The last room to reveal in our home renovation just so happens to be my favorite--the master bedroom!  Though I truly love every single room, I think I love this one most because it has become my little nest!  It is where I read, where I rest, and where I feel most comfortable.  I am excited to share its transformation with you, and hope that you love it too!  Here is a reminder of what this room looked like when we purchased the home.  

With 6 large windows and an exterior door, we wondered what this room was used for.  A friend of ours who researches old homes called this room a solarium (sun room), which was often used for gatherings and quite possibly a bedroom.  After talking with the granddaughter of the original owners of the home, she informed us that this was, in fact, her grandparents' bedroom!  She said that it also doubled as a sitting room, and guests would gather around the fireplace to chat after dinner.

In order to make this room our master bedroom, we knew we wanted to add a master bath and move a few doorways around.  Before we could get started, we had the daunting task of removing all of the bead board from the walls, once again!

We decided to close up the middle window to give us a place for our bed, as well as tear out and cover up the fireplace.  This fireplace was no longer in working order and had sustained some damage to the brick over time, so we decided that a solid wall might be of more use.  We had it insulated and sheet-rocked, and we were ready to roll!  The original floors turned out beautifully once refinished.

One night, two sweet friends came over to help me paint the walls so we could be one step closer to moving in!  You might recognize the blonde on the right, that's Katelyn! :)  When deciding on a paint color, I knew I wanted something cozy.  With so many windows and white trim, I knew a dark color would be the way to go.  I saw this bedroom (middle picture) on Pinterest and fell in love with the brown walls!  I ended up going with Less Brown SW6040 by Sherwin Williams , and I love how it turned out!

Now, for the finished room!  You enter our bedroom from the end of the hallway, right next to the guest bathroom.

Phillip built our bed, which turned out perfect for the space!  I was so glad that we decided to get rid of the middle window.  It is so fun to dream something up, and watch it come to life.  It wasn't so simple when I went on the search for our other bedroom furniture.  I just couldn't find anything I liked in the surrounding furniture stores--it all seemed so bulky and traditional.  I wanted a softer look, that would coordinate but not "match" the bed.  I finally decided to take a chance and order something online!  I was nervous, but I am so happy with my choice!  The night stands, dresser and chest of drawers came from Pier 1. 

I have also had the hardest time finding curtains that I liked, and could actually afford!  I had no idea that Ikea had a select few curtains available in 118".  They turned out to be beautiful--and I love how the white just brightens up the space!

One of my favorite things in our bedroom are my monogrammed pillow cases!  Our sweet Ms. Carolyn embroidered them by hand.  What a treasure!  It makes me happy every time I crawl into bed, and every time I make it up.  I just love the personal touch it adds to the room!

This view shows you how we moved the doorways around to make the master bath add-on make sense.

It worked out great that we ended up sheet-rocking over the fireplace.  Now we have a solid wall that provides enough space for our dresser.

Our most recent addition to the bedroom has been a sweet little crib for Lila!  Throughout our journey in foster care, one thing that we have realized is how uncertain things can be.  We decided to just plan on Lila being in our room for a little while, while we get used to this baby thing!  We had plenty of room to put the crib over by the windows.

It has been a sweet thing to look over and be reminded that she will be here so soon.  

As we anxiously await her arrival, we have prepared as much as possible!  I can't wait to see her sweet face, and bring her to this house we've made a home.  I hope she grows to love it as much as we do.

 I hope you have enjoyed the last Beech Street Bungalow Room Reveal!  Don't worry, there are still more projects to be finished and decorating to do--so this definitely won't be the last Beech Street blog.  I have a long list of things that I still want to share with you!  In the mean time, feel free to go back and relive our progress!

