Cottage Floor Plan and Renovation Update

In case you're new to this little adventure, or you've forgotten since I'm not blogging so very regularly about it, my parents bought a little beach cottage on Manasota Key, FL earlier this year and I'm helping them design a new look for it.

You can see all the before pictures over here.

It wasn't very pretty, but it had potential.

 My biggest renovation priority? Moldings and trim. I had to FIGHT for this, and I do actually mean fight, like with a tiny bit of yelling. Because the money man, my dad, thought trim wasn't as important as opening up the floor plan, getting new cabinets or mounting his sailfish and thought it wouldn't matter if it maybe got added somewhere down the line. But I was adamant that trim, more than anything else, would make this dated, sparse little cottage sing. After many, many go-rounds, I finally convinced him trim was the way to go. So in addition to tearing down the dated and useless lanai and opening up the kitchen, our contractor got the direction to install window trim, crown moldings, and thick baseboards to give our little cottage some charm. Care to see some photos of the progress?

 



Demo Stage

  

    

Progress



Before





Demo, No more lanai



Progress

Progress

Before

Aren't things coming along splendidly? Of course we're still waiting on floors and baseboards and new white wood horizontal blinds, before we can get in and start furnishing and decorating, but so far so good!

And just in case it isn't clear to you from the pictures what's happening with lanai and open concept kitchen, here are before and after floorplans I whipped up in Floorplanner.com

The new cabinets and flooring go in next week! And after that baseboards, window coverings, and appliances. I'll be heading down before Christmas to start decorating and I can't wait to take some "after" pictures!

 

A Bright Bargain





I love trolling the Target clearance racks because every once in a while I will run across a real steal. Like a little lamp originally $39.99 marked down to $6.04! As it happened, I'd been hoping to add a little light on the buffet in my dining room, so at 85% off it was a no brainer.



There was only one problem. The shade was a little tragic.

At $6.04, it still would have been a bargain to buy it and replace the shade

But I was feeling a little crafty, so I opted to paint the shade out using some black fabric paint I had on hand. A few minutes later the fake light bulb was gone and a real one was added. I may continue tweaking it just for fun, but either way, things are a little brighter in my dining room.





Not bad for $6.



Another Round of Gallery Wall Updates



Original Mock-up

 I wanted a Gallery Wall in my living room before my living room was even mine. I just had to make it happen, especially after seeing it in my first living room mock-up (first shared here) . I was totally smitten.


Wee.

 

Slowly, it started to take shape (very slowly because hanging pictures in plaster is way harder than it should be).



Mostly Empty



At first it was full of empty frames and placeholder photos.

But as time marched on I started filling the blanks with everything from ordered prints, to wallpaper samples, to cherished photos. But even in the image to the right it still had a long way to go!



Filling up, but featuring a lot of "better than nothing" fluff





Featuring Totle Paw-Print Painting, Toni Salerno
and other random stuff




Featuring Story People, Corbin, Totle, and some family photos.





Updated with more of the prints and sentimentality and  I wanted, but still crooked, blurry and dim

 But still, my wall was not complete. Still too much filler and not quite enough Mary. So I kept tweaking. When my little Lizzard got me a Story People print for my birthday , I knew I could find a place for it in the gallery. And since I was already switching things up, I also made several other new additions and swaps, including that tiny little abstract, and moving Totle's paw print painting into the white frame (it been in the gold frame toward the top and never looked right to me)



The Print from Story People is called Living Memory, it reads "I carry you with me into the world, into the smell of the  rain and the words that dance between people & for me it will always be this way, walking in the light, remembering being alive together." It means the world to me.




Added a little cut paper I brought back from China in 2009
 and forgot about until recently



Added little owlie I painted to hoot over the Totle Shark

 

Added a Duffy Crest from my Grandparent's House.
Duffy is my middle name, so it makes sense.

  

 

Added a new little beach painting from a special night in Miami. It joins a picture from my epic album cover photo shoot with Hontz circa 2005 and a picture of my Mom introducing a newborn Mary to my big brother

Sapphire abstract I painted replaced the paw print art in the gold frame


So now that you've seen some of the changes up close, how about a full view..... Coming along isn't it?



Homecoming Hijinks

If you can't tell from my serious face (<---) this double Hoosier takes Homecoming pretty seriously.

Homecoming is important. It combines many things I love, like spending time with friends, being outside, drinking, showing off mad baking skills, and eating delicious (and often unhealthy) food. Now that I'm a "grown-up," I no longer feel it is enough to show up with a cooler or a bag of chips. No, I must go full on Mary for the occasion. So ghat's exactly what I did two weekends ago when the Hoosiers hosted Michigan State for the big game.

I debated whether to opt for breakfast foods (due to the early kickoff) or traditional tailgate feasting, but then I remembered I HATE the word "or." I'm much fonder of "and," so I planned for both. #moreismore.



Hush Up Juice



Biscuits and Gravy
 and other breakfast sundries


After a whirlwind Friday night of baking and cooking and hauling, (thanks to Allie for making it fun), we made it to Bloomington and woke ready to hit the tailgate field.








Caleb made biscuits and gravy, so I made Cinnamon rolls and bacon to round out the breakfast offerings. And of course two massive batches of Hush Up Juice (Whiskey, Apple Cider & Ginger Ale), no homecoming breakfast is complete without it.

It was pretty chilly in the morning (high 30's/low 40's so we had to bundle up. That's how Totle in his IU hoodie ended up buttoned into Elizabeth's coat.



Em and I. Only 10 Homecomings ago we were
frosh sharing a tiny concrete block dorm room!



