Archive | Cottage Style

It’s Do-Ovah Time

By megan on June 30, 2012 in Bedroom, Bookshelves, Cottage Style, Dining Room, Paint

Do-Ovah’s are my favorite part of the job! They really educate and motivate my clients to be able to do something creative with their spaces on their own. I feel like such a proud momma when I hear from them that they completed what we talked about and they love it. The downside of the Do-Ovah for me is that I don’t always get to see the finished product. But sometimes, a client finishes it AND sends me proof. Here are just a few do-ovah’s from the past few months…

DO-OVAH #1 – Concord, MA

This do-ovah was for a client who was moving to the area and had to make all the decisions from several hours away. She hired me to help out with the kitchen & family room area that had a confusing layout and clearly dated built-ins.

BEFORE

Her style is light and bright cottage feel, and we went through her Pinterest Boards (best design tool eva) to see what ideas she had for the space. It was not in the budget to rebuild the bookshelves, so we had them painted white and added crown molding at the top to lose the scalloped edge for a less 70’s feel. The trim around the windows was also painted white and the walls were painted in Benjamin Moore Sliver Sage 506. They are thrilled with the transformation…now onto the furniutre options. I hope they keep me posted!

AFTER

DO-OVAH #2 – Acton, MA

This client lives in a beautiful historic home with lots of charm. They hired me for several rooms in their home, but for their dining room in particular they wanted to give it a whole new look, but didn’t really want to paint. Um, yeah about that…

BEFORE

Often times people think that if they have the dark woodwork in historic homes they shouldn’t paint it (I’m one of those people) but here’s the thing, you don’t have to choose light colors to make it look good. In fact, I think yellow is one of the worst options because it doesn’t enhance the tone of the wood…it competes with it…making it look too orange! Luckily, my client is someone who will take design risks (YIPPIE!) and didn’t completely pass out when I suggested to paint it PURPLE!

AFTER

Benjamin Moore Kasbah AF-640 to be specific. The furniture did not change, but doesn’t the room look so much more pulled together? It’s so soothing!

I love how the beautiful woodwork just pops against the new color. Seriously, is that door amazing or what?!?

Oh, and speaking of the door, we were also working on the master bedroom and they said they needed a new headboard! Rather than purchasing a new one, I suggested that they use an extra door and paint it then hang it horizontally…and guess what…they did it! Doesn’t it look stunning?

Note to self: Do not go up to your son’s Lacrosse coach in front of a bunch of other Mom’s (none of which were his wife / my client) and say how much you really love how his headboard turned out. Um, yeah, we got a few funny looks! I guess that’s just the part of my job…RUMORS!

In a Cabin in the Woods…

By megan on January 23, 2012 in Antique, Cottage Style, Mudroom

I have a cousin who is pretty amazing. Not only does she have four kids, but she home schools all four kids, in a log cabin in the woods of a small seaside community in Maine. It’s like Little House on The Prairie…for real!

I make the five hour drive with my boys once a year. I always look forward to our time together and appreciate how we live such different city mouse / country mouse lives. I love the coziness of the wood stove heating her home and the convenience of the fresh eggs in the morning. Although, if you know me, you’ll know that I’m not a real “outdoorsy” person. The closest I’ve been to camping is when we lost power for 5 days (twice…and let me tell you…you can hook up a lot with a little generator). They love to laugh at how I’m so NOT a Mainer! Maybe I do sprint from the car to her front door if we get home after dark (They HAVE bears in them woods!) but all that aside (I wonder what new farm animal they will have this year?!?) Kelly has a wonderful eye for cottage style decorating. I swear her home could be in a magazine!

She uses such simple things and makes them look so elegant! She also has a keen eye for antiques. And let me tell you, they certainly do have tons of amazing antique stores up there, but that’s another post for another time!

Here in the hallway she used an antique apothecary cabinet. The kids can put their stuff in assigned cabinets while their sea glass collection adorns the top.

Kelly’s cozy kitchen seems to be an ever changing work in progress. Every time we visit, wether its the layout or an antique, there is always something new! Even the bench in her kitchen was repurposed from pieces of our grandparents old piano. I also love all the nautical elements, as her husband is an olympic sailor!

But what sparked this blog post was her most creative mudroom…I just had to share it with you. First of all, I love reclaimed windows! Here she used a robin’s egg blue paint and backed the window frame with a complimenting nautical map. It certainly makes a stunning coat rack.

But the best part of all was on the opposite wall! Paint cans are used as coat hangers…the perfect spot to store your hats, scarfs, and mittens.

What a creative use of old paint cans! Seriously…how many of these are filling up landfills? And it’s so easy too. She cleaned out the cans, removed the handle, and painted them! You can do it too by simply drilling a hole in the bottom of the can and attaching it to the wall in your mudroom (depending on how heavy your coats are, you might want to use an anchor).

With these recent posts, this could be the month of the mudroom makeover! Did this inspire you to do a Do-Ovah of your mudroom? Do you have a creative mudroom that you’d like to share? Lemme know…maybe you can be featured as a Do-Ovah guest Bloggah!