​Beech Street Bungalow: Before
Beech Street Bungalow: The Fireplace
Beech Street Bungalow: The Walls
Beech Street Bungalow: The Floors
Beech Street Bungalow: The Kitchen
Beech Street Bungalow: The Master Bath
Beech Street Bungalow: The Living and Dining Room
Beech Street Bungalow: Guest Bath
Beech Street Bungalow: The Laundry Room
Beech Street Bungalow: The Exterior
Beech Street Bungalow: Porch Planters
​Beech Street Bungalow: The Kid's Rooms

As the weather cools off for fall, we begin to bring the outdoors in, so our first Curated Collection starts with our pretty and informative Little Book of House Plants. It features a beautiful picture of a different house plant on every page, as well as how to take care of it, which is super helpful for those with less than green thumbs! ​​

We also include a set of our lovely pocket notebooks from Rifle Paper Co. to use as an indoor field journal to keep track of watering and fertilizing your house plants.

Of course as you bring plants into your home, you’ll want to integrate them into your decor, not just plop them down wherever there’s room. That’s why we’re including our wire photo/card holder. Use it to display a photograph (or a card to remind you to water your plants!).

​You’ll also find a cute ceramic pot with the best little surprise inside - one of our adorable live succulents! To learn how to plant your succulent properly, see our handy tutorial, Potting and Rooting Succulents with Mr. Crain. (No two of our sweet little succulents look just alike, so the one you receive may not look exactly like the one pictured.)

We hope you’re as excited as we are about this new way for us to share our favorites with you! Our Curated Collection will change every month, so don’t wait to purchase yours. Some of the products may not even be around that long!

Lately, it seems, I can't stop thinking about house paint colors!  I don't know if it is because I have been spending too much time on Pinterest or if I have been inspired by Tara's freshly painted house but I have been dreaming of a new color scheme for my little home.  

I just painted my house about three years ago so I don't think I will be changing it right now, but a girl can dream! You might remember the color scheme for my little house from my Alder St. Renovation blogs.  I do still love these colors but I will be honest, if I could afford it (or had the energy to do it myself) I would probably change my inside and outside colors more often.  I just love fresh paint!

For those of you feeling a more neutral color pallet, here are my ideas for house, trim and doors.  I loved the grey/green feel of "Gina's Eyes" by Valspar.  I don't know who Gina is, but I can see why her eyes inspired this beautiful color! I found it very soothing and a color that one could love for a long time.  I chose "Extra White" for the trim and "White Pistachio" for the doors.  You could even do a flip flop if you were looking for a lighter house color and use the "White Pistachio" for the body of the house and use "Gina's Eyes" for the doors.  Or choose a bolder door color to have a nice pop!

I have seen a few dark green homes go by on Pinterest and I think they look so quaint!  I also love to mix different greens together so I chose "Hunt Club" for the body of the home and a light green, "Slow Green", for the doors.  My go to off white colors for interior or exterior are "Greek Villa" and "Alabaster", both by Sherwin Williams.  These two colors are almost exactly the same and I use them both a lot.  I rarely want a bright white, I like a toned down, off white color. 

Now for my bolder choice, "Peppercorn"!  I love, love, love a dark grey house.  I have even seen a few black houses, and yes, I am the crazy person that likes them!  If done tastefully, a dark grey or black color can be very elegant and not spooky. I went back and forth between "Peppercon" and "Urbane Bronze" by Sherwin Williams.  I almost painted my house "Urbane Bronze" and then I chickened out.  If you are feeling bold, I say go for it!  I chose to keep the trim and doors very simple.  I love the idea of stained doors and/or stained shutters with this dark grey.  

Here is one of the homes that I found to be inspiring on Pinterest.  I love this bold, yet quaint, home and it is just the look I'm going for.

As you scroll down you can see that all of my choices are really in the same color families.  I guess I am stuck on a grey and green kick!  If you are thinking of trying any of these colors, here are a few important tips I have for you: 
-Always remember that colors look very different in real life than they do on your computer screen. 
-Get a sample to paint on the exterior of your home and live with it a little while.  -See what the color looks like at different times of day and in different lights.  
-When picking a stain color, remember that stain colors will change based on the kind of wood you are staining.  You will want to try the color you pick in a small spot to make sure it will dry the color that you want.  

If you are not feeling brave enough to change up the look of the whole house, just paint your doors.  Painting your doors can make a huge difference in the look of your home.  If you need a little door color inspiration, I've got a blog or that too!  Just click here.

If you do take on a painting project, we would love to see your progress!  You can always send us an email at southernmercantile@fourthandcherry.com.

