Minor Cottage Updates

After the usual breakfast at IHOP this morning, we did the usual boring routine of going to BJ's - only we took a detour to Home Depot first. It's kinda in the same plaza. I wanted to pick up a towel ring for the master bathroom. We have the Glacier Bay Innburg toilet paper holder, so of course something matching would be nice. Luckily, they still have that line in stock. 

Simple. Basic. Probably more contemporary / modern than me, but I wanted plain and this is what I chose. Brushed nickle of course. Looking at the companion pieces online I decided I disliked the actual towel ring.

I just don't like the curve. So being the plan ahead kinda gal that I am, I ran to the bathroom, removed the roll of TP and hung a hand towel on the TP holder. Perfect...well, a little low, ok, a lot low...and on the wrong wall. Point being I was just going to get another TP holder and put it on the wall by the sink. Then I actually got to the store and decided my sink space was crowded enough, I didn't need another thing there making it visually crowded. So I just grabbed the matching robe hook. 

 

It was also half the price of the towel ring...which was $1 more than the TP holder. 

Of course now I have to get Mr. P to put it up...

On a semi related note, it has rained here pretty much non-stop since before dawn on Friday. All day Friday. All day Saturday. ALL DAY. Then it was raining this morning. It would drizzle, then pour. Then drizzle, then mist...the pour. Lather, rinse, repeat. Luckily we were in a misting period when we walked out of IHOP. I did use my umbrella though. On the way to BJs (and Home Depot) it stopped. Not only did it stop, but I started to see a few patches of blue sky. Then the sun came out - a little. It was still really cloudy and windy. Gusting up to 22mph according to the local all the time news channel. One lucky iguana got to go lay outside in the sun for a little while. It was short lived...after a few hours it starting raining again...right as Mr. Paisley had gotten up on the roof to clean out the gutters. Fall Cleaning at the Cottage! Luckily, it was only one downpour and it's just been cloudy and windy ever since. It was like 87 and HUMID as all get out thanks to that little bit of sun after all that rain...but with the higher winds it's still cool enough to have the house opened up. So...I gave Mr. Paisley a list. He's cleaned the screens on the front of the house. I cleaned the windows. He hung up the last two sets of wood blinds (for my office) that have been sitting in the corner by the front door since...oh...right, the Memorial Day party (yes...that was in May...practically June)...then I had him rehang the mirror over the 2x2 Expedit in the living room.   

Entry way / message center. While I was cleaning out the guest room for a yard sale, I found the wire magazine basket. Yep, forgot I ordered that. A LOOOOONG time ago. It's now a designated spot to deposit the mail.  The pumpkin board above it is a chalk board / magnet board (the smaller pumpkins in the corners are magnets). Fabulous. Now the only things on top of the Expedit are a pot of wheat, a stack of mini jars (which you can't see from this angle) and the soapstone dish that my boss brought me from her last trip to Egypt. I put my keys in it so as not to leave scratches.  I also added a twiggy pumpkin since it's fall. $2.50 in the Dollar Spot at Target. 

Master Suite

It's show off your cottage Monday again - Here's a peek at the Master Suite (ha ha ha) at the Paisley Cottage.

The suite was an addition that I had done prior to moving into the Cottage back in '97. It's small, but it fits with the scale of the Cottage and it's larger than either of the other bedrooms that are original. 

Keeping in mind that it's small...I don't have a fancy lens for my camera to take good photos.

This is from the doorway - the floor length bamboo curtain in the corner is the closet door. Being that the Cottage is small and has no storage, after several years it dawned on me that I should remove the regular interior door and replace it with a curtain and then make use of the wall space that was behind the door. Brilliant, but slow - that's my M.O. The furniture is espresso...it tends to photograph more black. Oh and pardon my orbs. The brown edge on the left of the photo is the side of the armoire - where Mr. Paisley keeps the majority of his clothing.  It matches my dresser.

 There you go - technically, it is a walk-in closet...if you turn sideways. After removing the regular door, Mr. Paisley mounted some scrap wood to the studs for me and I hung a canvas and mesh double pocket over-the-door shoe holder to the wall. It holds shoes (duh) in the large pockets and accessories in the smaller "double" pocket (it's actually a pocket on a pocket if that makes any sense - great use of the space since there's so LITTLE space around the Cottage). Oh and that is a re-purposed wood CD rack that is now a shoe holder. Once I ditched all the jewel cases I had to find something to do with it!

