cottage – Page 27 – Karla's Cottage

What an improvement!

By Karla Nathan / December 20, 2013

Not too long ago, the handle of the kitchen sink faucet broke off in my hand. The sink wasn't even that old, maybe 8-9 years or so.Luckily, I have a very handy son, who was able to replace it for me.

A small redo can be just as messy as a big one, I had to clear the counter and remove everything under the sink, and all those bottles, jars, canisters and other things were piled up on the dining table. So, while he was at it, I had him go ahead and replace the sink too.

AND the bathroom sink, AND ucky looking faucet in there too!

My boy was here working, his tools were out, and the kitchen was pretty much wrecked for the day anyway. It was a good time to go for it and replace it all at once.

With the well water we have, there is no amount of scrubbing that will keep the build up away. So, things age fast around here.

(funny, out in the studio, I spend a lot of time patina-ing and distressing stuff to make it look older, but I'm not as fond of my appliances and such getting old and distressed)

I went for a deeper sink, and it is wonderful. I also upgraded the spigot. So, the costs were blossoming….

But so worth it! Adam did a great job, and while we spent a bit on materials, he did all the work on the "love donation" fee schedule, so that balanced the costs.

I think I'm going to like the dark, rich color of the new faucet too. It looks good with the dark floors in the kitchen.

Seems like I spend a lot of time at that sink, washing, chopping, cleaning. And it's soooo nice to have it all new and improved. Thanks, son!!

Holiday Home decor temptations

cottage, family, holiday decor

By Karla Nathan / December 8, 2013

This season, I was a tad bit worried about the Christmas decorations staying where I put them.

Between the dogs and the Grand Fairies, I doubted that any of it stood a chance of surviving till Christmas, since it went up so early.

But the little girls have been ideal. Dewdrop is enamoured of it all, yet doesn't mess with it.

Much…

I think the trick to keeping little fingers off the vintage and hand made pieces that I want to use, but not have destroyed, was to give them their very own tree.

Sugarwings and I started this tradition when she was tiny. I gave her a pink tree and a basket full of decorations to put on, take off, play with, do as she pleased.

Now, Dewdrop is enjoying the tree along with her. And is pretty good about not getting into the other decor.

I also think it helps that I make a big deal out of the way the house is decorated and pick them up to show them individual things and talk about them. The Grand Fairies feel included, and enjoy the pretties around the cottage, I want them to feel like our home is fixed up for all of us, not that it is just a big pile of Grammie NO NOs.

Kind of like what we do in the studio. The girls have their own tables, and cabinets full of art supplies that belong to them. They have learned to, well kind of, keep curious fingers out of my supplies. I like to show them what I am working on and tell them about it, but I am also trying to teach them to respect my things and to use their own.

Of course, Dewdrop is barely 3, and Sugarwings has an ongoing story happening in her head that requires lots of interesting props to act out… so, it's a challenge and a gamble to set out precious things within their reach.

But worth it. If something breaks here and there (which it has), it's only stuff. I hope that I am showing them how good it is for the soul to have the peace and calm that pretty surroundings can bring to you.

And it means a lot to me to have our home all Christmassed up.

I think they like it too.

Now, if I can only convince the Twin Terrier Terrors that none of it is meant for them. Those dogs are infatuated with it all.

Wish us luck!

Reunited

cottage, family

By Karla Nathan / November 24, 2013

Years ago, my Sissy used to make teddy bears. Really, really cute ones. She made all sorts of them and had an agent who sold them for her. But she gave some to family too, and when my boys were just little guys, she made them each one. (I've added the foof, the bears were just plain for the boys, of course)

Now that my sons are adults, and one is a father, the bears have been passed along to the grand fairies. But one has been missing for months. I've looked high and low for it, but it was no where to be found. Who knew what those girls could have done with it? Both kids are busy bees around here, hauling crap from their toy stash to various parts of the house or yard, or even out to the woods.

That bear could have been anywhere, including their mom's house or car.

Then, I decided to give my closet a fall cleaning and reorganize it. (this is my new coat from Victorian Trading!)

When our boys grew up and moved out, we did the smartest remodel project ever. We used an empty bedroom to expand our closet and bathroom, then moved the laundry room right into our closet. Perfect for a couple of empty nesters. We could take clothes right out of the dryer, and turn around and put them on a shelf or hanger. We no longer needed laundry baskets or even a chest of drawers. All of our things stayed right in the same room. It was great!

