Hello? Anyone there?

I’ve been quiet a long time, hopefully some of you stuck around!

I can’t believe that I still haven’t posted anything about our finished bathroom. I think I’ve just been procrastinating because it’s such a small room, and my photography skills aren’t going to do it justice. I really love it so much though, and I can’t wait to see if you do too!

But here’s some exciting news…

Cottage4c made it into Country Sampler magazine! We’re featured in the March 2015 issue. Esther and Franklin Schmidt photographed the house for the magazine in the fall of 2013 – so it’s been a looooongwait!

I’ve read so many wonderful stories of bloggers and photo shoots in their homes. And then there’s my story…

I was so excited that they were coming that I must not have been thinking straight, and I almost managed to ruin the whole shoot. For real! Esther told me on the phone that they wanted to shoot for a spring issue, and that fact registered in my brain. For that day. However…

The week before they were to arrive, I sent an email to double-check some things, and one of the questions that I asked was – ‘how much fall décor would you like me to use?’. Ummm…. fall? Was I not just told a week earlier that the house needed to look like spring? They were shooting IN the fall, therefore my simple brain apparently discarded any other piece of information that didn’t pertain to fall. ugh. Unfortunately, the email got lost in the shuffle of a freelance photographer’s very hectic life and travel schedule, and they never had a chance to correct my transgression.

Imagine Esther’s surprise when she walked into my ‘spring’ home and found orange and yellow leaves, scarecrows, and pumpkins around every corner. (Are you cringing on my behalf yet?) I can’t believe she didn’t turn around and run the other way. Bless her – she patiently waited while I ran to the basement, grabbed all of the empty fall bins, and then threw every last bit of orange and yellow debris into them. Sweating.

The worst part for me (hard to believe it gets worse, I know!) was that I didn’t have time to arrange any of my spring/summer things. I couldn’t even find everything in my panic! It usually takes me at least a few days of moving stuff around before I’m satisfied with how it all looks. Obviously, home photographers are also great stylists, but since I couldn’t find half of my accessories, there was only so much we could do. More sweating. ugh. I had to laugh (kinda wanted to cry though!) when I read one of the captions in the magazine regarding my mantel. The writer of the feature’s article (who is amazing) used the phrase ‘sparingly adorned mantel’. She really sold it – almost makes you think it was an intentional design choice!

Regardless, the day was a success (I managed to make it onto the pages, so someone thought it looked ok!). I’ll admit that I have, over the last year, gotten a sick feeling in my stomach every time I thought about it. I had an amazing (possibly once-in-a-lifetime!) opportunity, and didn’t feel like I got to show the full potential of this little cottage. It was a little bit devastating. But now I’ve put all of the negative feelings behind me (well, mostly) and am just proud that we’re actually in a magazine! It’s kind of a dream come true!

I can’t believe how much has changed since they were here. I wanted to show you something I did on a bit of a whim one day. I’d been unhappy with my kitchen counter pretty much from the day it was done 10 years ago. So many rookie mistakes. We didn’t build the top wide enough, so the counter top doesn’t hang over the cabinet drawers, it’s aligned with them. This makes wiping crumbs off the counter and into my hand very difficult. The tile I chose isn’t smooth – it’s very rough and rustic looking. Which is nice, but not for kids who like to do their homework on the counter. Also – light grout. yikes. I’ve tried so many things to clean the grout. All the things, really. I couldn’t get it to look decent anymore. That’s what drove me to paint the counter.

Before…

After…

(Oops – forgot that we also replaced the tile backsplash with beadboard!)

The smart thing to do would have been to buy the Rustoleum counter prep kit. But I didn’t want to spend the money or take the time to go and buy it. (Really it’s because I didn’t want to take the time – I wanted to start right then and there.) I thought that the shellac primer I had would be good enough. Two coats of primer. Two coats of chalkboard paint. Two coats of poly. Two weeks later, lots of chips. 

I wouldn’t even mind touching up the chips all of the time if the fresh paint would blend with the old. But it doesn’t at all! Even after I re-poly! I can’t even begin to explain why that is. It’s ok though – we’ve been planning to replace the counter, and will one day soon. But even with the chips and the non-matching touch-ups I like the look of the counter better than before. So I don’t feel in as big a hurry to replace them.

This is a close-up (obviously!) that shows all of the different sheens going on. The original, touch-up that was also white-washed and poly’d, and touch-up that I haven’t tried to blend yet. It’s not pretty up close, but from a distance it looks great! 

Also – I thought that I wanted butcher block, but I really love the look of the black! My intention was to chalk-up the surface of the paint, because I am obsessed with the look of blackboards. Still. I know that every design trend list that comes out says that chalk boards are done, but not for me! There’s no way to live with a chalkboard countertop though. It’s too flat a finish – it just felt gross. I tried to poly over the chalk, but the poly just wiped the chalk away – the effect was lost. Instead, I did a white-wash using watered down paint to get the same look, and then used satin poly. I love it! I’ve heard this said before, but it really does look like soapstone.

source

This is a home recently in Country Living magazine that has plywood counters that were painted with chalkboard paint to mimic the soapstone look. So I’m actually on trend! Take that Buzz Feed!

It’s nice to be back – I hope that you all are doing well!

Much love-

Brenda

There’s a really great store in Pittsburgh’s warehouse district called Roxanne’s Dried Flowers.  She has beautiful home and garden accessories, and of course amazing dried flower wreaths and arrangements.  A year or so ago, I saw a light fixture in her store that I fell in love with.  (I wish there was one featured on her website so that I could show you!)  The light fixture was made from a circle of vintage double-loop ornamental fence which was lined with grain sack.  Rusty fence + vintage fabric = LOVE.

I made it a mission to find a section of this fence (I wrote about the fence here) so that I could totally copy the light fixture for my dining room.  I did get the fence – but it’s part of the coolest garden-gate-fireplace-screen ever, so there is no way I would dismantle it.

Right??

I seriously need to find some more of this fence.  Anyone know of some they’d be willing to pass my way??  

Since I got impatient, (of course I wanted to try to make it before the house tour) I settled for garden fence from Home Depot.

I found the grain sack fabric online from Calico Corners.  I really debated the fabric at first – I thought maybe since the fence is white I should have used a lighter-colored fabric.  But the look has grown on me.

I also worried that it was too big, but I spent lots of time on Pinterest looking at dining room light fixtures and was encouraged by gigantic light fixtures that looked awesome.

I love how it greets me when I walk through the door – charmer!

I’ll share all of the details in my next post.  It was super easy and inexpensive.

Thanks for reading!  Much love…

Brenda