Be Our Guest

Good Morning.  Happy Week End

I would like to show you my guest room redo $0 dollars spent.

This is as you enter the guest cottage bedroom.

I used this old vintage mailbox I had to add some fun to the entry door to the guest room.

I had this Ikea Chair with white slipcover.  I added a ruffle pillow to the back of the chair.  The french market basket I will use to put throws and towels for my guests.

On this long wall I added an old chippy coat hanger that I had in storage from when I redid the bathroom.

It will make a nice place for my guest to hang items on.

I had this old drawer front so I hung it above the window to give the window a little bling.

Also framing out the window is these old chippy shutters that I had.

I love the way these chippy shutters frame this window.

Moved this little dresser from the living room into the guest room.

Shopped the house for things to put on top of the dresser.

I have the cascading ruffles on the bedspread and then the Ikea checked duvet.

Gotta add lot's of fun pillows on the bed.  Used one of my old chippy doors for a headboard.

There you have it.  Just shopped the house and moved the furniture around and added things I already had to get a whole new look to the guest room.  No money spent.

My guest room is ready for company.
Hope you had a wonderful week end.
Have a great start to the new week.
Kris
:)

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Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger

Susan from Must Love Junk, and myself (Kris) Junk Chic Cottage wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Susan's and my blog. 

Saturday February 22nd

Julie from Restyle Relove 

Blogland is such a wonderful place to meet and become friends with people from all over the world that you probably would never have meet without it.  I have met and come to know a beautiful blogger from down under that I would love to introduce you to.  Her name is Julie and she blogs at Restyle Relove in Sydney Australia.  So sit back and enjoying reading about this wonderful and talented blogger that is miles away put close at heart.  Julie shares my love of neutral decor and reloving and repurposing.



Thanks Kris for inviting me to share a bit about myself on your amazing and inspiring blog.

If you read my blog, you will know it is rare for me to speak about my personal or family life.   I like to think of my blog as my creative outlet.  But when you follow people or blogs for long periods of time and admire the people who write those blogs, it's hard not to get a little personal.  So here is a little about me, my family, and how I got here. :)

I live in a north western suburb of Sydney, Australia, with my husband and 2 young children. I'm a full time Mum and a part time Furniture Restyler.

My daughter's fairy/pirate birthday party last year.

Prior to having our children I worked as a Personal Assistant in the Legal Industry. When our daughter was born I enjoyed motherhood too much to return to an office job. I'd always been creative and now I was able to expand on this instead. I began making and selling nursery decor.  A year later I was expecting our second child.

Shortly after my son was born, I began sewing vintage style soft baby toys which I sold through a retail store.  But after sitting up nights on end sewing, I soon realized I needed the sleep more than we needed the extra income.

A year later, we purchased our first real home, having owed an apartment and rented in the years prior. What drew me to this house was the abundance of white plantation shutters on the windows. It was love at first sight.

The day we signed the purchase contract on our first home.

Otherwise the house was a blank canvas and this is where I started following home decorating blogs and finding online inspiration from other thrifty and creative people, especially Kris at Junk Chic Cottage! This lead me to posting my own online blog following my decorating and crafting adventures.

It also lead me to turning my furniture restyles into a part time business, enabling me continue working from home whilst caring for my children. 

It took me 4 years to discover my personal decorating style, but now I realize that I tend to gravitate towards farmhouse decorating using lots of whites and neutral tones.

Like all DIYers, I'm constantly painting something, moving something, or restyling something.

When I am not thrifting or restyling or blogging or doing mummy things, I love to work on my green thumb in the garden. I love flowers and love to grow my own. I'm no expert, but I'm working on it. :)

Thank you again Kris for spotlighting me, and to your lovely followers for reading my story.

Julie thanks for sharing the more personal side of yourself with us and letting us get to know more about you.  It was fun to see you with your beautiful family.  Now that you have learned a little bit about Julie hop over to Susan's blog and learn about another fun blogger Angela from Number 53.  Have a great Saturday.

