Gifts for our shabby cottage.

I sooo love the "shabby" look.

This pretty little table fits in perfect here at our cottage.

It's my birthday present from the husband.

Hubby also gave me this lovely charcoal/grey sofa for Christmas.

It's quite a change from all of the white pieces I usually buy for our cottage.

The sofa compliments everything in the room.

I LOVE it!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

A Blustery Saturday.

It's a blustery day.

The kind of day when you can hear the wind howling outside the doors, and windows.

It hasn't stopped snowing since I climbed out of bed this morning.

Time to plug in the Christmas lights, and turn on the holiday music.

I guess I could pull out a few more decorations.....mmmm....no.

I'd rather curl up on the sofa, cover up with a quilt, and find some favorite decorating magazines to look at.

What makes it more fun is knowing some of the bloggers in some of the magazine features!

Even though you don't know them personally, you've met them through blogging.

Sometimes we are blessed to be able to meet up in person.

Or...you've become friends through emailing each other.

Blogging opens up a whole new avenue for people to connect.

Since it's such a bad day for travel....

I have decided that enjoying a few of my favorite magazines will be my form of entertainment for the day. 

I'm sure there will be at least one person's home I will recognize as I look through the many magazines, I have here at my cozy cottage, on this blustery winter day.
I hope you enjoy your weekend.
xoxoxoxoxo

Quiet Sunday.

It's a quiet Sunday afternoon here at our cottage. It's nice to have some time to sit and relax for a few hours.

Our Christmas season has started off with two fun parties, and another one scheduled for tonight.

The neighborhood party was last night.

We had a wonderful time!!!

My party, for the pharmacy, was last weekend.

Hubby's work party is tonight.

Hubby's family meets the weekend before Christmas.

My kids get together the weekend after.

Then I plan to have some gal pals over during the week before Christmas week.

Yikes....there doesn't seem to be enough time to meet with everyone!

I'm trying to keep things simple this year.

A lot of the decorations are staying in the bins.

I don't have the extra time to pull it all out, then put it all away again in such a short time.

There are always a lot of candles here at our cottage.

With the glow of the Christmas lights, the fire going, and all the candles...we have a cozy holiday feel here at the Lakehouse.

POP!!!

There's goes my quiet afternoon!!

The snowmobiles are here!

They are racing up and down the frozen canal...sigh...

Well.....it was nice while it lasted........
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

A few more decorations...

Good morning.

I love getting up early this time of year. Turning the lights on the Christmas tree. Listening to Christmas music, and lighting some balsam scented candles.

A few more vintage decorations came out of the bins the other day.

My mother's mother had  bottle brush trees, and wreaths at Christmas time.

I've always loved them.

Whenever I find them, I scoop them up.

Mercury glass is another favorite.

I have candle sticks, vases, bottles, ornaments, etc.

Silver is my number one favorite, but pink is right up there, as is the aqua color.

I'm not putting out as much as I used to.

With all the kids having homes of their own...I've given them a lot of the decorations that we had when they were little.

I don't do all the Santa's, and snowmen anymore.

Now it's more vintage, and shabby pieces that I use to decorate with.

The colors are less traditional here at our cottage, but they are soothing, and we do have some "bling" here and there!
I hope you are having fun decorating your homes this year....life is short, make it happy!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

A start to Christmas decorating.

With the wonderful aroma of turkey, and stuffing filling the house, and hot apple pie baking in the oven, my mood turned to holiday decorating.

Nothing major.

Just a few vintage bottle brush trees, greens, and some candles for now.

I am really enjoying the new colors in the living room, and dining room.

They give a less formal look to the rooms....lending a shabby feel. 

Now, the pieces I decorate with seem to show up more, and you get a better idea of what I'm going for, as far as decor goes.

