Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind The Blogger



Susan from Must Love Junk, and myself (Kris) Junk Chic Cottage wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.
There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Susan's and my blog. 

Saturday March 1st




Good Saturday Morning Everyone.  It gives me great pleasure again this week to introduce you to another fabulous blogger.
Cindy from Dwellings-The Heart Of Your Home.  Cindy is not only sweet and talented she hosts a fabulous party on her blog called Amaze Me Monday. Take some time to get to know her on a more personal level and then head over to check out her lovely blog.





Hi, I'm Cindy and my blog is Dwellings~The Heart of Your Home.

I was honored when Kris asked me to be a part of her "life behind the blogger" series.
On my blog I share about living in the South,
gardening,
home tours,
fluffing my nest,
home remodeling projects,
and more.
It wasn't until I began writing for this series that I realized my ease in sharing about all of the above, but was at a loss and a bit shy in sharing about my personal life.  Thank you Kris, for inviting me to be a part of your series, and for helping me to step out of my comfort zone.

I'm a Southern girl.  Born in Virginia, we moved to Savannah Georgia during my early elementary years and then to North Carolina in early 1970.  My brother is six years younger and I have twin sisters, not identical, who are four years older.

This is me at 5 years old, I still have this dress!

It was my grandmother who most influenced my interest in decorating, collecting, housekeeping, and gardening.  Growing up, when changing the decor wasn't an option, I would swap rooms to change things up by moving my little brother's things into my old room, and my things into his room, and would then add a little color to the walls with paint.  Mom would come home to find the bedrooms had been swapped and was amazed how someone so tiny could move all that furniture with no help.  Where there's a will, there's a way...I still live by that motto!


My family is my heart.
Since I can't introduce you to all my family, you have to meet my mother...the rock of our family.  Within these past two years she has been diagnosed with breast cancer, undergone a double mastectomy, removal of ovaries, chemotherapy, radiation, and most recently a severe case of the Shingles virus, and she still smiles that big, sweet, smile!  My mom is the most amazing lady...

Christmas 2013


My dad.
I do believe I've always been his biggest fan.
From a tiny girl to this very day, dad has always had a special place in my heart!

Dad and me at my daughter's wedding rehearsal dinner.


My babies are all grown up and living on their own.  Yes, they'll always be my babies!
Our son travels for his modeling career, but still lives close by.  My only rule...you must always live close to your momma!

Our son ~ 2014

Our daughter works in the family business so I get to see her every day.  She and her husband recently celebrated their one year wedding anniversary and moved into their new home, which is only three minutes up the road.  Yippee!

Our daughter, son-in-law, and grand-pups; Daisy and Max.


Our Fur Babies...

Coco                                                                  Bella                                                                Jet  


Our Malti-Pom, Ellie-Mae


I can't speak of my life without giving thanks to my God for His grace and provision for me and my children.  Life is often difficult.  There are trials and hardships each of us experience, but God is always faithful; always good.  "...I will never leave or forsake you."  Joshua 1:5


My husband is my best friend and we are like two peas in a pod!  We both enjoy spending time with family, antiquing, long walks, sipping coffee on the porch, and the list goes on.  He is so loving and kind, he sees my passion to fluff our nest and garden as noble, he assigns me value; I am truly blessed!  We recently celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.

Mr. Heart and me at our daughter's wedding in September 2012.


Oh yeah, we love to camp too!  Here's our Home Away From Home.

Our Camper

How did I begin blogging?
Years ago, I was searching online and found a couple of websites that I began visiting from time to time.  It was fun seeing how they decorated their mantle, set their table and folded their napkins, and cleaned those stubborn stains off their rugs.  Before I knew it, I was hitting the publish button for the first time on my own blog.  It has been over three years ago now that I began blogging about my life, home and passions.

Our home is decorated with antiques, vintage finds, family heirlooms, and a sprinkling of new here and there.  With touches of English, French, and colonial style, the pieces that speak to me are the ones that find a place in our home.  We have a deep appreciation for historic homes, so as we remodel ours we look for ways to incorporate details from days gone by.


A table skirt I sewed for the den.


Pillows and window treatments too.



Stitch work.



An antique empire chest Mr. Heart and I found at the auction.


Gardening ~ Always nice bringing the outdoors in.



There is always an abundance of beauty and intrigue in the garden.



DIY Projects



Remodeling Our Home
Stone Front Porch ~ Slate Porch Tiles ~ Guest Bath Remodel ~ Brazilian Cherry Hardwood Floors ~ Beveled Glass Double Doors


I hope you will come by for a visit.  We are currently working on our biggest remodeling project so far, relocating our tiny and outdated kitchen into another area of the house to create the kitchen of my dreams.  You're invited to follow along and are always welcome at Dwellings ~ The Heart of Your Home!

Blessings,
Cindy



Thank you Cindy for stepping outside your comfort zone and letting us get to know you better.  You have a beautiful family. So happy to have gotten to know you better.
Now that you have gotten to know Cindy on my blog please head over to Susan's blog and meet another fabulous blogger Diane from Lavender Dreams.
Have a great week end.
Kris
:)

Be Our Guest

Good Morning.  Happy Week End


I would like to show you my guest room redo $0 dollars spent.







This is as you enter the guest cottage bedroom.




I used this old vintage mailbox I had to add some fun to the entry door to the guest room.








I had this Ikea Chair with white slipcover.  I added a ruffle pillow to the back of the chair.  The french market basket I will use to put throws and towels for my guests.