Happy painting!

Pick out something special for your own little or for a friend from our online store! Maileg Bunnies are some of our favorites additions to any nursery are treasured for many childhood years to come.

Most everyone enjoys the beauty of having fresh flowers in the home, but few of us actually keep them around on a regular basis.  While picking up a beautifully crafted flower arrangement from your local florist on a weekly basis would support a local small business and be easiest, it might not fit into your weekly budget or your busy schedule!  All of us buy groceries and most grocery stores sell fresh flowers.  If you find yourself drooling over the flowers in the grocery store as you push your cart to the produce section, then this blog is for you!  Pick out your favorite mix and put them in your cart because you can turn those awkward grocery store bundles into a beautiful bouquet like this in just a few quick steps! 

Many people make the mistake of bringing flowers home, removing the plastic, and dropping them straight in a vase (that may or may not be the right size) without any trimming or arranging.  While the actual blooms are very pretty, the arrangement will look very awkward and well, like you bought them at the grocery store.  ​

One of the problems with store bought bouquets is that they usually don't include much greenery. To me, greenery is the most import key to creating a lush and beautiful arrangement.  To get started you will need: a bundle of store bought flowers, your favorite vase, clippers (or your kitchen shears if you don't have yard clippers), and greenery cut from your yard.  

For this tutorial, I intentionally chose some random greenery from my yard.  Don't stress over what you are cutting.  If you think it looks pretty and has a nice shape, then use it!  I am using stems of camellia, azalea, and an unidentified branch from a tree, just because I liked it!

*Note, if you live in an apartment with no access to fresh greens, there is still hope for you to liven up your arrangement!  Look at the grocery, to see if they have any bundles that have greenery, of if they have greenery you can buy to add to your preferred bundle.  If that is not an option, then choose a vase with a smaller neck, so that your flowers will not be too loose when arranging them. 

Start your arrangement by adding your greenery to your vase.  Before I start to put my stems in my vase, I trim the leaves off of the bottoms of the stems, so that no leaves will be plunged into the water.  Clean stems help to keep your arrangement from getting murky water. I started with the azalea first and then added in the camellia.  You will need to trim the stems so that the leaves start at the top of the vase.  I use the side of the table or counter that I am working on, to help me decide how much to trim off of the stem.

​Spin your vase as you fill in so that you can green the arrangement evenly on all sides.  I saved my shorter, unidentified pieces of greenery to fill any holes at the end.  

Next, separate all of the main flowers from the mix, leaving the filler flowers aside. This bundle had lilies, mini hydrangeas and roses.

As with the greenery, you will need to remove the leaves from the bottoms of the stems, so that there are no leaves in your water. 

I like to start with my boldest flowers first and then add in smaller ones.  The lilies aren't open yet but when they do open, they will be big and bright.  I started with a taller stem in the middle, and then added one a little shorter on each side.  Again, using the side of the table to help me decide how much to cut off of my stem. 

Next I will add the mini hydrangeas.  I don't want any of these to be quite as tall as my tallest lily.  I add one to the center of the arrangement and then the other three, spread evenly around the sides.  

Next, the roses.  I have a nice little spot in the middle so I add one in right beside the tallest lily.  Then add in the others, evenly around the sides.  

You can start to see a pattern here.  Build each layer, starting with the center, working out around the sides of the arrangement. 

Next I will add the "filler" flowers.  These little daisies will be just what this arrangement needs to brighten it and add interest.  Daisies often have flowers that grow too low down the stem, so don't feel bad when you have to remove a few of their dainty blooms.  I added my first stem to the center and then worked around the sides.  

I wanted to show a picture of my "trash" pile so you would know that I did have to remove quite a bit of foliage and low growing blooms from the stems.  I don't want you to be afraid that you are trimming too much!

Lastly, I used the unidentified greenery to fill in little holes around the bottom of the arrangement, to make it look nice and full.  

And ta-da! Just like that you have turned your awkward grocery store flowers into a colorful masterpiece!  

If you decide to try your hand at this at home, we'd love to see your finished product!  Tag us on Facebook or Instagram so we can see your handy work. I hope you've found this helpful, and that you feel empowered to go forth and arrange flowers without fear or hesitation! 

