Showing posts with label The Cabbage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Cabbage. Show all posts

Thursday, June 11, 2015

The Cabbage Blog

The Cabbage

Hey, guess what?  I have started a new blog!  It's called The Cabbage Blog and it will feature posts all about my home, The Cabagelow, aka "The Cabbage" and things inspired by it.  I hope you will visit it at Cabagelow.com or you can also read and subscribe to my blog via BlogLovin'.


Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Guest Room Revisited



One of my resolutions for 2015 was to not travel.  As much as I enjoy visiting friends and family, I felt that my time, energy and resources would be better spent closer to home this year.  This led to my decision to revisit the function and decor of our guest room.  I wanted it to be a place that provided true comfort and hospitality for our guests while at the same time giving myself a space where I can "get away from it all" through the magic of books and art.  I think I accomplished that.

Here's what the space looked like before:


Our Guest Room In November of 2014

And this is what it looks like now:


Our Guest Room Revisited

I'm really happy with my decision to switch out the pull out sofa for the far more comfortable and functional twin beds.  The adorable Jenny Lind headboards are from Target.


Headboard Wall In Evening

I designed the "Be Our Guest", King and Queen and Butterfly Throw Pillows (available here). Hippie helped me make and install the ledges for my favorite art and decor books.  The mirror and nightstand were flea market finds.


View Of The Fairy Nook

Because the former closet, now fairy nook, is not original to the house, the windows in this room are off center.  This bothered me enough that I decided to extend the curtains from wall to wall.


Wall Of Curtains

I purchased both the sheer and faux silk curtains through Target online and found them to be good quality for the reasonable price I paid (they were on sale, of course).


Back Of The Door Hanging Space

Turning the closet into a fairy nook meant sacrificing hanging space, so Hippie helped me make and install a small hanging rod behind the door.  I purchased the vintage Pullman hanger through MillCityVintage on Etsy.


Poster Collage and Book Shelf Wall

I had been working on creating a gallery wall in here but I eventually decided to ditch the frames and make a collage of all my Arthurian and Pre-Raphaelite posters and such.  It was one of my crazier ideas but I really love how it turned out.


I May Not Travel This Year But I Can Always Visit Camelot

In fact, I really love how the whole room turned out but it was a lot of work.  I think I'm going to need a little vacation time to relax and catch up on my reading before I start my Spring gardening projects.  Lucky for me, I now have the perfect place to do just that.

See more photos on Instagram and Facebook.

Visit The Cabbage Blog for more posts about my home.


Be Our Guest (Or Custom Text) Pillow
Be Our Guest (Or Custom Text) Pillow by Cabagelow
Check out more Hospitality Pillows at Zazzle

Camelot: King and Queen Pillow
Camelot: King and Queen Pillow by Cabagelow
Browse more Myth Pillows at Zazzle




Queen Guinevere Maying Poster
Queen Guinevere Maying Poster by VintageSpot
View other Queen guinevere Posters at Zazzle.com

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Guest Room Revisited: The Fairy Nook

Before: The Guest Room Closet

I really don't have anything against closets, I swear.  In fact when I first saw the spacious closets that were in the two spare bedrooms in this house I thought, "Score!  More storage for me!"  However, over time they just started being real troublemakers, swallowing all my stuff, taking up way too much space and throwing off the architecture of their rooms (they were not original to this house).  I still think getting rid of the closet in my art studio was one of the best decisions I ever made, so it was only a matter of time before the guest room closet became my next sledgehammer target.

However, when it finally came time to start demolition, my muse decided to grace me with another vision.  So, instead of destroying the closet, I proceeded with the challenge of turning it into a nook.  Originally it was going to be just a book nook but when I started revisiting the guest room layout I realized I also needed a new spot for my vanity.  So it became the vanity and book nook, but we are now calling it "The Fairy Nook" for reasons that will become obvious once you see the picture below.


After: The Fairy Nook

It turns out it would probably have been much easier to just demo the whole closet but instead, Hippie and I somehow managed to widen and reframe the opening.  The whole design was inspired and dictated by the lovely old corbels at the top.  I bought these awhile ago at an antique mall and was really excited to get a chance to finally use them.  They also allowed me to create the perfect home for our reading fairy.


