A Tiny Cottage Kitchen

I know I've shared a few peaks of our kitchen before.

Today I thought I would share why I love our tiny cottage kitchen.

our kitchen and dining room

Our kitchen is the smallest space in our home.

But it works.

Luckily we have 10 foot ceilings, or I'm not sure I could deal.

I wish I had a few before shots I could share. 

Unfortunately it was BB (Before Blogging.)

Our kitchen cabinets were a lovely pale shade of seafoam green.

The trim was lavendar.  (Yep, I did say lavendar.....in a kitchen.)

There was pretty floral wallpaper that brought it all together quit (uggghhh) nicely.

So we updated it.  On a budget of course.

We painted the kitchen cabinets.  Lowes Valspar Brilliant White high gloss finish.

We painted the trim in the same.

Ditched the wallpaper.

We painted the walls.

And as always, added a few simple touches of good old cottage charm.

a peak into the dining room from the kitchen

Thank goodness our dining room is directly off the tiny kitchen.

It makes the space functional when having guests over.

I think my favorite part of the entire kitchen are the little nooks above the cabinets.

They add some of that character and charm I love about living in an old home.

I filled them with the seagrass baskets $9.99 each from Michael's to add some texture.

I love layering some natural elements of texture to each and every space.

So that's it folks. 

No fancy carerra marble.

No custom cabinetry.

No stainless steel appliances.

Just our little tiny cottage kitchen that we have grown to love because it's ours.

Carrie

Linking up to

Between Naps on the PorchCottage and Vine

Cottage and Vine is Hosting a Giveaway

I came across this great blog tonight while doing a little searching.

Cottage & Vine is hosting a giveaway of a new book by Meghan Carter.

Stop on by and leave a comment to be entered for the giveaway.

I would love to win a copy!

Carrie

Follow Me Friday

Hey there!

I just wanted to thank all of you who have taken the time to

become followers of The Corson Cottage!
It is truly appreciated:)

We hit 30 Followers today!!!

I'm linking up to

Trendy Treehouse Follow Me Friday today.



 This is a great party for any of you who may be interested in meeting new friends!I thought I would share it with you all today.  Get out there meet someone new today! Happy Friday! Carrie 

Fall Outdoors

I had to share a little Fall outdoors with ya.

As you all know, our home is on the market so,

unfortunately I didn't do anything to our home outdoors this year.

Never fear...I didn't let that stop me!

You didn't think I could just leave out my favorite part of Fall decorating did you???

I've told you all about my quaint small town.

Well Fall is my favorite time of year in LeClaire.

The stores decorate the store fronts with scarecrows!

How cute!

This is at Dwellings, my brothers store.

These are some of the vintage grain sack pillows I make from time to time.

Which I think are the perfect Fall touch to any decor!

Happy Fall Y'all!!!

Linking up to
Funky Junk Interiors

Carrie

Burlap Wrapped Vase Tutorial

Tutes in 20 minutes or less!!!

I couldn't resist sharing one of my favorite simple tutorials anyone

can do at home in 20 minutes or less for Kate's Fall Craft link party!

Let me tell ya it's easy on the ol budget too!

Grab a vase.

(everyone has some kind of vase at home, if not you need a good basic.)

Get some burlap.

I always have some burlap on hand.  It comes in handy:)

It is multi-purpose, cheap and naturally casual and elegant.

Cut your burlap into a long strip that will fit all the way around the vase.

I like to leave some glass peaking through at the top and bottom.

You can let the glass peak or fully cover your vase it's up to you!

Wrap your burlap all the way around your vase cut off any excess if it's too long.

You can put a dab of hot glue if you like.  I didn't.

 I like to be able to easily remove the burlap and reuse my vase without.

Next you'll need some string. 

Another item I like to keep handy.

Wrap your string several times around the vase.

I tried to keep mine fairly centered. 

It does not have to be perfect. 

For me that is part of the casual charm.

Tie it off in the back and...

Viola! 

I added some dried Hydrangeas to mine.
 Perfect Fall casual cottage charm in only 20 minutes & budget friendly.
What more could you ask for???

This simple little project didn't cost a thing because I used things I had.
Normally I like to use flowers from my yard because it's also cost effective.

These are actually the bouquets that my bridesmaids carried at our wedding.

They dried out beautifully!

I love to use things in my decor that have meaning to us.

For me surrounding yourself with those special touches are what let you know your are home.

Carrie

Linking up to
Thrifty Decor Chick

Home Stories A to Z
Today's Creative Blog

Not Just a Housewife

Savvy Southern Style
Coastal Charm
Blue Cricket Design
Shabby Creek Cottage
Somewhat Simple
The 36th Avenue
The Shabby Nest
Funky Junk Interiors

Fall Decor

The Corson Cottage

Fall Decor 2011

So, you got a little peak at our simple Fall updates already.

Here are some more of our Fall touches.

I love this pumpkin! 

So simple casual and elegant.

It's my single favorite Fall touch.

I almost wish I would of stuck with all the grey/greenish pumpkins and white.

I'm sure they are some "special" variety that I just simply do not know the name of.

But I love the look none the less.

our back porch entry

Just a reminder our home is currently on the market.

So, I tried to keep it subtle, simple and casual.

peaking from the kitchen to the dining room

dining room

Here is our Fall 2011 dining hutch.

You know those little prepackaged mini haybails you see everywhere?

For just $2 I unwired the haybail and used it as filler here.

How cute is that?

I was able to complete are our cost friendly updates all for just $40!

I stuck with fresh pumpkins and easy fixes to make sure it was easy peasy on the ol budget.

Wishing you all a Happy and cozy Fall Season!

(Now I'm about to get my Fall Football fix on!) 

Go Pack Go!!!

Carrie

Linking up to

The Lettered Cottage
Debbiedoos Blogging & Blabbing
Between Naps on The Porch
Homemaker on a Dime
Thrifty Decor Chick
Savvy Southern Style
Shabby Creek Cottage
Funky Junk Interiors

Fall Mantel

Okay, so I know..I know, I'm a little late to the Fall Mantel party.

Better late than never.

I have been planning for a month on linking up to It's Fall Ya'll link party series.

And this week, life got a bit ahead of me.

Anywhoo....



Our home does not have a mantel, so I went for the next best thing.

Went to my brother's store Dwellings and thought I would share his Fall mantel with yall.

Travis actually made the mantel for the store last year,

so Michael could change it out with the season or new fresh store looks.

I also, really am loving the lamp on the upper right. 

 (Note to self - perfect for the new house.)

I will also be posting more of our Fall updates from our home following this post.

Hope you'll check them out.

What new blogging skill did I learn the benefit of this week???
Drafting your blog posts ahead of time!!!
Priceless.

Linking up to:
The Lettered Cottage

Carrie