79. The Corner Dining Room

August 17, 2013March 25, 2016 / Apple Hill Cottage / 14 Comments

I know, I know, you’ve seen beautiful pictures of the kitchen, beautiful pictures of the bedroom — you must think we’re about done by now, right?

Today it is back to ugly pictures again, folks.

In between the kitchen and the bedroom is the corner dining room. Well, the living room is there somewhere too, but we’re skipping that for now…

Sapele butcher block counter top

Right next to this lovely peninsula is this not-so-lovely little closet. Dining room closet
Actually, I’ve been working on it, and it is much better than it was. Inside. The doors to this little closet will be charming when they are finished. They were in my sanding room for awhile…Of course, they were painted orange.

I couldn’t get all the orange paint sanded off, so I did the best I could and then just primed the heck out of them

Dining room closet doors painted with Sherwin Williams Steamed Milk Satin

Here they are painted with Sherwin Williams Steamed Milk.

Inside the closet the first floorboard is a white pine plank; the rest of the boards are yellow pine flooring boards. It took MUCH effort to get the two types of wood to stain the same. The front plank has so much stain painted on it, that it may never dry..

Notice the good job of matching two different types of wood -- white pine and yellow pine.

I’ve been trying out green samples on the dining room wall. Very light, sort of light, and as dark as I want to go. None of them seemed right.

Still life with lamp and ladder…

Then one evening while I was poking around on Retrorenovation.com I found the answer! Vintage Wallpaper! All colors of greens in one wall, which is just what I was trying to figure out how I could do! It’s perfect. I hesitantly brought it up to Mr. H.C. who immediately said he was game. (That was before he saw the price! :-) ) Now if I can only decide…I’ve got two samples coming from Hannah’s Treasures. I’ve put three in this blog post — comments please! Which ones do you like?

Vintage wallpaper from Hannah’s Treasures.

I didn’t order a sample for the bold plaid one on the right, because as soon as Mr. H.C. saw that one, he started shaking his head. I think he just doesn’t like it because it reminds him of the wallpaper he put up (on the same wall) for his mom, Clara in the seventies. (See post 1. The Story of Apple Hill Cottage.) Here it is:

This is the wallpaper that covered the door...

This wallpaper covered the door beside it as well… I think it is fitting that this wall be covered in wallpaper again!

Mr. H.C. assures me that it isn’t the wallpaper it reminds him of, it was a pair of his Dad’s golf pants… Okay, well I might give him that; I think my dad had a pair too.

I could go on… and on… about the floor, and the trim, but I won’t. I WILL show you just one more photo of the dining room table treasure though. We found it ages ago at a ReStore for $35, and it has been sitting in the dining room under three layers of plastic and tarps to protect it from all the junk on top of it.

harvest table
The top will be stained a darker, rich wood color. I’ve been thinking all along to paint the legs black, but I think I’ve changed my mind, and I’m going to go with the dark green (Benjamin Moore Peale Green) that is on the wall. And a couple of chairs painted that same dark green? What do you think? That’s at least two questions to comment on!

So, are we wallpaper lovers, or not?

76. ReHabitat-ing the Yellow Bedroom, Part 3

July 28, 2013September 1, 2015 / Apple Hill Cottage / 22 Comments

The yellow bedroom is yellow no more. Even the closet has not a vestige of yellow left! We are mulling over a new name — just “the bedroom” doesn’t adequately cover its transformation. The change has been slow. I’ve been working on it by myself when unskilled labor is not needed in the kitchen. Taping and priming and painting the woodwork, patching the walls, taking off doors, priming and painting the closet, sanding and painting doors… It all sounds impressive, but it wasn’t. It was tedious, hard-on-the-poor-old-knees-and-back work. Mr. H.C. stopped work in the kitchen long enough to help me do the actual painting of the ceiling and the walls. There are still some minor embellishments to be added — I’m working on the bedskirt, the bed will be getting some fancier pillows, and there are still pictures to hang on the walls — but it sure looks amazing to us! Come in for a peek —

What I really like about this room is that mostly we’ve used antiques and family collectibles that we already owned. The dresser, the metal shelf and the quilt belonged to Clara, Mr. H.C’s mom who slept in this bedroom long before we did; the nightstand belonged to Mr. H.C. when he was a little boy and still known as Mikey; the cedar chest was made by Pa — my grandfather who first built the cottage; Dad made the little wooden lamp, and the mirror and the bookstand under it came from him as well; my mom painted the birds. And Diane and Emily, my sister and niece gave us the footprint for the colors, the design, and ideas on how to use the furniture.

