Open House Part 3

The last part shows the library and the master suite. The library is where we spend most of our time, especially in the winter when we run the little gas fireplace.

I hope you enjoyed the Open House here Amongst The Oaks.

Open House Part 2

In this video you see everyone's favorite room; the kitchen. You also see the laundry room and the the back garden. In the garden is a large patio for entertaining, a huge fireplace, the guest house, and a lawn area for croquet.

Open House Part 1

We had an Open House Sunday and had LOTS of traffic. I thought you might like to see our little English cottage too. It has never looked so good or been so clean. This first video shows the front of the house, the living room, the dining room, the first two bedrooms, and the main bath.

We did a whirlwind clean up of Teen2's bedroom including painting the walls a warm grey. If I'd had more time I would have staged it a little better with a desk, but I just plain ran out of time and energy.

If you have any questions, just post a comment and I'll try to answer.

Little Houses

I can't remember a time when I wasn't interested in houses. Even as a child I remember being fascinated with a friend's dollhouse and later I remember drawing houses and painting houses and sculpting houses. In high school I did many art projects involving houses. (I think my sister TravelBug has a little clay model I made of her house in 1973.) And I made this model of a Victorian house out of paper and cardboard in my senior year.

I entered it in a few art shows and got a blue ribbon at the County Fair. When I look at it now I see how lame it was, but for a 17 year old kid, I guess it's not too bad. I hand cut all those little scalloped strips for the roofing (mainly in my History class) with little fingernail scissors. It took me months to make and I even made a glass case to hold it. It still sits in a cupboard in my living room.

When we planned our house remodel I made this model of how the new house would look. I used the elevations and glued them to cardboard, then colored, cut, and glued it together. It was a great aid and reference tool as we made decisions about the details and our house actually came out pretty much like this. And this.

This end of the kitchen looks exactly like a photo I took here but now it has roses and a trellis.

So it's no surprise that I'm once again making little houses. Here is my latest glitter house. It's a little stone cottage with a thatched roof and a snowy hedge. I am having so much fun with these little houses here Amongst The Oaks. How about you? How are your Christmas projects coming along?

Adventures with Drop Cloths

I finally got my drop cloth curtains done over the weekend. Which is really saying something considering that we had a surprise Welcome Home Party for Teen1 Saturday night. Lots of friends, lots of laughing, lots of fun. See, there were a few issues with the drop cloths....

I had painted the vintage rod, brackets, and rings last week and LOM had already installed them so that wasn't the problem...

I had plenty of free fringe from Travel Bug so that wasn't the problem....

The problem was there was a huge seam down the middle of one of the drop cloths, so I had to go back and get another one. I'm sure I looked like a dork feeling all the drop cloths there at Home Depot, but I didn't want to get another one with a seam!

Obviously other decorators have had my problem and resorted to inspecting before purchasing so they have this message written on the shelf. And after getting burned on one, I was tempted to start ripping them open, but I resisted and got a good one. Oh, and then there was the wildly different sizes! After I'd attached the fringe, folded the top over 8", and sewn all the rings on I discovered one was 3" longer than the other so I had to rehem it.

So all in all, I'm pleased with the project, but I have a few words of advice. First, make sure you select drop cloths that are the same color and weave. Then feel for seams but be prepared for surprises. Launder them before you use them. Not only does it preshrink them, but it makes them softer. And check the length and be prepared to rehem to make them all the same size.

In spite of all that, I like the fabric so much I'm thinking of making a table cloth out of one too.

Cottage Decorating

Little Acorn Cottage (my studio) is really coming along. It's all painted inside except for the bathroom so I'm moving stuff in and trying to organize it. I'm trying to decorate on the cheap, so estate sale and free furniture is imperative, and DIY projects abound.



I wanted a curtain to hide the refrigerator, so I went to my favorite decorating resource: Home Depot....

and bought this wonderful almost finished curtain....

which I'll be hanging on a black shower curtain rod....

and embellishing with some of this hand-me-down fringe from Travel Bug.

I've got other little projects planned for the cottage Amongst The Oaks, which I'll show you as I finish them.

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Now for the Mystery Photo from yesterday: Yes, PG, you are right! It's a velvety green seed pod from the wisteria plant. They are such a lovely shade of green, aren't they? And such random fuzz. Good guesses from all of you.

Painting Too

Remember our cottage/studio/guest house? Well, that's what else we have been working on here Amongst The Oaks. The Lord of the Manor has been painting, painting, painting. And it is now all Cottagey White inside.

Here is the dining area with the old table and the new green chairs.

And here is the china cupboard painted green.

And here is the other side of the room with the second hand sofa covered with an old quilt. And now the fun can begin: decorating, fluffing, and finally crafting! I can hardly wait.

