Weekly Progress Report

I need to give a shout out to All Wood Floors. They are awesome! Quality work...and they work! They started on the floors early and worked Friday and Saturday all day...then they showed up Monday..on a holiday even! They worked all day, with a reasonable break. Left around 5. Here are some pics of the floors in progress.


















You can already feel how much lighter the rooms will seem. In the photos they have sanded and there is wood filler on the top.. Another sanding and they will be ready to coat.


Here is a pic of that cute little alcove at the top of the stairs. The boys like to hang out up here.. I'm thinking a good spot for a low bookshelf and a small family gallery. I'm also liking the vintage light..though it need to be hit with some paint eventually..(and some cleaning!)

Friday MLS cottage tours..

I'm an unrepentant MLS addict. I love to look at the photos of homes listed for sale as you can get some really good decorating and DIY ideas for your own cottage. I would like to do an area highlight of some favorite houses.. but of course MLS listings are not up forever so the links may at some point not work.

Todays area...Bainbridge Island WA.

The Puget Sound islands are known for quirky summer homes and full time artist cottages. If you start at the high end price range you get the big fancy houses..so I always start small, as the ones with character tend to be the cheaper ones.


This little yellow cottage is sweet..and has a cute art studio just down the garden path.



Lots of big windows!
















This Log Cabin is the perfect mix of warm rustic woods and character. My kids would love that loft space..and again another studio. This one also has a creek, chicken coop and gardens. A Little boy heaven if you don't mind washing a lot of clothes. The inside looks like something from a fall/winter PB catalog.
















This sweet cottage is fab! I'm loving the robin egg kitchen..not sure I would have the guts to do it myself. But here it looks great and just pops in the photos. The warm wood floors and soft colors feel very summery and fresh. The gardens are wonderful too.. just enough wild to them, the blue flowers compliment the house colors.

The new sofa, otherwise known as the flowers that shouldn't be there.

A few months ago we finally bit the bullet and ordered a Rowe Nantucket sofa to match our chair.. the chair that is 7 years old and still comfy and going strong. I opted to buy a down stuffed sofa with chaise instead of a loveseat..as the Lakehouse has a small living and we didn't know yet what house we would be buying...I wanted something changeable. You can switch the sides of the chaise or take it off altogether. I picked out a nice oatmeal color woven cotton with these happy flower pillows. I wasn't too picky on the pillows being that I really didn't need them, I have tons already. So I went for something different.. the chair shows what my plan had been. However.. I got a call from the store that there had been a mistake. They had done the whole sofa in the flowers. Good news is that eventually I will get the second slipcover in the correct fabic and get to keep both. Bad news is.. the chaise dosn't match (it's in the correct fabric) and so I can't really use it until the correct covers arive. My Mr. of course hates it.. I think "hidious" was his term. I actually think for spring it's kinda cute... but it's not something I would have picked. If had known they would make a cover out of it, I would have been more careful in my choice. I am curious to see how it will look in the Cottage though.

I just called to check up on my covers..and they are at the store and can be delivered Thursday. Now how long they would have sat at the store if I hadn't called...who knows.

House tour part 3

Now for a bit of the upstairs.. We have floating stairs.. that I promise I will someday take a real photo of. They are suspended from the second floor by a iron railing. The landing at the top has some decorative bits I kinda like..but not the color. They would have been black..so I'm thinking as soon as the carpet on the steps are gone I'm attacking with some flat black paint. Bye-bye peach!! There is a cute little space between the railing and wall that I plan to put some book shelves and a photo wall.

You can also see the view into the upstairs bath..a powder room. No the skylight isn't dirty..it has a funky fiberglass covering that I need to see can be removed, trust me it's just as nasty looking IRL.

Off to the sides are the two upstairs bedrooms. Both have nice wood floors. The image below is our bedroom.. we have removed the carpet and it will be refinished along with everything the 3rd of June.. Can't wait!! The eves have full attic storage and we are going to be installing some dressers into them as built-in's to save floor space.

