Boudoir De Litte Sirs Before and After

I bet you have been on baited breath wondering what the Mistress of the Cottage has been up to this summer...just pretend along with me...

Well, other than basking in the chlorine relief known as The Pool, I have been busy finishing (after 2 years) the boys' room.

Before and After pics....lets start with the bathroom...

I'm sure you all remember the white carpet, pink toilet, and peeling wallpaper...

And now we have natural slate flooring, a white toilet, and hand painted stripes...

Who can forget this delightful vanity?  Some of my favorite features were 1) the faux wood countertop 2) the pink sink 3) the ultra useful cabinet doors...because everyone knows you store your stuff in a big cabinet instead of drawers...

And After....The ultra useful vanity was replaced with one with DRAWERS for people to put their stuff AWAY in.  Symmetrical so that each boy gets the EXACT same thing!  New lights, towel hangers (see Sir M's green towel and Sir E's blue) the granite counter top is an improvement for sure!

Before the renovation the only place for the sirs to hang their towels was over by the toilet???  On a towel bar no less.  Little boys do not fold towels on a towel bar.  Unless you live to go up to their room and re-fold their towels on a daily basis, I suggest...

Hooks!  Everyone can use a hook!  The boys each have their own side and since everything they have is color coded, no one can blame someone else for leaving wet towels on the floor.  If it is blue, it was Sir E!  Isn't that tidy and easy!

And Now for the grand boudoir reveal....

Just to refresh your memory...their room was navy and red plaid wallpaper...the entire room...

After a nightmare that included removing two (2) layers of wallpaper AND re-surfacing the ENTIRE room's dry walled surfaces...we have paint!  Miss Melanie is here for a final inspection...

Don't be fooled...under this peeling paper lies a layer of paper that was glued directly to the drywall with absolutely no prep work...

Rugby stripes.  These are pretty timeless.  I am not worried about the sirs outgrowing this...

There are not words...neither for the mess, nor the awfulness...

I did remember to put the vent cover back on after this pic...

And the matching drapes...that were rotting, in real life...

I do still need to add some sort of window treatments...but for now this is SO MUCH nicer!  This side of the room is green with horizontal stripes.  It helps break up the pattern and spaces.  The window a/c is because it was a devilishly hot summer (the hottest on record) and the upstairs needed a little boost in order to be bearable...

You can't really even tell what a cool shape their room has with all of the same wall covering...

Blasted sun...well, here you can clearly see the "nook" where their beds are and then the other "room" where the pattern and colors change...

Good Grief...

Same area, different angle...much better...

This is the entryway to their room.  Again you can see where the room turns into another area and the change of paint...

I just love the rugby stripes with their plaid bedding. 

 This was by far the biggest project we have done to date!  It took FOREVER!  I am so happy with the result, though.  They have a useable bathroom (if they could just keep it clean) and their bedroom really reflects them.  Now what????

Boudior de Madam Lu Part 2, Befor and After

Happy Third Birthday, Madam Lu!!!

Just a plain, but delightfully pink, room.  Do you see her new nightstands?

Tah-Dah!  This is her Big Girl Birthday Bed!

This is what you saw when you looked into her room from the hall...

But now....THIS is what you see!

Some new vintage pillowcases...a birthday gift from a Grand Ma Ma.

Another new vintage pillowcase...and the nightstands are vintage...and of course the doilies...all gifts from Grand Ma Ma!

This is the perfect bed for showing our....um, I mean HER chenille collection...

And her birthday cake...what is it?

Does this help?

Cake!

The Cottage Ladies

Cake Joy!

Dining Room Make Over (before-after pics)

Well, we were supposed to host Thanksgiving at the cottage this year...unfortunately we were ALL struck down with what I think must be the bubonic plague?

A few days before the plague hit us, while Sir was working much overtime, I was struck by the renovation bug.  I really can't help it when the creativity strikes...really, I just have to embrace it when it does.....

So, the dining room and the whole living room is a nicotine-white? painted, grass covered, 900sq ft. of blah.  I loath this part of the house.  We really never even use it...well the heirs scatter their toys all over it for no apparent reason, but really it is not supposed to be used.

I am working on phase two of the Little Sirs' room and had in my hand a gallon of festive, evergreenish, well....green.  I LOVE GREEN.  Kermit is green.  My eyes are their own hue of swamp puke green.  My gardens are full of green.  Green is good.

Ugh. 

Another view of the yuck.

Do you see the magic paint tray???

Oh Crap!  I mean, I LOVE color, but I have NEVER done anything this dark before...yikes

But, oh my....I LOVE it!!!

Reminds me of a 100 yr old house now...the dark wood, the traditional paint...

Oh look!  Look at that cool built-in...I never noticed that before...

The picture of the little boy holding the kitty was painted by Sir's grandmother and that little boy is...Sir, himself!

