scrounging and rehabbing

[greenoak]

i think a part of cottage is rehabbing and scrounging... using something old and neat in a new way... things you have put yourself into and make special for your house....something not found in any mall or new store....it makes cottage kind of warm and fuzzy and unique and quirky....not perfect and predictable like hall mark....thats how i see it anyway...

like using a garden thing in the living room
or turning a buffet into a sink
or a big neat relic into a headboard
or making pillows out of old drapes
or a collection of wierd cute salt and peppers
or painting a big piece of furniture

hopefully you all have some neighborhood antique shop, flea market or thrift shop to find some cool things that will be just right in your cottage...

my customers do this and its not just to save money....we have loaded many a project and old relics into into big expensive cars...


ann of greenoak

www.greenoakantiques.com

[mckenzygirl]

I totally agree with you!
I just bought a fabric shower curtian for $7.50 was $24.99.
I'm going to make a baby quilt, and pillows out of it.

[Karinbob]

I think your definition should be in the dictionay as to what the cottage look is. It is perfect. K


i think a part of cottage is rehabbing and scrounging... using something old and neat in a new way... things you have put yourself into and make special for your house....something not found in any mall or new store....it makes cottage kind of warm and fuzzy and unique and quirky....not perfect and predictable like hall mark....thats how i see it anyway...

like using a garden thing in the living room
or turning a buffet into a sink
or a big neat relic into a headboard
or making pillows out of old drapes
or a collection of wierd cute salt and peppers
or painting a big piece of furniture

hopefully you all have some neighborhood antique shop, flea market or thrift shop to find some cool things that will be just right in your cottage...

my customers do this and its not just to save money....we have loaded many a project and old relics into into big expensive cars...


ann of greenoak

www.greenoakantiques.com

[greenoak]

thanks karinbob!! i hope you find a neat store in your area or maybe a nice sanford and son..or both!!

..i wanted to put in an ad for our store....where martha stewart might meet sanford and son... but never did it... sometmes we have rough old farmers with a load of shutters or farm junk to sell and at the same time a bunch of fancy cars and suburbanities...its kind of neat...of course in the antique world some of the richest guys look like bums....


but my favorite customer is a girl like you sound in a big truck....


best wishes....ann

[ChrisNH53]

One of my favorite places to poke around in here in NH is Vermont Salvage (the name says Vermont but it's in NH-go figure). It is just all salvaged parts from homes and factories and it's fun to try and come up with another use for all these great architectual finds-they are like pieces of art. Lots of stained glass windows too so they are fun to look at. I just love going there and so does my husband-one of the few places her will shop!

[greenoak]

what fun chris..... i would l love a place like that.... we dont really have anything like that... we do have a lot of auctions and thats where i get most of my stuff.....
i would love to find some giant old arched windows.... saw such neat mirrors made out of them at the garden show i went to....
ann of greenoak


www.greenoakantiwques.com

[CottageDreamin']

Green,

I'm always dragging something home that looks a little lost or a little out of fashion & tryto give it a good home...even if I don't need one more single thing (which I don't).

I think the place I re-invent uses for things is more often in the garden than in the home. I guess I lack a good eye for multi-purposing in the house. But, I always need vine supports or a focal point or a container in the garden!

[maxeystevens]

Well, I have read the posts for months now and haven't had the nerve to jump in, but since this is a subject near and dear to my heart, here goes . . . I love scrounging and rehabbing! It all started when my husband and I moved to the country about six years ago. Our house is only six years old, and I don't what style it is, but I am striving to make it as cottagey as possible.

Not long after we moved in, we went to an auction held at a 100 year old farm not far away. It was our first auction, and it was incredible. I was hooked! We bought a beautiful door which now hangs in our bedroom. We followed that up with an old claw foot bathtub which now houses a gold fish in our herb garden. There is also an old kitchen sink spilling over with flowers, an old child's swing hanging from a tree limb, a yellow fire hydrant my husband found, and perhaps carrying things too far, an old iron "flower bed" full of petunias.

If it is rusty, I love it! I love the fact that someone else used these items in their every day lives and we can use them to bring interest and beauty into our lives now.

I look forward to getting to know everyone and learning more ideas.

[CottageDreamin']

Hi, Maxey,

Would you mind posting a pix of your bathtub goldfish pond? I'd love to see it :) Do you have the faucet set up to "run"?

I think one of the first garden pixs I saved many many moons ago was of a "Flower bed"...I plan on doing one myself when I have the right setting (a nice cottage garden)...In fact, I've already got the bed, I just need the proper setting :)

[maxeystevens]

I am not very "high tech," but I will try to get some pictures to post.


Where do you live in Georgia?

[CottageDreamin']

We're in the lower half of the state :) ~I don't like to be too specific on an open site~it is a shame one has to be so careful...

[M'chelle]

I love unique things as well. It gives the world character! My "search" right now is for an old screen door, minus the screen. I want to make a chalk board/cork board out of it to hand on the wall you are facing when you come into the house from the garage. You see this wall from the kitchen as well so it would add some interest there.

[ptmanan]

My neighbor uses blue shutters to hang plants in her garden - too cute.

I found a 'gazing ball' stand with a base made of three sea horses facing out. Add a roung glass top and viola, a table! Now we 'gaze' at a table!

I've seen old windows hung over half walls for a very cute country-cottage feel. Doorknobs as 'hooks' for coats. I'm planning on doing that as my traditional wood knobs don't seem to really hold a coat.

[maxeystevens]

Just yesterday I had an opportunity to visit a very talented young mother who paints furniture. She had painted a very ornate large picture frame gold and it framed a board painted with chalk board paint. It was in her kitchen and she had messages and reminders "chalked" on it. She had also used a variety of interesting mismatched knobs in her kitchen.