Till we started having people move in with us. Over the years, we have hosted many, many, many long term guests. Some for weeks, some months, some for years.

An empty nester laundry room isn't quite the same when your nest is over flowing, not empty.

But, back to the long, lost, little pink bear. (yes, my son has always had a fondness for pink, I'm glad he ended up with two, tiny, pink loving daughters)

The fuzzy pink bear turned up during the laundry room reorg!

Way, way, back in the corner, squished under a cabinet, she was hiding out! I squealed when I found her.

(please do not ask how often I clean behind or under things. You don't want to hear that, just know that I was quite brave to reach my arm under the cabinet to explore what was lurking under it)

To celebrate the bear's reunion, I cleaned them both up and brought them out to the studio to hang out for a while, before they are once again cuddled up by the two grand fairies and drug into games of hide and seek and who knows what else.

A Gnats and Brats Wicked Weekend

Chandeliers, cottage, family

By Karla Nathan / October 27, 2013

While my sisses were visiting, we had a couple of big days out. We saw Gravity in the 3D Imax (wow), shopped, shopped, and shopped a bit more…

…had a last minute idea to go see Wicked, and were able to get three of the last seats available for opening night. (not the best seats, but we enjoyed the play. Bobbie was the only one who hadn't seen it before, too bad we were so high up, she still hasn't really seen it)…

Sissy brought us all matching bittersweet orange scarves to wear and we were proud to look like triplets all weekend.

…and we ate way, way too much good food. I think the best meal was at the Nicklaus Golf Club. My husband was working there that day and we met him for lunch. Their food is always yummerific.

For the rest of the time Bobbie Sue and Sissy were here, I had the little grand fairies to care for, so our adventures had to include the girls.

Beth came by and joined us for a craft day.

Which was nice, because I hardly ever get to spend time with her any more.

And we had a Renfest day with both girls and our Hippy Chick.

But a lot of the time, was just hanging out around the kitchen table. Drinking coffee, talking, and swatting gnats. I had a trap made for the gnats, by filling a glass with an orange segment, covered in vinegar, with Saran Wrap over it. Then, I used a toothpick to punch holes in the wrap, so that gnats could get into the cup. They are attracted to the scents, and get in through the holes, but can't smell their way back out again. It works pretty well, but we had way too many flying beasts for this to catch them all.

With little girls running around under foot and bugs buzzing our heads, I started calling this our Gnats and Brats Weekend.

I finally told my sisters that I wasn't going to treat them like company any more and I hung up a fly strip from the chandelier. (classy)

And the fly strip wasn't getting all the pests either. I put the vinegar trap under the fly strip, so the smell would draw them in, and then the ones that didn't go into the cup would get caught on the strip. To get them closer to the strip, I had to stack a kid's chair on the island with a salad spinner on top of it.

I'd thought about using a crystal bowl upside down instead of a salad spinner, thinking that would look nicer, then I realized that nothing would make this look nicer.

This was a nasty, bug encrusted fly trap in the middle of my kitchen.

It reminded me of the time I was reminiscing with two very dear, old friends. We were talking about how far we'd come in our lives from our Trailer Trash roots. (my sister hates it when I say I'm trailer trash, because she thinks Mom and Dad would spin in their graves to hear it, both worked hard to provide a good home for us. But the truth is, long after Sissy grew up and moved out, I lived in a trailer with Mom, and after that, I kind of lived in a succession of one trailer after another for a few years)

But back to my friends….

We had grown up together, and supported each other through our parents' divorces, and had all had some rough times that we faced together.

So, we were congratulating ourselves on leaving the land of trailer parks behind, and being proud of each other for living in homes without wheels now. (I've lived in a total of 5 mobile homes myself, and was lucky to have a roof over my head and wheels under my feet at the time)

And then, Sandy said, "Wait, Debbie lived in a really nice double wide, does that still count?" (Sandy and I had some crappy trailers to our name)

And we all burst out laughing, remembering how much nicer Debbie's trailer was than ours, but still knowing that yes, a trailer is a trailer.

As I was planning my gnat entrapment, and trying to dress it up, I figured you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear. A fly trap is every bit as ucky hanging from a chandy as it is from a bare bulb. A double wide is a trailer, even if it is a nice trailer.

And you can take the girl out of the trailer, but you can't take the trailer out of the girl. I'm glad I had years of poverty in my past, years that taught me to appreciate what I have, years that taught me to scrounge, save, and be creative, look for deals, do it myself. Years that make me a practical person who knows that gnats are better stuck to goo than dive bombing your company.