Corbels Before Painting and Installing Them


Our Reading Fairy Is Right At Home Here

By the way, thanks to the internet I can't see this fairy now and not think of this:


Source

Makes me smile, every time.  Anyway, though it means I am still short on bookshelves (always), I'm really glad I put the vanity here.  Our guest bath is very small so I think it is important to have one in this room.  This one I actually scored at a thrift store years ago and I'm still in love with it.

My Thrift Store Vanity In It's New Home

The larger antique mirror in the center was a birthday present from Hippie and I adore it.  The pink stool/ottoman found me at Target and made me take it home.

Irresistible Pink Stool From Target

Oh, and we can't forget the bookshelves.  Hippie helped me make and install these, though I was on my own when it came to painting them and everything else.  The color inside the nook is "Mermaid Treasure" by BEHR.  The corbels and trim were painted with Annie Sloan paint in graphite and a gold metallic glaze.

Fiction Shelves

Non Fiction Shelves

And here's a few more details:

Welcome Banner, Cool Cat Reading, Thrift Store Lamp & Accessories, Pink Unicorn & More

It was definitely a challenge but I'm so glad we created our fairy nook and I'm glad it's finally done so I can move on to "revisiting" the rest of our guest room.  Look for that post in (hopefully) a couple of weeks and thanks for stopping by!





Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Kitchen Evolution

A couple of people who follow this blog have remarked that Hippie and I seem to be doing a lot of home projects lately.  While I can't argue with that, the real truth is that we are always working on this house.  Like myself and my garden, I consider every room of The Cabbage to be a work in progress.  My kitchen is the perfect example.  From the day we first moved here to now, it has been slowly changing and evolving.

The first change I made (at 2am the night before we officially moved in) was to paint the plaster walls an ochre color.  Not long after that we replaced what I believe were the world's ugliest countertops (they were textured vinyl!), along with the sink and faucet.  We also ripped out the painted tile backsplash and I did a paint treatment and mural there as a "temporary fix".

Before and after we removed the kitchen backsplash and got new countertops.

That was all our budget allowed at that time but slowly over the years we made other changes.  I redid the flooring and came up with some creative storage solutions involving vintage finds.  Hippie installed our oven fan and eventually treated himself to a new dishwasher (which I hear works really great). 

By summer of 2014, more than eight years after we moved in, our kitchen was finally starting to shape up.

The Cabbage Kitchen in July of 2014

Then, after years of searching, I just happened to stumble across what I knew was the perfect tile for our backsplash and managed to install it myself.

Our new kitchen backsplash and wine bottle light pendant.

It made a huge difference and inspired us to make a few other changes, like painting the cabinets (I decided to just paint the inner panels of the upper cabinets for now) and adding the wine bottle pendant light we made.  We also were finally able to replace our huge, old refrigerator.

The Cabbage Kitchen Today

It's still far from perfect and it will always have its quirks (most of which I have learned to love) but, like myself and my garden, I think my kitchen has evolved quite nicely.  I look forward to realizing even more of its potential in the future.

The Cabbage Kitchen Sink Side

The Cabbage Kitchen Stove Side
Visit The Cabbage Blog for more posts about my home.




Eye Opener Print
Eye Opener Print by Victoreeah
See more Digital Posters at zazzle.com


Bottle and Glass: Wine Lovers Grocery List Grocery Bags
Bottle and Glass: Wine Lovers Grocery List Grocery Bags by Victoreeah
Check out other Wino Reusable Grocery Bag at zazzle.com


Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Christmas Time At The Cabbage 2014

For the Holidays you can't beat home sweet home.

I've done a pretty good job of not overwhelming myself so far this Holiday Season.  I feel I've made good decisions about where to be practical and where to splurge.  I think I've found a good balance between challenging myself and giving myself the rest I need.  I even managed not to beat myself up over the few mistakes I made and chalked them up as more lessons learned.  I think that's a good sign for the year to come and I also think it means I deserve some gold stars and a nice vacation.

So, this will be my last blog post of 2014.  My next post will be on Thursday, January 8, 2015.  In the meantime feel free to catch up on any posts you missed or leave a comment.  I am also going to try to limit my phone use during this time but I will check e-mail and don't be surprised if you see me posting on Instagram.

For now, Hippie, The Cats, My Muse and I all wish you very happy holidays and I look forward to connecting with you more in 2015.

Oh, and here's some photos of The Cabbage at Christmas Time:


















Click here if you missed my Christmas Time At The Cabbage post in 2013.