Another DIY nursery project to share! This time, its a dresser/armoire for the baby’s clothing and other essentials.
I’d forgotten how teeny tiny newborn babies are until my daughter showed me a sweet little onesie from H & M-this dresser should be adequate for quite awhile! It was one that I had refurbished a few years ago for my own “nana-nursery” when our first grandson was born.
I’ve really not had much use for it, since I have a bookcase and a changing table with loads of storage. So I offered it up to her for the black and white nursery. Originally, the entire dresser was stained brown. For my room, I had repainted it with teal accents
and used a vintage map for the door inset. (and yes, the map is upside down-I never noticed it, even after I hung the door and placed the dresser in the nursery : O )
But, that old map print wasn’t going to work for the black and white woodland nursery! As it just so happened, I did have some pieces of Birch Tree Peel-and-Stick wallpaper from Roommates left over from our log cabin room in the Maine cottage. I didn’t have one long continuous length left, but it was simple to cut and piece it together since the design has pretty soft edges on the trees and branches.
Using that, I replaced the map with the birch trees, instantly transforming the dresser from nautical to natural!
Along with the map, the handles-which were teal blocks of wood-needed a change as well.
You know, the thing about Amazon is that if you can dream it-they sell it! A quick search of “twig handles” revealed these silver beauties that could be used as replacements.
One problem: there would only be one hole for the twigs where there were two for the wood block handles. Simple fix: I filled the holes with some wood plugs that I glued into place.
Then I sanded down the drawers, restained and then polyurethaned them, as well as the dresser top and the door frame surrounding the birch paper. Although the little wood plugs didn’t take the stain as well as the rest of the wood, the contrast was barely noticeable once the twig knobs were added.
The rest of the dresser was painted in Behr’s Tin White Chalk Paint for a bright contrast for the wood. So now we have a beautiful dresser that holds loads of tiny baby stuff while looking quite adorable and adding a touch of natural warmth to the otherwise simply black and white décor.
Another project done, more to go! And baby still hasn’t made his appearance, much to his mommy’s chagrin. Next up, the art of the nursery. xoxo Susan
I put together this flannel quilt with fabrics I chose from the vast selection at 
There were so many to choose from, I had a difficult time deciding.
But, in keeping with the overall woodland theme, I went for the same types of fabrics-
trees and mountains and leaves and baby animals-along with a few inspirational quotes for the baby-to-be.
All in black and white and framed in graphic black and gray buffalo check.
This soft flannel quilt is not hand stitched-at this point in my life I have neither the patience nor the inclination to produce that type of quilting masterpiece. Instead, it is machine stitched and machine washable-perfect for a typical messy baby : )
Two pieces of fleece, any size, back to back. Cut squares into the corners, cut along the edge in 1-2 inch increments all the way around. The wider the cut, the fatter the fringe. The deeper the cut, the longer the fringe. Then you just tie knots to attach front to back. Warm and soft and very cute-and also machine washable!
Even though they are white, they do a nice job of blocking out the late afternoon sun that beams into the nursery. Pillows-the graphic one from 
When you’re searching for a simple technique that creates a worn, chippy finish on a piece of wood or furniture! Recently, Coach presented me with a reclaimed primitive pine bench that he thought would “look great with a whale on it!” It had most definitely seen better days…the top was scratched and gouged and the finish was non-existent, but it was solid and had no musty odors, which is always a plus. (Sorry, I hadn’t planned on writing about this project until I tried the brilliant block painting trial, so no before pics) Wanting to hurry along the transformation process, he sanded it down for me and painted the base black. Typically, his next line will be “OK, I’ll paint a whale on it”…which he knows will then trigger my response “Don’t touch it, I’ll do it.” OK, so I stained, then painted the bench, first with blue, then white chalk paint, then sanded it for a distressed look.
Usually, when I do that, the top coat will sand down and expose the under color- but this time it didn’t work very well and the bench was primarily white and black. So, I thought, hmmm, what can I use to create the multi-layer effect I want…wait for it…a block of wood?! Recently, I had been binge-watching old episodes of 
I was grabbing a block of wood and dipping it into paint and scraping it across the bench and voila! Chippy, distressed look in about 5 minutes time! (OK, well that noise is pretty annoying and grating, but the results are worth it, I promise!) The reason this technique works so well is that, unlike a paint brush, which smooths paint into the contours and ridges, the wood block scrapes over those and only leaves paint on the textured areas.
Now its time for the whale : ) Stay tuned… Susan
This is important! Visually, shiplap is long lengths of boards attached to the wall in a straight row. Leveling as you go will ensure a clean, unwavy (is that a word??) sight line.
(I would not have attempted to do this installation without one.)
I used 
This particular brand of shiplap had an assortment of lengths in each box, so it was important for me to decided which pieces would go in which order for each row. I was working around a fireplace and ceiling and baseboard moldings, so I had to figure those into the equation. It would have been so much easier if I was working on a simple blank wall, but that wasn’t the case. I taped these on to the wall to visualize how it was going to work before I started the actual nailing and gluing.
you push it into an area and it forms into the shape that you need to cut around. 