New closet doors

That’s Clara’s appliqued quilt on the cedar chest. She told us it was probably the most valuable thing she owned. We’ve found the date on it, but it is embroidered in white on white and it’s hard to read — 1882 or 1932 — we just aren’t sure. Clara gave me a whole bag of vintage linens before she died, because she knew I love them; the two pillowcases on the bed and the lacy cloth hanging on the shelf are part of her collection. Sanding old doors The closet doors were old fashioned paneled doors that Mr. H.C. found at Construction Junction for $30 each; we were delighted to get rid of the boring sliding doors that didn’t slide. The new/old doors were in my sanding shop for several days (five coats of paint and shellac as the bottom layer!) and then primed. Mr. H.C. hung them, and unlike usual, we painted them after they were hung. The handles were left over from our kitchen cabinets. If you are reading about this bedroom for the first time, its transformation was planned by the online decorating company, ReHabitat Design and you can read about the stages in posts 37 and 43.
Bedroom Remodel

Pa — my grandfather who built the cottage originally — made the cedar chest as a Christmas present for my grandmother in 1924 — he even put a plaque on it. Before we brought the chest down from our city house, we were skeptical whether it would fit. After we put it at the foot of the bed, Mr. H.C. said, “This actually makes the room seem bigger, dont’cha think?” Yes, I do.

The headboard is made from an old door that Mr. H.C. scored (also from Construction Junction) for fifteen dollars. He cut it off at five feet to fit our queen-sized bed, and I sanded it. The inspiration for this is from the website Hometalk: I really liked the look of the door on this website, but doors have different personalities after sanding, and I had to respect what it was. I fooled around with paint and glaze and came up with this. It isn’t exactly what I had envisioned, but I was trying to be open about this project, and we both like how it came out.

The oak shelf on the top was taken right off the wall in the living room where it once was Clara and Joe’s mantle. It fit perfectly on the headboard; I think they would be pleased. And my mom painted the birds that sit on the shelf. They used to be in the bathroom in the house where I grew up; I love them on this headboard shelf.

Closet doors are painted Sherwin Williams Steamed Milk, semi-gloss.

This mirror and little bookshelf/table under it came from my dad; he also made the small wooden lamp on the dresser.

Sister Diane made the hand-crocheted afghan that’s on the bed for my mom many years ago. I bet she wants it back now. :-) And the pretty little carved basket on the headboard shelf was a Christmas present from sister-in-law, Rita.
headboard made from old door

These new finials dress up Clara’s old curtain rod, which I spray painted eons ago. The finials were new from Bed Bath and Beyond and they didn’t fit the old rod. But Mr. H.C. cut a piece of wood to fit in the rod and added a couple of screws — Voila! I think he can fix anything… And just in case you forgot what the room used to look like…

yellow bedroom
Factoids: The wicker lampshade, the duvet cover and shams, and the curtains are from Pottery Barn. The two other lampshades are from Target. The curtain rod finials are from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, but don’t count on them fitting any other curtain rod except the ones that are sold with them! The rug on the floor was from Rug Depot a few years ago, but it is still a great place to buy rugs and runners. And the little art on the left of the headboard is from a great little Etsy shop, McWissenville. The walls and ceiling are painted with Benjamin Moore Winter Wheat (232) matte; the trim and closet doors are painted the same shade we used in the kitchen — Sherwin Williams Steamed Milk (7554) semi-gloss. The paint and glaze for the headboard came from Sherwin Williams as well; the color is Brandywine.

At least The Cat isn’t on the heirloom quilt or the hand-crocheted throw…

This wicker shade updated a lamp we’ve had for several years. The nightstand was in Mr. H.C’s childhood bedroom.

These pillowcases came to me from Clara, who knew I love vintage linens.

This was Clara’s cast iron shelf that was orange — originally seen in Post 10. Clara’s Kitsch.

This is a detail of the lace tablecloth.

Henry’s favorite spot…

How I spent my weekend…

and After!

72. Stuff that breaks other people’s backs

July 1, 2013July 9, 2014 / Apple Hill Cottage / 12 Comments

This is part 6 of several posts discussing Richard Foster’s chapter on Simplicity in Celebration of Discipline.