​They say a picture's worth a thousand words, but I think it's worth a million if you know the story behind it.

There's something about old pictures that does something good for my soul.  One of my favorite things to do is flip through my Nana's old photo albums and listen to her reminisce.  ​

​I'm sure you've recognized from previous blog posts that Roxie likes to decorate with old family photos in her home. (She even uses copies of them throughout the shop!)  I thought it was such an interesting and obvious idea--why hadn't I thought of that before?  

​Old family pictures are great reminders of what really matters in life.  They are interesting to look at and are always a great conversation starter.  They add an element of depth to your decor, while keeping things simple. 

I just love learning about our family through photos.  Sifting through stacks of pictures resulted in countless conversations.  It is because of this that I know exactly where my bossiness, wrinkles and love of cooking come from.   My favorite photos are those from my Nana's childhood.  Not only was she beautiful, but so full of life!  She went from silly to serious, from tom boy to beauty queen so seamlessly.  Her personality just jumps right off of the page.  The pictures of her from years ago are almost whimsical--maybe that's why I love them so much.  ​

​With Mother's Day quickly approaching, I thought it would be fun to encourage you to sift through your own family photos this weekend.  Start conversations, listen to stories, and embrace where you came from.  Choose a few of your favorites to feature in your own home. This is one of the ways I have chosen to honor my family. (Especially my mothers!)

If you were inspired by this post and are looking for unique ways to display your old photos, consider these brass and glass frames!  They come in three different sizes and are just perfect for showing off your favorite photos.  What I love most about his particular frame is how you can see the edges of those old and tattered snapshots. 

The entrance to your home is very important. Whether you are welcoming guests through your front door, or you think back door guests are best, the entrance will form your guest’s first impression when they walk up to your home.  I think choosing the right exterior door color is the first step in making sure that the entrance to your home conveys your family’s personality before anyone ever steps foot inside.  

When choosing a color for your exterior doors, don’t overthink it!  Doors are small and easy to paint.  You can change your door color once a year if you want to.  Painting a door is an inexpensive project that will give your nest a whole new look!  I have a friend in town that changes her door color all the time.  In fact, I should have interviewed her before writing this to ask just how many colors it has been since she moved in.  (Yes, Candace, I am talking about you!) It is so fun to drive by her house and see a beautiful new color waving at you from the front porch!

​You may want to try something bold, if so, here are my favorite picks right now for a bold front door:

​If you aren’t feeling so brave, here are a two hues that will give you a softer color pop:

​ I am a believer that your doors should all be the same color.  You may have different style doors in different areas of the house, solid doors, French doors, etc. Painting them the same color will give the outside of your home some unity and consistency.  I do have one exception to this rule.  If you think you want to try a wild and crazy color on the front door to make a real statement, but you are not sure you can commit to this color on every door, then keep the other doors very simple.  Black doors are great on most houses as a neutral and you can always paint doors your trim color, a white or off white. I hope this has inspired you freshen up the outside of your home and try a new look!  Remember, it's just paint.  You can change it if you don't like it!  Happy painting y'all! 

It's still warm outside here in the South, but there is a change in the air and we know that fall is on its way!  Time to spruce up those front doors and welcome in this pleasant time of the year. I thought it would be fun to help you make a beautiful fall wreath for your home.  If you are feeling crafty, then grab your hot glue gun and let's get started!

Here's what you'll need to get started:
-hot glue gun
-scissors
-wire snips
-floral wire
-floral tape
-grapevine wreath
-fall floral picks
-ribbon

All of these supplies will be available at your local craft store. For this wreath, I used two colors of wool grass (two stems of each color), two picks with fall foliage, one pumpkin pick and one gourd pick. You are free to choose whatever fall stems that speak to you! The design concept will be the same, even if you choose something different than what I have used today. 

First, you need to wrap your wire with floral tape.  This will make your wire much easier to work with. Learning to wrap your wires with floral tape is life-changing, and you will never want to work with naked wire again! Start by wrapping the tape around the top of your wire and then pull the tape as you twist it down the wire.  