I already have a nice rug I found on clearence at Lowes and my PB matelasse bedding. We just need some furniture.. I'm trying to decide between mocha brown walls or a spa gray/blue.

And now for a little inspiration...

So, I do go through different phases in my decorating style.. But I'm always drawn to cottage or old world.. don't know why. (Maybe because the furniture being already dented and worn won't show my boys damage? LOL) I can look at more modern spaces on BHG or HGTV but I just can't do it in my own space. It would end up a hodge podge as I would still throw the cottage stuff in anyway. About the closest I can probably get is how Country Living and Cottage Living Mags have gone lately..that cottage casual with a few interesting modern pieces thrown in for interest. So what are my plans for this house? The lakehouse is much more formal than I'm comfortable with most of the time...but it seems what the house is asking for. So when I walked into this house and saw the wood ceilings, floors and the upstars bedrooms with the eves, the first thing that popped into my head was coastal cottage...I'm thinking a bit of Bainbridge country mixed with a touch of New England cape cod old school glam. If you took the garage off, the house would be pretty cape cod in shape anyway.

Now I know what your thinking.. Coastal?.. in one of the driest spots in Washington? Well sure, why not? I lived 5 years on a sailboat..if that isn't good enough you can see the river through the bedroom windows (if you stick your head out and tilt it a bit).

Here are a few of my fav blogs that inspire me:

Just a Girl- I Love this coastal bathroom!
Centsational Girl - I love the colors in her laundry room.



And if you LOVE blues and greens check out House of Turquoise. So many yummy photos I could spend all day in that blog, or at least until I have to break up a boy fight.

House tour part 2

Downstairs main bath
This room is going to need some major work. The tile grout is all crumbling and we may need to replace the subfloor. The tile around the tub needs replacing and the tub needs to be refinished. Good news..lots of storage and room to add a second sink when we redo the counter. Of course..there has to be wallpaper..

Downstairs bedrooms- this is one of the pair..think mirror image, except the other has stripe wall paper and a mirrored closet door. Both have wood ceilings the Mr. already pulled out the carpet and wood floors under are going to be refinished with the rest. Yayhoo..more wallpaper for me to pull down....my fav! The room below will be a playarea for the Monsters.

Tour of the new house... part 1 Kitchen/Living

Welcome to our new house.. Come take a tour of our place...please don't mind all the work the realtors did to "stage" the spaces...these photos were taken from the MLS listing.

Our living and dining space.

The things I like.. a real wood fireplace, wood floors and a open plan into the dining/kitchen, box beam celings.

The things I'm not liking.. trim was all removed. Fireplace brick is not my fav. and it's a akward shape and location in the room.

The Kitchen

Things I like.. well..the fridge and stove are pretty new. The tile is light gray and in good shape and there is a breakfast bar. More box beams.

What I don't like.. old and dated... cabinates are in ok shape but scratched and stained in places. The countertops are gross..a textured white.. Like a funky leather texture! I get to look forward to wallpaper removal and lots of paint!!

I can see potential here.. the floors are all in good condition and the celing is unique. I haven't decided to keep the wood color in the middle of the beams or paint white for a beachy beadboard look.

In the begining..

Having just closed on our funky 1958 house..we now embark on the challange of making it a cozy place to live...and by that I mean survive two little boys with our sanity intact. So while I embark on the quest of decorating, chooseing flooring and deciding on colors for the walls..I will also have to find ways to be creative in my displaying and keeping two sets of busy hands away from my pretties.

Of course there is also the issue of the cost of making this house a cottage... without going over the top. As much as I would love to have the best finishes and the ease of just poping in something new. The price value of the home has to be kept in mind.. as is the question of "how much we can spend without using credit".. yep that's right..nothing on credit. Craigslist is going to be my BFF for quite awhile.