Kris :)

Repurpose Dresser to Table Apron

New start to the week.  Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Week end.

Terry and I went junkin yesterday just to get out of the house and have a fun day together looking in some cute shops I have not been too in awhile.

Anne from White Lace Cottage told me about this cute little place just a short distance North of where I live.  Wooo Hooo lots of cute treasures in this shop.  You can see how much snow we have been getting here in the suburbs of Chicago!

Not too far from the Country Church shop is another cute shop.  The Market House.  Sara and her mom own this shop and I see them from time to time at the flea market too.  They are the sweetest and have some beautiful treasures in this shop.

Another great stop on our junkin trip was d Christine's.  This is where I scored that a couple of great pieces.  The dresser below in the post is from this great shop.  I also scored a beautiful door that I will show in a later post.

Ok let's get on to the post.......

Remember the whole what do I do with the table top of my farm dining table!! Well after many stain samples that were not working I ended up painting it white.  You can check out my post on the table drama here and here.

It still needed a little something to give her some character.

While Junkin yesterday we came upon this great piece at d Christine's.  The drawers did not work anymore and were falling apart on the inside and missing pieces but I still loved it.  So it came home with me and I had a vision for repurposing this piece.  I know this looks like a great piece but trust me it was rotting inside the drawers and the piece was falling apart.  It would have had to be completely rebuilt so I got the piece for my vision of repurposing the drawer fronts.

So Terry took the drawer fronts off  and cut them in half and I repurposed them as a new table apron around this farmhouse table.

Love the chippy sweet feel they give to this farmhouse table.

Used the bottom half of the drawers to make the end pieces for the table apron.

Love the patina and the details of each of the drawers.

I think it gave this plan white farm table some character.

Other side of table.

My assistant Libby!

So there you have it.  Drawer fronts repurposed to bling up this table.
Hope your week is fabulous.
Kris
:)

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Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger

Susan from Must Love Junk, and myself (Kris) Junk Chic Cottage wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Susan's and my blog. 

Saturday February 15th

Susan from Evelyn and Rose

Every Saturday I love to introduce you to bloggers that I love and  I am pretty positive you will love too. 

This week's blogger is Susan from Evelyn and Rose.  Susan is a real sweet heart and from the minute you read just one of her blog post you will fall in love with her kind and warm heart and inspiring decor.  Enjoy learning more about this wonderful blogger.

Hello friends!  I'm Susan, from the blog Evelyn and Rose and Etsy shop.  What a thrill to be asked by Kris to participate in the Saturday Spotlight on bloggers.  Kris is so friendly and loves her whites like many of us.  I always enjoy visiting Kris' blog for her serene and lovely decor.  Thanks for this opportunity to share with you and other bloggers, Kris!

Let's see...this is supposed to be about the person behind the blog.  I realized when I started to prepare for this post that I don't actually share too much about myself on my blog.  I mainly write about decorating and crafting projects, which is what I love to do.  If you ever met me in person, I'd rather chat more about YOU than talk about myself.  Nevertheless, I do appreciate when other bloggers share more from their personal lives.  It draws me in...I'm always intrigued and inspired by you wonderful bloggers.  I guess it's time I shared as well.

So here's a bit about my life behind the blog.  I've been married to my AMAZING husband Brian for just over 10 years.  We met at the church we both attended, St. Patrick's church in Watertown, Massachusetts.  He introduced himself to me as I walked home from Mass and I thought he was so kind.  We fell in love pretty quickly and married within 6 months of meeting.  Ladies - when you know, you KNOW (especially at age 35 like I was).  He's 5 years younger than me, but never makes me feel like the 'old lady'.

Bri proposed to me at a favorite BBQ joint one Saturday afternoon.  I thought I was just going in for a pulled pork sandwich, but I found myself being brought 3 dozen roses by the young server dudes while 'our song' played on the sound system.  Next thing I new Bri was on his knees and all the patrons were clapping as I said YES.  He's a keeper!