The tape is stretchy and will stick better if you pull/stretch it as you wrap the wire.  Cut your taped wire into two pieces, one to use for your hanger and one to use for your bow.

To make a hanger for the back of your wreath, lay the wire over two fingers, pull down, and twist, creating a loop at the top.

Wrap the straight end of your hanger around a chunk of the grapevine on the back of the wreath, pulling the straight end up, and wrapping it around itself. Make the hanger extra secure with a little dab of hot glue.  

Next, you will need to break down your floral picks. By breaking down your picks and stems, and cutting them into smaller pieces, you will make what you have go a lot further. In the end, this will make your project less expensive to make.  

I am starting with the long wild grass that was part of my wool grass stems.  Start by gluing a piece of the grass down and work your way around the wreath, continuing to glue the sections of grass. *Helpful Hint: Put glue on the end of your stem and then shove it down into the wreath, rather than just gluing to the top.  This will make your stems more secure and help hide your glue!

Next, add the wooly tops. Divide your wooly pieces in half, using half for the first layer and half for the second. Glue the wool grass to the top surface of the wreath, alternating colors as you work around it.  The first layer will all be glued right along the top. 

As you start the second layer of wool grass, start to fill in on the outside and the inside of the wreath base.  This will help build out the shape of your wreath and make it look more full.

Now that all the wooly pieces are attached, go back and fill in with the extra foliage that you separated out when you took the stems apart.  

You can see how the wreath is really starting to take shape and fill out.  The trick to this type of wreath is to build it up, layer by layer.  We've laid the foundation, now let's add the fun parts!

Next, add the bow.  You will need about 2 1/2 yards of ribbon to make a simple bow like this.  Start by leaving a tail.  At the top of the tail, make a small loop that will be the center of your bow.

Pinch and twist the remaining ribbon before making your next loop, which will be a little bigger.

Continue making loops, making sure that you twist the ribbon between each loop.  You should end up with five loops total, one small one for the center and four larger loops.  Find the center of your bow, where it all started.  You will have three loops on one side and two on the other. Lay the taped wire across the center of the bow. Tightly pull the wire to the bottom of the bow and twist it on itself.  

After securing your bow with the wire, you can fluff up your loops.

Some folks would add the bow at the end, but I like to go ahead and attach it now, so that I can work around it as I fill in with the rest of my fall foliage.  I decided to place my bow off center, which meant I needed to move one of the wool grass tops.  This is no problem!  If you decide you don't like where you've put something, just clip it out, move it, and re-glue it.  

To attach the bow, wrap the wire around a chunk of the grapevine and twist it on itself until the bow feels secure.  

Fluff your loops up and place your tails where you want them to hang so that you will know where to start placing your next layer.

Next, add the different elements of the deconstructed fall picks.  First, I filled in the bare spots around my bow with the leafy greenery.

Next, decide where to place the pumpkin and gourd. I placed one on the top of the bow at the center and one on the bottom.

Fill in with some extra grass.  Something like this will be available to you at your local craft store.  This grass just helps to make the wreath look a little fuller, while also adding to the wispy-ness.

Now, start to build out the base of the wreath, out from each side of the bow.  I added fall leaves to each side. 

Next, add in some fall colored paper grass and berry pods, again building out on each side of the bow.

Fluff up your bow one last time and voila!  You have a beautiful fall wreath for your door!  You can see in this picture how I used all the extra pieces to build out the bottom of the wreath around the bow.  The top of the wreath is just the base of wool grass that we started with.

If you are running a little short on time, or if your creative juices are just not flowing, you can buy one of these beautiful wreaths that I've already put together for you!

If you're feeling crafty and would like to take on this project, we have made the elements we've used available to you!

I am so excited to talk to you about my kitchen because it has turned out to be my favorite spot in this little house.  It was definitely the room that needed the most work in this renovation! I think I mentioned in my previous blog that I don't have any pictures of the space from before we started working. Apparently, it was so horrifying I didn't want to remember it too clearly, haha! So let's get to it so you can find out how my kitchen went from this....

to this!!!!  A bright, happy, CLEAN, efficient kitchen work space.

