New Treasure and New Chair

Hello Sweet Bloggers.

Hope your week is going great.

I told you that I had found a new treasure before our trip to Michigan.  It started a whole change a roo!!!!

I came across this fabulous mirror at Home Goods.  Yep Home Goods.  It was an ugly color so I enhanced it with white paint.  No shocker there!!!!

This is how it looked before I found the pretty mirror.

We painted the shiplap a darker gray like the back of the front door to let the mirror show better and to give some contrast.

The detail on the mirror is pretty.

Added some flowers in front of the mirror.

I had my two angels and brought they out to put up on the mantel.

After looking at the wall with the mirror,  I feel the candle sconces I have up there are too small for the space. 
I will be on the look out for new sconces that are bigger.

New mirror and new look to the mantel. Yep those little sconces have to go!!!!

Found Terry a new recliner on Offer Up.  It is a very nice soft leather with pretty nail head trim and a tufted back.  

The look of this chair is suppose to be a worn and have a vintage look. 
This is why I loved it when I saw it. 

Goes well with my slipcovered couch.

The issue I have is the leather is dried out. 
I went to Pinterest and found out how to fix this chair and bring back some beauty of the leather and remove some of the scratches and not change the vintage look.

I also discovered that one of the kids in the household where I purchased this chair felt it necessary to scratch his name on the back of the chair!!!  You can see that below in the next picture!!!

I am working on this chair and will have it to show soon.  

I will show you what I used and how well it worked.  

Gotta love Pinterest!

Have a great rest of the week.  I do not know about you but I am so off this week with Monday being the holiday. 

Hugs,

Kris

Junk Chic Cottage 4

Hello sweet blogging friends.

Hope you all have a great Memorial Day.

We owe so much to all the men and women that have given so much so we can be safe and free.

I have some news to share!!!!  
Before I start the news I want to warn you this is a long blog post.  
So grab yourself a frosty beverage before beginning to read! :)

As most of you know that have followed my blog know that Terry is a fire chief and the ups and downs of the fire service we have been dealing with these past 6 years.

We got settled into Junk Chic Cottage #1 in a small Lake Town up north in Illinois back about 14 years ago when Terry got the position as Fire Chief.   

This is also when I started my blog and introduced you to Junk Chic Cottage #1.

This was Junk Chic Cottage home #1.  A beautiful ranch home in a great lake town.

This was our home by the lake.

 Since we lived in a lake town I wanted my guest room to reflect that with my decor. 

No matter which Junk Chic Cottage I have owned I always have my summer flowers and a place for my lounge chair.  This was my lounge chair at Junk Chic Cottage #1.

After 8 years in this sweet lake home, Terry lost his position of Fire Chief.  Politics and Money!!!!

So began the hunt for another Fire Chief position.  

It took 2 long years to find another Fire Chief position. 

I have to tell you what we paid in health insurance alone for the two years was outrageous and this is why he could not stay retire at age 58.

  

We needed him working for the health benefits with the costs being so high here in Illinois.

While he was out of work and looking we bought the town house Junk Chic Cottage #2. 

It was in a sweet town near my daughter and son in law and two grand girls.  

That worked out nicely since I retired as a nurse to help take care of my grand girls for my daughter.

Welcome to Junk Chic Cottage #2

Junk Chic Cottage #2 was a town home.  Loved this home but way too many stairs with three levels.  It was ok because I knew once Terry found a job we would be on the move again!

Junk Chic Cottage 2 was when I had my full on white home decor!!!!!

And a bad camera I might add :(

Again always had a space for my lounge chair!

After two long years of searching for a job Terry landed a job back up north in Illinois. 

This is when we bought Junk Chic Cottage #3.

  

  The tiny cottage home we live in now. 

Junk Chic Cottage # 3

This was a major over haul with JCC #3.  We had to build a garage make a driveway and re do the whole backyard!!!! Not to mention renovating the lower level for more living space!

When we first moved into this tiny home we learned to use every sq. inch of this tiny house to live. 
I tried to get the best seating for the tiny spaces.

Added some yellow to my whites by adding wallpaper.  It gave this cottage feel to this sweet little house.

Still had room for my sweet lounge chair!  She moves each time with me!

I do not want to share too much about his current job but I will say it was not a good fit for him and he needed once again to find another job.  

The politics and changes to the fire service do not always make for the best place to work.

We just need 5 more years of benefits to hopefully retire.  Terry has worked hard and has been in the fire service for 38 years and retired once at age 50.  The problem is when you are 50 you still have college debt, house not paid for and wedding costs along with needing health benefits.

So the job hunt was on and he landed a new job that he will begin in the next few weeks.  

