The Apple Street Cottage

For the longest time, my husband and I have said we need a bookcase.  Why?  Because we have books and, of course, tchotchkes! We scanned Marketplace and plenty of bookcases showed up, but many were not real wood or just too plain.  We both wanted something out of the ordinary, not just a plain rectangle of shelves.  When this one showed up we thought it ticked all the boxes.   *It was small. *It was solid wood. *It was only $35. *The woman selling it offered to bring it to us!   This photo was taken after I removed the hardware.  More about that later! W elcome to the 'Do It Over' Designers blog hop.  We are a group of bloggers who love to recycle/upcycle/DIY.  I'm happy to host this hop and I hope you'll visit everyone to see what they have to share with you.  Their links will be listed at the end of this post. This post may contain affiliate links  We started to laugh when we realized how small this bookcase actually was.  It's just shy of 5 feet tall and the shel

  Welcome back, Everyone.  It's mid-September and the temperatures are starting to cool off.  Low 70's during the day and upper 40's to low 50's at night is perfect, especially since it isn't raining! This week I decided to start decorating for Fall.  Keep in mind, I am not an interior decorator or designer.  I just know what I like.  So come along and see how I decorate - on a budget! There are 2 rules to decorating at the Cottage: 1.  Don't spend a lot. 2.  Use what you have - whenever you can. This post may contain affiliate links.  Simple, right?  Let's have a look... First stop is the top of the China Cabinet .   The galvanized tin has been around for at least 12 years. So long that I can't remember what I paid for it.  The flowers inside are also at least that old and were purchased on sale.  Since they've lasted this long, I'd say they were a good investment - whatever I paid for them!   The bird I found a couple of years ago, also on sal

It's Labor Day weekend and in my world, Fall begins AFTER Labor Day.  My birthday is at the end of August and, when I was a little girl, that meant school would be starting in the next week or so, meaning Fall had arrived! This post may contain affiliate links.  These days it seems like Fall begins it's arrival in July.   The stores are stocked with faux leaves and pumpkins, the Back-To-School ads start, and I've even seen some Halloween decorations.   Seriously, can we stop rushing things and just enjoy the season we are in? Ahh, summer, when t he flowers are blooming, fresh vegetables abound, yard sales are in full swing, and it's warm and sunny.   Except for this year.  Yes, the flowers and veggies made their annual showing, but the weather has been cloudy, rainy, and humid - not the typical upstate New York summer at all.   In spite of the disappointing weather, things were still happening around here .  When we sold our house 2 years ago, I wanted to take my favor