Before and After ::: From Worn Church Pew to Best Seat in the House

My ex told me about a bench in a little antique shop in Utica. So on Saturday morning my husband took a ride with me to check it out. I've been wanting a bench for my dining room it seems - forever. When we got there - the one we specifically went to see was all spindles and totally uncomfortable to sit on. Discouraged, we toured the rest of the shop. Then...tucked in a little hallway I saw it. A gorgeous little church pew just waiting to be discovered.

   It was coming home with us.  We lifted it into the Jeep and tied it down.  I couldn't wait to get home and get started!  After digging out the paint, running out for new brushes, hitting a local craft show with my daughter, I lost steam and my husband took over the painting and finished it all (gotta love him). 

I hit the computer and started to search out some appliques.  I found these on Ebay and within the week they were at my front door.  I didn't have any clamps so I glued them on and taped them down to set. 

My daughter came by and said it looked like a pile of cheerios!  I had faith :)

After putting on two coats of paint I stood back and thought - This is the best seat in the house!

Oh yeah...see the white streak on the plum coloured wall to the left?  That's the start of a white wall makeover underway.  Decided to paint the entire house white....YIPPEE!

Updated photo after painting the walls white :)

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xoxo

Interview with the fabulous City.Cottage Store

:::
I'm so excited to feature and share with you all, the most gorgeous little shop about 10 minutes from my home and how it changed my life.  The awesome Jenny Smith, owner of City.Cottage was so kind to let me do a mini interview. 

I recently found her gorgeous store and fell in love with the charm and beauty of everything there. From the second I walked through the door something inside me changed.  You see, for some time I had been feeling a little blue.  Maybe it was the empty nest syndrome I had been so miserably dealing with...heck, maybe the 45 year old hormones were in overdrive, all I know is as much as I wanted to snap out of it a year and a half of feeling this way was starting to feel like this was the new me and trust me, I wasn't happy about it.

Like I said, from the moment I walked into the sun filled City.Cottage I have felt uplifted and inspired to revisit my love of all things white, casual, cottage and shabby.  I can't explain how inspired and purposeful I felt looking at every square inch of shabby chic goodness.  I finally did leave her store with a handful of adorable robins eggs.  What Jenny doesn't know - is on that day she not only handed me my perfectly wrapped little bag of goodies, she gave me inspiration, purpose and a happiness I hadn't felt in some time. It was that very same week I started my blog.  I'm so grateful...Thank you Jenny.

Ok I digress ;-) enough about me, here we go:

When and what inspired you to open your store?

Other lovely stores.  I fell in love along time ago with a beautiful shop called White On White and everything changed from that second on, I went home painted EVERYTHING white and have not looked back.  People used to come into my home and say you should do this for a living, interior design isn't really where my heart is, it's creating a shop that inspires others to fill there home with beautiful finds, and NOT breaking the bank.

Photo:  City.Cottage

What advice would you give to someone wanting to open a shop?

Do it, dont give up and be patient and if its in the stars for you, it will happen. Also I believe it is a wonderful thing to do something different, that no one has in your town or city, that is what sets you apart and keeps the people coming back.

What is your favourite room in your home?

Well, I just moved into a great loft, with exposed brick, high ceilings and wood floors. It has been super fun finding unique stuff for my own home, and it's a work in progress.  I plan to post it all when I'm done. Recently I found the shabby-est old cubby on Kijij for $60 - dragged it home,  took 5 hours peeling, scraping , cleaning and painting it. Now I am in love with her.  I think you should love every room in your home and make it a place to retreat to.  I think that's why I love Cottage/farmhouse style so much.

When not running your business how do you like to spend your time?

Running my business, lol
Its a labor of love, when you own your own anything in life, it makes it hard to put it on the back burner. But it's all worth it in the end. I do not order anything for the shop, I find it all , paint it all and pull it all together. Thats the fun part for me, seeing it all together at the end of the day, and then seeing someone love it as much as I do in there own home.

Photo: City.Cottage

 

Photo:  City.Cottage

Photo: By Me

44 King Street East, Bowmanville, Ontario