New Fav Lil noshing on a biscuit and holding Tot



 Because one Crock Pot just isn't enough, I also made a double batch of Tailgate Chili, and then of course Pretzels and Beer Cheese and to round things out, a double batch of Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (recipie here). that were insanely good. So good, that at one point a random drunk guy stumbling past our tailgate offered me an entire case of beer for one. Homecoming had me in a generous spirit, so I declined his trade and just offered him one. He responded with a marriage proposal. They were that good.



Seriously the best cupcakes ever.
Pumpkin with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting



Mmmm Pretzel bites!



Cottage Second Bedroom

Cottage planning continues as does the construction. It won't be too terribly long until I'm there bringing my decor plans to life. I've already shared the inspiration (here), color scheme (here), and plans for the master (here), so now for quick post on the second bedroom,.

As a reminder, the before photos are on the left, so you can plainly see any change is likely to be a good one (more before pics here).

The light, almost white, paint color was selected when the plans called for the walls to be clad with wood.  Since originally we'd looked at installing paneling for an authentic cottagey feel, but the added costs didn't survive the budgeting process. Though we liked the bright airy feel, even sans paneling (which may still happen at a later date), so we proceed with Bright Moon. To keep a consistent feeling throughout the modest floorplan, I wanted to be sure to repeat the same colors in each room, but applied in different ways, so where the master has blue walls white bedding and green accents, those colors get flipped for this space.

I wanted to pull in a striped duvet, because as shown in the pins below, a striped duvet in the right space just screams beachy/nautical to me.






 

So I went on the hunt, and quickly fell in love with the little beauty below on the left from West Elm. At $89 each, the duvet is well priced, but when renovating and furnishing a whole cottage, every penny saved counts. So even though I prefer the "new navy" color of the West Elm, when a little sleuthing led me to a very similar option from Target for $19.99 each, I just had to snatch them right up. Savvy Shopping Savings = $138. Oh wait, the West Elm duvets didn't include shams($19.00), and the Target duvets do so make that savings total of $176.



Available here

 

Available here



























Painted furniture is another staple of cottage style, and since the walls are light I am free to do a POP of color on the nightstand that will live between the twin beds. While a simple piece with straight lines would also be sweet gussied up in a fun color, I really wanted something with some texture and interest and a vintage feel.

I'd half-planned on thrifting a little nightstand and painting it out in just the right blue, but when I stumbled upon this gem from Crate and Barrel's kids brand Land of Nod, I revised my thinking. Even if I got a killer deal on a nightstand I'd probably spend at least $100 to buy and paint it, not to mention hours of my time. And the size of this piece makes the decision even easier. The second bedroom is tiny, so this little Jenny Lind nightstand and its 17' width is just perfect. It hits all the right notes and at $199 it is a bargain!


Available here



 The headboards will be vintage, likely bamboo (as pictured in my mock-up). I have a source for them down in Florida, but am still waiting to pick the exact ones. They'll get painted a light green to bring a little bit of the cottage green into the room.

  



Available here

 
Throw pillows for the bed to tie together the lighter blue and navy. At $60 each, the pillows I like best are a little more than I'd like to spend, but they're just so lovely that if I can make it work with the budget I might have to splurge.
  


















Above the beds I want to make my own flip flop shadow boxes. I have some experience making shadow boxes, as I made some Sea Fan Shadow Boxes a few years back that currently live in the West Wing (you can read all about making them here). If you know me in real life, you know my affinity for flip flops. I happen to get that honest from my dear old dad. My father has a pair of Sperry flip flops that he will jokingly refer to as his dress flops/boat flops/travel flops/church flops depending on location and occasion. We are definitely flip flop people. And since I'm a big believer that your home should reflect who you are, and flip flops are decidedly beachy, when I saw this adorable idea in Coastal Living, I knew it had to be a part of the house. The only trick will be finding the right frames, though I'm hoping if I can find the right kid's flip flops, the frame from IKEA will do the trick.

Originally from Coastal Living, July 2012 I think






  

Available here








Repinned from Belle Maison 23, but I think originally from Coastal Living Also



And on the subject of art/wall hanging I'll be DIY'ing.... I just HAVE to recreate this starfish mirror. Isn't it amazing? I have a source for the starfish, so I think it'll be as simple as buying a bunch, a mirror, and a large piece of MDF to affix the mirror and the starfish too. But I promise to report full details once I tackle that project.

If you're wondering why you don't see the fabulous starfish mirror in my mock-up above, that's because it'll be on the opposite wall. I'm thinking I'd like to hang it over a chest (or maybe luggage racks?) I'll be painting to match the beds.

I'm pretty excited.



Cottage Master Plans



Before

You may recall the master bedroom at the cottage wasn't looking so very hot in it's before shots (more of those here), and that the after settling on a scheme (detailed here) the plans included walls colored Aqua Breeze (more about paint colors here).  Now seems like as good a time as any to share some of the other plans for the cottage master bedroom.

Below is a crude mock-up of how I think it will take shape and some of the details that feed the mock-up, including source links. Except for the Urchin pillow because I don't want any of you to beat me to it and I'm selfish like that.

The mint dresser I pinned unforunately won't be sourced from Cottagemainehome.com because the price point is a little (okay a LOT) too rich for our blood at over $2K, but I'm sure I can thrift a piece with similar lines and DI-myself for a lot less cash.  I will also by DIYing the nautical mirror. The only real unknowns are the bedskirt, which I really want to be in the same general seafoamy/minty color as the dresser and urchin accents, but I'm sure I can track one down somwhere, and art/furniture for the wall to the left of the bed, but I want to get this phase executed before making those decisions.

What do you think so far? I for one can't wait to get down there!







Available here



Available here



Available here



Available here



Sorry I Can't source this for you yet, because we haven't
clicked buy and it is the the only one.



Repinned from cottagehomemaine.com