So many questions about this project and how to find the pieces I used when designing and decorating this little spot- and so I wanted to share more about some of them. 

Of course, some are vintage- and they are a little harder to replicate- but you can use them as an idea when looking for something similar.

And another Lowe’s find. Basically, make sure you bring a truck and load up. 

The dining area is a mix of vintage and new. 

The table and two of the chairs are from an old iron patio set from years ago- and the white wicker are new additions to mix it up a bit.

And the string lights were Target finds.

And in case you missed the post about the She Shed- you can find that here

and also find the post about building it over at Angie’s List.

One with a peaked ceiling, windows and pretty little curtains

and an invitation to dream.

And I played with dolls, made supper for my imaginary family
and loved sneaking away to sit inside that quiet little spot that was just like a little hideaway
at home.
And sometimes I wonder if that play house inspired a bit of my obsession
with all things pretty at home.

And this little spot in our yard brings back so many childhood memories
of that amazing little play house and the hours spent there.
So this is kind of like my play house…

There are shelves for buckets of peonies, roses or fresh clipped seasonal flowers

and a whole lot of French cottage charm.

And we went with a ‘margaritaville’ look by stringing them above the simple dining spot
as well as the perennial garden.

There is much more to share about this new little spot outdoors to share- but for now

 you can see the how-to about this project over at Angie’s List- 

and I will be share details and sources here in the next week or so as well.

disclosure:
I partnered with Angie’s List to create an inspired dream filled She Shed-
 but all opinions and designs are my own.

I dreamed of pretty chandeliers,

polished dark hardwood floors- and pretty marble in the kitchen.

Yes, I know we bought an old rundown cottage.
It was vandalized.
It had broken windows.
No ceilings, and a whole lot of old grungy junk inside.
It didn’t say ‘elegant’ or even ‘livable’
It was definitely not grand-
and the amount of work just at first glance was not for the faint of heart.
But I saw something that I couldn’t look away from when I stepped foot inside.
And we decided on our limited to the 3 properties on the market in our budget range
in a very expensive California market-
that this little old 1940’s forgotten cottage was THE one.

We started with cleaning. And sealing.
And yes, there was a bat in the house in the first couple of weeks-
I will share more about that soon.
But the first room we started on renovating was the kitchen.

From bringing it up to usable when we first moved in

To giving it a little bit of style with taking the broken cupboard doors off
and adding the island

To adding those chandeliers and wood floors.

And just a couple of years ago
we brought in those marble countertops.

And when we took out our tough as nails granite counters out

and replaced them with marble-

I blogged about how my husband decided to cook with red sauce and olive oil…
(yikes, right?)

and I answered several readers questions here

And I even shared about that time when all my big kids were home and I was so excited

and I made them protein and berry pancakes… and in the middle of the laughter filled morning-
I forgot about the bag of frozen blackberries on the counters… and

  found blackberry juice sitting all over the marble

it happened.

I even blogged about how one simple

  change in the kitchen changed the whole look here 

And 2 years later…
just what is the state of the kitchen and
that white marble?

Is it yellow and purple and red from staining?
Is it nothing but one big huge etch?
More importantly,
is it a choice I would make again after living with it for 2 years?

It is that time of year when renovations are in full swing and so many questions popping up here again so I am answering a few  of your most asked questions about marble counters-
with 2 years of living, cooking and enjoying them
under my belt.

Truth is, I like what I like and what I like is what I go with.
I am difficult at best in my husbands words.

I love marble and natural stone.

The veining, the character, the old world charm.
And honestly, I could not imagine anything other than that going in my kitchen.

I knew that marble was not going to be as simple upkeep as other options- but

 I drooled and loved those counters every. single. time I saw them.
Which is kind of like the ‘3 love it’ rule.
If you love, love, love it... do it.

When we went to look at the slabs at Arizona Tile, we were shown several varieties of similar appearing countertop materials.

White granite, quartz, quartzite, and various types of marbles.

And they were all beautiful options- I don’t think you can go wrong

but every different type of slab of marble won over the other materials for us.

There was just a wonderful old vintage charm
and authentic appearance and feeling to it.

