Cottage Renovation: Kitchen

In the kitchen we changed the paint color and added a mud room where there used to be a bathroom off the side of the kitchen. It wasn't really in the plans to update the kitchen, but we figured it was the perfect time to update the wall colors and improve on our table and eating area.

I'll share some photos of the entire kitchen soon, but for now take a look at our new kitchen table, custom built-in benches and new-used chairs!

During the renovation there was a little problem with some measurements for our windows in the master bedroom. We were supposed to reuse some of our existing windows, but the openings were a tad too small. So we bought two additional windows and weren't sure what to do with the originals. Just when we were thinking about donating them to Habitat for Humanity my mom came up with a great idea... take out the small, half size windows in the kitchen and replace them with the larger windows from the bedroom. Props to her, because it has opened up the kitchen and allowed SO MUCH beautiful light to shine in! I knew I wanted to turn that area into a booth of sorts, and my awesome grandfather, Pa, helped me out with that. He custom made these beautiful built-in benches that open up for storage! I can't thank him enough, they are perfect!

During one of my softball games at Back Road Inn, Bubba and my friend Kelli made their way over to the Vintage Source who was having their annual summer sale. I couldn't believe my ears when he came back with the news that he saw a table that might work perfectly in our kitchen. Though it's a little big and we had to raise it up about an inch or two, it ended up being exactly what we were looking for! A great mix of country farm style and the streamlined, modern metal.

These sweet little chairs were funky, old and filthy when I found them at the Bargain Barn in Hughesville. And with the help of my grandparents and mom we cleaned them up, primed, painted and waxed them, and then we cut out new seats, new cushioning and new fabric that accents the bench cushions.

I found the bench cushions in a store called At Home in Florida while I was down there visiting my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law. I'd searched everywhere in Southern Maryland with no luck, so when I walked into At Home and saw 4 huge aisles chocked full of  cushions I couldn't pass them up. Shoved them into an extra suit case and flew them home with us, and they were a great fit. I underestimated how many I'd need, so my sweet sister-in-law is working on getting me another one. :)

Cottage Renovation: Guest Bathroom

Before the renovation, our only bathroom in the house was tiny and located just off the kitchen. Which made for some very uncomfortable moments during parties and dinners. So one of our main missions during the renovation was to get the bathroom OUT of the kitchen and have more than one. And we were able to do just that! We now have a master bathroom off our bedroom and a guest bathroom for the rest of the house. And for this post, here are a few shots of the guest bathroom:

 

This is probably the most "modernly" decorated room in our house, and I love it!
Grey walls, black and white accents and beautiful grey tiles that were laid by Bubba and his parents. 

I LOVE black and white artwork.

Cottage Renovation: Curb Appeal

Every good renovation includes updating your curb appeal! To show the improvements we've made I want to share a couple of before photos and then what we have today.

The first time we went to visit the cottage while searching for a place to rent.

So small and quaint! The house too...

The backdrop to some of my bridal photos with my bridesmaids.

And now we've removed the screened in porch, added on an addition to the right, and cleaned up the flowerbeds.

Decked out for Memorial Day

Summer Cottage Style!

Unfortunately many people mistake our property for a public beach access point.
So I wanted to let them know it is not, in the prettiest way possible.

Front porch sittin'.

Whipped Strawberry was the color we decided on for the front and back doors.

Hill Family :)

Cottage Renovation: Bedroom

A few pictures of our master bedroom. Our original plan was to turn our old bedroom into our new master, but after several outtakes we decided to readjust our plans. We turned the majority of the new addition into the master bedroom and sitting room.

View of the bedroom from the sitting room.

Built in shelving around the bed.

Built in shelving around the bed.

Bedroom door (open) leading to the new hallway and master bathroom door (closed).

Cottage Renovation: Sitting Room

The sitting room was my special project. Well, it was the one room that I really wanted. It's my small retreat and a quiet place to sit and get some work done, read a good book, or just sit and relax.

View from our bedroom looking through to the sitting room, overlooking the Potomac River.

 

My childhood desk, repainted and distressed with Annie Sloan Chalk paint.

Recovered antique chair and treasure box from our wedding.

Cottage Renovation: Landscaping

Welcome Back!!

It's been a couple of months since we completed construction and moved back in to our house, and I'm finally getting around to posting some "after" photos. I still don't feel like it's complete since it's not fully decorated, but it's a start. With that said, I'm going to start with some of the landscaping we've been working on and added since the addition. Really most of it was here before, but since it was starting to bloom out I thought I'd snap a few pictures.