Painted Fairies

cottage, Dew Drop, family

By Karla Nathan / September 19, 2013

Silly me. I keep paint out in the garden for the fairies to help themselves to anytime they like. It's washable paint, but sometimes the messes are still unwelcome.

But cute. Unless it's time to go somewhere or get dinner on the table.

We spend so much time outdoors that they are either covered in mud, water or some sort of mess, so why not paint?

Magazine Clean

cottage, family, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / September 1, 2013

Before Fifi came to take photos for Romantic Country, I had to clean and spiff up. Like I mentioned before, I knew not to try to pre-style the place, but it still had to be clean, arranged, and ready.

Not all the rooms were shot, so I thought I'd show you the photos I took of my sparkly, clean house instead of wasting all that work!!

I guess it wasn't exactly wasted, I enjoyed the peace and quiet of banning my family and having a clean cottage for about 24 hours.

And yes, I really did BAN them. I packed a picnic breakfast and fresh clothes for the little girls and sent them with their dad to sleep in the office!

The house was oddly quiet, and spookily spotless.

I even banned the dorkies. Those poor pupeesh couldn't believe they were being kept out.

My husband was out of town on business, which worked out well. He wouldn't have put up with any banning. And while he is adorable, he might be the messiest of them all.

The girls weren't all that happy with it either, and everyone gladly came in to clutter up and make it all more homey and real as soon as Fifi and Mark pulled out of the driveway.

I admire people who can keep their homes up to this standard of tidiness, but I don't know how they manage it.

Of course, having tiny fairy girls tromping about doesn't always lead to chaos, it just seems that way sometimes.

But the kind of chaos they create is so much more fun than cleaning house!

I do try to keep things picked up, and the little sprites know to leave my "pretties" to an eyes only, no fingers exploration.

Most of the time.

They know they can pull out all their dress up clothes for a fashion show, or empty all the crayons and markers onto their table, or bring in their latest pretty rocks or bugs found outside, and Grammy will enjoy seeing the newest creation or them all dressed up.

Sometimes, I have to draw the line about bugs, though.

Sugarwings and Dewdrop leave to go to their mommies and I if I'm not too worn to a frazzle from all the goings ons, I'll shovel out the mess when they are away.

But even then, my house rarely looks this good! I'm glad I have some photos to prove it can happen.

See, not a juice bottle, dirty sock, or naked Barbie anywhere.

Which reminds me, why do all the dolls have to be stripped? Even poor Ariel gets her tail snapped off if it is removable. There isn't a doll that we own that is wearing anything. Although, sometimes Dewdrop will take off her own panties and put them on a doll.

Which is a bit weird.

While it's nice to have a day of tidy living, I miss the clutter that comes from family. Sometimes when the girls leave, I purposely walk around a pink shoe in the middle of the floor instead of picking it up. Because it reminds me that soon, a little girl will be back to fill that shoe.

When they first leave, my husband and I will take a deep sigh of relief for the quiet. Then, an hour or so goes by and one of us mentions some funny thing one of them had said or done. In another hour, we start to wonder how long it will be till we get to see them and laugh with them again.

Someday, too soon, they will be busy with friends, college, jobs, and finding a true love. My house will be clean and I'll miss those naked Barbies and forgotten socks.

Who am I kidding? My house will never be perfectly clean!! I'll still have dogs bringing in sticks, tracking in mud, and leaving toys all around. And remember that adorable, but messy husband I mentioned? I can't imagine our dining room table will magically lose it's collection of crossword puzzles saved from the newspaper, or the half empty coffee cup on it!

Magazine clean just isn't real. It's a fun fantasy for a day, but that is about as long as I could live in it.

PS-Leave a comment on this post, if you would like to enter my two giveaways. I'm away at the moment, but will draw names after Labor Day weekend

A couple of customized furniture painting tricks

cottage, Dew Drop, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Hand Painted Furniture

By Karla Nathan / August 25, 2013

Sugarwings' mom has recently graduated from nursing school, is working at a Big Girl Job as an RN, and moved into a Big Girl house. As a birthday gift, I thought she might enjoy a custom piece of furniture, something nice and solid, kind of a start on Big Girl furnishings.

I bought it a few years back as a tan colored cabinet from Nebraska Furniture Co. I rarely buy new pieces, but I think I've mentioned before that for TVs, it's hard to find the right cabinet to fit them and their components if you don't buy something made for a television.

I repainted it white with roses when I got it.

