It's Amazing What A Little Paint Can Do

I can't believe how long it has been since I've last updated!!! In the last few weeks I was required to increase my hours at work after accepting a promotion and Noah once again headed back to school to finish his final year of his bachelor's degree. In the end this means that working on the house has had to slow down quite substantially :( Even with the slow down we have been able to accomplish a little bit of painting to spruce up some of our antique finds.

This first image is the before of a giant mirror Noah and I added to our bedroom wall. The bathroom in the house is teeny tiny, and the bathroom mirror is even smaller. Noah decided a girl couldn't do without a decent size mirror, therefore he took me to Kirkland's and purchased me this massive 6 ft. x 4 ft. beauty. Unfortunately, the finish didn't quite match the cottage look we were going for. My mom recently discovered Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint and graciously offered to let me use the white paint with a dark wax. Here is the result ...

The vintage finish was the perfect touch to the frame and now the mirror fits perfectly in our new home!

This entertainment center is actually an antique dresser my mom had purchased years ago. She was hoping to one day re-do it and put it in her own home, but after it sat in her workshop for several years she gifted it to Noah and I. Noah covered the dark wood with some white and we had the perfect place to put his new tv. Plus I can hide the dvd's in the drawers!

When moving into an old home you face the problem of not having any form of a pantry. Therefore, we began to search the aisles of antique malls and pages on Craigslist for a makeshift pantry. We found this old cabinet on Craigslist and talked the family into letting us purchase it for only $100!!! The cabinet which was sitting in the family's barn is made out of old weathered wood and chicken wire. Noah also painted the cabinet white and we have a precious pantry!

We still have quite a bit to paint (doors, baseboards, cabinets, etc, etc) but at least this is a start! About a week ago my mom and sister also came over and helped me begin to decorate. Although I know what I want in my new cottage home, I am horrible at placing it perfectly on the wall. Here are a couple of their creations:

This first one is the beginning of our blessings wall. If you didn't read my past post, we painted one whole wall in our kitchen with chalkboard paint. Noah had come up with the idea to write out many of the things God has blessed us with. Since my sister's writing is gorgeous I had her begin writing out our blessings :)



The final picture is the main wall that you see when you first walk through the front door. The clock I got at Ross for only $15 and the windows were also from my mom's shop. The sign I created out of old hymnal pages. You can read a tutorial on how to create the simple sign at her blog, www.katiesrosecottage.blogspot.com in the archive of July 18, 2011.

Have a great day!

Stephanie