In 2005 we welcomed our son, followed by our daughter in 2007.  Happy, happy days!  Our son is bright, curious, funny, and such a kind and gentle spirit.  Our daughter is the apple of our eyes - cheerful, hilarious, brave and she has the sweetest smile.  God's providence was at work when Bri and I met, and these two children are the greatest blessings.  

Best of friends

I'm a stay-at-home Mom to these cherubs now, but before that I worked as a software engineer for 15 years.  My younger years were pretty fun, working in Boston and enjoying a great social life there.  But these past 10 years have been the best.  Our family and our faith are the most important things in our lives.  Our children attend Catholic elementary school downtown, which we love.  I attend a Bible Study for women each week which I don't think I could live without.  Having been brought up Catholic during the 70's and 80's, it has dawned on me how much I never knew about being Catholic.  I'm so grateful for this faith.

New England foliage

Christmas 2013

So how did I end up blogging?

When I owned a small condo during my single years, I really enjoyed decorating it.  Rachel Ashwell's first Shabby Chic books where a huge inspiration, and I used to love watching her show on the Style network.  There ended up being a lot of floral back in those days, but the French influence made its' way into my condo, too.  When my husband and I bought our current home in 2005, I enjoyed stimulating my creative juices by decorating and crafting for our new space.  It was a great hobby during those early years of taking care of babies.  Decorating books and magazines have always inspired me (I still have some Victoria magazines from the 1990's), and I would reach for them even more when I decorated our house.  Through the magazines I discovered BLOGS.  Oh, what a wonderful discovery!  I would drool over the photos and projects in blog after blog....until one day I decided it'd be fun to try one.  I must give credit to fellow blogger Michelle of Petite Michelle Louise for giving me a gentle nudge in that direction.  I found Michelle through blogs and ordered from her Etsy store.  It was so nice to 'virtually' meet a local gal through the blogland.

We eventually met in person, too, and have formed a wonderful, supportive friendship ever since.  We adore going on flea market adventures together, calling ourselves the 'picker sisters'!

We've also met Sandi from A Cottage Muse, and love visiting the 'At Home with White Event' where she works at the Wrentham Country Store.

What a blessing to share my hobbies, crafting projects and dreams with such friends!  Michelle and I even ventured to sell as vendors at our first event - the Vintage Bazaar - last fall.  What a thrilling time, and full of laughter.

With the support of my cherished family and like-minded friends in blogland, I've been able to grow my creative side these past few years.  I guess I'm using the other 'creative' half of my brain, after all those years as a 'logical' engineer.  And I'm loving every minute of it.

  

Thank you Susan for your wonderful feature.  I love that we meet and become friends with bloggers that we normally might not have ever met if it were not for blogland.   Friends and fellow bloggers Michelle from Petite Michelle Louise and Sandi from A Cottage Muse that Susan talks about also have been past spotlight features.  If you missed their spotlight features you can read about them here and here.  

Susan is such a delight and I know if you have not been to her blog or Etsy site you will love it. 

 Now hop over to Susan's blog and get to know another wonderful blogger Robin from Happy at Home.  Have a great Saturday everyone.

Kris

:)

Happy Valentine's Day XXXOOO

Happy Valentine's Day to all you.
Enjoy this special day.
Kris
:)
Be sure to come on Saturday for Spotlight. Susan and I have two wonderful and talented bloggers for you to meet and get to know better.

Romantic Homes Feature and A Valentine's Love Story

 Wooo Hooo! It was on my bucket list and it has happened.  Many months back Romantic Homes contacted me about sending in some pictures of my home for a possible upcoming Romantic Home's Feature.  I was so thrilled since RH is one of my fav magazines.  Romantic Homes editor Sarah O'Keefe contacted me about a month ago and said they were running my office in the March Issue.  It was exciting news.

March 2014 Issue

Sarah Jane O'Keefe did a feature on my office space in RH's Space Savers and creating wonderful work spaces.

