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5 Ways to Add Cottage Charm to Your Home

My style has changed several times since I first moved into my current home. Last year I discovered the style that speaks to me and works best with my 1930s bungalow. Here are 5 ways I've used to add cottage charm to my home.

1. Painted furniture

Vintage furniture in the kitchen creates a charming, cottage vibe

5 Ways to Add Cottage Charm to Your Home

Night Stand Makeover How to add Height Style to a Night Table

I have an old style, hand made night stand that I didn't terribly like much but it did the job. Then I got my "princess-and-the-pea" extremely high king-sized bed and this old style night table was much lower than the top of the mattress. Why are mattresses so huge these days anyway???

I made over the night stand several years ago, stenciling the top with a Fleur-de-lis pattern that I liked but with my new cottage style look I decided to take the time to fix up this night table once and for all.

BEFORE

Night Stand Makeover How to add Height Style to a Night Table

Ooooh! Re Sale Shop treasures add these to my project list!

Happy Columbus Day! I am currently on a debt diet and doing my best to stay away from TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods (my addictions)! It is SO difficult staying away from HomeGoods, especially THIS time of the year. Fall decorating, spooky Halloween accents and the cusp of the holiday season!

So I ran to the post office on Saturday morning and around the corner is this little resale shop in this quaint little house and I go in there on a rare occasion. It was a cloudy, Fall day so I thought, why not, I will go and see what she has. MISTAKE! (Well, not really).

The first thing which caught my eye were these pheasants. I love birds and Fall tablescapes so I thought they were really fantastic. Came to see that one of the tails was chipped so she came down to $11.00 each - even though the other bird was in perfect condition. I cannot wait to walk around the house November 1, when all the Halloween decorations are down and find the perfect place for them!

Then I found these gorgeous canisters for my sister! Normally, I am not a huge rooster fan but these are so French Country I knew they had to be in her kitchen. They are new - never used and the roosters on top of the lids are a heavy metal. Very lovely. She was a little thrilled!

Then I found these and fell in LOVE instantly! They are antique tabletop coach lights. And they have a pull chain with a large decorative ball! (I love pull chains on light fixtures). They are quite old and definitely need to be rewired. The detail on the wood is amazing and even though I did not need them, my sister wanted them for her mantel. Gorgeous! I will post a picture once she is done cleaning and rewiring them. I think she is going to over them very lightly with a gel stain to match the stain on there now. AND they were only $9.99 each. SERIOUSLY! They are going to be awesome!

This particular resale shop has a back yard which she uses to display garden accents and a garage for larger items, things that are particularly dirty or not "shop worthy". So I am walking out of the garage and I find THIS! I dont know what it is but I am intrigued. It looks to be a vintage colonial wall lantern. All I could think was, "NO Tracy - you DO NOT need this!" Its a mess and gross (full of a lot of spiders and ick). SO of course I picked it up and got that sticky spider webby stuff stuck to my hand - EW and so I put it down immediately after snapping a picture and went back into the shop.

Then my mind started to wander to the whole Charles Dickens and Jane Austen era and I kept looking at the picture thinking how this could be very cute done in black and gold but then I decided the last thing I needed was another project.

Then the unthinkable happens. As I am going back into the shop, a group of ladies - very well dressed and obviously out for a day of lunch and shopping - start heading for the garage. A sense of panic comes over me - what if one of them likes my coach light? And then they will ask the others and they will all chime in and tell her how amazing it could be. OH NO! But here I am in running shorts and a hoodie so I am thinking since it was on the garage floor and so dirty and full of spiders and ick they wouldnt want to get dirty and pick it up. SO I casually, but not creepily hover behind them and enter the garage. I covertly slip past one of them and grab the light and exit the garage before I can even be seen - like a secret agent! LOL

Not getting caught up in the whole "I am only buying it so no one else buys it" mentality, I took a few minutes to really look at it and decide if this is something that could work. And even though I wasnt sure, my gut told me to buy it and I have learned to always trust my gut.

I have Googled and Binged and can not find any information on this at all. I love the details and I already took it apart and tried to figure out my process of making this light over. I am at a loss of what to do. I know it is going to be black for sure. And I think I am going to rub it gold. I think the flange going from the mounting plate is too long if I hang this on the wall in my foyer. This is an actual PLUG so I can take it up and down if I choose. I love that!

They have this Edison type bulb in there and it flickers. I was going to change that out but the more I looked at it the more I love it! It has a chimney on top so I wonder if this was a gas light changed out to electric. I can find nothing remotely similar to this! UGH - frustrating. I can usually find anything eventually! The electrical components are LEVITON but that is it. I dont think it is handcrafted.

I dont know if you can see in the picture but the top half of the glass panels is soot stained. Upon removal of the glass, it is actually painted this way for effect - to resemble an actual flame/candle light. Do I scrape this soot effect off or leave it? Opinion would be SO greatly appreciated!

I dont know if I am going to paint the ring on the bottom solid gold or black and rub it with gold paint.

So in the final analysis, I am SO very glad I purchased this. It was on final markdown and then clearance from that so I got it for $21.00. I imagine it done in black with fresh evergreens and a big tartan bow hanging in my wall to welcome yuletide visitors. I only hope I will have it done by then.

Enjoy your Columbus Day holiday and thanks for the visit today!

Ooooh! Re Sale Shop treasures add these to my project list!

How to Add Insulation Without Ripping Down Walls

Welcome to my little 'ol 1930s cottage bungalow! I love the character of old houses but I don't love the lack of insulation. There are several ways to add extra insulation to old homes without having to tear down interior walls. My solution is the least expensive and the cutest (in my humble opinion!)

Add insulation to old home without ripping down walls

How to Add Insulation Without Ripping Down Walls

How to Add Castors to Furniture

Here's a project I've wanted done FOREVER! When I moved this vintage writing table into my bedroom, I realized that the drawer trim made it impossible for me to sit at the table with my legs underneath. The drawer was too close to the seat of the chair. I searched around for some ideas on how to lengthen the legs and settled on castors. I wanted the same old fashioned castors that were on my antique dresser - but where to find them at a price that was affordable? D Lawless Hardware of course!

I got these gorgeous vintage look wood castors that were the perfect addition to this table. Here's the step-by-step guide to how to add castors to a piece of furniture.

How to Add Castors to Furniture

How to Build a Potting Bench Part II Add a Roof

Last summer I built a potting bench. I shared the step by step details HERE. I wanted a roof over it and had planned to build something rather substantial but, as usual, I had tried to cram too many projects into my very short summertime window of opportunity for building... This is what I came up with:

How to Build a Potting Bench Part II Add a Roof