Opulent Cottage

Welcome to Opulent Cottage!

Hello friends! If you're visiting the first time from Poofing the Pillows, let me give a big Texas welcome! Stacey and I love so many of the same things, especially homemaking, gardening, and Mom-ing! She's a dear blog friend, and one I am lucky enough to be friends with in real life also. I'm so super excited for them now that they have moved into their forever home, and can't wait to see all the happiness unfold in their gorgeous new home. 

As you may be able to tell from Stacey's post, we are color lovers!

 

Something is always changing in our little 1926 Tudor Revival Cottage. It's usually a combination of updating and damage control ;) We love DIY but enjoy a little down time, too.

 

You can read more about our home and some interesting facts about our historic neighborhood here. 

 

I also have a bit of a love affair with ginger jars...

As well as over the top holiday decor!

 

I hope you enjoy your visit here! You'll find categories to search through above, as well as a search box on the right sidebar. If you would like to follow along you can subscribe above, and I'm often on Instagram sharing new projects, as well as behind-the-scenes craziness on my InstaStories.

Thank you to my sweet friend Stacey for featuring our home!! Please go by and visit her at Poofing the Pillows!!

xoxo, Andrea

One Room Challenge, Master Bedroom Edition, The Reveal!!

Welcome to week 46 of One Room Challenge! Just kidding, although it did seem like it took that long to finish this room ;) How about I skip past the drama that caused this delay and just get straight to some photos?!!

It's lighter, brighter, and more colorful, and we couldn't be happier with it!

 

Rearranging this small 11 x 11 foot room made the biggest change. It feels so much more spacious! As you can see, we ended up keeping our old headboard and just removed the footboard that was crowding this tiny room. What a difference! 

 

These chandeliers may be one of my favorite things I have put in this house, ever!

 

Maurie and I were walking through At Home one day, and this art piece stopped us in our tracks. The colors pulled all the other elements of the room together. And no, my husband doesn't mind my wild colors, or pink, and he actually has an appreciation for floral art :) I know, I am one lucky lady!

 

Another benefit of rearranging the room was creating space for night stands! I joked earlier about it being a luxury and I really was not kidding. When the bed was angled I had no choice but to put my water glass in the window sill, haha, so this is really a treat ;) I had been coveting these bamboo tables forever, and they're perfect for this room.

 

I absolutely love this rug from Rugs USA. It's super soft and I think it will be very durable.

 

This vintage armoire really has been brought back to life with a few coats of chalk paint. I rub-n-buffed the hardware and it looks so fresh and new.

 

The top of the armoire is the perfect place to display some of my ginger jar collection.

 

This Ikea Tarva dresser fit into this small area perfectly, and we really needed the extra storage. I love love love the gorgeous pulls from World Market.

 

It never hurts to have another spot to display some pretties :)

 

I can't thank you all enough for hanging in there with me for as long as it took to finish this room! When I was writing this post, I realized I had completely forgotten to add links with product info, so I'll gather those and come back with a second post. I have a few tips to share with you all, and maybe a story or two about the debacles that happened while working on this nightmare bedroom. Hahaha

And if you haven't seen them before now, 254 other bloggers actually did make it to the finish line during the challenge, and you can find them here!!

Have a happy day, friends, and I'll be back sooner next time!!

xoxoxo, Andrea

Joining Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

 

One Room Challenge, Master Bedroom Edition, Week Five

How can it be Week Five of the One Room Challenge already?!! This has been such a different challenge for me, I really should be calling it the challenge of debacle and indecision. I keep reminding myself that it's just decorating, not cardiology lol. But so much goodness is going on here, and I am truly blessed to have every single thing. It will all still come together beautifully and we will have the lovely master bedroom that we have dreamed of, even if it isn't completely finished next Thursday ;)

Here's a little peek of one side of the room --

 

The World Market Agate Pulls I showed last week are beyond gorgeous! And there's lots of fun blue and white going on up on our armoire --

 

I have mostly stuck to my original plan (you can see it here), but there was one big change that definitely affected everything else in the room. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen a little peek on my Instastories. It's the thing I'm most excited about in the room, and I'm really looking forward to showing y'all at the reveal! 

Coming up on the final post, it's going to be a scramble as it always is, to knock out the remaining details!