Just to recap, there were only a few, old cabinets that all had to be removed. There was also a wall that separated the kitchen from the dining area. Obviously, the floors had to be completely replaced!  The original floors were long gone and the existing layers of rotten plywood were so termite eaten that they started falling out when my carpenters starting jacking up the house to replace the joists. You can read more about my adventures in flooring HERE. We took out the wall in the kitchen (it was super rotten anyway) to create a more open space.  I did close up one window in the kitchen so that I could put the stove there.  To be such a tiny house it certainly had plenty of windows so I didn't sacrifice any of my nice natural light by doing this.  

The next step was to get the floors sanded and stained, and the walls and ceiling primed and painted and ready for cabinets! I used the same paint colors in the kitchen as I did in the living / dining areas, treating this as one large room so it would flow and be cohesive.

After doing a little research and some price comparrison, I decided to go with Ikea cabinets.  I could get the look that I wanted and get the most bang for my limited bucks!  *Disclaimer* If you are not a handy person and are not up for a project, then this is probably not the route you should go.  I am very blessed to have some handy folks in my life to help with projects like these.  I will tell you that I had no experience designing kitchen spaces and I found it very easy to use the online design program that Ikea offers on their website.  It took some time to play around with things and learn the program, but I was able to come up with a design that I was happy with.  Matt and I headed up to Atlanta where we were able to have an Ikea professional review my plan to make sure there were no major issues and to purchase the cabinets.  It was a bit overwhelming, being first time cabinet buyers, so we stopped for margaritas and Mexican food at one of our favorite spots before heading home!

I did pay to have a professional to install the cabinets and I highly recommend this! I had a close family member, who had recently been through a kitchen renovation in an older home, suggest to me that I should not try to install these myself and I am super glad that I listened! You might recognize Phillip, (now, Tara's husband) from previous Southern Merc blogs.  He did an amazing job installing the cabinets and counter tops for me.  Because he is so experienced, he was able to deal with things like walls that are not straight and floors that are still slightly uneven.  I was glad he was there with the knowledge to improvise when things weren't working out exactly like I had planned.

I am so happy with the end result.  I was able to stick to my budget and get the fabulous kitchen that I wanted.  When we moved into this house I was coming from an even smaller rental house that had a very small kitchen with minimal cabinets.  For me, this was quite the upgrade!  I also had not had a dishwasher for the previous 12 years so, to have a nice new one has been thrilling!

There wasn't room in this little corner to squeeze in a cabinet so my dad helped me build little shelves to display some of my favorite treasures.

My farmhouse sink also came from Ikea and was quite a deal!  If you have been wishing for a farmhouse sink but didn't think you could afford one, you should check these out.  There are two sizes, one like mine and one that is larger and divided.  Your existing cabinets can usually be manipulated to accommodate this type of sink with the apron front.  I opted for mostly drawers with the lower cabinets.  The large drawers on the right contain all of my dishes and serving pieces.  The cabinets in the corners have two shelves that pull out completely and then swing back towards the wall when pushed in so that no space is wasted.

A very special friend painted this cow for me and named her "Roxanna". It makes me so happy to look up and see her above the fridge.

My favorite cookbooks are proudly displayed on a shelf by the fridge and my favorite ceramic tray corals things like salt, pepper and garlic cloves that I use frequently while cooking.  I keep everything I need to enjoy my morning coffee right next to my coffee maker, including a crate full of my favorite mugs!

You may wonder why I am choosing to show you my ugly old microwave and toaster.  I just want to stress that you can set up and organize your small (or large) kitchen in such a way that your necessesities are made to look as nice and neat as possible.  You don't necessarily have to line all of your kitchen appliances up on your counter top, and if you have a small kitchen, you don't need to have them taking up that much precious counter space!  These wood and metal shelves sit by my refridgerator and hold a lot of important things that I use everyday but, I try to keep it organized and tidy!

Since our house is small, we don't really have a desk or office area where it would make sense to keep things like bills, pens and tape!  Instead, I have a little station set up by the side door to catch all of those types of things.  We also have a designated place to hang all of our keys becuase I am the world's worst to set my keys down and not remember where they are!

