Long weekend at the cottage

Posted on Sun, 22 May 2011 by KiM

This is a long weekend here in Canada, to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. It’s the biggest party weekend of the year, as it’s the first long weekend of summer and everyone attends cottage parties and BBQ’s, as we Canadians love to enjoy what little summer we have! Yesterday was the first day the whole family got to spend time at my little sister’s cottage together. Jen and her husband Dave bought their cottage this past fall and have had a TON of work done to it and the major work was finally completed a few days ago. We spent most of the day getting beds set up, hanging curtains and artwork, stocking the kitchen and all that fun stuff. There are a bunch of little things that still need to be done but it is AMAZING how much work we did (while watching 3 small children), while still being able to enjoy a bit of the gorgeous weather we had and go for a couple of pontoon boat rides. So instead of my typical blog favs post, I thought I’d share some before and after photos of the cottage (there are more, particularly before photos in a Flickr set here).

Here is the cute facade (the porch stairs have since been rebuilt).

Now the interior was SO dark and dingy, with nasty industrial carpeting everywhere and icky varathaned round board all over the walls. I begged and pleaded with them to have all the walls painted white and they listened thank gawd. Here are a couple before shots of the kitchen area:

…here is the kitchen removed and carpeting torn out, and the adjacent living room…

You’ll have to see the transformation after the jump. 🙂

Here is the living room and kitchen now. Everything is white and bright, and a new laminate floor makes a HUGE difference. The living room is furnished with an old Ikea sofa from my parent’s house, a floor lamp from me, on old coffee table my parent’s bought at Ikea 30 years ago and other hand me downs. The kitchen is all Ikea. The cabinets still need the hardware installed, some bar stools, a new ceiling fan, hopefully a framed pegboard on the wall to hang utensils etc.

Here are before and afters of one side of the veranda (the 2 wicker chairs in the second photo are the only pieces of furniture my sister kept from the original owners, having bought it fully furnished) :

Before and afters of the main bedroom:

Before and afters of one side of the sleeping loft:

And a little shot of a corner of the bathroom (formerly painted lilac) and some cool light fixtures they bought at Home Depot for $9:

And a couple random photos taken yesterday…

Gigi says:

Excellent job, it looks so bright! For the life of me I do not get people who criticize SOMEBODY ELSE'S renovations. It's not a public building, it's someone's cottage – lighten up!

Anna says:

It looks amazing. So spacious and relaxing.
I love the painting above the study desk, yellow branches with birds. Where does it come from?
Enjoy!

ah-mazing.
I am blown away – seriously. It looks incredible and now has me looking on mls for something I could remotely afford.

– agata.

JaneG says:

Hi, I think this is now such a bright, cute cottage that would be so lovely to visit, I would also love to know about the bird painting.

KiM says:

I think my sister said the art over the desk was from Homesense (discount home decor store – but she paid $175 for it). It sort of has an Urban Outfitters vibe so it may have originated from there.

JR says:

Why the complaints? This place now looks FANTASTIC. I love the white, it looks clean, bright, REFRESHED, and a place I'd like to spend some time at.

amanda says:

wow! beautiful cottage! i'd love to have a cottage like that to get rid of all my worries in life

Amazing transformation !!! you are very talented. Great colors, great athmospere ! Hummmm I can only imagine the hapiness of staying there for teh week end !
great job !
Elisacanada

Bette says:

I love the painted walls. We recently bought a mountain cabin that was JUST remodeled with "rough sawn" siding in the entire downstairs. I cant really paint it because it is "hairy"… and is a dust catcher to boot, which would look a lot worse painted. Anyone have any suggestions for this dilemma? (we are on a REALLY tight budget.

Alyssa says:

Incredible transformation. I rather like the few teensy gaps between the wood (that arent' filled by caulk) – it is a cottage after all. This is shabby chic done right. The laminate also looks great. Brb…off to go price waterfront lots I won't be able to afford for a decade or more because I'm still a student! Aaargh!

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