Aside from the fact that marble is a love, love, love-
I knew that it was a perfect material for our vintage home.
Something that felt rich in history and character while adding another layer of beauty.
And think about it…

in Europe they have enjoyed natural marble for years and years and enjoyed and appreciated how that marble has aged.

So embracing that natural stone aging look is part of the love affair.

#2. How has it held up? 
Any stains?

To be honest with you- it has held up beautifully.

We have not had a problem with stains

and in the blog post about the blackberries– I thought for sure we would have a huge stain.
I panicked. I googled what to do while I was not so quietly freaking out and considered soaking the area with bleach.

But you know what?

 There is absolutely nothing where that bag of frozen berries was at all.
It came right off. No issues.

But I would tell you that I sealed the counters twice immediately upon them being put in-

and pretty sure that is a big must as marble is a porous stone.

Yes, as I said in a previous post- there is etching in places
and I think that is almost inevitable with natural marble.
And I am totally OK with it.
We went with honed counters at the recommendation of my friends at Arizona Tile

and they were exactly right.

The smooth texture filled finish is absolutely gorgeous and very old world feeling.

 And the bonus with a honed finish is that you don’t really see any etching
unless you get down at eye level and look for them.

Which, since most of the time in the kitchen you are looking down at the counters- it
shouldn’t really even be something you notice.
That said- if etching bothers you- you might want to look to a different material.

#4. What type of marble did you choose?

We went with a Danby marble.

Danby marble is actually an American marble-from Vermont.

It is known for being far better about stains and etching and being far more

durable as far as marbles go.

It is also very similar in appearance to a Calacutta marble being white with large grey veining

which is the look I absolutely loved!
I didn’t love the gray carrara marbles or the ones sprinkled with too much brown or too much gold so this one was pretty much perfect.

It is more expensive than some grades of marble and other countertop options
but if you are looking for natural marble with less stress-
it might be the one for you.

#5. Would you choose marble for your kitchen again? Or go with something with less maintenance requirements? 

In a second- absolutely would choose marble again.
Like I said, there are several options for marble look stones that are stunning and would be beautiful in a kitchen as well- but for me- marble was the one.
I know I need to seal it more often. Wipe it down more often.
Keep an eye on a splash of red sauce or wine-
more than you might with a white granite for example-
but natural marble is the choice I would make again in a second.

#6. Why do you love marble counters so much- even with the upkeep? 

I love the warmth that marble brings.
It is full of charm and character in how it looks and how it feels in a room.
I have since put it in 2 bathrooms and who knows what I might marble next.
I am a crazy marble lady at this point. haha.
I just love the look and feel like it brings a sense of history
and has such a wonderful presence.

And having that marble slab in our kitchen is as beautiful as I imagined it would be

when we first thought about it.

And you know that red sauce making, red wine loving Italian husband of mine
absolutely loves it too.

Which brings me to our next kitchen project…

that might involve marble.

And gold.

See you soon for a fun post sharing a little bit about moi tomorrow
and the next installment of the Styled for Print series on Wednesday.

Hope your weekend was wonderful!

*I partnered with Arizona Tile- but this post is not sponsored.

I shared this bathroom last year-

where it began –

and just how far it has come since

when we first found our house.

I just recently changed a few things around,

brought in a new piece

and took out some of the others…

so sharing the bathroom story again…

as well as it’s new look.

The Good.

The Bad

and the (REALLY) Ugly.

(Picture heavy post coming your way!)

Our house was never lived in full time-

it was just a little vacation cottage in the country.

It was dilapidated, vandalized and neglected for over 50 years.

It was beyond really bad.

The knotty pine walls. The large fireplace.

The old kitchen with original cupboards and hardwood floors.

The gorgeous property that it sat in the middle of.

I am an old house romantic.

(Before photos taken part way during the destruction –

that was fun- NOT!

and from original post found HERE )

Where there was a a neglected rotting house with broken windows…

I was seeing potential- it just needed to be uncovered and polished up a bit.

Okay, well maybe A LOT.

Let’s just say,

I don’t know that I would take this house on again

if finding it for the first time now.

(A wee bit older and wiser now!)

The original bathroom was only about 5′ wide x 8′ wide

and had 6 different tiles in it.

Red, orange, brown, gold and brown spotted, white spotted with brown and plain white.

‘Eclectic style’ maybe?

