Every Room In The House Party - #7

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Americana Guest Room designed by Jann @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

Happy July Cottage Friends!

We're only a few days away from Independence Day celebrations.  Are you ready for fireworks, fun and food?  I sure am.  And isn't Jann's Americana Guest Room pictured above perfect for getting us in the star spangled mood?  I love it.  Do check out her post which was originally a touching Memorial Day tribute to her father.
Today begins a new Every Room In The House party.  July's theme is Party Outdoors.  This is a chance to show us your garden, outdoor living space, potting shed, etc.  Get ready to link up your posts covering any of your outdoor spaces
Before we move outdoors I want to share inspiration from last month's party in the Guest Room/Kidz Room.
The three most viewed posts
Terry at Forever Decorating revealed her updated guest room in My MacKenizie Childs Inspired Guest Room!   Terry's sewing skills and eye for color never ceases to amaze me.  I love everything about this beautiful room.
Cottage charm reigns at Design Dreams by Anne.  Her Guest Room Cottage Style Makeover is filled with beachy, shabby chic décor.  So perfect for summer.
Laurel at North End Loft came to the party with A New Neutral Guest Room.   I love her take on neutral shades in  this oh-so-pretty guest room.  Laurel says, "I've grown to love the subtlety of decorating with neutrals." 

More Guest Rooms
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If vintage that doesn't get too serious is your style, you'll love Be My Guest at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson.  Jann's color palette came from the rag rug that anchors the room.  You'll love this cheerful, inviting guest room with all its charming vignettes.
 
Terry showed us her other guest room with her post Guest Bedroom Redo...Again!  Terry's passion for decorating shows not only in the name of her blog -- Forever Decorating -- but in the fabulous rooms she creates.  I just can't get enough of her unique accessories and wall décor.




Diane at Passionate for White gave us a peek into her very soft and serene Guest Bedroom.  Wonderful natural light in this room.  I'm thinking breakfast in bed here.  Can you picture a bed tray with vintage dishware and a posy tucked into a petite vase?  (sigh)




If you crave French inspired design,  Chateau Chic's Scoop on the Guest Room Makeover will satisfy.  Mary Alice has created a charming vintage French retreat for her guests.  Her window treatment is exquisite. 




Nothing says "enchanting" to me like tea cups, so when I saw Elizabeth's Teacup Guest Room at Home Is Where the Heart Is I instantly fell in love.  I can't imagine anything more delightful than waking up in this bedroom and seeing Elizabeth's beautiful display of teacups, not to mention her whimsical accessories. 



Kidz Bedrooms


What young lady wouldn't love this Pretty in Purple Teen Bedroom at  Exquisitely Unremarkable?  Kim and her daughter have paired their talents to create this stunning room.  It hints at sophistication while maintaining the teen spirit.


 

Kim also showed us how her tween daughter's room came to life in Evolution of a Bedroom.  This room is so sweet.  I like the way Kim takes us back to see the room when her daughter was a little girl, and from there takes us through the changes that have taken place since.


Furniture Redo



Marie at The Interior Frugalista took a wallflower pine side table and gave it debutante personality with her Pine Table Makeover.  With its drawers to stow away incidentals, this would make a perfect nightstand for a guest room.

Well, I'm definitely inspired by these beautiful rooms and furnishings.  How about you?

If you pin any of the features, please do so from the originator's blog post and not from this site.

Thanks so much to everyone who linked up last month.  Without you there would be no ERITH.

If you were featured, please grab this button.

A Joyful Cottage

To all who visit and leave comments, thank you.  It makes me smile to read your words.

 Ready to start a new party outdoors? 
 

Every Room In The House is a monthly link-up party that has a theme room for each month.  This month we're partying
 Outdoors

Show us your garden, porch, outdoor living space, pool, potting shed,  patio, yard art, etc.. . .whatever you have outdoors, we want to see it!

Please only add links that relate to this month's theme Outdoors.

The party will be open all month.  Bring a friend!
Please remember to put a link in your post back to A Joyful Cottage.  That's necessary to be featured.

