it's official, i am a basketcase....plus, my first blog award

The baskets I purchased at the Farm Chicks from my friend Cindy's booth, Tarte have finally been wired and hung above my kitchen island!I love the result.This was a very easy project. I purchased all the wires and components at a electrical supply store. Instead of paying them $30 per fixture to wire them, the nice man at the electrical supply store gave me a quick tutorial. My husband drilled...

........grey area.............

A few (ok, maybe a couple) months ago I posted some laundry room inspiration pictures. I have a spacious laundry room in my cottage that looks moderately 'ok' (I'm being generous). It has all the makings of one kick-butt laundry room - a half bath right off it, a generous sink, cabinets, a closet and most of all space. When we moved here well over a year ago, I had the entire interior of our cottage...

Summer Transportation..........

This is our second summer in Minnesota....Summer is the best time to be in Minnesota (despite the mosquitos)....This summer we decided to stay close to home and really get to know our community.We are lucky that we live in a very "bike-able" area. Last week I told my girls that we were only going places that we could get to on our bicyles. We had fun and were creative in how we entertained ourselves.The...

Hooked on House & Home Magazine!

My frustrations with the lack of good decorating magazines has been well documented on this blog....don't even get me started....I was so pleasantly surprised after I took a leap of faith yesterday and purchased a Canadian decorating magazine called House & Home. (BTW - I do not know how to get all my photos the same size in this post - bear with me!)I thoroughly enjoyed looking at a magazine...

Needed.....A Flea Fix!

Feeling sorry for myself that I was not in the Pacific Northwest over the weekend to go to the fabulous Barn House Flea Market,or in St. Charles, Illinois to go to the wonderful sale at Lola B's Boutique. I set out last Friday to see what my favorite Minnesota occasional sales had in store this month...There were lovely things - some of them pictured above. But boy was satisfaction hard to come...

LOVE

New from Restoration Hardware.........I think I am in love.........

One talented chick...(and an admirer)......

I am really not fond of putting my picture on this blog - wouldn't you rather look at photos of pretty interiors instead???However, my talented new friend Kasey(pictured with me above at the Farm Chicks Antiques Show) from Lola B's is having a generous giveaway! So head over there and get yourself entered!Kasey is also having a fantastic occasional sale tomorrow at her home in St. Charles, Illinois....

Basket Case............

I have long wanted to create pendant lights out of vintage baskets for over my kitchen island. In my head, I pictured come cool old french baskets with linen cord covers above to the ceiling. Are you following??? At the Farm Chicks Antiques Show I found 2 matching baskets that I knew would work beautifully. I came home motivated to convert my baskets into wonderful pendant lights. Then....I clued...

Guilty Pleasure

Anyone know this beautiful, fresh faced single girl???I admit it - reality tv is one of guilty pleasures. One of my favorites has always been the Bachelor/Bachelorette.Jillian Harris is the current Bachelorette working to find her prince charming on Monday nights in front of millions of viewers. I liked Jillian from the start (and was my favorite gal from the Jason season of the Bachelor). Beyond...

~~~~~Admiration~~~~~

Bear with me as I stray a bit from my usual content (decorating, home-making etc..).This kick-ass looking runner is my sister-in-law. She runs 100 mile Ultra-Marathons - and WINS! This weekend she is defending one of her wins last year in Colorado. The race begins at 6 am on Friday. She expects to finish sometime Saturday morning. I am not kidding....she runs continuously for over 24 hours -...

When life gives you lemons......

This fabulous lemonade stand was gifted to our children by a neighbor ....This neighbor has teenage children who don't do lemonade stands anymore....We share the lemonade stand with our next door neighbors (who bravely have four children).Hours of summer fun - no technology needed.Have a lovely d...

Cottagewood Celebrates the 4th of July!!!

First, I must recognize a milestone here at Forever*Cottage - I have 50 Followers!!! Let me just say, I appreciate each and every one of you. I read so many blogs - and aspire to make this blog MORE - so thanks for your support and inspiring me to be creative in my home and in my life.As I have mentioned before. I live in a neighborhood called Cottagewood. We moved here almost a year and half...