A Look Back at August
August is historically my least favorite month. While many celebrate the return to school, I truly miss the noise of a full house and lazy days without the pressure of an alarm clock to get the day started. August sort of appeared out of nowhere and honestly seems to have left just as fast. So we’re looking back at this past month at the cottage and sharing what we’ve been up to.
Rob Keeps Busy
Rob spent the majority of the month working on a client design project. His goal was to build a well house that matched the exterior of the client’s cedar-sided home. It’s beautiful, and filled with special storage feature for the family since they are short on space.
Work is also proceeding on the Fallen Oak Cottage move. At this point, while we wait for engineering to come back, all we can really do is work slowly on removing the porches from the house. Because Rob is officially done with the well house project, I assume work will pick up pretty steadily on the porch removal.
Once the porches are removed, we’ll store them on the property to eventually reattach once the house is moved.
He’s waiting a bit longer before beginning to demolish the existing structure on the Fallen Oak Cottage property. For starters, it’s just been so brutally hot. And that kind of super dirty work would be better done once it cools down. He also has a wife who will be way more willing to help if it doesn’t feel like we’re working on the surface of the sun.
Master Bedroom Refresh
Our master bedroom is probably the most neglected room in our house. I would imagine it’s that way in homes across the world. But this month, an incredible thrift store find coupled with a pocket of time to finish a little DIY project means our master bedroom is pretty close to being our favorite room in the house!
I finally made some time to fix the ugly little shelf we thrifted back in the spring. The previous owners had screwed it directly into the wall, so it needed some wood filler and a fresh coat of paint. While I was at it, I thought it would be so perfect to add some little pegs to hang vintage treasures from all year.
It’s just the sweetest little addition to the room. Changing out the decor from season to season will be so fun.
We were able to thrift a set of braided rugs, which I think already look incredible with the blue accents in the room. But I think when we add the accidental flannel comforter this fall, the room will really sing. Fresh off the excitement of that find, we finally got around to hanging our tablecloth curtains we’ve had sitting in the corner since January. The entire space just oozes coziness now. I just love being in there.
The Never-ending Kitchen Project Continues
Followers who have been with us here from the very beginning know that our kitchen will probably never be fully “done.” It’s a project we’ve stretched out across years for budget reasons. But I continue to be so thankful for the slow pace because it’s really allowed me to intentionally make changes that I am more apt to love long term.
The house has needed a fresh coat of paint since we moved in, and it’s finally going to get that! We decided this month to go with Sherwin Williams Kilim Beige. I’m hoping I can get an extended span of time some time in the next few weeks to make some serious project in the kitchen.
I’m so inspired by color right now. And I especially love taking a page from American colonialism style’s playbook and considering reverse trim. I actually had someone the other day give me a hard time on Facebook about this being a “trend.” If it is, I honestly haven’t noticed.
I painted the dark green from our kitchen cabinets onto the trim around the window above the sink. I’ve sat with it for about two weeks now and absolutely love it. I was really stuck for awhile about what to do with the swinging door that leads into the library, but I think I’ve officially decided to strip it. That also sounds like a way better cool weather project.
Our Brush with a Major Hurricane
Just as we were getting ready to transition our cottage to fall, we were threatened by a major hurricane. The forecast pretty consistently kept its landfall forecast north of us, but some really scary storm surge predictions had my community rattled and seriously preparing.
And of course, our little Fallen Oak Cottage sits right in an area of identified as a surge zone. There wasn’t really a ton we could do to prepare; a house is either going to flood or it’s not. And when those storm surge forecasts became a reality despite the fact that the storm came ashore some 80 miles north of us, the water actually traveled several blocks beyond Fallen Oak Cottage. Thankfully, its block foundation lifted it up enough to avoid flood water. We’re so deeply grateful that our project can continue.
Quite a few members of our community weren’t so lucky. The storm surge total looks to be about seven feet, which is about a foot higher than the storm surge our town got in a freak March hurricane-like storm thirty years ago that locals refer to as the No Name Storm. Business are shut down. People have been forced from their homes. While we are relieved for good news related to our little project, we feel such deep sadness for the suffering of friends and family who were not so lucky.
We’ve been told that the permitting process for our community will be quite backed up for awhile as flooded areas are prioritized, but we thankfully have one of the two permits we need to move forward with the project and plenty to keep us busy on that front before the other permit becomes necessary.
Our September Project Wishlist
- Porches removed from Fallen Oak Cottage
- Kitchen and sun room completely painted
- Fall Garden Planted
- The cottage decorated for fall
- Some fun fall handmade decor featuring repurposed linens
We hope you’ll continue to keep it right here as we start to focus more on inspiration for fall.