We bought a galvanized wash tub the other day to use next to the washer we are installing. (Well, Mr. H.C. is installing it; I’m not the plumber!) An old-fashioned galvanized tub seemed to fit the cottage better than the cheap plastic ones that sell at the Big Box stores. UPS delivered the tub last Monday, and I put it together in the front yard. galvanized laundry tub It came from Pigeon Mountain Trading Company in Georgia, but it was made in Mexico. And my question is: If I buy a galvanized tub made in Mexico, am I supporting some poor person who is working at his own business to support his family, or am I making him/her work in a dangerous factory with molten metal and lousy working conditions? Am I giving some person in need of a job welcome employment, or is it a low-paying job that doesn’t provide for a decent living?*

Yes, this is another “stuff” post that is hard to write, hard to live…

Foster’s ninth rule of practical simplicity reads: Richard Foster quote Richard Foster’s chapter on Simplicity from Celebration of Discipline is not easy. It has stuck with me, and made me consider many of my actions and the way I live as a wealthy American. No, we won’t ever make the Forbes list of billionaires, but we have houses, cars, and too much stuff, plus some money in the bank. If a family of four makes $40,000 a year (after taxes) they are in the richest 15% of the world’s population. To discover just how rich you are on a world wealth scale, you can go to this site Giving What We Can. (I’m not necessarily recommending their charities, but the money information was very personal and interesting.)

And not only do I have more wealth than most people in the world, the stuff I buy might be contributing to someone else’s oppression…

Ann Taylor Loft curvy cropped jeans Also within the last two weeks, I purchased a new pair of jeans at Ann Taylor Loft and the same questions apply: Were they made in one of those clothing factories that caught fire or collapsed? Or if not those, another sweatshop in another poor country? We live in a world of instant information, but how do we find this out?

I have a closet full of cheap clothes, and I’m not sure that expensive clothes aren’t made side by side with the cheap stuff in the same sweat shops. I’m struggling with this because I don’t think there is one right answer. Government regulations and unions made the industry disappear from this country, and there will always be a poorer country and an unscrupulous owner to exploit the laborers, whether it be in Bangladesh, Haiti, or Malawi. But it troubles me that I might have encouraged it. Richard Foster writes,

“This is one of the most difficult and sensitive issues for us to face, but face it we must. Do we sip our coffee and eat our bananas at the expense of exploiting Latin American peasants? In a world of limited resources, does our lust for wealth mean the poverty of others?…”

One person can’t change the world. But I can be informed. And I can spend my dollars in a way that I feel comfortable. If you are still reading, you have probably thought about this lately as well. So may I humbly suggest:

Buy Used or Local — consignment shops and re-sale stores have great clothes and at good prices… Buy presents at local craft stores, Etsy, art festivals… (And beware of historic looking items that are reproductions made in China…) Buy your food at local farmer’s markets — especially in the summer.
Learn to Sew or make it yourself– don’t let that sewing machine sit lost under clutter. (See Post 70. Sew What?) (Although I have a concern as to where textiles are made as well…) But let’s not stop at clothing — laundry soap, face creams, deodorants, simple cleansers — they are better for you and better for the environment.
Buy American — Just in the past few days, I have found these two websites: Made in America and Made in USA Forever. Several days ago, I bought shower curtain rings at Big Lots (12 for $1.99.) They were made in China. All the shower curtain rings in the store were made in China. When I googled Made in America Shower Curtain Rings I found these metal shower curtain rings, made in the good old USA for 14.95. This has the added benefit of helping OUR economy! And this leads me to the next suggestion,
Stay Out of Dollar Stores — Unless you are buying paper towels, there’s probably not much inside that is made by someone who is given a fair wage.

Fair Trade Organic Chocolate

Buy Fair Trade items — Coffee and chocolate are labeled clearly Fair Trade; Ten Thousand Villages has a fair trade policy; many ministries and non-profits support honest wages, cooperatives, and people who are learning a skill.
Demand that corporations be transparent about where and how their goods are made. (I’m composing my letter to Ann Taylor right now! I know it won’t do any good, but what if a thousand of us threatened to not shop at a clothing store until their manufacturing practices are more transparent?)
Do Without — This is the land of stuff; just look at what we waste. Think about your purchases. Do you really need that new cell phone (Apple has recently come under fire for the conditions of their manufacturing plants as well…), that new tool, those new shoes, that new cooking gadget?

Today is July 1st. I challenge you to 31 days of making sure what you buy is NOT breaking the back of someone else. I will be writing down my purchases (including food) this month and where they were manufactured. And I’ll let you know how well I’ve succeeded–or failed– in a month or so. No guarantees — I’m as guilty as all of US. And I know that buying this way is more expensive, and it doesn’t make me happy. So what do you think? Are you willing to spend 11.99 on a t-shirt made in America (Organic all-cotton!) as opposed to a $2.99 t-shirt from Joe Fresh that broke the back of someone in Bangladesh?**

*The average hourly rate for a factory worker in Mexico in 2011 was $2.50/hour. Although according to this article by the Brookings Institute, wages in Mexico are rising and manufacturing there is benefitting from close proximity to the United States.

**And just to be clear, I am not against a global economy; I realize that buying American is not the answer for everything; but buying locally has the added benefit of keeping your dollars in your own community… And that’s a good thing.
Buy local, Buy Greene