f a v o r i t e   h o u s e   f r i d ay

It has been a while since I did a fhf. 

I wouldn't say that this style is exactly what I love, but I think they blended the modern with vintage well.

Cool coffee table.

I am not sure about the color tone of these cabinets with the red and blue, it seems off to me, like they don't belong together. I would have either gone really light or really dark on the cabinets to balance it out. Maybe just a different counter then the cabinets would work better, there is just too much going on.

Great floor in the bathroom. But look, there is a light out. Whoops!



What do you think this desk is made out of? Is it wrapped in leather? I can't tell.










I am envious of this closet, my closet is in our upstairs hallway. It is small and terribly lit.



Pretty color on the wall, I love how the blue tone balances out all the brown {you know how I have a fear of "too much brown"}.


I have to say my favorite rooms in this house are the bathrooms.

i t ' s    s t a r t i n g    t o   l o o k   l i k e   a   s h o p

I made a cute wreath while at the shop today, now I need to make about 5 more of these guys.

 {everything you see is for sale, except the rugs, green desk, and white chair}

I left the shop early this afternoon. After taking three loads of furniture from my studio to the shop, unloading them, arranging them, and putting a coat paint on a few pieces in the back room, I needed a break. So I am going to do a quick post for you, go for a run, hit the grocery store and then pick up the kids.

{I still need to add about 4 more layers of paint on my desk, but since it is not for sale, it isn't my priority right now}

I didn't make the curtains for the shop yesterday. My good friend {and neighbor} Kathy brought over a bottle of wine and it was more fun to chat with her than sew the curtains, maybe I will make them tonight.

t h i n g s   a r e   c o m i n g   a l o n g   n i c e l y

Day two of moving into the shop and I didn't get as much done as I did yesterday. I had some errands to run mid-day so I didn't spend that much time there.

I am sort of wondering why I didn't rent a truck and move everything at once, oh well. It is kind of fun moving a few things in, rearranging and then going back home to the studio and loading the car back up.

And I feel kind of proud of myself doing it all on my own.

I am only about 1/4 of the way moved in with finished pieces, and I have at least 6-8 unfinished pieces that I will move in to the storage area.

The green table and white chair are not for sale, they are the only things pictured not for sale. The table will be my desk for custom consultations and I plan on doing most of my work in the shop, even these blog posts. Also, the green table isn't staying green. This is my first coat of paint on it, I am doing a layered paint treatment and then distressing it.

Inventory and prices will be posted mid-week next week {I keep getting emails about this :)} and I know I haven't updated Shop Modern Cottage in a while, I will also update this next week. Right now I am 100% focused on moving in and getting settled. Next week I have custom work and my taxes are due {probably should get on this before next week, not the fun stuff}.

Friday I am painting the wall of doors all white, included the hinges. It looks kind of messy right now. 

{random group of chairs I have no where to put them but in a corner}

Tonight I am going to sew the white curtains for the shop and maybe make a pillow or two.

Do you like my daily shop updates? It will be kind of fun to see the transformation of the parking garage into the shop.

* b e f o r e *   s h o p   p i c t u r e s 

{really really ugly before photos}

The snow has melted and it is a gorgeous sunny day today. I finally got into the shop yesterday and started moving some stuff in. I am moving a little bit at a time because you will see I have a LOT of work a head of me to make this space cozy and cute. 

Right now it is like a "before" photo from one of my furniture makeovers. 

This is what it looked like when I started this morning.

Basically it looks like a parking garage.

I only need about 500 square feet so I needed to get creative on sectioning off the space. I am doing a combination of drop cloth curtains and doors hinged together to create a smaller space. 

I climbed the scaffolding and nailed up the curtains. I am glad this part is done because I hate heights.

I couldn't get to sleep last night {stayed awake until 2am} because I knew I had to climb the scaffolding today and finish hanging the curtains, but it had to be done.

Here is another before shot before I finished hanging the curtains, they continue all the way to the back of the store now.

Another before shot. This is the back of the store that will be our furniture storage area and my painting studio. I will be able to work on at least ten pieces at the same time!

{no clients will see this ugly area}

I finished hanging drop cloth curtains today to section off the store. I talked to the tenant upstairs and she said the space was just under 3000 square feet, crazy!

I bought ten primed doors at Habitat Restore today to hinge together for the front of the store so you won't see my studio or storage space.

Behind the hinged doors will be my new studio space and storage. It is so exciting to have a big space to spread out and paint.

My desk will be here. I am working on that project tomorrow, as well as, finishing hinging all of the doors together.

{ A view of the front door. I have paint everything white and hang white curtains in the door and along the sides of the windows}

I also built a platform today so I can have furniture displayed in the window, flanked by white curtains.

I needed to do this as cheaply as possible, I only have the space free for six months. If after six months we negotiate a longer term lease, I will consider putting more money into nicer fixtures and I will then open the space up more, paint the walls, and have a ton more vendors.

I have to see how the next six months go. 

So basically it is really ugly right now, let's face it.

But I have a vision and everyday this month I will share with you my progress and I promise it will turn out lovely.

{view out my shop window of Opera Alley}

It is in a super cute neighborhood. I am excited for the other girls to in move and bring their furniture!

c a m d e n ' s    l o f t 

My plan of moving into the new shop this has been derailed. We have been hit with a huge snow and ice storm and I can't even get the car out of the driveway. I am trying to make the best of the situation by tackling some projects around my house that I have been meaning to finish. 

One project finally finished - Camden's loft bed.

We have some really funky architecture in our home. I guess it is typical for Victorian homes.