Ready, set. . .party!


$3 Vintage Suitcase Makeover




I scored a vintage suitcase last weekend for $3 at a Vintage Garage Sale.  Mr. Suitcase, in my opinion, looked too much shabby and not enough chic when I found him.


He had a black eye.



A lot of age spots.  And I thought maybe he'd spent some nights out in the rain without an umbrella.



 
 I noticed a couple of scars; like Mr. Suitcase had been in a sword fight.
 

 
 
He had great bones, though.  And I liked his taste in jewelry -- that worn, rusty look.  Not to mention that sassy lucite plastic nose ring.  I mean, really.  This guy was sending me serious vintage 40's vibes.  For $3 I didn't think twice.  I knew I could put him in rehab.
 
 
 
 
My friend Robin suggested I cover up his age spots with wood stain. 


 
I liked that idea and figured I didn't have much to lose.  At the very worst, if it didn't work,  Mr. Suitcase would end up under the bed as storage.  (I kept that little back-up plan from Mr. Suitcase, though.  He's very sensitive.)
 
 
I borrowed Captain's Minwax wood stain and gave Mr. Suitcase a makeover, covering his scar with little dabs of black and brown permanent markers Captain had on hand.

 


 Now I love the way Mr. Suitcase looks.  Rugged, with a sort of edgy patina. 
 
 
 
 
It's fun to see an idea come to life.  What are you imagining today?




 

I'm sharing at these lovely parties:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House
You're Gonna Love it Tuesday at Kathe with an E
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Share Your Cup at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
What we Accomplished Wednesday at Green Willow Pond
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life
The Scoop at Stone Gable
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Shabbilicious Friday at Shabby Art Boutique
The Best DIY Link Party
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest
Craft Frenzy Friday at Craft Dictator



 

Designing Our New Cottage - Preliminary Plan Cottage #1

Greetings Cottage Friends.

To those of you who left comments on my last post Designing Our New Cottage, or on my Facebook page, thank you.  Your kind words are a big encouragement to me.  I appreciate them and your interest in our cottage-to-be more than you'll ever know. 

Some of you have mentioned that you want to follow our project to gain insight for your own future home build.  I hope what I share will help you in some way. 

As I mentioned before, My husband "Captain", a retired architect, drew up the plans.  To date we have designed three  different cottages.  
Cottage #1

Exterior Elevations


South
This is a 1,250 SF story and a half cottage.   The front door overhang has decorative scalloped shingles and brackets.  Shutters to the right of the door are purely decorative -- there is no window there.  The shutters mimic the look of closed shutters on a cottage window, adding character as well as symmetry to the front of the house.



East


More scalloped shingles adorn the gables on the sides of the cottage. 


West




North
This is the back of the house.





The main floor is 840 SF.   An L-shape kitchen is open to the living and dining rooms.  The side entrance is just off the dining area.  A corridor houses a pantry and guest closet, and leads to the laundry, full bathroom, and Captain's art studio.  Just outside the studio is a clean-up sink.  Across from the sink is the stairs to the upper level. 


The 410 SF second story is a simple design of two bedrooms and a full bath.





The Kitchen



This is the long section of the "L".  The range is banked by cabinets in a hutch fashion.  To its right is a farm sink.  The window over the sink looks out on the future garden.


Traditional Spaces by Morrow Kitchen & Bath Designers The Workshops of David T. Smith
This cottage kitchen photo is my inspiration for the "hutch".



The section on the south wall completes the "L". 

The kitchen cabinetry we specified in this plan is Homecrest Bayport in white.  I chose it for its beadboard doors.  Here's a photo from their kitchen gallery.

Homecrest


And this is another view of Bayport from their Bathroom Gallery.

Homecrest


The Living Room

There are three windows facing south.  This gives lots of natural light to the room. 


 A gas fireplace with mantel is on the west wall.