The bed is, as you can see, RIGHT in front of the door - or should I say right between two doors? The door you can see is the bathroom. The photo was taken from the other doorway. The current bedding is copper on one side and gold on the other - it photographs strange colors because it's iridescent. A better shot is coming...promise :-)

There we go...the darkest color is the true color. Again, the headboard is also espresso and not black...the bedding I ordered from ABC Distributing a long time ago. It's actually a duvet cover and shams. It was cheap maybe $40 for the set. The pillows cost more than the bedding. They came from Coldwater Creek several years ago. The copper words were on clearance for like $3.99 each from Current's website. The framed fall leaf prints were purchased unframed (but matted)  from Coldwater Creek during one of the 80% sales - back before they removed all the "good stuff" from the website prior to the kick off of the sale. They're in $5 Walmart frames.  Actually, all the framed artwork came from Coldwater Creek. Some framed, some framed after the fact. The accent wall is leftover paint from the bathroom. Toast is the name of it - Ralph Lauren paint.

I love these lamps. L.O.V.E. So shabby chic it's disgusting. Chippy cream base, peachy glass - they came with the ugliest shades on the planet - they were white drum shades with olive green and brown retro 60s flower print. Totally did NOT go with the lamps at all. Replaced with cream $12 shades from Target. Funny story about these lamps. I got them at Beall's - The Florida Store. They were 70% off. All clearance items were an additional 40% off (seriously, they practically GIVE stuff away).  were $60 each. Insane - especially with that ridiculous shade.  Anywho I love these lamps...even though they are dust magnets. I got them for $7 each - bargain (don't do the math, the whole story isn't on the blog - just take my word for it).

I picked up the baskets for the nightstand cubbies at Michael's - i'm sure they were at least 40% off (let's face it, I don't really pay full price for anything). Again since space is at a premium - I needed SMALL furniture and dual purpose at that. One drawer wasn't going to cut it. The baskets hold socks and undies mine on my side, his on his. Yes, you can see that I did not remove the basket to dust the cubbie last week. Such is life. There's my Florida dirty air dust's 15 minutes of BLOG FAME. Quick - take a screen shot. Oh and the fabulous small scale furniture...$400 for the whole set from Walmart.com. Yep - it's Southshore, assembly required. Cheap, but I like the simple lines and the small scale was a must. Goes well with my K-Mart dinette set in the kitchen (OMG - yeah the one everyone thinks came from Pottery Barn - like for real dudes and dudettes, I have good taste, I just don't like to pay for the label - gnarly I know).

Onward to the "en suite" - I think that's the current cool term for a master bathroom these days. The invisible black hole of a vanity is, once again, espresso. It was the most expensive purchase for the bathroom redo (everything was white before). It isn't anything fancy - special order Kraftmaid in a Craftsman style. Here's a lightened up photo so you can see what it looks like -

The drawer pulls are satin nickel and square. Home Depot Expo (sad that they're gone, they had super cool stuff). The sink and faucet I picked up on e-bay for $99. Pretty, but not at all functional and I hate them. Granite was from a local place about 2 miles from the house. I think it was $300 installed. The mirror came from Old Time Pottery - I think it was on sale for $19.99 or $29.99. Cheap either way...gotta love a cheap beveled glass mirror. Speaking of cheap...that light fixture. $20 at Costco - I decided I hated it after a week or so. It has a new home in my grandfather's bathroom. Here's my new, new fixture...$34 at Marshall's! Rare, but once in awhile I run across a light fixture there! This one I loved.

The metal laser cut leaf art (see a theme? yep that's me...) came from Joann ETC. 40% off of course...this photo is taken from the bathroom door. Trust me when I say this bathroom is small...and technically it's a 3/4 bath because it has a walk-in shower and no tub. 

That would be the door casing on the left (I was up against my night stand trying to take this photo a few minutes ago). The toilet is in a weird nook - backing up to my closet. Storage on the wall...gotta love it.

Here's the shower - some of the grout is wet - that's why it's darker in some places. Mr. Paisley does pretty good tile work. When I had the bathroom built in '97, it had a vinyl floor, a small white painted wood vanity with a molded single piece sink/vanity top, and plain white tile in the shower. I picked out this tile at the Braselton Tile Factory in beautiful Braselton, GA - right up the road from Mr. Paisley's parents' home. I also chose the pattern. Mr. Paisley would have just slapped it all up there square because it was less cutting. He really should know better by now...

This is over the shower door (which is clear glass). More of Mr. Paisley's famous crown molding and another bamboo curtain to cover the linen closet (it was white bi-fold doors before). Now you can open the closet without closing the bathroom door. Ahhh the good life...