I knew what I wanted it to look like.

I wanted a vintage bathroom-

but in a good way.

A charming space with a raised up beamed ceiling

Bead board wainscoting and wallpaper

A crystal chandelier above a new bathtub

Two pedestal sinks and a huge window looking into

the backyard for lots of natural light.

So

a lot of sweat,

a few tears

and a bit of blood later…

Here’s how it came out.

We took out the old dropped down ceiling

(which was in the original bathroom)

and created a faux beamed angled ceiling in it’s place

with bead board and 2×4 beams.

We added 2 pedestal sinks

(one in the original sink spot and the other where the cupboard was)

three vintage inspired sconces to light the area and

placed a dainty commode from Ross in between the sinks for storage.

We did all the work ourselves with my dad –

and we went with a taupe and cream tumbled marble

checkerboard pattern for the floor.

The ruffled shower curtain is a drape panel from Target.

The room was doubled in size by taking space from the laundry room

We used a large beam where the wall/doorway used to be between the original bathroom

and the water heater area-

the tub faucet is now where the water heater is in this photo.

The large beam runs across the door opening.

I love the mix of the rustic shabby beam ceiling with the elegant wallpaper

and French armoire.

I am big time bath girl…

Love love love to take long, hot baths

so a bathtub was top on my list of wants (and needs!)

Opening up the space and adding another 6′ in length to the

size of the bathroom allowed for my Jacuzzi tub.

The crystal chandelier brings a bit of romance and drama

and was a thrift find for $15.

The French armoire is wonderful for storing everything.

It’s original pale grey finish is a favorite of mine.

I took the doors off to use it as an open cupboard.

Loving it.

My little old iron flea find chair

holds a wooden candle lantern for a little ambiance

next to the tub.

I love to relax in a hot bath with the fountain trickling outside the window,

the chandelier dimmed

and a little Puccini on my ipod.

It’s Pure Enjoyment.

Joining
One project closer

Well, in keeping with the spookiness of Halloween

and all things SCARY ,

I decided I should share the exterior of our little guest cottage.

It was really pretty far beyond scary when we purchased our house…

it was downright FRIGHTENING!!

The now so- called Guest Cottage or Carriage House

at that time was a large aprox. 450 sq ft room and 450 sq ft garage

built together with a door inside between them.

It sat in the hillside, with the top section or room sunken into the earth a bit.

So it is warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer for the most part.

The bonus of this guest house and our house is that they were built sturdy where it counts.

Foundation, framing, concrete work all done incredibly well.

This house was made when 2×4’s were actually 2″ x 4″.

So, despite the obvious way beyond neglect for 60 years…

the bones of the house were in good shape.

The siding was old half log siding and was patched with pieces

of plywood where woodpeckers had pecked away, or it had dry rotted.

The windows were old original wood frame double hung

& the doors were regular old cottage interior doors.

As much as I tried to make the siding and dilapidated appearance of the building work until we were ready to re-side and re-roof~

it was not happening.

I painted the tan/brown/blah half log siding cottage white-

I put the old screen door from our house against the side in the garden

and hung wreaths on it.

I planted tons of cottage garden flowers where there were none to homey it up a bit…

and added a meandering path through the plants.

But, the crusty look overwhelmingly stood out.

Luckily, I have good vision.

If I hadn’t I would have turned and run from this house

from the moment my car drove into the driveway!

I knew that the house and small cottage could be something so much more than

what was before my eyes…

I saw a sweet little house

with cottage lap siding and a creamy white paint.

Paned windows with painted shutters and detailed trim.

Single french doors in place of the regular to add light and charm.

Cedar shake siding accents to warm it up.

Dentil moulding, cornices & hanging baskets.

I saw something charming and inviting and adorable.

Remember that company coming that I mentioned in a previous post… well,

I have been a bit crazy here over the past few days.

In addition to EVERYTHING I think (key word right here!) has to

get done,

get re-done,

get re-decorated or

get rid of…

I am doing a couple of little updates on the kitchen.

I don’t have much time to get it all finished or cleaned up at least~

The party is in just over a week!!

Boy does it seem like those projects add up when you have to finish by a certain time!

Anyway, I have a few little tweaks on the kitchen in the works and am sharing some inspiration photos of a kitchen I LOVE!

