first crop of lettuce and it tastes yummy!

Enjoy the spring weather that has come to visit us.  Get outside and breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the sunshine.  Until next time....

Tammy Jo

Almost finished...with the Craft Room

Well, the craft room is almost finished.  There are a few finishing touches that I have to do.  Another coat or 2 or 3 of white paint on the bathroom floor (decided it was oh so much easier than laying peel and stick tiles).  The white floors make the rooms look huge!  Then I will polyurethene them to add a protective layer.  It is so wonderful.  Here are some teaser pictures that I took tonight (by the way -- water and electricity are on and everything seems to be good to go!).

Here is the bubble wall I painted. I bought a giant compass at Lowe's and went to down drawing the "bubbles" and then I went back and filled them in with paint. Turned out to be really cute!

Here is another picture of the "bubble" wall.  I am so not organized yet!  But getting there!

Here are some additional views of the craft room.  I bought new white miniblinds and my wonderful mother hung them for me.  Everything in here looks so clean and crisp!

There is a little cubby that must have been used as a closet at one time, but in a craft room was pretty much just wasted space.  I ran across some inexpensive plastic shelves at Lowe's (my favorite hardware store) and they fit just perfectly.  Now my soap and scrapbook paper are all arranged in an orderly fashion (once again thanks to my sweet mom)!

Here are two pictures of the floors.  The top picture is the craft room the bottom is of the bathroom.  It had one giant sheet of linoleum laid down with little blue squares.  It was curling at the edges and all around dirty.  It is amazing what a few coats of white paint will do.

This picture is taken looking into the bathroom.  The walls are Neon Mint, and the trim and accents are two different shades of coral.  I didn't want anything too pinky and these really turned out well.  My nautical theme is carrying over in the bathroom a bit.  Instead of hanging a blind over the door in here, I frosted the glass.  It turned out really well.

Here is another picture of the bathroom looking at where the washer and dryer would go.  I also frosted that glass.  It really lets in the light, but provides the privacy I was looking for.

Wow!  What a sense of accomplishment to be so close to done with one part of this massive project.  I have so much still left ahead of me.  Clean, clean, clean then paint, paint, paint!  Such is the life of a renovator.  Bye for now.

The Cottage

Finally, here it is.  Pictures of the cottage.  I'll start with the outside.  The views really are spectacular here on the Brazos.


This is the front part of the house.  I love all the windows and all the light that can be let in.

Part of the wrap-around deck.  It needs some work, but one small step at a time.

The view off the back deck.  I told you it was beautiful, didn't I?

Looking up at after coming back up from the tree house.  Being built partially on a hill worries me some, but we are taking precautions.  We will be placing some additional bracing underneath the house.  It should be loads of fun!

Now to the inside....


The next 2 pictures are of the kitchen and breakfast nook.  The builder put in some neat little features, like the built-in shelves my mom is standing next to and the loft above the kitchen.  And what Karli at RockyBella has done to her countertops have given me a brilliant idea! (Thanks Karli!)

The next picture is of fluorescent green bathroom.  My plan is to paint everything of color white.  I'm not going to touch the natural wood right now.  Can't wait to see the transformation for myself, but first it has to be cleaned from top to bottom!

Here are pictures of the dining area, living area, and office area.

Finally, the stairwell and the bedroom.  It has the beginnings of a restroom.  I'm thinking about putting one of those composting toilets in the bathroom.  Even though they are pricey, in the long run I think it will pay off.

Stairway looking down....

I apologize for the blurriness of this picture.  My sister is the photographer of the family.  This is the bedroom and bath.

Door leading out to wrap-around deck.

Stairs going up.  There is a French Door at the top of the stairs that lets in a lot of light.

So now you have seen the before pictures of the cottage.  It is definitely a work in progress, but I can't wait to see what it will look like.  After my bill at Lowe's today, I definitely am not throwing in the towel!

The Craft Room...

When I first saw the bedroom/bathrom combo, I knew what I would be using it for.  It would become my craft room for my scrapbooking, soap making, and painting (when I'm inspired).  It is a good sized room with a nice sized bathroom that even has a washer/dryer connection -- which will come in handy at some point. 


The only before pictures of the Craft Room that I have are of the outside.  But here it is.

Trust me when I say the inside was nothing to write home about it.  It is still a work in progress.  New paint everywhere.  New hardware on the doors.  I'm going to be putting down new flooring in the bathroom.

My major concern was -- this is a craft room.  It should be fun and inspiring.  Here is a little teaser of what I did to get it that way...

Me and mom love it.  Dad and Maggy (my sister) not so much.  I can live with that.....

Storage Shed...

We ( my mom and I) really didn't do much to this because we were in a hurry to get our things moved out of a rented storage building.  What we did do was paint whimsical flowers and a sun on the windows to keep people from looking in.  It really turned out cute.


This is the front of the storage shed.  For right now the reflecctors are still on the posts.  I still haven't had the electricity turned on, so it is very dark at night.

Here is the side view of the storage shed.  My mom painted the flowers.  We decided it looked very Bohemian and we were okay with that.  Don't know that dad was....

This is the back window that I painted.  Mom loves the sun, so this is my little tribute to her.

The paint on the outside needs to be spruced up on all the buildings, but that will come with time.

Embarking on a new challenge....

So one of my very dear friends, Jennifer Pacheco, has inspired me.  She has a blog about her cottage renovations that she is doing (mostly with furniture -- but boy, the ideas I have gotten).  And then I began looking at all the blogs she is connected to of people trying to bring a little bit of the cottage life to them and I have become so inspired. 


Before I post the pictures, I want to tell you a little bit about my Woodland Cottage by the river.  It consists of 4 buildings -- a storage unit, a bedroom bathroom combination, the actual cottage, and a treehouse.  The cottage adds up to about 1,000 sq. ft., which is just enough room for me (or will be once I finally get to move in).  There are things that have to be done to it, and it will be a process, but I am so excited about something that will be my little getaway.  I'm also very excited to be doing much of the work myself.  It is giving me a great sense of accomplishment.


As you read my blog and look at the pictures I post, suggestions and encouragement would be greatly appreciated.