An English Cottage

Back when I started this blog my header said "Creating Our Little English Cottage" Amongst The Oaks. And I did sort of tell how we remodeled this house into a cottage, but then I started drifting and wandering and experimenting and sharing all kinds of different things. So I was compelled to change that line to "Our Little English Cottage" Amongst The Oaks. Which of course worked fine but I still harbor the idea of creating a truly English style home; thick walls, casement windows, simple finishes, lots of clutter, nestled in a garden. Well folks, my latest issue of Cottages & Bungalows has shown me the way.

See at the top where it says Eco Beauty? That's it! My new house. And we can make it ourselves! All we need is bales of rice straw and plaster. Not only is it energy efficient, it's gorgeous too!

I really like the way the house snuggles in the garden and under the wisteria.

Doesn't it look terribly English? Deep window recesses, simple white walls, lots of clutter. It could be a little cob cottage in England, couldn't it?

I think I'm in love with this idea. Does anyone know where I can buy 1000 bales of straw?

Three of More Tuesday - Chimneys

Tam at The Gypsy's Corner is hosting Three or More Tuesday again and I'm sharing chimneys. Be sure to check out the other participants.

This is the faux chimney that contains our exhaust fan for the kitchen range. The chimney is really big because the fan is about 24" across. It's like the kind restaurants have because I hate cooking smells drifting through the house. The pot on top is faux too. The Lord of the Manor built it out of aluminum and we faux painted it to look like terra cotta. We are all about faux here, aren't we?

Here is the main chimney and the only real chimney. It connects to the woodburning fireplace in the living room.

And lastly, here is the third chimney on our house. It is faux too because the fireplace underneath it is a gas insert and vents out the wall. But, darn, it is cute, isn't it?

Not Miserable

Some of you have asked where I live. Well, according to Forbes.com I live in a pretty miserable city. And darn it, I'm tired of my city being bashed. We always seem to be in the national news for one of our problems. Over the years it's been the high crime rate, our inadequate education system, the fact that we're a bedroom community for the Bay Area, the high foreclosure rate, and long commute times. And now Forbes has tabulated all these things on an index and determined that we are the most miserable city in America. I don't agree. I think my city is a pretty pleasant spot. It has a great climate and is close to the coast and the mountains. Within two hours you can be snow skiing or soaking up the sun on a beach. Right outside our back door we have 1000 miles of delta waterways that provide ample space for fishing, boating, water skiing, and bird watching. We are close to the capital and the fascinating city of San Francisco. The international airport is conveniently located for traveling to foreign destinations. We grow all kinds of wonderful produce here, so good eating is cheap and healthy. Delicacies like asparagus, strawberries, avocados, artichokes, pears, and almonds are all readily available. Up until a few years ago, when the Bay Area commuters decided that Stockton was close enough to their jobs, housing was affordable. And it's getting there again. And we still have a lot of beautiful old neighborhoods, full of charming older houses with mature landscaping and lovely old trees.

And Stockton has been good to me. I was born here and educated here and I started my business here. We bought houses with our hearts (rather than an eye to investment return) and never had any trouble selling them. We now own two rental houses and are helping to provide decent housing for others. I've invested a lot in this town and it's probably no worse than any other, and I want the media to stop bashing it! Thank you, I feel better now.

Now on to more cottage love and some of the reasons why my town is NOT the most miserable city in America.

We have this university with its lovely brick buildings and unique belltower.

Also on campus is Morris Chapel, host to many, many beautiful weddings.

This is the conservatory of music.

I wandered around the neighborhood just east of the university this morning taking these pictures. This neighborhood is full of charming homes from the 20s and 30s. Enjoy.

Cottage Love

Here are some cottages around town that I have always loved. This first one is more French than English, but I love the service porch details
and these dormer windows.

This one is more Colonial and perfect in its restrained use of details.

Here is a little English style cottage. This style was quite popular across America in the 1920s and 1930s, and especially in this neighborhood.

Just look at its charming little porch with the timbers, diamond pane windows, and iron railing and hardware.

I've been inside this house and it's beautiful. The daughter that I knew in school had the bedroom over the living room (on the left there) and since the living room ceiling was taller than the rest of the house, there were two steps up to her room from the upstairs hallway. What a delightful detail!

The front door. I remember her mother actually polishing the brass threshold. And below you see another charming detail: wavy boards and tall vents on the gable ends.

I particularly like the little hood over the front door on this one.

I've always loved this house. It's quite small, but so charming. They have let ivy grow over some of the details, but you can still see the diamond pane windows.

This version uses wiggly half timbering and stone cladding.

This house is just about the cutest with half timbering, casement windows, diamond panes in the bay window, overhanging story above the front door, wrought iron hardware...

and this delightful little porch off the living room. Wouldn't it be wonderful to sit out there on a warm evening sipping your Pimms?

This brick cottage across from the park has beautiful detail on its front window.

And this wonderful old house is in need of a more caring owner. Some of its beautiful details have actually been replaced with (horror) modern versions. Let's hope he never finds a way to remove this.

I hope you enjoyed this and I'll try do get more photos soon.