Makeover - My 73 square foot Cottage "Master Bedroom"

The bedroom now..

When we purchased the cottage 3 years ago, it was a stale listing. Having languished on the market for an entire 2 summers with a reluctant seller and difficult agent, we cajoled her into “letting” us see it. It showed like a dog with fleas! But I was so excited….I instantly recognised the potential and mentally had all of my vintage and farmhouse bits moved in. After a 6 hour negotiation en route to Montreal, it was ours.

A master bedroom could sell a house. Or in this case. NOT SELL THE HOUSE. This is the master bedroom from the real estate listing.

Yes, this was the master bedroom. A weensy bit more than 8’ x 9’, it totals 73 square feet. One of two bedrooms of equal size. To top it off the previous owners had added a sink unit to each bedroom. ???? We had to remove the sinks on moving day as we couldn’t get the bed in. The room had bunk beds; a wallpaper border hung 6 inches from ceiling further diminishing the ceiling height, and zero charm.

The exact same view after the makover

Because of its diminutive size, I decided to make it what it was. CUTE. It could be nothing but cute. I envisioned a lovely, cottage-y bedroom with flowers and ruffles and a big mushy bed with down filled pillows. What it lacked in size, it was going to make up for in comfort.

I removed the industrial carpet and found the original wooden floor underneath in pretty good condition. My rule for the cottage was to re-use my existing pieces or second had finds only. The bed was from IKEA 20 years ago, and found a new life here in this bedroom. The dresser was a find from a flea market in Ottawa when we were first married. I painted it white and it fits perfectly into this space. I added a vintage lamp with a pretty ruffled silk shade (I did have it rewired). The green chair was found in local junk shop.

This room has no closet, so the  best I could do was purchase Rubbermaid storage bins for under the bed, and I added a peg board and an old farm bench at the foot of the bed. I can at least stash my bags here and hang my nightie...

This is the closet! 

And...the only place to stash anything....(that knob on the bed has been wobbly since the day we bought it.....)

I painted the walls Farrow and Ball's Middleton Pink mixed together with Farrow and Ball Strong White for  a peek-a-boo hint of ballet pink and threw on pillows and a duvet with ruffled edges. Not wanting to buy or make a new blind, I kept the existing Venetian and hung a lacy tablecloth on 2 nails to diffuse it. 

If I was going to go pink...why not pink and ruffled...I used linens from my new line from Pine Cone Hill..... 

I hung a vintage medicine cabinet to hold my makeup and bits......

Peeking in from the hallway....I would like to use a chadelier, but the ceiling fan is wonderful for summer sleeps......

 So this is it. A teeny space filled with squishy pillows, pinks, flowers and cotton candy prettiness.

I am linking up with Cyndy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday.
And also for at Remodelaholic Friday

A Wheelchair Accessible Garden.....For my Mum

I have two gardens.....One at the cottage which is full of indigeous plants, rocky boulders and an abundance of weeds, and my more formal city (surburban) cottage where I like more order and less upkeep.  This garden at home, I planned just after my mother had a stroke. It was an awful time with 4 months in hospital and months of therapy and eventually having to move her into a nursing home.....Planning the garden was therapeutic for me at that time.  My mum comes for Sunday dinner and we wanted her to be able to enjoy the garden and touch and feel and smell......at her level in her wheelchair........

We were planning for raised beds anyway, so we just adjusted the plans a little....We had all the paving installed on one level......

And had the pathways made wide enough for her wheelchair to pass through.....One of the stone installers  took the time to make sure she could get around the corners......

Picking herbs with Gracie Girl.

The deck and the patio are on level, so she doesn't fall over the edge and we don't have to hoist the chair up to the dining level......

We used tactile plant materials that created layers of interest........

These Giant Flowering Onions are lovely to see and touch.......they are firm and springy....

Soft and Lacey Japanese Maple....

A canopy of Wisteria to draw bumble bees and birds.....

We hide things to suprise her......

Columbine is one of my favourites......and hers.....

A gazing ball to mirror the house.....

My herb garden is used by my neighbors too...I sometimes hear the back gate open and see a neighbor picking herbs for their dinner.....

I give my mum the scissors and she cuts herbs for our dinner......Last sunday I could see her out of my kitchen window moving back and forth on the paths and pinching bits of herbs and smelling them.......When the lettuce is bigger she can pick them herself for our salad.  I love watching her out here truly enjoying every moment of freedom from the nursing home, and the outdoors and being able to forget her limitations.  She appreciates so much being able to potter the garden freely.......something we take for granted..........

This is her favourite spot.  A little semi circle cobblestone patio.  She catches the afternoon sun here and I make her a big frothy Cappuccino.........

Although this garden is perfect for her....it is so pracical too.  The raised beds are eay to maintain......no grass, no pesticides, no fertilizer....noisy mowers.....best of all it when we had Mooch, it kept him from peeing on my chives..........

I am going to hang a bell on this hook so she can ring it if she needs me and I am inside......Last year we heard a muffled sound from outside and ran out to find her on the path with a SNAKE (no nasty ones around here) right beside her ....poor thing.....I would have been screaming.....

She can easily smell and touch the flowers in these pots....

Before and After. My Cottage Dining Room

The cottage once belonged to an elderly couple who built it in the1940's and left the interior unfinished.  No plaster, no panelling, nothing.  Just open walls with plumbing and electrical showing.  About 10 years ago, it was purchased by a fella with some good construction know how, but very little design savy.  Which worked out well for us. The dining room was originally the cottage living room, before he added an addition.  This is what the dining room looked like in the real estate listing.

View from the kitchen island.......

And this is how it looks today...

I added a huge table that can seat 12 people.  You can see through the window the masts on the sailboats in the harbour.  I painted the wainscotting Farrow and Ball Strong White and the walls Farrow And Ball Light Blue.  I wanted to bring the blue from the marina inside, especially this room which was way to woodsy-cottage before.

Here it is from the other side.  That "thing" in the middle is a propane furnace....certainly a design challenge.  The picnic table has been relegated to the deck outside....

Same view today.....  I have tried to use only recycled and vintage furniture for the cottage, but I did buy the table from Ikea, as I couldn't find a vintage table large enough for this room.  The chairs are slipcovered and came from my house originally.  The chandelier was a gift from my brother and I embellished it with crusty old sea shells, beads and found Bits.

Beads, sead pods, seashells as embellishment.

We purchased this old Eatons sideboard when we were first married.  I lugged it up here and painted it white. 

I found this gorgeous old paned window with it's snazzy red paint a few weeks ago.....

I like the way it reflects light and objects from the other side.

Blake thinks this is the ugliest thing he has seen.  I love it and collect vintage seashell boxes......

It also houses my collection of old bottles.  I used to buy old bottles when I was shopping with my Grandad in England.

I am participating in Metamorphis Monday at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

New Bits

This was a quiet weekend as far as stocking the shop was concerned.  I was up north with B---- for the long weekend here in Canada, where I completed my bedroom makeover.  I am guest posting for someone this week and you will see it then.

We had our farm table repaired, sanded and oiled and also the bench.

We took it outside into the parking lot to get a better photo in the sunshine.....

This big green baby is a Carboy or Demijohn, used in winemaking,  It was really thick with dried grape juice when I brought it home.

I gave it a bubble bath and all the Bordeaux washed away and left it sparkling......