Opulent Cottage

Do You Polyvore?

Most of you have already heard of Polyvore, right? Founded in 2007, Polyvore is a platform to create virtual collages of either home decor or clothing. It took me years to finally decide to try it, and now I am completely hooked! It's so user-friendly that you'll be designing rooms, or outfits, in mere minutes.

Last month our friend Stacey called out to blog pals for feedback on her dining room decor. In just a few minutes, I threw this inspiration board together using the ideas she had contemplated. And it was a hit! She just needed to see all of her ideas put together, to get a feeling for how her completed room would look.

(You can see her now-fabulous dining room here.)

Playing around with Polyvore helped me realize that I needed to move my black floral rug from the living room to our dining room.

And I must say with great results! Reveal coming soon :)

Now I'm working on our daughter's first apartment. She and her roommate hope to create a comfortable college apartment that feels like a real home. They both love to cook and entertain, and want a home that reflects both of their individual styles. 

My trend-loving girl craves bright, bohemian prints, jewel tones, and somewhat modern lines. Her roommate prefers more traditional furnishings, and draws her inspiration from the classic colors of Talavera pottery. Each girl has a few handed-down items to bring, and we will be shopping very frugally for the remaining pieces. 

It's my job to help them blend their styles while using whatever thrifty pieces we come upon to fill the rooms. Creating Inspiration Boards on Polyvore has allowed me to show them how their individual items will work together, and see how they can blend their different tastes into a home that gives each of them a bit of what they want. Here is the most recent Living Room Inspiration Board.

We already own the white slipper chair and bamboo ottoman,which were great yard sale scores. We just purchased the glass-front Ikea media stand on Craigslist for a bargain price of $30. 

In our garage we are also hoarding saving a round MDF table with a neutral skirt, a small pallet to create the trendy coffee table on wheels, and a retro lamp that we hope will paint up to look a little like mercury glass. I'll sew draperies from some leftover canvas and burlap.

So we'll be shopping for the biggest and potentially most costly piece, the sleeper sofa; a pretty but practical rug; and a bookcase for them to stash all of their books and photos. I think Craigslist might be my best friend this summer, next to neighborhood yard sales and of course, Freecycle. 

Not too shabby for a college apartment, huh?!! But I hope you can see how the power of a little creativity, combined with the magic of Polyvore, is helping us create a WAY above-college-standard living room for our girls.

If you haven't done so yet, give Polyvore a try! Please feel free to email me if you have questions, and I'll try to help. You can follow me on Polyvore here.

Joining:

Yvonne for Tutorials Tips and Tidbits at StoneGable

Courtney for Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Cindy for Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

My Cozy Porch

Please join me at Brenda's Cozy Little House today, where I talk about our cozy porch!

I'll show off our front porch, all decorated for spring.

And share a few fun facts about porches in the U.S.! You can find it here. 

I'm joining:

Debra for Be Inspired

Courtney for Feathered Nest Friday

Cindy for Show and Tell Friday

Kim for Wow Us Wednesday.

 

 

 

How I Styled Our Bedroom Bookcase

I told you all in a previous post that I had struggled with what to do with this bookcase for over a year now. Then one day, I realized that it was the perfect place to display our family photos. 

These frames have been collected over the years, and there is no real theme or continuity to them. I kept arranging and rearranging them, and it seemed that no matter how I styled them, they just looked like a messy hodge podge. Buying all new, coordinating photo frames is not something I really wanted to do. Many of these were gifts and have sentimental value to me.

After looking at it over time, I realized that I needed to add some texture, and a little color. I started by grounding the shelves with a couple of Bordallo cabbage plates. It instantly added a balance that helped the collection of frames seem less messy. Next came the glass vases with some faux hydrangeas, and then my gorgeous new tole tray. I loved how the tray gave the entire bookcase a central focal point. A few milk glass vases, some greenery, and voila, the collection seemed a bit more cohesive and pulled together. 

So in the end, using items from around the house brought my frame collection together without spending a dime. The next time you're struggling with creating a display or vignette, give it a try!

I'm joining:

Yvonne's Tutorials Tips and Tidbits at StoneGable

Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday at FrenchCountry Cottage

Cindy's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

 

New Pig

Every once in a while, I cruise through Etsy looking at vintage breadboards. Many of them are out of my price range, but I got lucky a few weeks ago and found this little sweetie --

He's a happy pig :)  A happy, old pig. The lady I bought him from didn't know exactly how old, but he had been in her kitchen for a long, long time. 

I sense a farm yard theme coming on in this corner.

Have a great day, everyone!

I'm joining:

Kim for Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Courtney for Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Cindy for Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

 

A Spring Wreath and Gingham Burlap Ribbon Love

Thank you for all of the get-well wishes :)  We are still moving a little slow, but we're on the mend! Sometimes it's good to have something make you slow down, you know? Maurie actually took a little time off from work, and we have been relaxing and enjoying having our girl home. We did a little pruning in the back yard, and planning for this year's garden. 

I tackled an easy project this morning, a spring wreath for our dining room. 

This twig wreath has become a permanent fixture on our vintage scrolly iron piece -- you may remember this piece, I rescued it from a certain fate in the landfill when a precious farmhouse down the street was demolished. These gorgeous, huge gerber daisies came from the dollar store, believe it or not! I added a pomegranante sprig that I found several years ago at Michael's. I sure wish I had gotten several, because I have never seen them again.