There are nooks and crannies that I have can't figure out what the original purpose was.

An example of this is Camden's closet. I assume that the closet used to have doors that went all way up to the top of the closet, it is pretty obvious that the doors she has on now are a 70's addition. 

My bedroom is on the other side of this closet so it is also possible that this was just a large opening to my room, who knows.

Anyway, for the longest time I had baskets up on top of the closet, not knowing what to do with the space. 

My mom suggested we make it a loft area. I loved that idea, and my dad built Camden a ladder last time they visited me. I was a little nervous about her playing up there without a rail, so I made one out of a full sized headboard with the legs cut off. I screwed it in tight, right to the closet frame and painted the ladder and rail with the same color as the trim in the room. 

Today I painted the walls and ceiling with chalkboard paint {Camden's idea} and it turned out sweet {I have a headache from the fumes}.

{view from the loft}

I still have small things to finish in her room. 

I am not a fan of the brass light fixtures or electrical outlets. But I will save these projects for another snow day.

Hopefully, this darn snow will melt so I can get to my shop and start working!

t a n g e r i n e

I pick up the keys to the shop today! Yah! 

This week I am moving in. It will be a bit of a challenge. The kids are off school today and tomorrow, so that leaves me only three days to get everything moved in. 

I cleared my schedule of custom work schedule this week so I could concentrate on the move, but next week I have several pieces booked so I would really like to get the majority of moving done in the next few days.

Oh, and it is snowing and my shop is on a hill, this should be interesting. 

The color of the building is tangerine {and I actually like it}. It is a corner shop, I am guessing built in the 30's. It has great potential, right now a bit of a diamond in the rough.

I have no doubt in the next month or two this shop is going to be transformed into a fun shopping space.

I am lucky to be joined by a great group of talented ladies and I am so excited about the opportunity.

Because the shop not only has me, but several other vendors, I thought the we should name the building itself. I didn't want The Modern Cottage on the front door when there are so many other furniture shops within this new store. So we are naming the shop/building Tangerine. Easy to remember, since it is the color of the building.

To clarify, I will still be The Modern Cottage Company. Tangerine is just the name of the physical building in which some amazing shops are housed.

Tangerine is also the design color of the year of 2012, so it is perfect.

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Tentatively my open hours are going to be Friday 11am-3pm, and Saturdays 11am-5pm, and I will be available by appointment only, the other days. I will also be moving my studio to the back of the store, so I am going to be painting there M-W 9am-3pm.

All inventory is going to be shot and posted on the Shop Modern Cottage Tab, in the next week.

I am not sure what hours the other vendors will keep, or if they will be by appointment only. I will have a button on the blog as soon as I find out. Also, I am sure there will be a Tangerine FB page soon {I should probably get started on this}.

My first open Friday will either be January 27th or February 3rd. I haven't totally decided yet, I have to see how much work it will be for me to actually move in and get things set up.
{I still have quite a few custom pieces booked in January to finish while moving in to the store}

I will be taking a lot of pictures this week as I move in, so you all can take part in the transformation.

I am super excited!

i ' m    h o m e

{and someone left me a surprise on my porch!}

I am back from our 5 day family vacation in California and it was fantastic. This was our first family vacation where  we weren't visiting family or on other people's schedules. It was great. 

I couldn't have made it through the whole trip without these shoes. I wore them almost everyday. 

{I bought them here  and they are Coach and cost me around $15 and they were new, I totally scored}

I spend so much time in yoga pants and sweats at home and while working. I tried to step it up a notch on vacation and be comfy and cute at the same time.

Last night as we were lugging our bags up our front porch I stumbled upon these cuties! Someone left these fun kid size adirondack chairs {for the shop-but still!}. I adore these chairs, and I can't wait to find out who left them {I have a feeling I know who}.

This weekend I am going to prime and paint a sleeping nook in my daughters room with chalk board paint {pictures coming soon if I actually complete the task}.

Monday I get the keys to the new store and start moving in. It might be a slow move in. The kids don't have school until Wednesday and there is snow in the forecast. I am really hoping for no snow so I can get the shop organized in the next two weeks and open soon! 

b e f o r e   i   g o

As you know I am heading off to California for the week so I won't be posting for a few days. But I wanted to leave you with a few projects that I finished over the weekend.

I want to make some paper heart garland for the shop. I think I will do something similar for one of the window displays {probably not hearts} and out of book pages. 

{also, I haven't figured out how to use my new camera yet}

{nice smudge on the mirror :)}

I definitely want to make some star garland for the kids play area, but I want to use a totally fun, modern, and unexpected for a kids area. I was thinking of a houndstooth paper in a large print. Now I just need to find it.

{source}

Something  like this with out of fun paper.

I pinned this paper rose tree a few weeks ago. I think it will be fun in the shop.

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Here is my version.

If I get around to it, I will do some custom valentines to hang from some of the branches.

Also, I talked to Kennesha at http://restorationhouseinteriors.blogspot.com/ and she is going to be a vendor at the shop, yah! So now we have Erin from http://clementineandolive.blogspot.com/ , me, and Kennesha.

There is a possibility of a few other vendors joining in.

Did I tell you the space is 2000 square feet? Yes, we have a lot of room for fun furniture. We are also planning on having painting classes, and possibly girls night out craft nights.

One last thing {I need to go pack, I haven't done this yet!}

I took an old door out of Camden's playroom and hung it on one of the doors to my office. It isn't a working door, I basically secured it from the backside so you can't actually open it. 

There is a good reason though.

 My plan is to put shelves all the way down the backside for more office storage.

I still need paint it the same color as the trim.