Before ~ n ~ Afters

Hello sweet friends! Grab a slice of pie and come for a tour of my cottage before and afters... I haven't posted in about 2 weeks, yikes, but I'm been busy trying to grab a slice of Spring and incorporate it into the Cottage :) I hope the long winter is treating you well, I am constantly blogging about being sick of the snow, lol, so I decided it was about time to make my own seasonal change, even while we just got another 4" of the pretty( ? ) white stuff....My inspiration for the changes came from what else but my kitchen wallpaper. That's always my starting point here. A few years ago I had the family room off the kitchen painted a deep Merlot/Red, it was in the center of the roses on my wallpaper, but now I decided to take the Sage green and pull that into the family room instead. With that, I also decided to give my deep green kitchen island a burst of Robins Egg blue too! If you've been following my blog for awhile now, you know that the kitchen island was once my childhood desk, and we just added a base and some wheels and wah-la, kitchen island :) If you're a new follower, this was such a simple project but gave me exactly what I wanted. If you can't find the perfect island, just invent your own :) ....The pic below shows the colors I used in the make-overs. My camera doesn't do the colors justice, they are so soft and yet rich in person. The Mountain Haze is now in the family room, and the Creamy white is the trim color. The blue island is Cottage Blue Bell...

Below is the Before ( Kitchen Island )...

~ Now the After ~


I love how the creamy yellow ware bowl looks so Vintage and simple on the bottom shelf...


This was the before of the Family Room looking into the Kitchen, I liked it, but wanted one color through out the hall way and family room for more simplicity and cohesion ...( below is Before )

~ After ~ ( It looks more of a soft blue here, but in person it's a soft Sage ) ...

I moved the faux fireplace that the TV used to be over, to this wall in the Family Room, it gives it a bit more architectural detail here and richens up the space here a bit too ...The good thing about using a faux fireplace is, you can move it around a room at whim :) It doesn't have to be exactly where it would be if it was real :) Honestly if this was real, I'd probably still want it on this wall now. I'd also want one inside my kitchen, but I don't think my love of hutches would allow me to fit anything else in the kitchen lol..


Ok this might be shockingly dark, ( below ) , it wasn't this dark in person, but it was definitely becoming too dark for me this year... I had the sofa across from the TV in the room, but the TV just became way too much of a focal point. I know it's supposed to be a major point in the room, but I missed having my mantel to decorate and look at without having this big black thing jumping out at me :) Now the TV is back on a stand in the opposite corner and still viewable everywhere, but just not the first thing you see anymore, yippee! :) I had always meant to get a stereo cabinet but now I'm glad I waited because I'll be looking for a "corner" piece now instead. It's good to wait a bit and live in a room before you start to look at permanent pieces...The next thing to do is the carpet, I always loved it, but now I'm re-doing the wood floors under it and finding that perfect rug instead :)

~ Before ~

~ After ~ ( so much calmer, don't you think? )



Instead of the black TV jumping out at me, I now have soft colors and accessories to admire while I sit here :)


It's not completely finished yet, I still have to re-cover the ottoman( below ) to a cottage print and take up the carpet and get those pretty wood floors re-done too! I cannot wait to find the perfect area rug!! fun fun :)

Well I hope you enjoyed my little tour... I'm off to clean the kitchen , the cabinets need a fresh coat of Creamy White. When the kitchen was done a few years ago, Ralph Lauren had a color called "Sugar Cookie" and that's what the cabinets are now, but I think they changed the name, so Creamy White was as close to it as I could get. I loved the "name" of that one, but it's all about the color, lol, not the name :) I kept telling myself that when I was obsessing about trying to find it again :)

Do you see that pretty Apron? Omg, I was so happy when Karen of Little Pieces of my Life sent me this sweet gift! Thank You Karen!! I adore it and love your attention to detail and the scrumptious colors are beautiful too!! You are sweet as pie! Stop by and give Karen a visit, she is one talented lady!

This picture below was such an inspiration when I re-did my kitchen, love the bead board and the pretty colors!

So off to clean and paint again I go :)

( source unknown )

Thank You so so much for stoppin in!

Your comments and friendship mean so much to me! I'm taking some time this week to visit you all between the paint brush! I cannot wait to see what you've all been up to!

I hope you enjoy a wonderful week my Friends!

Blessings and appreciation,

~ Cynthia ~