On this long wall I added an old chippy coat hanger that I had in storage from when I redid the bathroom.









It will make a nice place for my guest to hang items on.





I had this old drawer front so I hung it above the window to give the window a little bling.




Also framing out the window is these old chippy shutters that I had.






I love the way these chippy shutters frame this window.




Moved this little dresser from the living room into the guest room.



Shopped the house for things to put on top of the dresser.





I have the cascading ruffles on the bedspread and then the Ikea checked duvet.





Gotta add lot's of fun pillows on the bed.  Used one of my old chippy doors for a headboard.



There you have it.  Just shopped the house and moved the furniture around and added things I already had to get a whole new look to the guest room.  No money spent.




My guest room is ready for company.
Hope you had a wonderful week end.
Have a great start to the new week.
Kris
:)

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Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger



Susan from Must Love Junk, and myself (Kris) Junk Chic Cottage wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.
There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Susan's and my blog. 

Saturday February 22nd
Julie from Restyle Relove 


Blogland is such a wonderful place to meet and become friends with people from all over the world that you probably would never have meet without it.  I have met and come to know a beautiful blogger from down under that I would love to introduce you to.  Her name is Julie and she blogs at Restyle Relove in Sydney Australia.  So sit back and enjoying reading about this wonderful and talented blogger that is miles away put close at heart.  Julie shares my love of neutral decor and reloving and repurposing.



Thanks Kris for inviting me to share a bit about myself on your amazing and inspiring blog.

If you read my blog, you will know it is rare for me to speak about my personal or family life.   I like to think of my blog as my creative outlet.  But when you follow people or blogs for long periods of time and admire the people who write those blogs, it's hard not to get a little personal.  So here is a little about me, my family, and how I got here. :)

I live in a north western suburb of Sydney, Australia, with my husband and 2 young children. I'm a full time Mum and a part time Furniture Restyler.



My daughter's fairy/pirate birthday party last year.
Prior to having our children I worked as a Personal Assistant in the Legal Industry. When our daughter was born I enjoyed motherhood too much to return to an office job. I'd always been creative and now I was able to expand on this instead. I began making and selling nursery decor.  A year later I was expecting our second child.

Shortly after my son was born, I began sewing vintage style soft baby toys which I sold through a retail store.  But after sitting up nights on end sewing, I soon realized I needed the sleep more than we needed the extra income.

A year later, we purchased our first real home, having owed an apartment and rented in the years prior. What drew me to this house was the abundance of white plantation shutters on the windows. It was love at first sight.


The day we signed the purchase contract on our first home.
Otherwise the house was a blank canvas and this is where I started following home decorating blogs and finding online inspiration from other thrifty and creative people, especially Kris at Junk Chic Cottage! This lead me to posting my own online blog following my decorating and crafting adventures.

It also lead me to turning my furniture restyles into a part time business, enabling me continue working from home whilst caring for my children. 

It took me 4 years to discover my personal decorating style, but now I realize that I tend to gravitate towards farmhouse decorating using lots of whites and neutral tones.



Like all DIYers, I'm constantly painting something, moving something, or restyling something.

When I am not thrifting or restyling or blogging or doing mummy things, I love to work on my green thumb in the garden. I love flowers and love to grow my own. I'm no expert, but I'm working on it. :)

Thank you again Kris for spotlighting me, and to your lovely followers for reading my story.


Julie thanks for sharing the more personal side of yourself with us and letting us get to know more about you.  It was fun to see you with your beautiful family.  Now that you have learned a little bit about Julie hop over to Susan's blog and learn about another fun blogger Angela from Number 53.  Have a great Saturday.
Kris :)

Repurpose Dresser to Table Apron

New start to the week.  Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Week end.

Terry and I went junkin yesterday just to get out of the house and have a fun day together looking in some cute shops I have not been too in awhile.


Anne from White Lace Cottage told me about this cute little place just a short distance North of where I live.  Wooo Hooo lots of cute treasures in this shop.  You can see how much snow we have been getting here in the suburbs of Chicago!

Not too far from the Country Church shop is another cute shop.  The Market House.  Sara and her mom own this shop and I see them from time to time at the flea market too.  They are the sweetest and have some beautiful treasures in this shop.

Another great stop on our junkin trip was d Christine's.  This is where I scored that a couple of great pieces.  The dresser below in the post is from this great shop.  I also scored a beautiful door that I will show in a later post.


Ok let's get on to the post.......

Remember the whole what do I do with the table top of my farm dining table!! Well after many stain samples that were not working I ended up painting it white.  You can check out my post on the table drama here and here.



It still needed a little something to give her some character.
While Junkin yesterday we came upon this great piece at d Christine's.  The drawers did not work anymore and were falling apart on the inside and missing pieces but I still loved it.  So it came home with me and I had a vision for repurposing this piece.  I know this looks like a great piece but trust me it was rotting inside the drawers and the piece was falling apart.  It would have had to be completely rebuilt so I got the piece for my vision of repurposing the drawer fronts.
So Terry took the drawer fronts off  and cut them in half and I repurposed them as a new table apron around this farmhouse table.

Love the chippy sweet feel they give to this farmhouse table.

Used the bottom half of the drawers to make the end pieces for the table apron.



Love the patina and the details of each of the drawers.

I think it gave this plan white farm table some character.




Other side of table.




My assistant Libby!
So there you have it.  Drawer fronts repurposed to bling up this table.
Hope your week is fabulous.
Kris
:)
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