Crossed off the checklist:

Walls painted

Drapery rods painted and installed

Draperies altered

Armoire painted and repaired

Closet doors hung

Ikea chest assembled and painted

Knobs for chest and closet - purchased

 

Still left to do:

Iron and hang all draperies

Headboard (total 180 on this! Still changing my mind if you can believe that hahaha)

Hang lighting -- can. not. wait. to show you all :)

Install vintage sconce

Finish pillows

Cover lamp shade

Frame for art

Misc. such as outlet covers, dimmers, touch up, last minute caulking

The most fun part, the styling! Adding the jewelry to the room makes it come alive!!

Click the link below to visit everyone for Week Five --

See you all next week! Thank you so much for following along!

xo, Andrea

 

 

One Room Challenge, Master Bedroom Edition, Week Four

Welcome to Week Four, otherwise known as what was I thinking week . . .

All I have for you today are little peeks of the progress that has been made! I'm so anxious for something to come together and start looking done. Everything is still in disarray and being scooted all around to work on different sides of the room. I have a makeshift bookcase in the living room holding tools and paint cans, and a growing pile of supplies in the dining room being readied for sewing. There are boxes of accessories and miscellaneous items shoved where ever I can find a spot and total chaos everywhere! Doing a large project like this in a tiny cottage is quite the challenge. But in two weeks we will have a gorgeous, restyled bedroom to enjoy, and I know every bit of frustration will pay off.

Let's talk about the progress that has been made --

Closet Doors

The old doors were deemed unrepairable, so new doors were purchased at Lowe's. Wasn't that a fun job (not). Installing anything new and square in a crooked old house is always a challenge! But they are white and clean and make a huge difference in our room. While searching online for knobs to add a little pizzazz, I ran across these beauties:

I'm headed to World Market stat to check these out!

 

Draperies and Rods

The rods are painted a gorgeous gloss white and I am so happy with them! You can see what they looked like before here. While reinstalling them I was reminded that the left side of our main window is almost an entire inch lower than the right (did they HAVE measuring tapes in 1926???) and having everything painted white will definitely help camouflage this oddity.

I am still waiting on two backordered drapery panels, but two sets have arrived and I am in love!! (These are just flung over the rod, btw. They will be altered and hang to the floor.)

 

Furniture

The old armoire (you can see it here) is now a crisp, pretty white and looking so updated and fresh! I still have to decide on new hardware. A new chest of drawers has been picked up from Ikea, and will give a little bit more storage. As of now, I'm still deciding on a plan for our headboard - yikes - pass the paper bag while I catch my breath over this one! It's definitely going to come down to the wire!

Rug

This rug from RugsUSA is so much nicer than I was expecting! They had a sale over Easter weekend and the final cost on this was only $84. At that price my expectations weren't very high. It is a tad darker than my computer screen showed, but overall this was great experience for my first time ordering a rug online.

 

Lighting

The darling vintage sconce above got a new 'do and will be installed just inside the door. Since we don't have overhead lighting, it will be nice to just flip a switch for lighting as we walk into the room. Such modern conveniences ;) 

Fabrics

The feature floral fabric arrived last night and it is absolutely gorgeous! The custom printed pink plaid from Spoonflower has been shipped and should arrive any day. I'm headed for a few late nights of sewing, but that will be the easy part. 

Ok folks, I should be getting something done if this room is going to get finished! Have a great weekend! You can catch up with the other Guest Participants here:

xo, Andrea

 

 

 

One Room Challenge, Master Bedroom Edition, Week Three

It's such a struggle to show you all something worthwhile on these weeks in the middle of the challenge! Believe me when I say that I am ready to move on to the pretty things! I set up a little vignette so I would have at least one pretty photo to show off ;) For now, these fresh, sparkling white walls are the only real progress we have made.

 

But this paint job, what a lot of drama! It took me almost a full week to finish. One of our rookie mistakes when we first started reno on this house was using bathroom caulk to install the crown molding. The Not-Paintable caulk. All these years later, even the spots where we had wiped the caulk off were still not taking the paint. After multiple tries with different paints, I finally got lucky and was able to paint over those areas with chalk paint, then go back with the Behr eggshell finish we are using.

Because who doesn't want to cut in four, maybe five times. On the ceiling. Ugh. 

On Saturday at 6:15 p.m. I realized that I had painted part of the ceiling and one entire wall with the semi gloss that we bought for the molding. Y'all, I'm a painting ace here. I have painted these walls so many times that I'm sure we have lost square footage, haha. I have no excuses other than I was distracted, and rushing, and trying to just.get.done. Thankfully, we only have some caulking and a little touch-up left. 

