Birch log living room side table

Hello, and how is everything in your neck of the woods?

I’ve been wanting to share this with you for quite some time, but lots of projects n’ things have gotten in the way lately. Speaking of projects, our cinder block wall project has taken on a life of its own. I think I may have opened a can of worms with this one, but the outcome is looking pretty darn awesome. Look for the reveal in the next couple days! I might even make it a 3-part series, as it’s a 3-sided cinder block wall and there’s lots to share.

So I was at The Little French Flea Market in Tarzana a short while back and I spotted what appeared to be a freshly cut birch log for sale. Upon closer inspection, I realized it’s a hollowed tube, wrapped in real birch. I was told it was used as a display prop for the clothing store Coldwater Creek. Even better! I placed it next to my favorite reading chair and propped a lamp and a couple old books on top, and added some sporty pinecones for good measure.

 

There are lightly visible staples which I plan to cleverly disguise at some point, but I’m pretty busy with my cinder block wall project. So for now, a few silly staples aren’t hurting a bit…

This is my favorite spot to sit in the house, literally. When we first bought the house and had not a stick of furniture, I used to sit on the floor and look through that window (that you can see peering through the mirror). It holds a view of the most magnificent sunsets that greet us each day from that spot.

The rough texture of the birch just speaks to me. I feel like I’m in a cozy cabin retreat when I sit next to it…

And on the other side, it’s snow white which feels so wintery and cool. Have you ever noticed how naked birch trees in the winter look like human shaped limbs, with the rough patches looking like elbows and knees? Just me? Okay then.

I hope you have fun plans for the weekend. As for me, I have gel stain running from the tip of my pinkie, down to my elbow (which takes days to wash off) so needless to say I’ll be avoiding any red carpet events the next few days. We’re hoping to take a break and run down to Santa Monica for a little shopping and good eats. And you bet I’m going to be sporting long sleeves, even thought it was in the mid 80’s here this week. What’s that about?

Window Shopping: Hoot n’ Anny in Westlake Village

While doing the rounds at the Westlake Design Center, I stumbled upon a new shop that just opened up a couple months ago called Hoot n’ Anny. Lets take a look inside, shall we?

Meet Jennifer, she’s the proud owner of Hoot n’ Anny. And she knows how to rock out a can of chalkboard paint…

As I browsed her store, it was immediately apparent Jennifer knows how to take on a large and intimidating a space, all while thinking cleverly outside of the box…  

Along one wall she has a pair of mile high open-gaping windows that are side by side, and what does she do? She cleverly dresses them in drop cloths and gathers the centers with burlap sacks. The result is ethereal…

 

 

Take a peek to the left of the black striped arm chair, behind the circus poster. That’s an old bed frame hung against the wall that she’s layered lights underneath. It glows once the sun starts to set…

I am loving the multitude of textures going on in this ladder vignette below..

  Take a chair, any chair…

I’ll have the one in the middle, thank you very much…

 

 

 

 

 

Hoot n’ Anny is having a grand opening this weekend, Fri Sat & Sun from 10 – 5. If you stop by, please tell her The Old Painted Cottage sent ya!

Westlake Design Center. 31149 Via Colinas #610. Westlake Village. CA

Check out her website and she’s also on facebook too!

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In other news, remember this eye sore of a cinderblock wall which separates our living room and dining room…

We were making some headway on the project, that was until the cinderblock started crumbling every time we tried to drill into it, despite the meanest masonry drill bit we could find. We are working on a solution, and that solution (a.ka. my favorite handyman named Chalo) is hopefully going to come out next week and give us a hand.

Also, word has it we are planning on having our handyman build us a custom made mantel for our fireplace wall.

Woo to the Hoo!

Wanna come join me for a nap on the porch?

Today I was invited by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch to write a guest post for her Metamorphosis Monday feature (a weekly blog party featuring amazing before and after projects). May I just tell you what a pleasure it has been getting to know Susan. She is an incredibly caring and lovely person. But then if you’re a regular reader of her blog, I’m sure you’ve already figured that out by now.

As I’m sure you can imagine, our little Cottage8 and each project we have tackled has been one great big metamorphosis after another, and trying to single out just one thing to write about was quite the challenge. I decided to read through all the comments on my old posts I’ve written about our home, and it soon became clear what project has been an all time favorite among my readers: Our Kitchen!

You know what I’m talking about. Remember how it looked when we first bought the house, we started with THIS:

And with months of hard work, we turned it into THIS:

I’d love for you to check out the guest post I wrote about our kitchen over at Susan’s Blog. While there, you can check out her link party and see many other wonderful before and after’s, and maybe you’ll want to join in the party as well. I hope you do!

PS: If you’re new here to my blog, welcome! If you’re curious to see more of our home, just click the Cottage8 link at the top of my site. I hope you’ll stay a little while, and leave me a comment so I can visit your blog too.

A look back, and looking ahead

I hope you had a wonderful New Year! We’ve been on the go, so much this past week, I seem to be a day (or two) behind the rest. So let’s play a little catch up, shall we?  

Here’s my New Years Eve table. I put it all together super fast, and it doesn’t help that I couldn’t find the photo card for my Canon Rebel, so my little point n’ shoot Kodak was my go-to back up. (It was that or use my iphone!)

The round silver tray and mercury glass votives are from Z Gallerie, one of my favorite places to shop. I also purchased my silver chargers from there.

To add a little interest, I placed a vintage silver trophy cup in the center of the votive grouping with a pinecone on top, along with frost tipped pinecones scattered throughout. I’m all about incorporating nature, even on a tablescape. The silver birds are my friend Rosemary’s, and I’m borrowing them for an upcoming project, stay tuned for more details on that!

Keeping it simple, I just placed glittered snowflake ornaments on top of the napkins…

I bought these great metal frame stands from my friend Kymberley at 3 Fine Grains a while back, and simply printed out New Years themed images I found at The Graphics Fairy…

The mercury glass decanters were purchased from Home Goods. They came with fancy crystal tops, which I left behind and opted for dripless wax candles instead and turned these decanters into candleholders…

I’m looking forward to completing more house projects in 2011. I have a bunch of plans on my to do list, such as this bad boy, my cinderblock fireplace wall. It has been my nemesis since we first bought this house over two years ago.

As a quick, semi-painful reminder, here’s how it looked when we first bought this place:

And here’s how it looks today, shot at night time. As you can see, the room dividing section of cinderblock wall that faces out hasn’t undergone much more than paint, crown moulding and base trim moulding up to this point…

I’m also feeling a change is gonna come to our fireplace wall as well, although the jury is still out on that project. In the meantime, don’t you just love the stockings gifted to me by my dear friend Laurie at Bella Inspirations.

Note: It’s January 2nd and my stockings are still up. Does that make me crazy, lazy or just plain sentimental? And a quick question, dear bloggers: How long do you leave your holiday decor up on your mantel? I get the whole taking down the christmas tree by the new year thing, but is there a decided expiration date on mantel decor and stockings?

  

In closing, I want to thank each and every one of you who have shared in our journey this past year. To all those who’ve been so kind to comment and email, or called just to say hello! Even the lurkers who quietly drop in for a visit. You guys simply amaze me with your support. I also want to thank all our incredible customers who dig my goods and shop my online store. You’ve helped make this past year our best yet, and I can’t wait to show you the cool finds I’ll be listing next.