Have you all seen this fabulous gingham burlap ribbon at Hobby Lobby?!! I'm in love with it. It's wired, which makes bow-making the easiest thing ever. They had black and white, too. I think I'll be going back for that :)

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

I'm joining:

Courtney for Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Cindy for Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Debbie and Shannon's Power of Pinterest Party

Susan's Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Spring Thing Blog Hop

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Yvonne's Tutorials Tips and Tidbits at StoneGable

 

Bedroom Redo Sneak Peek

Remember the big surprise I kept hinting about? Well, I had a big reveal all planned for you today, and then WHAM -- I got hit with a nasty cold. So much for sharing my finished project! 

All I have to share now is a little peek at the progress! I decided to do a mini-redo of Abby's room. Poor thing was living with mismatched bedding and random furniture pieces ever since she left for college. This week is her spring break, and I wanted to create a restful retreat for her to enjoy on her week off. She chose to come home to spend the week with us instead of taking off to the beach with friends, so we are still going to make the most of our week together!

If you follow Opulent Cottage on Facebook, you can see the item that I gave a peek at in the mirror's reflection!

My mom bought me this dresser for my first apartment, and it's been due for an update for a long time now. Abby and I both love the crisp white and fresh green pairing. Not bad for a piece that was $40 at Salvation Army some 30-plus years ago, would you say?

Back to my chicken broth and vitamin C, and I hope to have more to share with you all soon!

 

I'm joining:

Nita for Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life

Brenda for Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Dawn's Budget Decorating Party at Creative Cain Cabin

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Cindy's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Spring Shelves and Milk Glass

We had such a taste of spring here yesterday. Well, maybe more like summer. The high temp was 86! But only 56 today, crazy weather. 

It was awfully windy, but I still managed to finish a couple of painting projects out in the back yard. Nothing like getting your projects done while also working on a pre-summer tan :)

So while I am pulling together a top-secret project this week, I thought I would share our kitchen shelves, all perked up for spring. 

Cracks me up that this milk glass hen weighs exactly one pound. 

I had ordered two of them from Cotton and Copper on Etsy, and found a third in Canton last month. It was $5.50, can you imagine? BUT! It was half price day at that booth, so she only set me back $2.75. I had to ask twice, to make sure I was hearing correctly. 

And I never thought I would see the day when I had enough milk glass compotes to actually stack them. Thanks to repeated trips to my new favorite little thrift shop, my collection is growing by leaps and bounds. 

Back to the secret project for me :)  Thanks for coming by! 

I'm joining:

Brenda's Tweak It Tuesday

Dawn's Budget Decorating Party

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday.

Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Cindy's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Debbie and Shannon's Power of Pinterest Party.

Mixed Print Spring Pillowcases

Just a quick post today!

I have been so frustrated, trying to find cute linens in my signature cheery prints and colors. There seem to be plenty of prints to be found at kids' shops, but not in king size. I have found some great ginghams too, but they only seem to be made in flannel. 

After my success with the Christmas pillowcases, I thought why not do some fun mixed patterns for spring? As luck would have it, JoAnn Fabrics is having a big sale on calico cottons. I had some real fun picking out several bright, coordinating prints that say "spring" loud and clear!

How about a tutorial on how I made these? After I figured out the first one, I made three more in record time. I'll share my techinque tomorrow -- see you then!

** The tutorial is now up! You can find it here **

I'm joining

Brenda's Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Debbie and Shannon's Power of Pinterest Party

Glimpses of Spring

This weekend, the change up to spring began here at Opulent Cottage. And it was so easy to get spring fever, with sunny days nearing 70! Not to taunt those of you still in the deep of winter. I keep reminding myself that we could have a winter storm at any time, like 3 years ago, when it snowed on the first day of spring. 

For the next week or so, the house will be in transition. Which means a big, fat mess! Time for the Valentine's decorations to go away and the boxes of spring decor to come down from the attic. I'm not really ready to be looking at Easter eggs and bunnies just yet, so they will stay packed away for a few more weeks. 

I did break down and buy a few spring plants. Home Depot had some really nice flats of marigolds, and for just $12 I filled quite a few pots. I splurged on a few impatiens too (who could resist them for 88 cents!). It's nice to have a little burst of color in our courtyard. Here's a peek --

I'll be doing a post in the future on using items from our home in the garden! You can see how I have used them in the past here in this post. 

Daylilies are popping up, roses are budding, and even my elephant ears are sprouting new leaves. But I just checked the weather, and we will be back down into the 30s tomorrow night, with two days of cold rain on the way. Sigh. It's not spring yet!

I'm joining:

Brenda for Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Dawn for Budget Decorating at Creative Cain Cabin

Kim for Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Cindy for Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Tole and Transferware

For the first few weeks after Christmas, I was really relishing the pared down look I had going here, with sort-of empty tabletops and less clutter. Well, I'm so over that now! Every time that I think I'm going to go for a more clean, streamlined look here, it only takes a matter of days before I start to miss my stuff. 

I had even moved my chippy wicker table out of the living room, thinking it would feel more spacious if this piece wasn't in the way. It didn't. It just felt empty and bare. So the table came back, the plates went up, and now I love my living room again. I do think that a smaller table might work a little better here, so I've been cruising Craigslist and consignment shops for something new. 

Remember when I said I had been doing some post-Christmas Etsy shopping, too? Here's my newest find! I love it soooo much. When it arrived I was literally running from room to room, trying to figure out where to put it. It made me wish that I had bought several so I wouldn't have to choose! I think I have a new obsession :)  The tray came from Daph's Small World. She has so many nice vintage items, including several more vintage trays that are really pretty.

One of the other things I missed about the table was having a few candles lit in the evening. These sweet old bottles came from Maurie's mom's basement, and I love how the one is a perfect size to hold a tea light. 

I have something else that's special to share tomorrow. Wait till you see what it is!

Joining

Courtney's Feathered Nest Friday at FrenchCountry Cottage

Cindy's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Kim's Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style