What a dream!

Ohhh this kitchen!!

White cupboard love!!

With TONS of details!

White marble!!

(trying to convince hubby we need to replace our countertops and make them marble!)

Red and blue accents and stainless steel

I LOVE this kitchen!

~

I know you guys hate it when people post little teasers- but

I am not ready to photograph everything just yet!!

(meaning my kitchen is a mess!)

I have the before’s already loaded up onto the computer…

Stay tuned!

In my previous post about the master bathroom,

I showed you all the incredibly embarrassing pictures of the before…

This is the after.

I wanted a vintage feel for the bathroom.

This is a vintage house- built in 1940

It was actually one of the Jacuzzi family’s vacation houses.

They built it, but never lived in it full time and then it was sold and it sat….

and it sat

and sat

and sat…

and was neglected from upkeep for many, many years.

It had it’s old original bones and details for the most part,

but had also been damaged over the years without upkeep and had fallen prey to vandals,

critters and A LOT of yellow jackets!!

We bought the house in it’s extremely dilapidated state.

The realtor told us to tear it down and rebuild.

Why did we buy it?

Sometimes, I wonder…

We have done almost all the work on this house with the help of my dad overseeing.

I have learned more about every aspect of building, remodeling, codes, and using all kinds

of ‘man’ power tools

than I ever thought I would know.

My dad is a contractor and builds and remodels houses all the time.

On this project, he came up to help with the plumbing and put in all the necessary lines for the tub & the extra sink.

Though we did most all of the work ourselves-

his help with codes, do’s and don’ts and lessons learned has been INVALUABLE!!!

We could not have done the plumbing without his help and certainly

appreciate every thought he had on the project!

I feel like working on the redesign and remodel of this house showed me what it is I love to do.

The original one sink and crusty cupboard has become one of two pedestal sinks

with the second sink in the cupboards place.

There is a dainty little chippy stand in between them for storing makeup and lady stuff.

Where the ceiling used to look like this…

yuck…

with unfinished, molding sheetrock and a lovely little box light/fan~

it now has beadboard and beams and is angled following the roofline.

We also replaced the small window with a large window that reaches the ceiling and near 3 times larger.

It allows light to come streaming in and frames the view of the patio area in the backyard.

We have no neighbor in our backyard so, privacy is not much of an issue.

The window was bumped out to create a deep sill, as with several windows in the house.

We used bead board panels to create wainscoting and trimmed it with a deep chair rail moulding.

The original toilet area-

filled with it’s crazy mix of tiles and lack of trim work and basic yuck factor.

This is the view of the toilet and corner of the shower area.

The red flower picture on the wall was painted by one of my sons when they were in grade school.

It fit in perfectly!

The shower was originally tiled top to bottom in a cream with brown spots tile.

We ripped it out and uh, yeah.

That was a job.

We put in a grey marble and, mmhmm- you guessed…

that was another big job.

Where the water heater was in the laundry area,

we took out the wall in between the two rooms and made it a larger bathroom

as well as on the other side of the bathroom,

a new hallway to improve the flow of the house.

The wall in between was framed in thick beams and the original door leading to the outside

became the bathroom door-

which I used vintage wood shutters for.

The bathroom doubled in size with the removal of the wall and allowed for my delightful jetted tub.

The water heater area that was in the old ‘laundry’ room became the new bath tub area-

love it.

I LOVE to take baths…

it is just one of those things…

I knew that I needed to add a deep, fabulous, rejuvenating, relaxing bath in the redesign

and what better than a Jacuzzi tub to fit right in with the house!!

The water heater in the photo is where the tub faucet is now.

Of course, I had to have the dainty romantic crystal chandelier above it!

This was a thrift store find for $15.00 and was perfect for space.

The huge crusty chippy mirror was a find I dragged out of an abandoned & boarded up antique store.

The guy who bought the building opened the doors to the public-

at their own risk!

(again, what was I thinking?)

I dragged out several goodies covered in dust and grunge…

there were so many great finds in that place!

When I went to the hardware store to pick my flooring,

I found the most gorgeous italian tumbled marble look tiles.

Cream was stealing my heart… and then the beige…. and then the cream….

