Karla's Cottage – Page 112

Little Decor Details- adding age to a new room

antiques/junking, cottage, Hearth Room, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / September 12, 2016

Beth gave a brass door knocker to me for my birthday last May, and I had not used it yet. When I was finishing up little things for the new room, and painting outlet covers and switch plates to match the walls, I decided to paint this too. It is now on the bathroom door, and gives the little grand fairies a lot of pleasure in BANGING it when the room is occupied by one of the sisters.

On it, and on the vintage brass outlet covers, I used a spray bonding primer in white, let it dry, and then washed the pieces with the "sandcliff beige" color I'd used on accent walls. Afterwards, all got a spritz of clear polyurethane.

Nowhere I looked had a vintage 3 toggle switch plate. So, I glued a little bit of old, metal trim onto a wooden plate, and painted it in the same way. Not many of my electrical covers match, I have a few different styles, so it seems to fit in just fine. I think it looks much better than the white plastic one that came from the electrician. That was way, way too shiny and new in our old house. I did what I could to make the new addition look like it belonged with original the house.

Like using vintage curtain fabric on the windows.

And re-using this old, iron shelf that had previously been in the kitchen. I debated hanging it up again (it is made from a chippy, iron porch rail and two rusty brackets, the rail is probably from the 40s and the brackets are new, but look old- plus they are birdies!!). It had been over the dining room window for ten years or so, and I thought maybe I was over it. But I realized that I'd enjoyed it for that long and still did, I was glad to add it back into the new room.

When I was a full time, antique dealer, my home felt like it had a revolving door on it. Things were constantly changing and I was always finding something better than what I had before. Stuff had stopped moving around as much as it used to, mostly it gets shuffled, not replaced anymore.

I figured I might be getting boring. And I shouldn't just reuse the same stuff over and over.

Then, it dawned on me that I'd found pieces that I really liked keeping and there was nothing wrong with having some forever pieces. Why get rid of them for the sake of change? I think I'd settled on these items because I loved them. And they all mix and match with other things I love in my cottage.

Also, as I unpack belongings, I am being picky about setting things out. Just because I own it, doesn't mean it needs to be out, right? I can have goodies stored away to play switcheroo with when I feel like a change. There still is a revolving door with stuff moving in and out, but now it is into a storage cabinet, not gone forever.

Costume head dresses for the Circus girls

Dew Drop, family, Sacred Circus

By Karla Nathan / September 10, 2016

One great thing about having a big studio is hosting craft days. I love seeing friends pour in with piles of supplies and watching the creations start developing.

My family was performing at a festival outside of St. Louis (where they got to be on stage with some of their favorite musicians, doing their act to the tunes) and they needed a little something to top off the costumes they'd chosen for the event's themes. Each day was a different color and theme, with outer space, ocean, and – Circus Sunday!

Kia made this one.

They are based on pieces of felt, adorned with fancy stuff, and then have a clip added to the back.

Here is one I made for Avahni. She wanted it slightly steam punkish.

Our friend, Amanda made this for Katie Tree.

Hers were the mermaid themed ones.

Kia also spent some time painting and glittering a Donation tin to set up for tips during their shows.

I adore my studio, and love it even more when it is filled with creative souls.

Here is one that I made for Sugarwings.

These aren't typically the type of things that I make, but it was sure fun to dabble with feathers and glitter for an afternoon. And to be inspired by some artists who specialize in this kind of glitzi-ness.

The Hearthroom is now the Circus Room.

family, Hearth Room, Sacred Circus

By Karla Nathan / September 10, 2016

We are enjoying the new room!

15' high ceilings made the space perfect for hanging silks so the grand fairies could practice (and give us shows).

There is still some work to be done on the space yet. These silks need a pulley in the corner of the room, so Honey doesn't keep confusing the dangling tails with a tug of war toy. And I need to do the mosaics on the floor. I have a few little knicky knacky things to distribute around the house and frames to hang, but with the cozy new chairs in front of the fireplace to curl up in with a good book, and flying fairies to entertain us, we already love the area, finished or not.