We put this plan out to two contractors for bids.  You'll see carpet and vinyl flooring noted.  Originally we specified hardwood floors throughout, but revised our plan after we saw the cost. 


What I like about this plan:
  • The exterior has a strong traditional cottage look.
  • Two full baths.
  • Fireplace
  • Second story gives us a view of the mountains in the distance, which we don't have from the ground floor.
  • Placing the stairwell in the back of the house keeps it from interfering with the layout in the living room.
  • The stair railing is open on one side and can be seen from the side entry.  Nice look.
  • The large windows in the dining room.

What I don't like about this plan:
  • The front door opens into the living space. 
  • Not enough natural light in the kitchen.
  • The proximity of the sink to the range -- not enough workspace between them.
We scrapped this plan and started over for the following reasons:
  • The preliminary cost to build was too expensive for our budget. 
  • There was no cost advantage to building a story and a half.  Since this was the case, we decided to go back to the drawing board and design a single level home.  Eliminating stairs seemed like a smart move for the future.  That whole aging thing, you know.
This preliminary plan was a good starting point.  The estimates we received from the contractors gave us critical information needed to design a cottage within our budget constraints.

In my next post I'll show you Cottage #2. 

Thanks for dropping by.








I'm sharing at these lovely parties:
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
You're Gonna Love it Tuesday at Kathe with an E
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage



 




     

Designing Our New Cottage

Welcome Cottage Friends.
 
Did you notice the new look of A Joyful Cottage?
 
More and more readers had been asking if the pretty cottage in the old header was a photo of our home.
 
Old Header Photo
 
I explained that it's a photo I took of The Fawnbrook Inn in Allenspark, Colorado, where Captain and I were married four years ago.  The inn, owned by our good friends, epitomizes a charming cottage and was the inspiration for my blog's title.  At any rate, I felt it was time to revamp the blog and design a new header sans the original photo.
 
New Header Photo Collage
 
The new header is a pictorial status of our life right now.  If you've been following A Joyful Cottage the past year, you know we sold our Colorado cottage last July.
 
Colorado Cottage Christmas 2012
 
We then headed to Oregon and traveled all over the state for five weeks before deciding to settle in the northeast region. 
 
One of the beautiful ranches nearby.
 
We rented an apartment, and the hunt for a cottage began.  After making five offers on existing homes, we decided it would be best for us to have a cottage built.  We found a lot with an existing shop, and closed escrow on April 1.
 
The lot has an existing shop which will be renovated for Captain's studio.
 
Then we began designing our cottage.
 
 
Copious cups of coffee are consumed during the design process.
 
Captain, a retired architect, says we're designing our cottage together.  I bring him all my inspirational photos and ideas, and he draws the plans.  As far as I can tell, I've got the better end of the deal.
 
Would you like to see a bird's eye view of our new cottage? 
 
I thought so.
 
That's me in the yard waving to you. 


Captain drew and colored this rendering just for me to share with you.  In upcoming posts I'll give you an up close and personal look at the cottage plans, and I'll share the steps we took to get to this point.  You may be surprised at some of the things I reveal.
 





I'm sharing at these lovely parties:
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
You're Gonna Love it Tuesday at Kathe with an E
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage



 
 



A Bit of Vintage - Quilt Progress

Welcome Cottage Friends.

In April I shared the completion of my first quilt, and the beginning of my second quilt. 


At the time of that post I had the pieces ready to sew into blocks.  For this quilt I'm using the Lario  3 Sisters Layer Cake by Moda. 



This is a very easy pattern; I finished the blocks in 2 days.  Moving the blocks around until I have the design I want is very satisfying.  At this point I see the quilt top coming together and a sense of accomplishment follows.



In May I gathered with my crafty friends for Ladies Day Out, and joined the blocks into rows.




This week we met again and I added the borders.




And here's the finished quilt top.  I'm in love with this vintage look.

Now it's off to the quilt shop for the backing fabric.
 
What are you working on this week?
 





I'm sharing at these lovely parties:
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
You're Gonna Love it Tuesday at Kathe with an E
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage