Come See What Else Is In Our Entry At The Red Painted Cottage

"You don't need a silver fork to eat good food."
                                                                     ~Paul Prudhomme

Our red painted cottage really is quite small, but quaint and adequate for the two of us and Miss Molly.  It's a total of 698 square feet, but as many of you know, there are more and more families choosing to live in smaller dwellings. 

I mentioned in an earlier posting that the entry was once an open porch, which is now enclosed.   When we first looked at this cottage, the previous owners had a sectional couch and a TV in this area; with the couch backing up to all the windows.  One thing I can honestly say, we are not lacking windows.  They are everywhere, which is fantastic; unless you want to hang a lot of artwork.  To take advantage of the great views, my sister-in-law, Barb, and I thought the dining area should be in this location...

If we have you for dinner, you'll probably see something like this on our dining table.  The plates I got on sale from Design Design at their factory in Grand Rapids, for something like $1 or $2 for a package of 8.  They have their factory sale twice a year, but my favorite is the one in the fall.  But we, also, have nice basic white plates which look great, along with our rustic looking silverware I bought from Williams-Sonoma.  I had just gotten a seasonal job at Williams-Sonoma right after we bought the cottage, so Mr. Cottage and I loaded up on lots of great items at 40% off for employees.  I think I worked for them for another two or three years afterwards, just for the holiday season...

We furnished the cottage with almost all existing furniture and items that we could.  The dining table came from my childhood.  When we married, my parents gave us a lot of their "stuff".  My dad use to say, "from our house, to yours".  Isn't the inlaid wood pretty!  I found this tablecloth at a flea market.  I use to use placemats, but the tablecloth helps hide all the dust and dirt that comes in through the windows...

The chairs we got from my father-in-law's employer, many years ago.  They had come from his cottage.  About two years ago, I sewed these new seat cushions for them...

I really can't remember whether my mother bought this Crosley or if I did.  She had a lot of old records and had been wanting one.  After she died, we brought it to the cottage, but there's no Bluetooth or a place for CD's.  So for now, it's just used as is.  The photo below is of me at the helm of our sailboat, along with Mr. Cottage and our friend, Bruce.  I'll write about our sailing days at another time...

And this, my friends, is where I sit to compose my blog postings when we're at the cottage.  The desk it sits on, was an antique that my sister had bought in Arizona; and where our printer sits, is an antique Mr. Cottage found.  I've been wanting to paint it and fix it up, so maybe some day you'll see a posting about it's change...

And when I sit at the laptop, Miss Molly is usually right at my feet or near my chair...

Every rustic cottage needs a pair of snowshoes.  We found this in a large antique store.  We had looked on every floor and found these in the basement, way in the back.  They were in perfect condition and just waiting for us to take home.

Come back Monday to continue our tour.  There's so many fun things to see.