Deliveries will be arriving this weekend! Fabrics, lighting, and the rug should be here any day now. I went a completely different direction with the lighting, and I'm saving that surprise for the end! It's a good one :)

The cute bamboo table just may be my new bedside table. It's a really tight space, and this is the perfect size. They have these all the time at Ross for a whopping $25. I just need to find one more!

Hank approves!

 

I'll be back next week with another update! You can click on the logo to visit the other ORC participants:

I'm joining:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style 

One Room Challenge, Master Bedroom Edition, Week Two

Well hello, friends!! Welcome to Week Two of our Master Bedroom transformation.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my confession about not really having my design plan locked down. I have only been thinking about this room for about a year now, I mean, what's with these rush decisions all of a sudden?! #procrastinator 

My A-Ha moment came when I was scrolling through my very faves on Pinterest, and this photo popped up. It immediately confirmed that every single item I was leaning toward is exactly what my soul is craving for this room!

via The Pink Pagoda

This utter gorgeousness from Parker Kennedy Living has been one of my most favorite inspiration photos. The message came through loud and clear that I am headed in the right direction with our room.

So here is the design plan, in all of its unfocused glory, which seems to happen every time I import something from Polyvore :(

 

This new print from The Madcap Cottage collection for Robert Allen Fabrics could not be more perfect! This print is Rousham Romp in the Strawberry colorway. I found it for sale here. #swoon

 

I have been crushing on this green ever since I painted our daughter's dresser in 2013. How nice that it is conveniently Pantone's color of the year. I'll bring this wonderful green into the room in the form of pillows and an unexpected item.

 

This pretty pink is already several places in our home, and I plan to use it on a bench for the foot of our bed and maybe even a light fixture or two.

 

The most unexpected element (and still up for debate) is the drapery. I have wanted to use a striped drapery treatment for several years now, but never considered using them in our bedroom. I'll have to see the actual color when they arrive before I will know if they are keepers.

And, #blueandwhiteforever 

 

Also:

The headboard decision has taken a completely different turn. More next week on that!

I completely forgot last week to discuss the current lack of night stands in our room. Maurie has been using a broken pedestal, and I have been using a windowsill. Ugh. Shopping for those now! It's such a tight space that our options are really, really limited.

I neglected to mention lighting, also. Such an agonizing decision. Getting closer, but not there yet -- lamps vs. hanging fixtures. 

Headed to Ikea soon for a Rast dresser to transform, some of their awesome super-inexpensive down pillow forms, and any cute plants that they have. 

Rug is ordered! Can't wait to see how it looks!

 

Thank you for coming by to hear about our room! I would love to know what you think! You can find me on Instagram here and on Facebook here. Also, you can see my first-ever One Room Challenge, our kitchen nook turned Empty Nesters' Lounge, here and my second ORC, our Back Patio Refresh, here. And here's a link to go by and see all the other One Room Challenge participants during Week Two:

Enjoy! xoxo, Andrea

I'm joining:Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

One Room Challenge, Master Bedroom Edition!

Hello friends, and welcome to my third round of One Room Challenge, a six-week makeover challenge created by Linda at the Calling It Home blog. If you are not familiar with One Room Challenge, I hope you will go by and read all about it at Linda's blog. Every Wednesday for six weeks, 20 featured designers will share their spaces, and on Thursdays I'll be joining dozens of other bloggers as a Guest Participant! If all goes as planned, I'll reveal our new space on May 11th.

This time around we are taking on our master bedroom, which is in dire need of an update. You can see my first-ever One Room Challenge, our kitchen nook turned Empty Nesters' Lounge, here and my second ORC, our Back Patio Refresh, here. When I say "we," I refer to myself and my bestie (and hubby) of 30 years, Maurie. If you're new to Opulent Cottage, thanks so much for visiting! You can read more about me and our 1926 historic home here. 

Let's look back to 2009, when our bedroom looked like this:

 

This was my style for a long time, and we really loved this room. But now it's time to say goodbye to the red toile and florals and update the decor to reflect how my style has evolved!

I know, I know. So many of you have written to tell me that you can't believe I would ever change this. But I need to be honest and tell y'all that our draperies and bedskirt have been faded for a while now. The pretty yellow floral comforter is long gone, shredded years ago by kitty cat claws. Everything in here has been slowly deteriorating and almost every piece needs to be replaced. Even the bed is falling apart.