When we got a different TV, I had to find something else and was able to customize an old book shelf to fit our flat screen.

The original telly wasn't bad, we only replaced it so we could get something bigger to see from the kitchen. So, we offered it to our Hippy Chick for her new place. Trouble is, the roses on the cabinet we had it in didn't suit her at all.

So, I thought I'd surprise her with a new look on it for her birthday. These knobs from Hobby Lobby were the inspiration for the redo.

Dewdrop helped chose them, she is a big fan of going to Wobby Blobby, as she was calling it. There was a slight argument when she thought we should get the pink knobs, and she doesn't like losing arguments at all.

But in the end, I convinced her that Auntie Cake, (aka Hippy Chick) would like rainbows.

Since I was the person who painted the cabinet before, I knew that I'd primed the factory finish and used latex paint on it, and another few coats of more latex paint would adhere just fine. So, no bonding primer. Although I did use Behr's paint and primer in one simply because red is such a horrid color to work with. It doesn't cover well and takes a lot of coats. By using the primer/paint mix, I cut down on a few applications. It still needed three coats plus touch ups.

The main body was painted cherry red, satin. Then I painted each square and frame around it a different bright color.

At that point, it was beginning to look like Rainbow Brite vomited all over a preschool.

Very primary colored and very bright.

So, I washed each square and frame with a different shade.

The wash coat of color was brushed on heavy in the corners of the squares, and was wiped into the center with a damp rag. It was dry brushed onto the frames.

(light blue over green, red over orange, orange over yellow, purple over dark blue, etc, a nice mix up)

The base of the cabinet took almost a quart of interior paint. For the accents, I used 2 oz bottles of acrylic craft paint.

The finish on the craft paint is flat and the red paint is satin. I could have covered the accents with a satin clear coat, but I liked the contrast in textures.

The interior was left as is, except for the interior of the doors. When the TV is on, those will show.

I think the faux finished gave the cabinet the appropriate, custom look I was going for, instead of just blocks of bright colors.

You can tell by the floor that I have done a tad of painting out here… I used to paint furniture practically daily.

Often, like with this table that was sitting in the garage, I'd use a poly top coat mixed with walnut stain. I think it leaves an attractive finish.

But for the rainbow cabinet, I left it as it was, no walnut aging affect. Hippy Chick likes her colors vivid.

Here is the shelf of the black table. It's a bit dirty from the garage, but I think you can still see the walnut top coat. To do this, I used Minwax stain/poly that comes premixed. I'd pour about 1 cup into a bowl, add 1/4 of paint thinnner, and slip on some gloves. Then brush the mixture on the piece, and wipe off with an old, soft, dry tee shirt scrap.

Work on one section at a time, and wipe off gently. It looks really pretty over solid black, too. This trick riches up the color and gives it a custom feel. Just like adding the faux finish to the rainbow colors turned a preschool looking palette into colors that would suit a Big Girl piece of furniture.

I really can’t sew very well

antiques/junking, cottage, Hand Painted Furniture, sewing?

By Karla Nathan / August 23, 2013

Anything I sew is wonky. Maybe, just maybe, I should break down and measure?

A long, long time ago, I found this throne at a garage sale, and finally got around to painting it about 18 months ago, thinking I'd recover it then too.

It did not get recovered til recently, because Sugarwings uses it and she, well, shall we say, is a pig? is not the tidiest kid at the dinner table? I left the fabric dark so her sliminess wouldn't show as much. But lately, she has been growing up and being less of a mess.

Still, I worried that a light fabric on the seat was just asking for trouble. So, I decided a washable slip cover would be the best way to go, but man- those arms were hard to fit the cover around!!

I ended up cutting them out way too big. So, I fixed the gap with a ruffle made of the fabric on the back of the chair. I'd cut the fabric off my old dining room chairs that were broken, and saved it. There wasn't enough to cover the seat too, so I did a mixy matchy thing, and I think this ruffle was just what I needed to make the mix match up nicely.

The whole dining room is now mixy matchy. After searching here, there and everywhere, I finally found some new chairs to replace the ones that had broken. (by the way, I have a magic driveway, anything at all that I sit at the end of the drive gets picked up by someone. It's fun to wonder who got it and what they did with it, and nice to know that it isn't in the land fill!)

There were 4 chairs at TJMax for $99 each (plus 10% off for opening a card and a cash back bonus for spending that much)

I'd hoped to find old chairs to fix up, but these were a decent price, solidly made, and didn't need a thing done to them besides Scotchgaurding). Forget about the throne seat, I feel like a princess sitting in BRAND NEW CHAIRS! What a treat!!!