Thank you Sarah and Romantic Homes for featuring my office space.
It has been a dream and on the bucket list to someday be in Romantic Homes.  So this was truly a wonderful honor to be included in the March issue.

Now on to the Love Story........................


Since this is Valentines Week.  I thought I would share a little sweet valentine story with all of you.

From time to time I will get a comment or an email from some of you asking about Midge my wonderful sock monkey that Vickie from Ranger 911 made for me and Tracy from Crow's Feet Chic knitted her lovely bikini.  Vickie and Tracy surprised me with Midge when I fell in love with their sock monkey's.  If you have not seen Vickie and Tracy's Sock Monkey's and their adventures you need to visit their blogs and check out those posts!  Too funny and so so cute.  Tracy just recently did a post on Downton Abbey Sock Monkeys.  

 My sweet Midge shows up in posts once in awhile and some of you have inquired where she has been of late.

 Well.... since Midge's total wardrobe consists only of her cute little itsy bitsy bikini that Tracy made for her last summer most of the winter months she is under the heavy duvets in the back bedrooms complaining of this terrible winter and how cold she is.

I think Midge underestimated how cold it gets here in the Midwest in the Winter!  I think she is contemplating being a Miami girl in the winter months.

This is how Midge spends most of her days with this brutal winter we have been having.  Just mostly reading and catching up on her magazines tucked back in the guest room with lots of throws and duvets to keep her warm.

 I was feeling sorry for Midge and to be truthful was really tired of her complaining of how hard it is to live up here in the midwest in the winters with only her bikini!  So I did some Valentine's sock monkey shopping and found a sweet little winter coat for Midge.

Here she is modeling her sweet little Valentine's Day coat.  So much better for these really cold days here in Chicago.

Then one morning last week I heard a typing noise coming from my husband's office area.  I looked in to see Miss Midge on the computer clicking away.

So I asked her "Hey Midge what's ya doin?"  Midge looked up at me and said "oh just catching up on some blogs and looking at my pinterest boards".

Hmmmmmmm I thought.  I was a little suspicious.  Midge has been going in on that computer a lot these past few weeks.  What could she be up too?

Then one night after Midge had been on the computer she forgot to shut it down.  So I took a peak at what was on the computer screen.   I was a little taken back and surprised to see that she was on SockMonkeyMatch.com

This is what I saw up on the screen:

SOCK MONKEY PROFILES FOR MATCH.COM

Hi I am Bill.  I love to fish and go out on my boat.  Looking for a wonderful gal that loves the ocean, sunsets and looks smashing in a bikini.  If you are this girl then text me back I would love to meet you.
Bill

Hi my name is Fredrick and am a full time skier instructor.  I own my own chalet and love fireside chats with Banana's Flambé after a nice day on the slopes.  If you are a monkey that loves the thrill of a down hill adventure then text me.
Fredrick

Hi I am Marty.  I am an adventurer and love to travel the world over.  If there is a tree I will swing from it.  So if you are a tree swinging kind of gal then text me.
Marty.

Yo I am T and I hang from trees  with my dudes.  I like to wear a lot of heavy gold jewelry and sleep all day.   If you want to hang with me and my boys text me.
T

Hi I am Mike.  I am a full time firefighter.  If you want to be the flame of my life text me.
Mike

Ok well that was just a small sampling of what she had up on SockMonkeyMatch.com.


I just knew she was up to something!!!

Then on Friday I hear a siren out in the driveway and Midge running to the front door.  Here in our drive way is Firemonkey Mike from Match.com.  I knew that picture of him reclining in his uniform would get her!

I had to admit they did make a cute couple.  So off they went on their date.

As we go into  Valentine's Week it is so sweet to know that even sock monkey's can find love.  Who knew there was a SockMonkeyMatch.com!

So Midge got a new coat and a new monkey in her life for Valentine's Day.
Hope if you are looking for love you find it during this special week of love and if you already have the love of your life hope you hug and kiss them extra this week.
Happy Valentine's Day
Kris
:)