A word...painting grass wallpaper cannot be done with a roller...because, that would be too easy.  Every project at the Cottage hast to be a laborious task...therefore this was all hand-painted with a BRUSH.  Applause is appropriate...

Rumor is that we are putting up some trees tonight.  I have decided not to put up the monstrous 20foot tree this year, but have been moving some things and making plans for some real changes...wait and see!

Progress in Suite de la Sirs' and Hearth Room

So much to tell you about and to show you today!  None of it is done, but oh, joy!, at least we ARE accomplishing things!!!

This is just to remind you of what it looked like in the beginning.  You are, however, missing out on the "hamster cage" smell that accompanies a bathroom -shared by two boys- with a carpeted floor!  YUM!

After.  These stripes took FOREVER.  I do not recommend this project to anyone.  Just find striped wall-paper.

This is another before.  Everything in this house has two layers (as you will notice).  This is the amazing vinyl layer that was lurking under the carpet.  How delightful!

And this is the new slate floor.  So fresh and clean.  So "unscented".

Again, a "before" of the suite.

And an after.  I had so much mudding and sanding to do to fix the drywall after the removal of the dastardly paper (s) two layers....this actually took a very long time.  As you can see, I only did the area around their bed.  This way I could put the beds back and have freed up the rest of the room to do section by section, wall repairing, sanding, painting, striping, and restoring.  Believe it or not, I thought I would have this project done this winter...ha!

I painted the entire ceiling...they are such a drag to paint.  Because the room is to be darkish in color and is pretty sparse in ceiling light, I painted the ceiling in a basic bright white semi-gloss.  The semi gloss reflects any available light and helps to brighten the space.  The wall color in this part of the room is Kensington Blue (Benjamin Moore).  It is a nice warn-vintage-ish kind of blue...manly with a hint of military-esq

Sir M's bed.  He is very particular about how it is made (if only he were as particular about putting things away).  The stripes:  "Why," you might ask, "did you waste time striping the walls where you were putting their beds?"  The answer is; I thought the Sir's would enjoy them.  It gives them some visual interest on what would otherwise be a plain one-tone wall.

One of my favorite things about a cape cod are these amazing angled walls.  I think the stripes really show them off!  Yes, the vent still needs to be sand-blasted and re-painted.

For a break we went to The Muster on the Saint Mary's at our Historic Fort Wayne this weekend.  The sirs were knighted by Mary Queen of Scots for their braverism at The Battle of Ticonderoga.  They were French Fur Traders for this event.

She was beautiful!

She "doesn't take too kindly to strangers".  Who needs an attack dog with this gun-slinger around?

And finally the room I will begin to call the "hearth room" formerly known as the kitchen and family room.  The separation of flooring (awkward) made the rooms defined and yet lacking cohesiveness.

The Dining Room Table has finally, after 5 yrs of ownership, made its way to a real Dining Room.  I can't wait to show you our new eating area!  This room is thankfully dark as I have not even BEGUN to FATHOM a remodel for this whole wing of the house.  Other than removing the carpet months ago, it has not been touched.

Oh yes, and we got a new patio door.  The old one was completely rotting and barely opened/closed.  The dogs had run through the screen so many times it looked like a door on an old camper rotting in some forgotten woods.  The old muttons were outside the glass, so to clean the door I had to pull them off.  The new door is fiberglass and the muttons are on the inside.  The screen works (and has a lifetime free replacement warranty-even against idiot dogs that your husband loves) and the door opens and closes (also with a lifetime warranty) so that is NICE.

This is monumental, dear ones.  The room is completely carpet free at this point.  Sir is so proud of his hard work!

It is amazing how big the room seems when emptied.  With this area plus the mudroom and dining room you have the size of our entire first house!

Always leave your mark on a home.  Always.  I have left our info at each of our homes in a few spots.  It is a way to bind you and your mark on a home forever.  The home I grew up in had some info from the original owners in a few spots and I adored it.  We were only the second owners of that house and my mom left little tidbits about us in it.  In that way, my childhood lives forever.

Yep, I just wrote it in the middle of the floor.  But years from now, if someone ever rips out the old hardwood (dolts they will be) they will read all about this family from long ago.

OOOOOOH What is this?  Sweet Chocolate For Breakfast!!!!!  It is gorgeous, fabulous, clean, delightful WOOD!!!!!

Sir M woke up early this morning and started to lay some flooring.  I guess he likes the angled look?  Perhaps a budding artist?

Esther and Daisy are really exhausted by all of this.

NO, she did not nearly cut her tail off.  She laid it neatly across the bottom of the freshly painted hearth.  Dear, dear Daisy.

With that, I am off my friends.  I hear the UPS guy.  Delivering my new Hearth Room table????  Much to do today.  I will keep you updated on our progress!