Recovering a lamp shade and some other touch ups

cottage, flowers, how-to projects, magazine pictures or articles, paintings, sewing?

By Karla Nathan / August 18, 2013

Before Fifi asked me to do a photo shoot for Romantic Country magazine, I was already on a home fix up binge. I've been making pillows, slip covers, touching up paint, rearranging and foofing. Good timing for her call!

This bench was brought in from the garden a couple years ago, so we'd have a spot to sit and put on shoes by the front door, and the baskets under it are perfect for toys and kid's shoes. But I'd never made cushions for it, I've been wrapping fabric around a cushion that didn't match and making do with that.

About ten years ago, I'd found some old, floral curtains in a dumpster (I nicknamed it the "Dumpster of Gold", there was so much beautiful bounty in it!!!). They were just the right fabric for making pillows for this bench. The top pillow is stuffed with poly fluff, but the bottom one is just a pillow case over that same cushion that I'd been wrapping around fabric before. That way, I can slip it off and wash it after muddy dogs spend time on this bench. Which they love to do. It's Twinkle's perch so she can keep an eye on the front door and protect us.

The pink rag rug was one that used to be white, but the white wasn't coming back after years of use. (I don't throw much away) It was still in decent shape, so, I dyed it, along with some stained tees and other odds and ends. Because when I have a dye pot going, I always feel the need to scrounge around the house looking for other things to dip in it.

I used the liquid Rit Dye in fuchsia, but only a 1/2 bottle along with a 1/4 bottle of tan to tone it down. I think I could have done 1/4 of pink and 1/8 of tan and been happier with the result.

It seems like I've been on the go nonstop for the last couple of years and hadn't really had a chance to nest. Since I declared this the Summer of Whammy and took time off to simply be a grammy and enjoy my family and home, I found lots of little projects that needed tending to. Like this lamp shade that I revamped.

If you have ever covered a lamp shade, you know that with the curved shape, it's hard to smooth fabric down onto. To avoid measuring, I decided to patch work it. I took scraps of rose pattern cotton, and brushed the lamp shade with school glue, and brushed some onto the scraps too, then laid them onto the shade.

After piecing in a background of roses, I covered the seams with lace applique bits (picked up on the Enchanted Affaire bus tour in downtown LA for 25 cents each). And made a bottom trim border from some old tatting over a row of dangly beads.

Around the top, I used some trim from a vintage skirt. All the lace and trim was attached with Ultimate glue, but I'll bet fabric glue would work the same. School glue wasn't strong enough for this part.

Tah Dah! Just perfect for the Rosey Room, to go on the $4 Goodwill lamp that Aunt Sandy left behind for me when she left here.

The throw on the bed got a make over too. It was one that I thought was just lovely, but it sure fell apart fast. The top is sheer with cut velvet roses, and velvet trim. But the backing on it shredded and fell off. I saved the top because it was such perfect fabric and I always thought I'd use it someday for something.

Who knew, that I'd return it to being a throw again?

I came across the piece of fabric when I cleaned out the closet for the Studio Tour and decided I was ready to reuse it. What great timing, since soon after, Fifi made arrangements to photograph the house. And this was just what the Rosey Room needed.

All I did was buy some stretchy, crushed velvet on sale at Hancocks for $4.40 a yard, and sew it on the back. I am hoping that the stretchiness will help it last longer than the previous lining. And the crushed velvet is soft and comfy to wear over my lap as I watch TV. So, this throw will go to the living room now that the photos are done. The guest room doesn't get used often enough to keep it up there. It's so pretty and soft, I want it in the living room to snuggle under on a regular basis.

A Romantic Country Photo Shoot with Fifi, or the Adventures of the Pink Flowered Rug

cottage, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), flowers, magazine pictures or articles

By Karla Nathan / August 11, 2013

Last week, Fifi came to my home to do an article for Romantic Country magazine. We had worked together in the past on a few small projects but I'd only met her briefly at our friend, Carol's home. It was a joy to spend the day with her and I was happy to have her come and visit the Cottage. She's cute as a bug and filled with interesting stories. Accompanying her was photographer, Mark Lohman, who was witty as well as talented. He made me giggle quite a few times during the day, with his teasing comments.

He also showed me a photo he had taken of his dogs, that has to be the most beautiful pet portrait I have ever seen. His two Shih Tzus are running toward the camera, with their hair flying in the wind, happy looks on their little turned up nose faces, and a blurred out, elegant garden behind them. That guy is an artist. What a picture.

