The Apple Street Cottage

UPDATE: We had a visit from the niece and nephew of the original owners of our house. Tim had seen a lot of the work we've done, but this was the first time his sister had been here since we bought it. When she saw the photo of their aunt & uncle in the dining room she blew them a kiss, turned to me, with tears in her eyes, and said, "Thank you for having them here".  It touched my heart...  Keep in mind, this couple built this house in 1931 and were the only people to live in it previous to us.  Fran lived to be 101 and was loved by all who knew her.  We feel honored to live in their house. I thought I'd share a little bit of history along with a recycled frame. Apparently, there is entirely too much light in the dining room, because it was impossible to get a good shot of this frame and photo - glare everywhere! Meet the original owners of The Cottage: This was the only angle that had very little glare. Here's a close-up of the pic: Me...

It's summer at the Cottage and one of my favorite pastimes is to sit on the front porch enjoying the warm weather with a good book and a glass of iced tea.   Here's the chair that my husband painted white for me: It needed a cushion, so I grabbed an old one and some bargain bin fabric and made one.  You may remember me doing this for the rocker on the side porch.  Check HERE . I had some extra fabric, so I got out a travel pillow that was hiding in the closet and made a pillow, too!  Here's a close-up: The porch tour wouldn't be complete without a peek at the flowers: You may remember this upcycle from a few weeks ago.  If you missed it, check it out HERE . Impatiens in a basket by the door. Geraniums in the apple basket. Morning Glories in hanging baskets. The Summer Porch. I'm in the middle of choosing colors for the front door and shutters. They both need scraping and painting desperately!  I'm thinking yel...

Last week, Kimberley at Seaside Ave nominated me for the Liebster Award.  This award is German in origin and is a great way for bloggers to "pay it forward" and make new friends in Blogland. Thank you so much, Kimberley.  Let's get started on the details: The Official Rules Of The Liebster Award  If you have been nominated for The Liebster Award AND YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT, write a blog post about the Liebster award in which you: 1. thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog. 2. display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.) 3. answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you. 4. provide 11 random facts about yourself. 5. nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who h...

For those of you who love antiques/old things, there is that one thing you've always wanted.  For me, it was a card catalog and I wanted to make it into a coffee table.  I've been actively looking for a few years now and I've had no luck.  Either I just can't find one, or when I do, it's REALLY expensive.  My theory is:  "If you can't get it for a good price, it's not worth getting".   A few weeks ago, we had lunch with some friends.  In the course of the conversation, I mentioned that I was looking for a card catalog. My friend looked at me and said, "I have one in the garage, you can have it."  I nearly fell over!  When I saw it, I couldn't believe the shape it was in - take a look: Pretty sweet, huh? I have to admit, the top was dirtier than this picture shows.  My husband had already started cleaning it with some rubbing compound by the time I took these photos.  The little square thing on the top was where a pen ha...

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this, but the screens (and windows) at the cottage are original.  That's right, 75 years old - and to be honest with you, I think they have 75 layers of paint on them, but that's another story.  The biggest problem was the fact that the screens had holes in them - not very effective at keeping out the bugs! Let's not overlook the paint that was all over the edges: The first order of business was removing the thin moldings around the screen - no rubber spline here, folks, this is VINTAGE!  The goal was to remove it without cracking, splitting, or breaking it, soooo, I started by scoring through the 75 layers of paint... ...and gently lifting the moldings: SUCCESS! A few of the finishing nails stayed put, so they had to be pulled out Along with the staples - there must have been 100! The frame and moldings were scraped, painted and left to dry: It was finally time to rescreen!  The new screening wa...

Good Morning, Everyone!  It's a rainy Monday at the cottage, but I'm not complaining.  We had a beautiful weekend with lots of sun and mild temperatures. Yesterday was spent with friends on their 10 acres - a little slice of heaven - so, a little rain?  All of my plants are smiling! My latest project was reinventing a planter for the front porch: Are you ready for the 'before' shot? I'm sure it came directly from 1970.  It even had a flower decal (that was removed before this pic).  If you look carefully, you can see the outline.  I layed a wet cloth on it for a few minutes and the decal came right off - with the help of my spatula.  Yes, I was too lazy to go downstairs and get a scraper!  Over the years, this little treasure had some wear & tear.  The legs were loose and the top corner had a chunk missing.  Nothing a screwdriver (with some toothpicks to fill-in the hole that was now too big - my hubby's trick) and some...

That's right, my friends.  An old metal trash can was left behind at the cottage.  It looked like this: Yes, I forgot to take a 'before' pic!  I had some leftover spray paint from the bar stools , so, I got to work and sprayed the entire can.  Easiest project ever!!!   I put some plastic containers in the bottom (reused those empty laundry & milk bottles), so I didn't have to fill the entire can with soil (makes it lighter, too), added soil to the top, along with plants and some mulch - project completed! There was a big dent on the edge that I couldn't pound out, so I turned it to the back.  Here's a peek: So, there you have it - my upcycle project for this week.  Proof that you 'can' turn trash into treasure. Have a wonderful week & thank you for stopping by the Cottage! Linking to: Make It Pretty Monday Something To Talk About Amaze Me Monday Do Tell Tuesday Creative Spark Grandma Ideas Before ...