The Cottager: July 2014

I've been working on our master bedroom, gathering vintage pieces here and there to pull it all together. Our room is quaint and cozy. I had to find just the right pieces to fit the small space.

My first project... the bedside tables. This is me smiling like a fool, thinking this was going to be a quick an easy one...

I felt like tossing them in the burn pile so many times. They ended up being a huge ordeal. My husband thought I should strip the paint and assured me that this would be easy. Long story short, I will NEVER strip again... lesson learned :) Here's a photo showing some progress. It was a mess.

After persevering through that disaster, I was able to paint them as originally planned. I used French Linen ASCP and added some white hardware for the finishing touch.

The other piece that took a lot of work was a shelf that I purchased at JB Knacker (Gilbert, IA). It was salvaged, part of a built in I believe.

In contrast, this was the piece my husband wanted to burn but I wouldn't let him. It was the perfect size and shape for our room so he did all the work that it demanded. He tore the whole thing apart... sanded the wood, rebuilt the inside with new bead-board paneling, made new shelves, fixed the base and the outside panel of the broken-down side. This made up for the whole stripping mess he got me into... thanks babe, love ya!

For the outside shell... we did one coat of Pickled White Stain from Sherwin Williams. I wanted a "white wash" look. For the inside, I used French Linen ASCP. Here's how she turned out...

Next came the dilemma with closet doors. Have you seen all those fabulous pins on Pinterest where people use old doors for their closets? I knew this would work great in our room and we already had a pair of old french doors on hand. So I went to work with some paint (French Linen ASCP) and hung white curtain panels on the inside of the doors to complete the look. I love how they turned out.

I came across this vintage chandelier at Tangerine Zebra (Ames, IA). I was so happy that the husband let me have this in our room in place of a ceiling fan. It's a lovely detail.