Fifi and Mark made my home look lovely, I was impressed with their work. And I enjoyed not working on the story myself, just stepping back and letting the pros do it. In the past, with numerous articles, I've been the stylist or was writing the story. This time, I was just the home owner, and that was nice.

I never really considered myself a professional, even though I was involved in dozens of published articles. It was all a bit of a lark, and I like having it on my resume (if I actually had a resume, which I don't), but I never considered it a real job.

Since I have worked on past stories, I did know how to be prepared for the chaos of styling and how to be ready when Fifi and Mark arrived.

If you are going to have your home photographed, here are a few suggestions:

1- Don't try to pre-style it, you don't know what the camera angles will be.

2- Don't have your heart set on a certain look. Things WILL be moved, rearranged, shuffled, changed, and might even be a totally different take on the room than you'd ever thought of.

3- Have fresh fruit and flowers ready to go, but don't put too much time into flower arrangements, chances are they will be redone more than once throughout the day. Have extra vessels handy for switching blossoms around to reuse in different rooms. You don't need a ton of flowers, because they can be recycled from room to room. (and save your receipt, the flowers are usually reimbursed)

4- If you own extra pillows, throws, rugs, china, etc, have them handy. The stylist will have ideas on making the house fit the magazine, and a color theme she has planned, and it helps if she has access to your extras to bring her ideas to life.

5- Have a place to stash the coffee maker, toothbruses, and other mundane, daily used, objects. But don't put it away too soon, you might want to offer a pot of coffee while everyone is working.

6- Clean up as you go, because the messes just get worse from photo to photo, as things get pulled out of cabinets to be used, or items get stored to one side of the room to be out of a shot. If you save all of the pick up for the end of the day, it will be too much to handle!! But do be careful not to put away things that might be used again. Like the pink flowered rug I brought down from the girl's room, it ended up in almost every shot, all around the house.

7- Don't be insulted or hurt if your home doesn't look like your version of your home in the pictures!! Its all your stuff, just rearranged. You might even pick up some good design tips from the experts and leave your new look in place.

Here is my bedroom after some of Fifi's redos.

Here is how it looked when they arrived.

bedroom BEFORE

My home was a little too neutral for what Fifi wanted, but it was easily fixed with throw pillows from the sofa, and the studio along with a pink rug and quilt from the girl's room.

bedroom AFTER

I love this look, but couldn't leave it this way, or my sofa would not have any cushions…. And in "real life" if the chair was in the middle of the room, you couldn't walk through to the bathroom. Or see the TV, which is high on my list of importance.

AFTER

My two footstools got a work out, as well as the chippy chairs that the kids use, all were used in other areas too. And see the pink rug again? Like I said, it made it into almost all the shots. The floral can filled with lilies was the bedroom trash can.

The surprise lilies are growing in abundance right now, and we could gather an armload for her to use in this shot. They were plopped right on top of the remnants of trash in the bottom of the can. Glamorous, huh?

Kitchen BEFORE

living room AFTER

There is that pink rug again!

In "real life", if you had that many pillows on a sofa, there would be no room for your backside. But it looks nice for the magazine, doesn't it? I could be tempted to leave it this way, but I think I'd get too many complaints from the family.

I didn't hear the dogs complaining about too many pillows, though. They'd be happy if I left all of those on the couch.

living room BEFORE

This isn't quite my "real life" look. Because the pupeesh think that rugs are pee pads, I don't usually have one on the living room floor. I swiped this one from the upstairs. And that half wall is actually a dog pen. I keep a gate across it, and the dorkies have access to the fenced in yard through a pet door in the corner. For the occaision, I took down the gate and put away all the dog bedding.

The pupeesh were also banished for the day, but forgave me when they got plenty of snuggles when Fifi and Mark finished.

I'm afraid I didn't get photos of the styling upstairs. Sugarwings will be sooooo thrilled to see her room in a magazine. She was counting on them taking pictures of it, even though I told her that it wasn't a done deal, we'd have to see what Fifi chose to feature. Plus, I'm not sure she even knows what a magazine is, but she was excited about it anyway.

A photo shoot ain't for sissies, that's for durn tootin. After a day of housework to prep, and a day of pictures, plus the clean up that goes along with it, I was beat.

But no matter how exhausting it can be, it sure is fun to see the spread when it's published. Plus, Fifi and Mark make the experience delightful, they are such nice people to spend a day with.