It is  in a town further south again almost in the area we began our married life and where we spent most of our time. 

 We have family and friends in this area.

The new position does not require residency in the town so we could stay in Junk Chic Cottage 3 but the commute would be a long one for Terry.  

We will be putting Junk Chic Cottage #3 on the market in the next few weeks.

That means selling, buying and moving again!  I really am getting good at this but at the same time am tired and do not want to go through it all again.

I am staying positive we will get a quick buyer on this home and there will be something wonderful for us to buy again and hopefully will be our permanent home!

 I have to admit with all the homes we have owned this by far has been my most favorite.  

I have embraced living small.

The cons of living in this area are the cost of living and the outrageous taxes we pay on this tiny home.

  

I will not miss that!

So the hunt will be on for Junk Chic Cottage 4.  They say three is the lucky number,  I am hoping in our case 4 is the lucky number.

I would like to find another small home like this with a yard or a town home or condo with some kind of small space yard. 

I am not ready to give up on my wanting a yard.  Plus Buddy loves having a yard.

  In the meantime I will keep you posted on possibilities.  

I do have a few things I have done to this home in the last month to show in my next post.

Have a wonderful week.

Hugs,

Kris

PS:  This is the lounger currently on my deck for this summer.  It has been raining so much I have not been able to finish up my flowers or put out my lounge chair cover just yet.  It will happen hopefully soon.

Michigan House Trip and Flower Kick Off

Hello sweet bloggers.

I got back from our Michigan trip and it was so wonderful.  

The rain held off until Sunday afternoon when we were heading home.  

It was cloudy but we still walked on the beach and enjoyed the pretty cottage house.

I loved this front room.  It was decorated so cute.  As you can see not a lot of sunshine coming in those windows! No rain so it is all good with me.

All of her pretty furniture in each room was fabulous.

This was the other living room area.  I loved that this house had so many places to hang out.

You guys were all anxious to see what I bought.  Well it was these funky sunglasses!!!! 
Yep! no chippy shabby pretties found on this trip.
:( 
The purpose was to relax and enjoy the beach and house. 
I am not sure about you but when I go places like this I either find a million treasures to bring home or not much! 
I did get a few candles and little things along with the sunglasses. 
It was just a fun and relaxing trip.

The flowers are beginning at Junk Chic Cottage.  I got my flower boxes planted and also my bike basket done.  

The perennials are beginning to come back to life.  Pretty soon you will not see the dark mulch it will be filled with roses and hydrangeas and flowers.

It is a welcome sight to see everything coming back to life. 

We had a long winter and not too much of a Spring. 

Lots of rain but hoping the nice temps and the sunshine will start to be more often and the plants will thrive.

I will have to take pictures in about a month when everything fills in.

I am working on the back patio/deck.

 I am getting out my pretty lounge chair
and getting my flowers going back there. 

I hope to show you that soon.  With all the rain it has been hard to get everything planted.

Have a great rest of the week and a wonderful weekend.

Hugs,
Kris


PS:  I did find a beautiful treasure right before we went on our trip to Michigan.  I am working on it and hope to have that up to take pictures and show it soon.
xoxo

New Bedspread

Hello sweet friends.

I have another wonderful shout out to a very talented person on Etsy.

I needed a new bedspread and saw how she took chenille and ruffles and put them together to make an awesome bedspread.

This is the pretty pattern to the vintage chenille.

My bedroom is my sanctuary.  I love it to be calm and serene.  Using white keeps the room calm for me.

I love to have floppy white pillows that look messy on the bed.  No perfect placing for my pillows!

My photo bomber Buddy also wants to show you how much he loves the new bedspread.

Yep enjoying the softness of the chenille.

I love how the sunshine comes in this room in the late afternoon and early evening.

If you want to see some of the pretty items that Teri has to offer at her Etsy site called Simply French Market here is her card with all her information.

If white is not your thing and you need color this is not the bedroom for you.  I can add color like I did in the winter months with pillows and throws.

  For summer I love the white and sunshine for my room.  
Have a great weekend.  
Terry and I are off to Michigan.

If I do not answer back on your comments left it is because I am out of range of wifi.
I cannot wait to unplug and relax for a few days.

Hugs,

Kris

Flowers!!!!!

Hello Blogging Friends.

I am doing the Happy Dance and do you know why?!!!!

It is Flower Time here in my neck of the woods.

Finally Old Man Winter has let go of us here in Illinois.  Hopefully we will have a little Spring and then OH YES SUMMER!!!!

I went to my favorite nursery for my flowers on Mother's Day.
 
That is the tradition I have for My Mother's Day.
 
I start my planting on Mother's Day.