I wish I could have you all over for dinner so you could see things in person, but since I can't, I hope you've enjoyed all of the pictures!  

​Like a few things that you have seen?  Visit the Southern Mercantile store to check out these items that will help you get the look!  
(This blog was origianally posted in August of 2016 so these items are no longer available.  We hope you'll take a look in the store and check out our current merchandise!)

​Check out more Alder Street Renovation stories here!

Welcome to my home! I am so excited to share with you my finished (well, mostly finished) spaces with you!  Just to recap, I'll be sharing before and after pictures with you so you can get a handle on just how extensive this renovation was.  Brace yourself, the before pictures are pretty scary! Apparently, the front rooms of the house were so bad, I didn't take any before pictures of the rooms before we started working!  Here are a few that I snapped after we had made a little progress.  

Use your imagination and visualize a wall where my dad is standing, that divided the kitchen from the living and dining area.  This wall was completely eaten by termites so, it had to go.  This made me very happy because I really wanted to open the space up so that the room would feel larger.  I did have to have a support beam added in the attic space as this was a load bearing wall.  

Here is that space now, so much brighter and happier!

All of the interior walls, ceilings and floors of this little mill house are made of pine and most of them were salvageable. While I do love the wood for texture, stability, and the ease of hanging whatever I want, wherever I want, they were just so dark!  The whole house was the same dark color, top to bottom, just crying out for a coat of paint! I had several folks stop by while we were working and say, "I can't believe you are going to paint that pretty wood". To all you wood preservationists out there, sorry.  But I think the end result is fabulous!  Lightening up the walls and the ceilings made the house feel twice its size!    

Here is the happy and bright "after" picture of my beautiful living room!  I am happy as a lark to sit here in the mornings and watch the news or to gather and visit here when we have guests.  This small space is both comfortable and functional.  Even though the house is small, I've found plenty of room to store things away and special places to show off my treasures.  I decided to have the fireplace closed up as we would never use it and it just wasn't an option to invest in gas logs right now.  I do, however, love to decorate a mantel so I kept a faux version of the fireplace.  The mantel is not original and it is not old.  Just a treasure I brought over from my last little house.  

As you look at the pictures of my home in this blog and the ones to come you may see cords, mail, electronics, etc.  I did not try to hide every little thing for these photos because, well, we live here.  There are some unattractive and/or useful things that are out for all the world to see!  If you are reading this and are currently living in a small space and struggling to find homes for all of your "stuff", here are some creative storage ideas that can make your "stuff" a little more attractive.  On my bookshelf in the living room I used patterned cardboard storage boxes, sewing machine drawers, a vintage locker basket and an old paint crate to hide some of the items that we need but don't have room for in a closet or drawer.  If you have to store items in plain sight in your home, get creative in using different kinds of containers to house those things.    

I was blessed to receive a lot of hand-me-downs while renovating this home and since I have been on such a tight budget, I was grateful for them! These Pottery Barn drapes were passed to me, and they turned out to be just perfect in the living area!  They were a little too short to hang them as high as I wanted, so to make them the correct length, I sewed a band of patterned fabric to the bottoms. This made them the perfect length and gave them a more custom look.  I did sew these but if you don't have a sewing machine, you could easily get this look by using an iron-on "no-sew" hem tape.

Our little table doesn't seat many but it has already been a happy gathering place for many of our friends and family. 

This little table is extra special to me because my dad built it.  The table top is made from old tongue and groove boards that came out of the 100-year-old building that houses my shop!  

Here are the colors I used for the living, dining and kitchen areas.  Sea Salt has become one of my most favorite colors ever!  Way to go Sherwin Williams!  It truly goes with everything and reads as a neutral while still giving you such a nice hint of color.  The ceilings are painted Spare White, which is just the lightest shade on the Sea Salt color strip.  All of the trim in the entire house is just your basic glossy white.  

I hope you have enjoyed the tour of my living and dining spaces!  If you saw something you like, be sure to check out the items below.  We'd love to help you get the look! 
(This blog was originally posted in August 2016 so some of these items are no longer available.  We hope you will take a look around the store and see what's new!

​Check out more Alder Street Renovation stories here!