Saying Goodbye To The Cottage

Well we did it – we’re all moved out of our sweet ranch-turned-cottage!

In honor of this I thought I’d share a special edition of the Three Things update with some last photos of our home along with a few memories.

Well, last real-time photos, since I’ll be pulling photos from the archives in the future, I’m sure.

“Home is people. Not a place. If you go back there after the people are gone, then all you can see is what is not there any more.”
― Robin Hobb, Fool’s Fate

The great room’s wood-paneled vaulted ceiling (and the double-hung windows – on a 1982 rancher? This builder was quality!) sold me on the house the minute we walked in the door 12 years ago.

Of course, it was all brown and dark but I could see that it could be…this.

Other than paint and removing a dust-catching self high on the wall, the only other thing we DIY’d in this room is the floor – we removed carpeting and added a floating engineered hardwood floor.

The dining area of the great room was transformed with a simple set of French doors. Never underestimate the impact of beautiful doors!

Oh, and loads of white paint of course – and a beautiful $10 thrifted chandelier (pulled up high here so heads wouldn’t be injured…).

I decided to leave the stools I refinished to match the kitchen counters – they go with the house and I don’t know if we’ll need stools wherever we end up.

Ah, the kitchen that saw so much activity between regular meals, celebrations, recipe testing, and a couple stages of remodeling. The final result was a joy to work in – just a nice, compact, bright space.

The master bedroom saw a LOT of DIY projects, starting with the painstaking removal of 1980s floral wallpaper above AND below the chair rail. I spent an entire week on this room and our daughter’s room that also had loads of wallpaper – it had been applied directly to unpainted wallboard and would only come off in tiny little strips. As you might guess, it doesn’t matter how popular wallpaper may become again, I will never, ever, be the one to apply it!

Other things we did in this room: added a French door to the outside and one to the bathroom, applied lath pieces below the chair rail as a faux wainscoting, painted the wood ceiling and trim (probably goes without saying…), added the chandelier, and laid the floating wood floor just last summer.

We pretty much gutted the bathroom, replacing every fixture and surface including windows. I got to have the clawfoot tub I’d always dreamed of and created a dresser-vanity after years of planning for one.

I tiled the floors here and in the main bathroom – and they will be the last floors I ever tile. They officially broke me of any desire to tile again.

We used this large room from our garage conversion as a studio-craftroom-guestroom and the light was always amazing here from French doors and multiple windows.

We floored this area with maple plywood cut into long, wide strips – it ended up being .54 a square foot, such a deal!

The wall of doors hides storage and the old garage equipment like the furnace and back of the fireplace. We planned on buying doors for these closets but they would’ve cost hundreds of dollars, so we found a set of French doors for $60 at a yard sale and some old screen doors at a local salvage center for $15 & $20 each.

You know what? I like this look much better! Sometimes limitations produce better results because you have to think outside of the box!

I’m probably most sad to say goodbye to the laundry-mudroom – I just love how it finally came together just in the last 6 months!

Paint, a new floor, and beadboard doors to cover the electrical panel finished this room off perfectly and it was great to both walk by and work in.

Okay, I’ll stop there – thank you, sweet friends, for letting me reminisce a bit with you.

Many of you have sent me such lovely, encouraging words as we embark on this next phase of life – thank you, thank you!

I never take for granted that you’re here and reading – it means the world to me. I can’t wait to share all that’s coming up with you!!