My two daughters and granddaughter's and I had pedicures and brunch on Saturday to celebrate Mother's Day.
That leaves us the actual day to rest, relax or do whatever we want.
I chose each year weather permitting to start my flowers.

This is my first trip.  It usually is two trips for me to get all the flowers.
Buddy was a bit concerned if there was going to be room in the car for him!

Okie Dokie!!! here is my Pottery Barn Story! 

As you know I custom ordered this sectional from Pottery Barn a while back. 
Almost all of their furniture is custom ordered.  Nothing in stock for immediate delivery.

I originally ordered it to fit in the room in a whole different way.
That did not work out as planned.

On top of it not really fitting in my small space the way I had envisioned,  I had some issues with the cushions and a couple of the covers.

To make a long story short I will never order something I cannot sit on or really have all the information on the warranty.

I ordered the high performance fabric for this piece.  It is guaranteed to hold up to every stain imaginable and clean like a dream!

Nope one of the cushions had a rip that I noticed where the pipping did not catch with the fabric.

Then Buddy ran in on a rainy day with mud on his paws and I used mild soap and water like they said and it took the mud off right away but I noticed as it dried it lightened the fabric where I cleaned.

Number 3 issue on the larger seat cushion it kept breaking down and going flat where we sat on it.  After only having the sectional for two months it looked worn and flat and uncomfortable.

I called customer service and they had me take pictures and send them the issues in an email.  Then it took them two weeks to get back to me on what they would do with the issues.  Their answer was to send out new covers and new cushions.
Ok good.
The problem is the cushions are doing the same thing.

Not Happy!

I thought this is not good.  I paid a lot of money for this sectional and was not happy with the quality of the cushions.

I decided to sell the piece and lucky for me I found a buyer that gave me almost what I paid for it new.  That was a welcome relief since I could not return a custom piece back to Pottery Barn no matter how unhappy I was.

So it has gone to a new home.

It was a sad lesson to learn on something so expensive.

So now what?!!!!!

I was on the site that I buy and sell items and saw this sweet Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture line loveseat up for sale.
This love seat sells for over $4,000 on her website.
I know crazy but if you ever sat on her pieces you would see how wonderful her furniture is.

Never in my lifetime did I ever think I would own one of her pieces with how expensive they are.

Well here she is.  More my style and fits so much better in the room. 
It opens up my window.

I am looking for a recliner for that open corner for Terry to be comfy and watch TV in this room with me.

I like having that window open it lets so much more light into this room.

Here is a picture of the couch from Rachel's Ashwell's site.  If you would like to see her collections you can go here.

Her furniture is made with down cushions and beautiful fabrics for slipcovers.

I have to say I lay on this couch at night and fall asleep many times it is that comfy.
Even Terry sat on it and said how comfy it is.

With how expensive these are I never thought I would ever own one of her pieces.

The lady I bought the loveseat from sold it to me for $400 and I tell you that was a bargain of a life time.

Finding this piece after being so upset with the PB sectional was a true blessing.

I still cannot believe I have this piece in my living room!

Now I am on the hunt for the perfect chair for Terry and I will add some pillows and fun decor and have that to show you in the future.

I debated on sharing my story but thought it might help one of you out there that might be thinking about buying a custom piece of furniture.

My suggestions after my experience is to make sure you can actually see the piece in the show room that you are ordering.  You can actually sit or lay on it.  Make sure you understand any warranties and company policies.

I got so tunnel visioned on the size being right for the room.  We measured and re measured and it was going to fit.  Nope not like we had hoped.

Pottery Barn also voids your warranty if you move or sell the piece to someone else.  I think that is terrible.
When you spend that kind of money and if they back their product the warranty should be in place no matter who has the sectional.
It blew my mind when the customer service person told me even if we moved from the house we are now and still had the sectional it would no longer be under warranty.

 What difference does it make where I live with the piece?  They should be guaranteeing the fabric and quality of the piece no matter where it is!!!!

That is crazy and one of the reasons I will never buy something so expensive from them again.

I have friends that have PB pieces and they love them. 
I am not bashing PB because I know they have nice pieces and probably many of you out their own something from PB and love it.

This was not my experience.
I should have never ordered something I could not see or sit on in the show room.  I also do not like their policy on their furniture and fabrics. 

 I hope my learning curve might help one of you thinking about buying something custom no matter if it is at Pottery Barn or another store.

My story ended well.  I was able to resale the sectional and was able to get the new RA Shabby Chic Couture Loveseat I have dreamed about.

Hope you all had a wonderful Mom's Day.
Enjoy the week ahead.
Off to plant more flowers.
Yeah!!!!
Hugs,
Kris