Faking a closet

cottage, Hand Painted Furniture, Hearth Room

By Karla Nathan / September 7, 2016

One thing I really wanted when we planned the new room was a coat closet for odds and ends, jackets, and a vacuum cleaner. But, we decided on generously sized windows that left no wall space for a closet. As a substitute, I added a wardrobe to use as a closet in the kitchen since we had removed an old wood stove durning the remodel and with some shuffling, had extra wall space there.

This one was $119 at the Old West Bottoms last month, and the wood was a little beat up, but it was a solid piece.

And was made in London.

The wood was too dark for me, so I painted it. I almost went with white, then thought I had too many white pieces and decided I'd try tan with white over it.

I painted it the base color after priming with a bonding primer (no sanding, no stripping) Then mixed some white paint with clear glaze and brushed it on in small amounts at a time.

I wiped off the white glaze with a washing motion using a damp rag.

I really liked the way the white glaze accented the ornamentation.

Pretty, huh?

I lightly distressed it with sandpaper too. No top coat was needed, I'd painted it with semi gloss latex paint, that is pretty durable.

The interior was in good shape, except where a huge hole had been cut to make space for the previous owners to use it as a TV cabinet. Plus, it was dark inside. I didn't want to paint the whole thing, so I covered the back in vintage wallpaper to match the paint and then covered the hole with a mirror.

The wallpaper is lazily tacked up, not glued down, and I didn't even bother to match the pattern. I just wanted to lighten it up. Don't you hate looking for something in a dark closet? This brightened it up nicely. And the piece is perfect for hiding boxes of Shopkins, Playdough, and princess dolls.

I hope I can squeeze in a few jackets and a vacuum cleaner like I'd planned on. Seems like toys take over pretty fast.

Rebuilding an old mantel

cottage, Hearth Room, Kitchen remodel

By Karla Nathan / September 4, 2016

In this photo, the room is close to being done. I still need a large, ornate, white frame for the smaller painting. Once it is on, I'll be leaning it against the mirror as it is now. Unframed, the scale is a bit off, it needs to be larger.

I have a mosaic planned for the floor, pics as it gets planned and completed.

The old mantel that a dear family friend gave to me 20 years ago and had been saved thinking…someday. Sadly, it didn't fit the space after all. But we saved it! The builder cut it in half, added a center block to widen it, then built up two blocks to heighten it.

But, in doing that, we lost the old trim on the piece. And the shelf board thing on the top had to be removed.

But I found a rough, piece of oak still with the bark on it that was long enough to use, and I stained it dark like the floor.

As the contractor was putting the boxes that would support the mantel together, I thought it would be sweet to turn one into a time capsule. I wrote on the interior with a Sharpie and grabbed a crystal heart button that fell off of Sugarwings' cape. The cape was one of the four Aunt Terry made for the girls for Christmas, and it represented a meaningful family moment for me. (I can pick up another button to sew back on the cape later.)

All of the wood was painted pure white, semi gloss after the pieces were assembled and I'd replaced the ornamentation on the mantel with some reproduction pieces.

After that, I painted a dark walnut glaze over the paint and wiped it off with a soft cloth to take some of the "new" away.

Ta da!

Next up, that mosaic floor and searching for a large frame for that leaning painting.

Some cuteness

Dew Drop, family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / September 1, 2016

How can summer be over???? We are trying to make the most of our last few days.

I've been so busy with the new room, Sugarwings had a 3 week cross country trip, and Dewdrop spent the summer with her mommy. We weren't together as much as we usually are.

Since the grand fairies have returned, I've tried to create some adventures to make up for our lack of summer time togetherness.

Not every experience has to be something special to end up being "special". These guys can turn anything into a party. A couple of applesauce cups, some tiny teapots with lemonade, a bit of mint to crush up, and of course, some good friends. And there you go, cuteness and fun.

Painting number 2, lost in the roses

Hearth Room, paintings

By Karla Nathan / August 29, 2016

Here is another little birdie friend in the 2nd painting I've done for over the mantel.

Last spring, I found this top half of an old, ornate door at a flea market. It still had its wavy glass and I thought it would be the ideal frame for a painting above the fireplace on the rock wall. The first painting I did had too much going on, I needed something more simple that could hang high and still look good from across the room.

For the background, I tore pages from a vintage book titled, "Birds in Kansas" and glued them to a foam core board. Some pages were yellowed, so those were scattered around randomly with the whiter pages for a nice piecework pattern.

