One Woman's Cottage Life

Votes: 8
Site: One Woman's Cottage Life
Project: Cottage Transformation
Medium: Blog
About: If old-fashioned cottage style has you envisioning barnboard and outhouses, you better think again! This would-be cottage’s style is cheerful and comfortable, yet at the same time, warm and elegant. Cottage-style decorating may not be for everyone, but we think you’ll be very pleasantly surprised at how Kim and her husband are taking a 30 year old ranch style fixer-upper and turning it into a one-of-a-kind, old-fashioned cottage.

The Guts and the Glory

The 'before' bathroom looked pretty good to us, but in anticipation of better functionality and bit larger space, this couple chose to go for the gut. They began the reno by removing the single-sink vanity, tearing out a wall, removing the toilet, removing the tub, and for privacy reasons, closing in the window. One year after beginning, the only working items in their bathroom are a new tub and shower. Life and other important renovations took priority over the bathroom project. When work in this room begins again, they have plans to relocate the toilet, replace the old single-sink vanity with two sinks, and do some tile work.

Because it’s the only tub/shower in the house, the arrival of guests had Kim hopping to do what she could to make this space more warm and inviting. What she did was amazing! With a little floor paint, some painter’s drop cloths, a new shower curtain and towels, plus a few decorative items that she had on hand, she transformed the space from a dark, unappealing construction zone to a light, airy and luxurious bathing room. The proof is in the pictures!

A Source of Distraction

As Kim herself has admitted, she’d easily distracted. That was one of the reasons given for not having the bathroom project further along. We’re sure you’ll agree that her main source of distraction, the kitchen, has been well worth putting off the bathroom for. There were many changes to be made in the kitchen – the floor, the ceiling, the walls, the appliances, however; the most notable and by far the most time consuming has been a complete re-do of the kitchen cabinets. They started with standard, boring, golden oak cabinets, and through a very long and tedious process, completely reinvented them. The new cabinets are absolutely gorgeous! Even a thesaurus can’t help us come up with the words to describe the impressive results of all that hard work! The color is perfect for the cottage theme of their home. Many of us wouldn’t be daring enough to try red. Our hats are off to Kim and her husband for not only trying it, but pulling it off so splendidly

That Cottage Feeling

We encourage you to read through Kim’s blog to learn more about these and other projects that they have undertaken to give their home that cottage feeling. You’ll be glad you did.