So here's how the room looks today:

 

And no, the bed didn't get made today, and this little angel has enjoyed an all-day nap ;) This will probably be the only time you ever see a plain, white room here at the OC! Those of you who know me know that lots of happy color will be coming in here in the next six weeks. In the end I hope to create a fresh, bright, elegant, timeless room. I'm craving a few more modern details, softened with some cottage flair, and a pretty white backdrop for some punchy color. 

 Here are the key elements of the room design:

*A curvy, elegant headboard

I'm so excited to update our bed! At this point, it's a toss up between two styles: 

A tufted upholstered headboard

 

and a more practical cottagey panel headboard

I'm really enchanted with Joanna's pretty Curved Panel Headboard. Not exactly sure yet if it's the one, but I'm leaning hard!

*Bedding

I have a lovely white duvet (this one from Ikea), and it just needs a little trimming to make it perfect

*Windows

We are super happy with the new BH&G window blinds from Walmart. To soften the room, I will probably pick up some more linen-like panels at Ikea. They may get a custom treatment to give them a special flair :) I'm happy with our current rods, so they will get a fresh coat of paint to give them an update. 

*New pillows, of course!

*Replace ceiling fan

Just a simple, basic white fan will do

*A fresh color for our vintage armoire

*Add a small dresser for extra storage

*Paint closet doors

*Lighting

Still working on this! I have several ideas, I'm just waiting to see what comes my way. 

*New Rug

*Paint my own custom art

I gave this a stab several projects ago without success, so I'm giving it another try!

Next week I'll be back with a final design plan to share! In the meantime I hope you'll visit the other guest participants here:

xo, Andrea

 

A Snow Day Tablescape

Snow flurries in the forecast calls for a little winter fun! Since a "snow day" in our part of the state usually means we will get 10 minutes of flurries, we have to make the most of it ;)

 

Even if the snow flurries don't make it down to Dallas, we are ready here in our sitting room!

 

I was inspired by Paige at The Pink Clutch to play with my tartan plates a little longer this winter season. I am still making the most of some of our Christmas decorations, and tweaking them to read a little more "winter." 

 

Our sweet snowman brightens our decor for a few more days before getting packed away. (From Tracy Porter, for Target many years ago.)

 

Since it's been unusually cold, we can sit here, enjoy some mulled wine, and cozy up with a snowflake throw.

 

Happy Winter to you all! xo, Andrea

Joining:

Your Inspired Design at BlueSky Kitchen

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Foodie Friday and Everything Else at Rattlebridge Farm

Share It One More Time at The Everyday Home

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

 

 

 

Cozy at Christmas Holiday Blog Tour

Hello friends, and welcome to the Cozy at Christmas Blog Tour! If this is your first visit to Opulent Cottage, welcome! (You can read about me and our historic home here.)

Our little 1926 cottage gets decked for every season, but never more so than at Christmas! It is truly a labor of love, and makes my heart so happy to see our home sparkle and shine. When you're 90 years old, you need a little something sparkly every now and then, know what I mean? ;) I often think about how families may have celebrated here for the last 90 years, and I feel blessed to have this sweet home to make my own.

Today I'm sharing the mantel decor in our living room. I had intended to share our tree as well, but we had a holiday disaster the other day when our white tree came down from the attic looking like it had been rolling in the mud! Apparently it's not uncommon for white trees to eventually turn a (very un-Christmasy) dark color? Anyway, a new one is on order and I hope to be back in a few days to share it with you all.

 

We have an explosion of holiday brights this year! These red tinsel trees got dressed up with some cheerful green, pink and blue ornaments, repeating the colors in our new pillows from this fall.

 

The gorgeous plaid ribbon is from Martha Stewart, found at Home Depot. 

 

A mix of mercury glass and brass candlesticks fill the mantel, along with red striped and solid green candles.

 

How cute are these peppermint candles, found at our local Ross. These gorgeous turquoise mercury glass candlesticks were a gift from my sister last year.

 

That's a wrap for today -- the new tree has arrived, and I need to get busy so I can share it soon! Thank you so much for coming by!