Linking up to White Wednesday for my little dresser grouping of creamy chippy white goodness. It needs work, but it's white and that's what is sitting there right now.


 

What I love about my house...

This post was inspired by Grace over at Sense and Simplicity after reading what she loved about her home - I happen to love several of the same things about MY home...err "shanty" as my silly co-workers like to call it (the FL house is "the shanty"...the TN cabin is "the mansion" - I work with strange not quite right crazy whack-a-doo interesting people.)

Like Grace said - we all look at, drool over, fixate on, aspire, and draw inspiration from magazines and decorator catalogs. Who doesn't love a Pottery Barn bathroom? Or a Ballard Designs living room? Then you put down the catalog and you see your room. You see what you want it to be...but it's not there. It might never be there, but it is yours and while you may not love everything about your home, you know you didn't buy it just to have a roof over your head - there was something about it that you loved...even if it looked like it should be condemned when you bought it - it had potential and you saw it.

I met my house in late 1996 or early 1997. I was 23. My parents had a collection of rental properties as I was growing up. One of my girlfriends had her first baby our sophomore year of high school and got married our junior year. At 24 with two little girls she was ready to divorce her husband and was looking for a home in which to raise rear her girls (one of my high school English teachers drilled into our heads that animals are "raised", children are "reared"...you win Pam Covert...you WIN okay?!) in a good school district. She found my home. I first met my home when she called and asked if I could talk my dad (Mr. Real Estate) into coming with her to look at it. We did. A few months later Mr. Real Estate asked the outcome of the ugly little house. My friend couldn't get financing or a co-signer...so she was staying married. He said I should buy it...and if I didn't, he would. So I bought it. I had just finished my college classes and was wading my way thru final exams. May 7, 1997 I received my bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in computer information systems. Later that week I closed on the ugly little house. Before and afters of the ugly little house and it's full story will show up in a later post, but you get the idea (and for the record I did actually go look at a couple of other houses, but buying a house at that time had not been in my plan - I was just fine in my pink bedroom on the lake with the fancy designer wallpaper and my parents footing the majority of the bills).

There was certainly potential...but it needed a lot of work. A lot...of work. Lucky for me, it was only about 7 minutes from my parents' house where I was living and I didn't move in until it was 99% done. My mom says she wasn't even sure I had moved...she just realized I hadn't come home in a few days and I must have flown the coop. Indeed.

Fast forward 13 years and here are a few things I actually LOVE about my house...

The lot...it's about 60'W X 180'L - there's a pretty big easement across the front due to the county claiming it for a 60' roadway (which will never happen - it's a dead end street with 8 lots on each side).

The windows in the family room - they go pretty much from wall to wall and obviously they let in a ton of natural light. Smirnoff likes the windows - she can at least look outside while she's stuck in her cage all day while we're at work. I don't love our collection of Mustang stuff (well part of the collection) up there anymore - it will have a new home once we get the addition built - funny thing, those windows will go away with the addition. This room will become a dining room at that point.

The deck - Mr. Paisley built the deck several years ago - it took him less than a week working on it after work. We use it year round...for us it's just another room. Mr. Paisley LOVE to grill...we have dinner out there, I sit out there with the iguanas and soak up a little sunshine (vitamin D...it's good for you), if i'm lucky I can catch a quick nap in the lounge chair on the weekends...it's very comfortable.

The kitchen...yes, it is too small, but I love it since Mr. Paisley refaced the cabinets and gave it a pretty serious makeover. Yes, I realize my curtains are hanging at a weird level. On the far right where you can't see it in this photo, there is a large "box" in the corner where the wall and ceiling meet. It covers the AC duct from the attic into the family room that was added on before I bought the house. This dumb box buts right up to the top corner of the window frame...thus the placement of the curtain rods...they're as high as I can put them with the box there (which will be there until we move the window wall out 4') - I figured they should at least match in height to make them look slightly less dumb. I could take them down I suppose.

The bathrooms. Both have been redone - although the master bath was part of the addition I had done prior to moving in back in 1997. My tastes have change a little bit since I was 23... go figure ;-)

The wood siding. It's almost all original. Remember how I said the house was ugly? It was covered with green and gray brick pattern shingles when I bought it. The original siding was under them in perfect shape (except a few along the bottom that had some rot from moisture issues).  

So there you go - some things I LOVE about my house. It's a shorter list than the things I don't like, but they do exist :-) What do you love about your home?