My cottage bathroom (and some more answers)

I got the nicest comment today:

scone has left a new comment on your post "OY VE!!!Q&A Tuesday---Betsy answers it all!!! (sor...": 

It's really nice of you to give free decorating advice, but I think you are going to get overwhelmed. What if you offered a "design consulting" service, where the homeowner implements the solution, and then sends you photos for discussion on your blog? That way you would make a little cash out of it, and well deserved IMO. 

What do you guys think??

I kind of like giving free advice, 'cuz then, if you don't like it, you can't yell at me.

I am so clueless about abbreviations in blogland, that I had to google IMO. FYI, it means "in my opinion". 

She's right, though. I am getting a little overwhelmed. I will answer one or two more today, and then that's it for this week. It may not seem like it, but I actually put a lot of thought into my answers. 

BUT FIRST!!!!!

I want to show some pretty pictures. I spend so much time on the questions and answers, (wah, wah, poor me), that I don't get to show off my stuff!!!!!

photo by Eric Roth for House Beautiful Magazine

This is a photo of my bathroom in my Watertown Cottage. I forgot to show it to you guys.

Check out my toilet tank cover!!!!!!!

It is original to the house. I LOVE IT!!!!!

It is chrome with a gallery rail running around the top!!

I wish they made stuff with that kind of detailing in this day and age.

I almost took it with me when I sold the house, but that would have been tres tacky.

So to continue the look of the gallery rail, I added three shelves over the toilet.

Then.......

I stuffed the shelves full of silver plated goodies

(that I never bothered to polish)

(I hate polishing silver)

(but, I love silver)

OY!!!!!

This was in the days that I wore makeup, so I kept the overflow of my paints and powders in the containers.

This is my medicine cabinet. It was in Watertown, but not anymore. THIS I took with me to my condo.

I had it made, using a Venetian mirror as the door. 

My buddies at Masterpiece Woodworks made it up for me. The sides of the cabinet are covered in mirror,

  to match the front.

I am a girlie girl!! Yes in deedie do!!

Like how blurry the picture is????

This is what happens when you blow up a picture trying to get a good detail shot. 

You really shouldn't do this. Not at all. No.

(but I wanted you to pay attention to the wall sconce.)

I LOVE IT!!!!!

It was a present from a client

 (and obviously, she had become a friend, because she gave it to me, even though she liked it too, but when I saw it, the look on my face of pure unadulterated lust, must have convinced her, that even though she liked it,

I HAD TO HAVE IT!!!)

Now that I've discovered ebay, I have been able to find more of these, so I found one that sort of matches, to make a pair on either side of my medicine cabinet in my new bathroom!

AND THEN.......

When the wallpaper guy was installing the wallpaper, and went to rehang the sconce........

(yep, you can see where this is going)

HE BROKE THE @#$ THING!!!!!

Sooooooooooooooo.......

I went back on ebay, and kept looking.........

and looking.............

and looking.............

And by buying two, and taking them apart and reassembling two into one......

I was able to rematch my

original

beautiful

spectacular

 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SCONCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK, back to a question.

ONLY BECAUSE THIS WOMAN HAS BEEN HOUNDING ME DAY AND NIGHT.

Don't think that will now work for anyone else. My compassion has been all used up.

And on top of that, she has the same name I do......

And she's very generous (she gave Amy Chalmers  those beeoutiful blue opalescent drops for her living room chandelier)

Maison Decor

Soooooooooooooo....................

this is her question.....

......we moved in a short time ago and I am super excited to have a first floor master bedroom !  My problem is I am stumped by this narrow hallway and what to do with it?  At first I thought maybe some shallow bookcases on one side, but Big Daddy is so finished with updating and spending on this new-old house.....new windows, floors, trim, doors, bathrooms, hardware, etc....

My brains are fried at this point and would love a pro like you to make the decorating call so I can order some white matchstick blinds, slip covers and call it a day !!!

Thanks for the help if you can !  I am crossing my fingers you choose my question !!!

:) Another Betsy

Then, because I didn't answer right away, she sent me this

Dear Betsy,

Just wanted you to know I have nothing to live for and might end it  
all if you can't find a solution to my hallway problem, but No  
pressure...
;)
The other Betsy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So this is my answer......

I can't tell how wide the hallway is.....

But if it's 36" or less, you really shouldn't put anything in it to make it a smaller passageway.

With that being said......

I always break my rules.

In my Watertown cottage, I had a long narrow hall, although I believe it is a little wider than yours. 

BUT

I squashed a chest against the wall.

photo by Eric Roth for House Beautiful Magazine

I know, what a useless picture.

You can't tell the chest is in a narrow hall.

Well...

TAKE MY WORD FOR IT!!!!!

It is.

So this is what I would do in your hall.....

photo by Brantley Photography

This is a picture of the bedroom in my old West Palm Beach bungalow 

(not the house I live in; I sold this little house)

Put a narrow piece of furniture like this, and then hang a bunch of #$#% over it.

It will make the space feel cozy, without making it too narrow.

I love these quirky little bookcases. 

They are visually interesting and give you another surface to put more STUFF on!!!!!

Ballard Design has this one.

They used to have one that looked a lot like mine in the picture above, but this next photo is what they are selling now. Not my favorite.

However..........

It is narrow, 14"d, so it might work for you.

It comes in a rubbed white finish.

Orrrrr.......

Do what I did, go junk shopping and check on ebay, maybe you'll find an old one.

Amy Chalmers told me you used Susy to decorate your house. She and I won Traditional Home Magazine design awards the same year.