Otherwise you’ll need some paper and tape to create a pattern to cut around. 
It just doesn’t end up well. Fortunately for me, this particular brand is pretty rustic, so a few cracks and holes blends in quite well!
It made it so much more tedious than if I had just kept using the larger pieces instead of trying to save them…for what, I have no idea….but I’ll figure something out.
For now, I am leaving it as is and enjoying the fruits of my labor.
Each time I returned to the store to purchase more, it had to be seasoned in the house for 36 hours before I could install it. Which meant more messy days in our family room.
As an aside, I have a much deeper appreciation and newfound admiration for carpenters and contractors-actually, anyone who labors for a living-especially older folks, like me. The work is fulfilling, but it is not easy-the difference is, I did this for fun, they do it for a living. So my work here is done…for now…and I am shiplapped out… until my next project comes along. Have a terrific Thursday, everyone! And if you decide you need some shiplap in your life, I know the name of a great contractor I can share with you…and its not me : ) xoxo Susan
was owned by a local man who had fallen on hard times and was homeless and living in his car near the 
which was around the corner from where we sat. Chatting about our new space and how best to stock and decorate it, I had a moment of…I’m not sure of the word…wonderment perhaps? Thinking about all that had transpired in the past year that brought us to this place in this moment left me a bit overwhelmed. A year ago at this time, our new Maine cottage plan was slowly coming to fruition but still a dream away. At that time, we had no thoughts of setting up shop in Maine…after all, Coach had the Arundel Flea Market that he frequents quite often. Its a great outdoor flea market right near our cottage, BUT, its not so great when there’s a foot of snow and its 20 degrees outside! We had visited 
then to The Barn at Todd Farm in Rowley (remember that giant rusty bedspring marquee sign? I miss that thing!)
and then on to the Mills at Pulaski Street in Peabody.
Each venue has had its own unique charm, and along the way, Coach and I have realized how much we enjoy doing what we do…reuse, restore, refurbish and sell…and we just weren’t ready to throw in the vintage towel quite yet!
Anything we could stuff into our two SUVs-items that I had been working on for the past month-now fill the sunlight-splashed space.
This weekend we’ll be adding some finishing touches…painted furniture and vintage accessories and lights for the tree…did I mention we have a tree in our space!?!
I’ll be adding more pics as we keep adding to and editing our shop-presently its decorated for the LOVE holiday that is fast approaching.
If you have a chance to visit- they’re open every day except Wednesdays during the winter (and they’re having a huge store-wide sale!) we’re in the shop on the right in the second room-just look for the sparkling tree : ) For now, it will be enough to say that I am so grateful for everything that has transpired over the past year to bring us home to Maine. Have a Maine-ly wonderful weekend, everyone! xoxo Susan
Off we went to Freeport, Maine (you can actually bring your sails into any local 
to barter our sails away. But oh, the decisions! This wall of bags greets you when you walk into the shop,
but there are all sorts of bags of different sizes and shapes and colors.
Loving these little cooler tote bags with a hole in the base to allow for drainage.
The final choices? Silver and blue & white and blue anchors-…
which now proudly hang by the back door of the cottage for anyone to grab on their way out for shopping or beach-going or well…sailing!
And the price, well, it was sooooo inexpensive! The perfect anchor for my log cabin bedroom. EXCEPT…now that our log cabin is no longer a log cabin but a charming, light -filled condo cottage, well…the idea of a dark, heavy cabin scheme just doesn’t fit the bill. BUT, I still have my log bed and am going to use it…only in a lighter, brighter color scheme. But the one thing about this “au natural” bed- is that is actually kind of yellow. So, my question to you, dear readers, is this: should I paint it, stain it or leave it alone? I attempted a bit of gray stain on one of the frame supports, but it looked so dark that I abandoned that and set up the bed as is.
The walls are 
Starts at 8 and goes until…if there’s a customer, Coach will stay! See you tomorrow, bring lots of $$$ : )
Way back when Coach and first made the decision to purchase our cottage, I started looking around our own home and our shop for inspiration…thinking that we could bring a lot of our present décor to Maine-save some $$$, decorate with the things we love. We tend towards the nautical, as you can see by the photos. But, what else did I see? WHALES. Pods of them scattered throughout the house.
On our porch, in the family room, in the bathroom, in the shop.
Some hand-crafted by me, some by local artisans, different styles, shapes and colors.
Whale, its a full-on WHALE invasion!
we recently purchased at the 
…and these little guys in our kitchen…
…and of course, we cannot forget about our patriotic whale coffee table on the porch!
OK, so maybe we whale-y have a problem…and this is only in a few rooms in our house! I recently read an article about the 30 worst decorating trends that hopefully will never return: Over-Done Coastal was listed as decorating no-no…too much of a good thing will drown out your style, apparently. So, how many whales can a little Maine cottage hold? Whale, we’ll have to wait and see : ) So, for now, I am scaling back on the whales and looking to simplify some of the spaces I have designed (all in my head and on 
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