This past week was a big downer.  Found out our 16 1/2 year old kitty has lymphoma.  The vet expects him to have another 3-4 weeks.  The only possible treatment is chemo, and I am not going to put a geriatric cat through that. 

I covered his belly for the picture since it is still shaven from his ultrasound.  He's doing very well though, all things considered.  He had stopped eating almost completely but with a combination of appetite stimulants, syringe feeding, sub-q fluids and predisone, he is eating (and eliminating) normally again. 
Took some updated pics w/ the new camera this weekend.  Still on auto as I didn't have much time or energy to play around w/ the settings.  New from the last set of pics: we got a piece of glass for the table behind the sofa, got the TV service started, upholstered the bench by the bed, painted and upholstered the desk chair, painted the desk, got a piece of mirror for the dark frame that will go over the desk, got a larger flamingo picture, and hung a few more things on the walls. 

Next weekend I hope to hang all the curtains.  We're putting a panel on the wall behind the bed, in the spaces between the large door/windows in the front room, over the small bathroom window, and over the shelves above the laundry.  Still waiting on the living room rug; last word was it should ship next week.

Well the Tarpon cottage has really come along.  We painted the entire place (save for some touch up in the bathroom) and have all the furniture in except for this rug still on order.   It was supposed to ship the end of Sept and is now delayed until mid-Nov.  I will be pretty fired up if I wait this long and it winds up being canceled so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's just a delay.

I'll show the pics I took this weekend and then describe what is still to be done.  There's quite a bit but fortunately I will be working on it during the week at home in Tampa and not trying to fit it in while down in Matlacha.

Here is the front room, i.e. second or spare bedroom.  The doorway is to the left of the first picture.  We will move the fishing poles when we start to rent this out.  I think we may also paint the futon frame white or maybe espresso.

The fabric hanging is what I have on order to make curtains.  I'll hang 2 skinny panels to hang between the windows (to the left of where the fabric is in the pic).  They will be mostly for decoration but will function to cover the windows if desired.  Also those large dark fish on the floor will become wall art once I get the hanger things for them.

The flamingo picture is too small; we will get a larger one and/or fill in w/ other art.  There will be a mirror hanging over the desk.

The desk and chair are now in the garage waiting for primer and paint.   I am torn between a look like this

orange desk, white chair, turquoise and white fabric.

OR

white desk, orange chair, this for the seat (only on the reverse side where it's white w/ orange dots).

Onto the great room.  Still missing the above referenced rug, the pictures need to be hung, and I'll probably add another set of throw pillows on the couch.  I reupholstered the ottoman this weekend though and I'm lovin it!  Also didn't show the part of the room by the door as it was messy.  The table behind the couch is pending a new piece of glass and there is a plain board on it to hold things.  Also....I have to find a new light for over the island if I can't find replacement covers.  They are currently cobalt blue and while they don't bother the husband, I am way too AR to see past them in this color scheme.  In a perfect world I would have more neutral tile in the kitchen and bath too (or maybe I would have planned my colors around what is there, but that would have been too easy).

And the bedroom - the footstool is not upholstered yet i just have the fabric laying on it.  A few more pictures and there's really not much else to do in there.  Actually I take that back.  The more I look at these pics the more I want to see some fabric behind the bed.  The wall is small enough that maybe I'll hang curtains across the whole thing.

I might need to paint the wooden frame around that window white.  There's also no way to center the bed on the window and have a reasonable amount of room to get in/out of bed on that side.  So off-center it is and AR be dammed.

I got a new camera today - the Canon G11.  I am so excited and anticipate future pictures will look much better.  They better, anyway... that's how I sold the camera purchase to Chris :)

Narrowing down decor plans - Boutique edition

Again....after months of thinking and planning, here's what has been narrowed down for the boutique.  We won't be able to paint until the owners move all the way out, but the weekend of August 5th it will be full steam ahead.

I've been really loving the striped paint look - not w/ 2 different colors, but with the tone on tone using different finishes.  I plan to do a matte light yellow with glossy yellow stripes.  Like this

but with a color like this

One of the things I've always envisioned since we started these plans was to have a seating area for husbands, tired friends, etc.  Since the Ikea chairs are small, comfortable enough (but not so comfortable people will want to sit there all day, haha), and have washable covers, these will fit the bill. 

with this as the coffee table/ottoman

and, if it fits, I may use this rug underneath, if not,then maybe just a plain seagrass type.

Not certain what we're using for shelves yet.  I have 5 bookcases in our house now that might work, or we will consider these type of units from Ikea.

We may also need to consider some sort of shelving units for some of the art.  Last night I met with one of my artists and she has some beautiful platters that will best be displayed on a shallow shelf with an edge to secure them against the wall.  Plan to look into that.  Also just realized I could probably add a piece of moulding to the top of this unit; that might work too.

Speaking of the artist, her name is Mary and here's a sneak peek at some of her pieces I'll have for sale!

See more of her work at http://mermaidenclayart.blogspot.com/

As for boutique decor, the photography we'll have will take up some wall space, but I plan to put some of these things up. 

I love how the globes look like bubbles.  I don't plan to put them in a circle but maybe in more of a random pattern throughout.

And finally, I've been waiting to share some of the clothing inventory.  I still don't have pictures, but here is a list of brands we'll be carrying.  Sizes will be 0-18, XS through XXL.  Some brands will only be a piece or two, but many brands will be prominent throughout the sizes.

• Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft
• Banana Republic
• J Crew
• Gap
• Old Navy
• Forever 21
• NY & Co
• Bebe
• Abercrombie and Fitch
• American Eagle
• Talbots
• Ralph Lauren
• Tommy Hilfiger
• Lucky
• Paige Premium Denim
• Limited
• INC
• Liz Claiborne
• Michael Kors
• Calvin Klein
• White House Black Market
• Express
• Caite
• XOXO
• DKNY

And adding more each week!

Narrowing down decor plans - Key West Cottage edition

It appears after months of searching, surfing, and planning, we might have the Key West Cottage almost "finished".  I tortured Chris by taking him to Ikea this weekend to get his opinion on the two biggest purchases for the cottage; the bed and the couch.  We came to a decision pretty easily. 

So: here are the plans.  Some pics I used for inspiration can be found here.

Out front we'll put the two refurbished directors chairs.  I'll probably pick up a used (white) table from somewhere to put between.

The first room in the cottage is the kitchen/dining area.  I plan to use a seagrass type rug like this one under the dining set we have (which is pending some white paint).

I'll cover the chair seats with something like this

Then to the left will be the dresser I'll paint turquoise; similar to this one

with a mirror over it; probably painted gray or, if I use the bamboo one we have, which is pale yellow, i'll see if that color works before painting

Next up is the living room.  I plan to use this rug

under this couch

across from two of these chairs

with a white coffee table

and yellow end tables

And the TV on top of this (also pending fresh paint)

If we use lamps, i have one like this.



I'll have a desk and chair in the corner, but I'm still debating on whether to keep white or paint.  For now, I plan to leave the walls white.  When we close on the property (and therefore don't have to worry about returning anything to it's original condition), I plan to paint their wood trim white.  After that I will paint the walls either a pale yellow or gray. 

For the bedroom we'll get this bed

with this headboard if it fits. 

If not, I'll make a thin padded headboard w/ fabric and we'll put up shelves for nightstands.  Similar to this.

I have two rugs similar to this to flank the bed

And we are keeping the bedding all white so it can be bleached.  I'll add some pillows for color and paint the walls in the small bedroom either yellow, gray, or light turquoise.  TBD.