My Rosy Cottage

For those of you that have been following the progress of the butterflies, I just wanted to let you know I am hunting for cocoons. The caterpillars have snuck off somewhere and they are hidden somewhere in the garden now. As soon as I find a cocoon I will certainly post pictures! I have been trying to think of things I could post on my blog and I knew that I wanted to show you my sweet house. I was going to wait a while and do some other things first, but I just can't stand it anymore. So here it is!

When I bought the house in 2004 (I can't believe it has been six years!) it had good structure, but I knew it needed a lot of work to make it look the way I wanted it to and to reflect my style. When you're decorating a house, I think it is also important to let a house talk to you and tell you how it would best be adorned. Lucky for me, this little ranch was begging to be dressed up like a sweet cottage on the interior. So I was happy to oblige!

This is how the living room looked when I bought it. Isn't it scary? Please notice the ugly wallpaper, paneling, old front door, dark wood molding, and my personal favorite - the "popcorn" on the ceiling! I like popcorn in a bowl with butter and salt, not on my ceiling! So I knew right away that would be the first thing to go!

So after a lot of money, sweat, and tears, this is what my cottage living room looks like now! Car you believe the transformation? My ex-husband fixed that strange shelf-thingy in the wall and I scraped and painted every ceiling so there wasn't any more of that unsightly popcorn anymore. I also got on my hands and knees and painted every base board white and also every piece of wood molding around every window and door in the whole house. We also got a new front door that fits the house better and I painted it a pale shade of P-I-N-K!!!! It is so beautiful and I am just crazy about it! We also replaced the ceiling fan so it matches better now.

A few of these pictures were taken last year during the spring and the rest of them were taken just last month. I usually decorate with roses during May to celebrate Mother's Day and since my mom loves roses I do it to honor her (and because I love them too!)

This is my fireplace mantle. The house didn't have a fireplace so I bought one of those faux fireplaces that burns gel fuel. It's just like a piece of furniture and I can move it around if I want to. It also keeps me warm in the winter! And it is really romantic when I light a whole bunch of candles in it. I love doing that! When I got the fireplace is was a yellowy-ivory color and I painted it white. I think it looks much better now!

This is a sweet, springy vignette I put together on a coffee table that I have sitting behind my sofa. Isn't that garden angel heavenly!?

So this is what the dining room and kitchen looked like when I bought the house. There's that strange shelf-thingy again. I guess those were popular in the 50's. Don't you just love the olive green curtains and that fantastic beige linoleum flooring?

Here is the kitchen and boy did it need work! I was just thankful I had a dishwasher and that beautiful window over the kitchen sink. There is nothing better than having natural sunlight to do dishes in and a little window sill to put some of your favorite sweet things on! The thing I hated the most about the kitchen was the drop-down ceiling! It made the room so small and closed off!

And here is the way my sweet kitchen and dining room look now!! It's so different and so much better! I painted and put white wains coat on the walls in the dining room. We replaced the ceiling fans, took up the linoleum and put down ceramic tile, and I even took the doors off of their hinges and painted them so they would match. Then I did my magic with decorating! My favorite thing about my dining room is my china hutch. It was an ugly blue thing that I bought an an antique shop. What a difference a coat of paint can make!

When the drop-down ceiling came down I discovered that I had wonderful shelving all around my cabinets to decorate. I really enjoy displaying all of my pretty things on the tops of the cabinets like this.

I used stencils to trace out the letters, then I painted "Rose Cottage" on the cabinet over the new built-in microwave we installed. It is so handy to have that and it's not taking up any of my counter space! I just love the little nooks beside the microwave. When I decorate I try to find a pair of my sweetest and pretties things to display in them.

So now we're on to the bathroom. This is the "before" shot and I almost busted a gut I was laughing so hard when I saw it. There wasn't much of anything I liked about it except that the toilet worked. Who in their right mind puts brown AND yellow tile on the walls?

And after several years of transformation, this is what my sweet cottage bathroom looks like now! My walls are pink!!!! I have white wains coat on the lower half of the wall. My mom and I installed some Berber carpet and I painted the cabinets. Then I decorated!!! Isn't it lovely?

This is a sweet little vignette I put together over my toilet where that ugly brown cabinet used to be. That frame was brown and I painted it white. It was designed to put pictures in but I put glittery white chipboard letters in each one of the spaces where a picture goes to spell LOVE. My favorite part of the vignette is the chippy white birds on the shelf. I used them in a lot of vignettes and I love them.

Finally we come to the bedroom! This is how it looked when I moved in. I hated that ugly orange wood that was everywhere. All of it got several coats of fresh white paint. That's the closet and you can see the rest of the room below.

And here is my rosy cottage bedroom now. Everything got a coat of white paint, including all of the furniture, and I painted the walls ivory. I replaced the ceiling fan and then I even painted the new blades white so it would match! Then I did my decorating magic! I love my sweet, rosy bedroom. I usually stays rosy all year round. I add Christmas decorations when that holiday rolls around.

There is a story behind that mannequin too. I certainly didn't buy her that way. I found her in an antique store and she was in bad shape. I took her home and recovered her and now she proudly displays my favorite dresses. Watch for future posts dedicated to her story! I can't wait to show you the before and after of her!

So that is my rosy cottage makeover. I hope you enjoyed your tour. I have another bedroom that I have turned into a craft room, where I do all of my creating. If you are interested you'll have to visit tomorrow because I will be a part of Karen's "Where Bloggers Create II" party at www.mydesertcottage.blogspot.com and I will reveal my craft room then! I also have a utility room and it is a mess right now. It's the only room in the house that hasn't been redone. But I have big plans for that room! I'll be sure to show you the before and after when it's ready!

I hope you have a blessed weekend!

Much Love to You!

Love Tammy