 

Below you'll find links to all the participants of the Cozy at Christmas tour:

Monday 12/5:  Let's Add Sprinkles/ Hyacinths for the Soul/ Southern DayDreams/ White Spray Paint/ Garden Up Green/ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson/ Ellie and Elizabeth

Tuesday 12/6:  Brookhollow Lane/ At Home With Jemma/ My Heart Lives Here/ The B Farm/ Botanic Bleu/ Kitty's Kozy Kitchen/ Art and Sand/ Ash Tree Cottage

Wednesday 12/7:  Sweet Nothings/ At Rivercrest Cottage/ Opulent Cottage/ Decor to Adore/ Fern Creek Cottage/ The Dedicated House/ Bluesky Kitchen

I hope you enjoy seeing these beautiful homes all dressed up for the holiday! Thank you to Katie at Let's Add Sprinkles for organizing this event!

xoxo, Andrea

I'm joining:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Your Inspired Design at BlueSky Kitchen

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Foodie Friday and Everything Else at Rattlebridge Farm

Share It One More Time at The Everyday Home

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

The Scoop at StoneGable

Home for Christmas at Cozy Little House

12 Days of Holiday Homes at The Pink Clutch

 

 

Holiday Charcuterie Board

Welcome to Day Five of the Holiday Recipe Blog Hop, hosted by Carol at Blue Sky Kitchen! 

My "recipe" today is one that will make your life easier during the busy holiday season. No cooking involved, and all of the ingredients can be kept on hand in your fridge and pantry! 

 

 

A Charcuterie Board is a great crowd pleaser any time of year, but I can't think of a better time than the holidays, when we are all so rushed and our to-do lists are so long! With just a few ingredients found at almost every grocery store, you can have a last-minute quick meal put together in no time, or create a beautiful dish for a holiday party. This is also a great way to use the meats and cheeses that come in those wonderful holiday food gift baskets.

 

This recipe is about as simple as they come! Here are the four main ingredient staples that make up a classic Charcuterie Board:

*Meats -- A varied selection of meats is the foundation for this platter. Be as fancy (or not) as you please! If prosciutto isn't your thing, go with a nice quality sliced deli ham. Regular grocery store pepperoni makes a good replacement for pricey smoked salame. Today I am using Uncured Black Forest Ham, Tomato Basil Chicken Sausage and Truffle Mousse Paté.

*Cheeses -- Mix up a few types of cheeses - a mild cheese like creamy brie, Havarti with some herb-y dill, and a rich, strong cheese such as bleu or aged sharp cheddar.

*Extras -- Olives, nuts, pickles, mustard, jam, veggies.

*Bread and crackers -- Simple crackers and a french loaf or baguette are great choices.

Honestly, this doesn't have to be served on a board; a marble cheese plate  or even just a serving platter will do! I'm actually just using my everyday cutting board here. 

Let's build our Charcuterie Board together -

Place meats and cheeses around the board or tray. It's perfectly acceptable to lay a sheet of wax or parchment paper first, if you like.

 

Add your extras directly onto the tray, or in ramekins or other small dishes.

 

Now some veggies and nuts --

 

If you like, add garnishes -- herbs, edible flowers, and fruit. 

 

That's it! Bring out some pretty napkins and a nice bottle of wine, and enjoy a relaxing meal while you mix and match flavors to your heart's content.

 

By the way, I picked up all but a couple of the ingredients for this Charcuterie Board at Aldi, for less than $20 (the paté is from Trader Joe's). And see that jam in the center?! It's made with BACON. Salty, slightly sweet, and a little spicy (I added a dash of cayenne). This will certainly be on regular rotation! The recipe is here, it has a secret ingredient that you would never guess!

 

 

Need a special (but simple!) appetizer?! My Sundried Tomato Cheese Roll is a deli lane dish that can be made in no time!

Here is another great sundried tomato appetizer for you tomato/pesto lovers.

This great holiday breakfast casserole is a perennial favorite for the young and the younger ;)

An easy and festive holiday treat to give as gifts is here.

 

*Once again, here's the lineup for the Holiday Recipe Blog Hop! Enjoy!! 

Monday

Bluesky Kitchen  Belle Bleu Interiors  White Spray Paint  Southern DayDreams

Tuesday 

Ash Tree Cottage The Painted Apron  My Midlife Kitchen Starfish Cottage

Wednesday

Ramblings of a Southern Girl At Home With Jemma  My Thrift Store Addiction  Let's Add Sprinkles

Thursday

Jenn's Farm Table Botanic Bleu  Celebrate and Decorate

Friday

Kitty's Kozy Kitchen  Intentionally Eat  The Dedicated House  Opulent Cottage

 

I'm joining:

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Your Inspired Design at BlueSky Kitchen

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm

Share It One More Time at The Everyday Home

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life

The Scoop at StoneGable

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style