After that, I started in on painting the pot for the topiary I'd planned. At this point, it looks a little like Groot.

I think my family would have enjoyed the picture if I'd left it like this. We all adore Starlord and Groot.

Here is a close up of the roses.

And this is the nest in the mossy pot.

Doing the two paintings for the mantel was so much fun for me. I used to be a painter, mostly watercolors. But in the gallery world, I always felt slighted and looked down upon because my subjects were too "pretty". No edge, no drama, no angst. Just pretty and happy. My style didn't fit into that scene and I kind of drifted away from this over time.

Maybe now, being older, I just don't care what others think, so I can paint what I want without feeling like I'm lacking. I might be doing more painting in the future. I didn't realize how much I'd missed it, till I got lost in these roses.

Inspiration for a painting

cottage, Hearth Room, Kitchen remodel, paintings

By Karla Nathan / August 25, 2016

Last month at Good JuJu I stumbled across the perfect curtains for the new addition. They are not what I was looking for, and I hadn't even planned on curtains. I thought I'd go with shades covered by lace sheers (I'd bought a boxful of vintage ones at an estate sale for $6, that just needed a little repair and hemming to fit).

But when I saw a pile of these, perfectly faded, soft colored, old barkcloth panels in great condition, I fell in love. I've had a thing for barkcloth since I was a kid and spent time in my Grandma's cabana room on the side of her Sarasota trailer. She had curtains and seat covers, all in mismatched tropical patterns, in that nubby, old material. Later on, when I discovered that cool, old fabric was made in ROSES too, I was enamoured with it.

Silly me, I debated the purchase of these for about a half hour of dithering, and almost walked away. I wasn't quite sure if they would fit the windows, and fabric wasn't on my shopping list that day.

Then, I came to my senses and realized that 6 long panels and one extra length valance of beautiful, vintage fabric for only $150 was a deal I should never walk away from. Even if they did not fit the windows, I could make pillows and slipcovers, it was a lot of material.

And I was right, they didn't fit the windows. Though, there is a deep hem, and with some finagling, I can make them work.

Once I had the curtains, my plans for the room changed up a tad. I needed a coordinating something or other for over the mantel and I decided to paint some pink roses in the style of old postcards to hang up there.

And the picture should have a bird in it.

Here are some of the steps of the work.

And here is the finished painting.

Trouble is, it was too small and too busy for the giant frame I had in mind. I needed an enormous anchor piece on that 15' stone wall, and this needed to be closer to eye level to enjoy, not up so high. I'll still use it on the mantel, but will set in directly on the mantel and lean it against the larger painting. I'll post about that one later.

PS- Before this gets framed, I hope to get some copies made for my shop. I'll let you know.

Bragging about beautiful babies part two

Dew Drop

By Karla Nathan / August 21, 2016

Well, it isn't Dewdrop's birthday, but after showing all those special Sugarwings photos I had to slide in some of our littlest grandfairy too.

This kid is now a kindergartener!!!!!!!!!!!

We've been trying to squeeze in as much summer fun as we could before school started. But with the remodeling project, and then my poor, old, aching back acting up, we didn't do as much as we usually do. But the house is 90% done now, my massage therapist son fixed my back, so life can go back to normal soon.

The weather still feels summery, heck, it IS summer. School starts way, way too early! I always associated Labor Day with back to school. Not mid-August.

Classes begin earlier now, yet, hopefully we can still get some summer action going to enjoy the last rays of sun. I think a relaxing pool afternoon after they get picked up one day is in order for this week. I sure could use one. I need to celebrate getting this room done.

Well, once it is done, that is…. I need to whip up some curtains soon. Those westward facing windows with no covers are reminding me that summer certainly is still here. That room heats up fast.

A decade of JOY with Sugarwings

Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 18, 2016

We spent Sunday out on the lake to celebrate Sugarwings' and her Hippy Chick mama's birthday. Since they are a couple of days apart we did a combo party with a leisurely al fresco luncheon before our float on the pontoon. What a great day! Both grand fairies lost their fear of tubing at faster than the slowest speed the boat would go, and bounced around out there, bopping on the waves and grinning ear to ear, even trying a few tricks.

A day like that is a reminder of just how lucky I am to have all these people in my life.