If you can afford her, have the damn thing built to any style you want!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One last question............

Diana has left a new comment on your post "OY VEY!!! Q&A!!! Tuesday":

I just happened upon your blog, and am following, because you are way funny! I do have a question (I have a blog, too, but do not have pictures of this dilemma). Our house was built in the mid 70's and has grasscloth on the walls of the foyer and the stairwell. Since all the wallpaper we have stripped was evidently applied to unprimed walls, I assume this grasscloth was also applied to unprimed walls. How can we get it off? Can it come off? Are there easier alternatives to getting it off? The grasscloth is extremely worn and frayed where it wraps around corners and in other areas -- so I'm not sure painting would help. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course there are easier ways!!!!!

This is how I always did it, and believe me it is 

SOOOOOOOOOOO 

easy!!!!

I would meet the workmen at around 8:00 in the morning at the job site.

I would point at a wall and say

"Please take the wallpaper off that wall."

When I came back in the afternoon, the wallpaper would be gone!!!!!

If that didn't help, the next thing I would do, is google how to do it. 

But I've been typing a long time now, so I'll leave that up to you.

Don't forget folks.....

Tomorrow I announce who won the digital scrap book software give away!

Betsy

linking to:

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My readers can't follow!!!!!!!

Oy Vey!!!!!

The folks who read my blog probably run with scissors,

  and...

ride a bike without a helmet

and...

cross in the middle of the block.....

BECAUSE

they can't  follow instructions!!!!!!!!

I am going to put off choosing the winner of my fabulous

give away, because the only one who entered the contest properly is Amy Chalmers, and I can't really pick her as a winner (and Amy isn't too happy about this) because everyone would think that I was playing favorites.

Sooooooooooooooo............I am extending the time to enter until next Thursday, when I will announce the lucky guy. 

For those of you just tuning in......

this is a give away for some great digital scrapbooking software, called My Memories. 

Check out my blog post to see some of the great things you can do with it.

NOW.....

YOU MUST BE A FOLLOWER TO WIN!!!!!!

Everyone who entered (other than Amy) hadn't signed up as one of my beloved and cherished followers.

This is non-negotiable.....

I am a meany.....

I want more followers and I am going to get me some 

one way or another!!!!!

Lets go over the rules again, if you haven't entered and still want to;

Go visit the digital scrap booking  site: www.MyMemories.com. and 

choose your favorite

 digital paper pack or layout, then comment down below telling me which

 ones you liked.

I will tell who the lucky winner is on Thursday.

Just remember, if you don't win, you can still get a discount by clicking 

on the coupon on 

my sidebar at the right, and enter this code for the 

discount...STMMMS1372

It's best to copy and paste the code for accuracy, at

least that's what My Memories suggests.

Now.....

If you already left a comment on last weeks blog post, 

you just need to become a follower of this blog, no


 grudges held,

no hard feelings, no sore egos, no injured pride, really...everything is JUST fine.

Whew!!!!!

Now, lets get to some decoratin'!!!




Once again, Blogger is messing up the line spacing in 


the middle of one of my posts.
AARRGGGGG!!!!!

Today I am going to finish up the story about the Cape

Cod decorator show

house from 1998. 

There was a little bathroom off the bedroom that I 

wasn't really thrilled to do. 

June and I considered just closing the door to the space  

and ignoring it, but the powers that be (were?)

wanted it decorated too, so we girded our respective 

loans....

(meaning, June let me figure it out)

and tackled the nasty space.

Since this was a showhouse, practicality wasn't a high priority. 

As a matter of fact......

It had no priority at all.

Soooooooooooooo

This is what we ended up with.....

Boston Globe Design Magazine

We took the toilet out!!!!! (plugging up the hole, so no lovely smell of sewer gas should add it's distinctive flavor to the rooms ambiance.)

(Don't worry after the showhouse we had it  re-installed).....

Where was I....

Oh, yeah,....

We took the toilet out to make room for some good decoratin' stuff!!!!

Like a pretty chair!

Because everyone  knows...

Betsy's rule on showhouse decorating:

Chairs photograph better than toilets!!!!!

This is the before shot.....

I posted the finished picture first, so that's what would show up in other blogs, but I really should have posted the before first. 

Because everyone knows....

The before comes before the after!!

the lovely before shot.  PUT DOWN THE TOILET SEAT!

The pictures were hung from vintage looking glass knobs.

( OMG...I've been trying to think of something interesting to hang over my guest bath shower/tub..... This is a senior head slap moment.....I'm going to do this picture treatment!!!! YAY!!!! Seeeee....If I hadn't been writing this blog, I wouldn't have been going over these old pictures, and I NEVER would have remembered doing this!!!!!)

It's a really nice way to frame a print or water color. Use a stiff white board  for a backing, cut it to the finished size you want and paint it the color you want the matt to be. Have a piece of plexie cut the same size. Drill small holes at the four corners. Sandwich the artwork between the two and attach the whole shebang together with the little plastic flowers mirror guys use to attach mirrors to a wall.

like these.....

Then hang the piece with either grosgrain ribbon or a small chain from knobs like these....

Jeesh.....

I'm sharing some really choice stuff with you guys.

Then.....

we had to figure out what to do with the sad little worn out sink...

Sooooooooooo

We did what any seasoned decorator would do....

WE COVERED IT UP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!!!

Boston Globe Design Magazine

So that's today's story. 

I didn't get many questions this week, so I will combine last weeks overflow with this weeks new ones for next weeks OY YEY!!! Q&A!!! TUESDAY.

Don't forget to enter the @#$ contest!!!

Betsy

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