This is just a start to my Christmas decorating.
Have you started putting things out yet?
Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend!
~~~xoxoxoxoxoxo~~~

Another post???

For those of you that were here already today, and left a comment....I'm sorry.

I do thank you for stopping by, and for leaving your comments on the first post.

After arranging the living room today, I decided to just sit, and relax this evening.

I lit a few candles, and the hubster started a fire.

It got all cozy in here.

I really loved the way it looked with the new paint color, and all of the warmth, and glow of the fire light.

My VERY inexpensive little camera doesn't take night pictures well...but I sat, and goofed around with it for a while until I finally figured out how to get it to take at least a few (kind of) cool photos.

As you can see, I'm not very good at this.   But....

I was having a little fun doing something different.

You will probably need some eye drops after looking at these last two fuzzy pictures.

I know I will!

I am enjoying the new colors here in our old cottage.

I'm glad the rooms are put back together....even if I keep moving pieces around again, and again.

I hope your weekend is off to a great start!
and I promise...no more posts today....lol.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

A preview of the living room.

Good Tuesday afternoon to you.

The living room is almost finished.

One more coat on one last wall....aahhhhh.

This room is just a little bit different than the dining room.

The color in there is Salt Glaze by Martha Stewart.

The living room is Frost by Martha Stewart.

When this room is finished, I will take a picture of the entire area so you can see the two rooms side by side.

The entry into the dining room is quite large.

I cannot wait until the mister puts in the wood floors.

He installed them in the dining room a few years ago...and I love them!

The previous color in here was that same suede that was in the dining room.  It looked nice with the white trim, but just didn't give off that "shabby" look.  I like this color with all of the whites so much more.
I will finish painting tonight. Then move the furniture to their new places.
After a couple of days, I will hang a few things on the walls.
Then I will show you the room all put together.
Have a great evening!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The dining room is finished!

Hello.

I put the dining room back together after painting this past weekend.

I thought I would share just a little more of the room.

I am now looking for a chandelier for in here.

This one used to be black, burgundy, and gold.

It was from my "primitive" decor days.

Hubby painted it white, and I added all the crystals to "shabby" it up.

Bits, and pieces that once graced old porches.

A post, a piece of an iron railing. A water basin.

I found a few of these old half posts in a barn in Indiana years ago. The farmer let me buy them. He would have thrown them on his burn pile if I hadn't rescued them!! The gentleman probably would have given them to me, but I offered to pay for them! We loaded them into the back of the truck, and away I went.

As I was waving good bye, I noticed the man was shaking his head as he stood in his dirt driveway. Maybe he suddenly regretted letting go of such coveted treasures....or maybe he thought I was nuts!!!

It doesn't really matter, I guess...because I'm the one with the posts!!!!

bwhaahaaahaahaaa!!!!

So there you have it.
The dining room.
Painted in it's new color, and all put together again.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

I will be joining Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home.

Painting walls.

Boy, have things changed here at the lake house.

After our first trip to Sanibel Island, I wanted our cottage to look, and feel like we were living at the beach. I really liked the way our dining room looked with the crisp whites, seashells, and sand tones.

Although, there were  bits, and pieces of shabby chic here, and there.

Deep in my heart....as much as I loved the magic of the sea, and everything related to it....my passion was with romantic, shabby chic.

When the tide went out....so did the beach decor....except for the seashells.

I've decorated with antique, and vintage pieces for a LONG time. I started collecting linens in my teens. 

With the addition of ruffles, and roses in the past three years, I feel like I know the "look" I want to achieve here at the cottage.

I am changing the color of the upper wall in the dining room, down the hall, and above the cupboards.

It's called Salt Glaze by Martha Stewart.

It looks darker in the pictures than it actually is. 

The color depends on the lighting.

It's actually a blue/gray color.

I love it with the white bead board, and trim.

The kitchen isn't finished, and the steps need to be done.

Then it's on to the living room.

I'm not positive on a color for that room yet.

I will share more pictures in a few days. 
Hope you are enjoying your weekend.
xoxoxoxoxoxo

This and That....

Wow....now I know what a sloth feels like.

I've been movin' mighty slow today.

I didn't get dressed until almost 3:00 this afternoon.

That was after the time change, so it was actually 4:00!!

The only reason I changed into some clothes was because I didn't want the neighbors to see me in my pink leopard print flannel pj's that late in the day.  AND, since my hair is long and curly. I figured it was time I brushed it so people didn't think I was channeling Bob Marley this weekend.

If the dogs had larger bladders, I could have waited until it got dark to let them out...but with the time change, they made it impossible. I didn't want to look like an escapee from the sanitarium, so I dressed, and brushed myself.

Meh...I don't know why I worry so much....I've looked worse.

The mister is at deer camp. 

A few days with a clean house!

I don't know about you, but I really enjoy a clean bathroom when he's out in the woods.

Don't misunderstand.....I love the man, I do.

The only complaint I have is, when he's home....it's like living at deer camp 365 days a year!

It's like there's a herd of him!

How one man can carry in that much dirt.....it renders me speechless.

The only answer I've found is Xanax.

I'm not liking this time change.

I keep looking at the clock, and it doesn't seem like the right time. ugh.

Isn't it funny how just one hour can make such a difference to some people....weird people like me.

                                                                                 Well, I guess I should let the dogs out again. Now that it's getting dark again. After that, I'll put my pj's on, and relax. It's been such a busy day, ya know?  
Have a great week!!
xoxoxoxo