Missing My Monthly Magazine Fix.... Are you?

I am a recovering magazine addict....a forced withdrawal, mind you, made possible by the cancellation of so many of my favorite decorating magazines. I think I was up to approximately 7 monthly subscriptions a few short months ago. Little did I know I was such a rare species who enjoyed the good old fashioned feeling of holding a magazine in my hand and happily flipping the pages to lust after all the beautiful rooms there were to look at, be inspired by! Many times, after the kids were in bed and the last load of laundry was folded, I would open the pages again and study the pages, noting favorites, reading the accompanying article and making mental notes of things to try in my own home. Ah, the good old days.

I especially miss my Cottage Living and their style editor extraordinaire Heather Chadduck. Heather has moved over to Coastal Living where her spot-on cottage style is lost, if not wasted. Heather, if you are reading this PLEASE go somewhere we can see the REAL you...your cottage fans miss you! And, if you really need somewhere to express your inner-cottage goddess, you can come to my cottage .....I am just saying....

The magazines I still get are appreciated all the more! Better Homes and Gardens is a steady-Eddy in my book. This month (May 2009) was a great issue. I spent alot of time studying the pictures of the beautiful home of Trenna Lange which was featured in the issue. I would describe Trenna's home as contemporary cottage. I love it for it's mix of vintage wares, contemporary accessories and clean aesthetic. Trenna's home is warm, cozy and personal and done on a real-world budget! Love it.

Below is a picture of her living room. The chandelier is l-o-v-e-l-y....



How about you? What are all of you doing to get your decorating-inspiration-fix?

The Lettered Cottage Giveaway

One of my very favorite blogs is The Lettered Cottage. Layla is a young, vibrant, creative talent. She in the midst of renovating a charming cottage with fabulous style on a budget.

Layla inspired me to begin this blog. I "heart" her even though I have never met her!

Today, Layla is hosting a giveaway in honor of the one year anniversary of her blog. See the beautiful burlap table runner pictured above? You can find it here http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7044601 at Coastline on Etsy or enter her giveaway and be the lucky winner of one of these beauties personalized for YOU.

Please stop by The Lettered Cottage today!

Happy May Day everyone!

As I have mentioned on this blog before, the kitchen of our cottage was created for an episode of an HGTV kitchen renovation show (before we purchased the house). The kitchen is wonderfully unique...but akward in some places and a bit short on storage.

Needing a place (or cabinet, more specifically) to store some of my larger appliances, I removed a glass panel from one of the cabinets and replaced it with a not-so-great linen "mistreatment".


I was NEVER satisfied with outcome but liked it better than looking at this....


This week, I got a bee in my bonnet so to speak and got to work...with this!


And did a little of this.....


And now have this wonderful new addition to my kitchen....


With just about 5 weeks left before school gets out for the summer, I am on a mission to accomplish some house projects. I look forward to sharing those with you here. How about you? Do you feel the same sense of urgency to get some things done before the summer comes?

The Barn.....

Bear with me as I make my way through the pile of catalogs that I have saved during my hectic-auction-planning whirl wind.

Today I had some time to browse the latest Pottery Barn catalog. Truth be told, I have tried to steer clear of "The Barn" in my decorating lately. I never want my cottage to have the fresh out of the pages, perfectly staged look of the Pottery Barn catalog.

However, I am often guilty of partaking in the instant gratification the Barn provides.

Below I am sharing some of my favs with you. Being a sucker for all things botanical, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the first item.










Where do you go to for "instant gratification" in your decorating? Has it changed over time?