So in the middle of the store,

I laid them out in a checkerboard pattern and decided that was the icing on the cake!

We also really lucked out that the hardware store had the same tile when last summer we needed to replace a section of flooring due to a leak & the subfloor was damaged.

We had to rip out- again– about a 4 x 8 section of tile and re-tile the area.

These tiles including the grey marble for the shower- are stock tiles at the hardware store.

It’s less expensive to use stock tiles and you can get a custom look depending on how you lay them.

I

I use the vintage inspired rack for towels and decor.

I love white fluffy towels!!!

The shower is a grey marble with veins of different colors.

I trimmed it in one of the new foam trims that are resistant to moisture and give you the look of

detailed trim for much less.

The darling little vanity lights were a little bit of a splurge.

I knew I needed something different to make the space and the beaded shades were perfect.

The secretary serves to hold ALL the stuff!

Perfume, toothbrushes and what-not, nail polish, etc. etc. etc.

LOTS of space in that gorgeous piece and it really makes the bathroom feel

like so much more than just a bathroom.

A galvanized bucket filled with pink towels and a pink bar of French soap

on a flea market find iron chair.

The bathroom came out beautifully and looks so much like the design I had in my mind.

It has a very vintage feel to go with the vintage age of our cottage.

I have tried to keep that feeling

while creating a more functional bathroom with modern touches.

It is a fabulous space to soak in the tub.

Music on the ipod,

the chandelier giving off a glow and the fountain trickling outside…

Love it.

sharing at

Red floral toile wallpaper.

Twin pedestal sinks.

Checkerboard tiled floor

Beaded board wainscoting

Beamed and angled ceiling.

Our master bath has all those things.

It didn’t always.

Here’s how it started out.

Fair warning-

the before pictures are horrendous! NOT a post for the faint of heart!!

I am even having a hard time looking at the pics and remembering where it started.

Where to begin…

There was I think- 6 different tiles in this very small space.

Not in a pattern or a unique design that was fabulous.

More like, these tiles were all on clearance or left overs and they used a bit here, a bit there, etc.

The floor tile was a 12 x 12 gold tile with brown spots.

We called it the ‘giraffe’ tile.

Behind the toilet was red and orange subway tile, white subway tile on part of the walls.

The shower was nicely tiled-but I didn’t love the low ceiling and the cream with brown tile patterns.

Originally, I think this was a porch that they framed in to make into a little bathroom.

Uhh…yea… These pictures are frightening…

There was an interesting cupboard made out of old painted pine- but there were stains and crusty crud on the shelves. I kept all the pieces when we ripped it out so that I could rebuild it someday to be a freestanding piece.

Where the water heater is in the little laundry area- with no laundry hook-ups I might add- there was vintagey tileboard and a door that led outside. You had to walk through this room to get to the bathroom. Again, the ceilings were unfinished sheetrock and no crown moulding.

The next pictures show midway through the rip out.

What a job!!! These people SURE knew how to set tile in THICK concrete! Aye!

It was a huge mess. We also ripped the tile off the walls, took out the shower (regretted that), and removed everything, including the bathroom sink!

We also took out the wall in between the two rooms and then proceeded to remove the ceiling to the studs.

Angled beam ceiling- here you come!!!!

Well, needless to say, at this point the bathroom was a TOTAL disaster-

but hey, its debatable that it really wasn’t much worse than it was when we started, right?

We kinda figured, how could we really screw it up further?

I drew the design originally but didn’t have all the aspects in place for what I wanted.

I kind of stumbled upon them here and there.

But there were a few things I knew I wanted to incorporate:

I knew I wanted beamed ceilings, a tub with a chandelier above it and a separate shower, two pedestal sinks, a large window and tile floors.

I’ll share the post about the after in the next few days…. this one is getting too long already!

but here is a teaser pic. to give you an idea that I am NOT using a bathroom that looks like the one in the pictures above!!!!

Stay tuned!

I try to work with the existing in a house and incorporate the modern touches we all love to have ,while keeping the history and charm and elegance. Thankfully, by changing the flow of the kitchen and hallway, we were able to create some space and we didn’t have to touch the long bank of original 1940 cupboards!

Two drawers on one side and two false drawers on the other and it also has a huge section underneath with two shelves and doors that open from either side.