Yes Virginia, There REALLY is a Cottage

Let's take a look as you enter the showroom.... (click to enlarge any photo)

To the left.........


And to the right....(hmm.....daybed needs more pillows). That's my desk in the back corner. I do my inventory there and wrap up orders.


A peek from the other side. To the left........


And to the right....


Past the front hall that still needs lots of work.....All of the walls and the cathedral ceiling in the workroom are also this wood siding stuff. Dark, dark, dark...


Into the work room (that also needs lots of work). This is the stainless steel bench where I make floral wreaths, swags and arrangements for my home. I love this workbench because you can glue to your heart's content and just scrape it off of the bench. Overhead on the beams, I hang the dried florals and baskets. I hope to get this room painted a light color with white cabinets sometime before winter this year. It's a dark room but has lots of natural light, as you can see.


The other side of the workroom. This is the table where I paint and craft. You can see how the sun streams throught this big picture window. Back on the buffet are some arrangements I did for a wedding recently, and my funny little bear that sings, "When I'm 64", gift from a friend for my birthday. Sometimes I have a little TV on and will take a break to watch some DIY or craft shows. I know, I know, it's a little overkill with the TV, but hubby wanted a flat screen for our home viewing and this doesn't fit in the bedroom cabinet.


Still in the workroom, a place for the silks in an old cradle. In the background some lamps that need work and a few supplies. I have four of those tall dressers with supplies in them. I don't know how I could do without them!


I love this old stacked cabinet. It was in hubby's garage for years with tools in it before I met him. He wanted to throw it out and I wouldn't let him. Someday I will clean it up and paint it ivory. It has no glass or doors on the bottom, but isn't that what FABRIC is for??


More florals.....

Into the kitchen. Remember back when we re-did this? That door came from the main house and we made it into a pocket door here. It leads to the bathroom. I left the old hardware on it because I like it. Inexpensive ceramic tile on the floor and I still need to paint the cabinets white. The cabinets came from Restore for $50.00 and the dishwasher and stainless sink came from the main house, too.

Still in the kitchen looking at the rest of the counter area with the Fridge. See?, I have one cabinet partially painted. It's a different kind from the others but still looks pretty good. We bought the stove and fridge when a local appliance store went out of business (very cheap). These windows are sliders and look out over a little wooded area between the main house and the cottage. Birds abound out there and I always hang a hummingbird feeder outside the sink window so I can watch them while cleaning my brushes.


Looking from the pocket door toward the back door. It's so chippy and old that it makes me smile every time I see it. I almost hate to paint it because it's so charming (and original to the cottage). See the ceiling? Well.........we had a leak in the roof from so much snow this past winter and will need to replace that part of the ceiling when we find out if the leak is fixed. I was just sick, let me tell you. There are no built-ins on the right side of this kitchen. Instead, I chose to use a large cabinet with shelves that came from an old schoolhouse (I painted a gazebo scene on it), an old radio cabinet that the microwave sits on, a Hoosier that someone painted white (not me) and an old aqua cabinet that had scary clowns on it. It's really chippy, but I sanded the clowns off as they scared my granddaughter. I don't know why they put such pictures on children's furniture.

Walking out the back door, we can stop by the pink honeysuckle bushes that are now blooming. What a heavenly smell!!


Thanks for stopping by and please come to visit me at the cottage again.

The Cottage History

Aunt May is working on her website today! What a LOT of work! Not hard work, just LOTS of it. Hopefully, I will have enough wonderful items listed by the end of the week to open it up to the public. At any rate, please watch for my "Grand Opening" coming soon.

Meantime, I thought you might like a photo of the real cottage. This photo is from the front of the cottage. As noted in the sidebar, the cottage belonged to a widowed lady named Aunt May. She came here during the warm summer months and lived without water or electricity for that relaxing time. Her bother and his family lived next door in the farmhouse, so Aunt May was able to spent her days visiting with them, reading and tending her lovely garden. She eagerly anticipated her time at the Cottage each year during the winter months that she spent with her daughter in town.

Declining health and age forced Aunt May to cease her visits sometime in the early '60s and the cottage fell into disrepair starting about that time. It was used as a garage, barn, playhouse and storage shed over the next generation.

A new property owner emerged, and in the late '80s, rescued the cottage and opened an herb store therein. It prospered for a few years until those owners were forced to move due to divorce. The cottage, again abandoned, fell to the prey of wild animals, water and insects.

I wish I had taken a photo when I first looked at this place. The cottage was barely visible due to the overwhelming growth of honeysuckle vines, grape vines and Virginia Creeper that had enveloped the cottage. The lattice that was designed to keep the growth in check had been only an avenue for the vines to reach the roof of the porch, then the cottage roof itself, and finally, down the back wall of the little house. Talk about a "vine covered cottage"!! I was in awe of the look of it! Little did I think, at the time, of the damage it had done.

No air had reached that roof or some of the walls for a long time and they had begun to rot away, leaving constant moisture inside to create mold beyond belief. This photo is the back room of the cottage as it was after I removed all of the vines. Foolishly, I believed that if I left it to "air out", it would be ready to do a little patching and painting.

The following year, I decided to tackle that little job. To my surprise, more work than I originally thought was needed. A few pieces of plaster board had too much mold on them so needed replaced. A few spots where the raccoons had lived needed to be cleaned out. A few more spots of insulation had mold and mouse nests in them and before I knew it ..... this is what we had! After striping the entire back, we discovered that the studs themselves were riddled with termites! My cottage......


With the help of my son and husband we were able to brace the roof up and rebuild the entire back wall and ceiling. Water had been leaking into there from the roof and down the ceiling joists for who knows how long.

Then we needed a new roof. I'm deathly afraid of heights, so I hired that done. We then added new windows, replaced the outside siding, insulation and added all new drywall. Hubby rewired and put in the lighting. I mudded and taped the area and added a Venetian plaster finish. Then put up all new trim. I chose a yummy paint color by Dutch Boy called Vanilla Ice Cream. Reusing an antique door that came from the main house, we installed a pocket door that goes to the future bathroom.

Lots of time and work netted us this beautiful kitchen area now. This is just after I finished the ceramic tile floor and before we set the cabinets, stove and sink.

Next time, you will see the finished kitchen area and a little of the inside of the rest of the cottage as it is today. I still need to finish painting the cupboards, but who would have imagined the possibilities hiding inside that little dwelling!