Cottage Renovation: Paint and Flooring

Things are moving quickly and we're spending a LOT of time in the house trying to get it back in order. So I wanted to take a few minutes out of my snow day to post a couple of updated photos of the painted walls and finished floors.

The mudroom - looking in from the kitchen, minus a door.

Guest Bathroom - tile job by Bubba and my in-laws!

Guest bedroom.

Sitting Room

Master Bedroom.

Master Bathroom.

Living Room.

I'll find time to give some more specific details soon! For now, enjoy a picture from the our front porch of the beautiful snow we had this week:

Cottage Renovation: Hardware Restoration

So much going on lately, but I did want to share a before shot of the hardware from our original doors and an after shot once they were cleaned up. My grandmother and I worked hard one day to get all of the original, old hardware off the doors (which is NOT easy after almost 100 years of paint coated over top of them). I used a trick I learned from watching The Rehab Addict, Nicole Curtis, on HGTV. After I removed them from the doors I kept them separated by door and places them in a crock pot of hot water. No chemicals, just boiling water. And it worked! I did have to scrub quite a bit, but it still came off easier than trying to scrape it off.

Pretty neat, and a great way to reuse some of the original pieces to the house and keep it's character!

Cottage Renovation: Flooring

We started to install the floors last weekend and boy does it make the place feel like a house again! And I'm proud to say that Bubba and I started and finished this project together. Without fighting. Not ONCE! It's sad, but that's a pretty huge accomplishment when working on a home with your spouse. We can't all be like my favorite TV couple, Fixer Uppers Chip and Jo Jo Gains. LOVE THEM...

Anyway, here is a little sneak peek of our faux hardwood laminate flooring in Fireside Oak. We used this flooring throughout the living room, hallway, bedrooms, and mudroom. We decided on tile floors for the bathrooms since they are so small and we found a nice deal on some very pretty tile. But for now, here is a look at the floor installation process.

Cottage Renovation: Paint Colors

These cottage renovation updates are definitely not real-time. In fact, we are almost done putting in our floors, baseboards, trim, etc. But when it comes to updating the old blog here, it just seems to take me SO LONG!

So, without further delay, here are our painted walls! Ok, I'm missing the master bathroom, and the lighting still isn't complete, making for some not so wonderful photos, but it will still give an idea of what we've decided to go with...

It took us a while to decide on paint colors. For being something that can so easily be changed, for some reason I just couldn't commit to anything. After some serious thought and a little research on paint colors in the home, I decided to try and keep the colors complimentary to each other. For example, when we made over the living room a couple years ago we decided to use a very bold blue called Swizzle Stick. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful and I love it, but it's pretty out there for me. I'm typically very conservative. Anyway, in the living room we did an accent wall in the front of the house in a soft color called Desert Fortress. It's so easy on the eyes, you almost don't even notice it. And since our house is pretty open, we decided it might be a nice color to have throughout the house in order to tie it all together.

Here we have the mud room and the master bedroom, painted in Desert Fortress.

Again, these pictures aren't really doing the colors justice, but it's just to document and give any curious minds a peek!

Next, is the sitting room, which is actually accessed through the master bedroom. I wanted the colors to be different, but not so different that it looks silly. So I went one shade lighter on the paint chip card and went for Riviera Dune. It's very light, and was pretty difficult to see while applying, but I think it's a good choice. We also painted the "alcove" where our bed will be going in the Riviera Dune as another way to tie in the two colors. 

Yeah, the shadows aren't really doing anything to help here....

Then we have the guest room and the guest bathroom. These two rooms are a little further off the color wheel then what we have in the rest of the house, but none-the-less are still very pretty. The guest room got a nice double coat of Lemon Cream. I'm planning to do this sweet little room in blues, creams, and soft yellows, so I thought this color would be a way to bring a pop of color to the house without being something so bright or bold that we would get sick of it too quickly. I also, in the back of my mind, thought that some day when we have a child, whether a boy or a girl, they could take up residency in there. A neutral yellow :)

Across the hall you'll find the guest bathroom in a Woodlawn Colonial Gray. The only color that really doesn't tie too well into the rest of the house. But it's really clean and classic. And considering that I have an affinity for black and white art and decor, I thought this would be my Black and White room. I'm really pleased with how it is turning out too.

Please excuse the HOT MESS that is our house right now, but we are under construction! :) Like I said, I wasn't able to get any shots of the master bathroom and closet, but for the record they are done in Dove White. I'll be sure to get a few photos once our electricity is wired back up and we have some light back there.