"I want to think quietly, calmly, spaciously, never to be interrupted, never to have to rise from my chair, to slip easily from one thing to another, without any sense of hostility, or obstacle." ~ from The Mark on the Wall, by Virginia Woolf
The purpose of my Summer Serenity Cottage is contemplation, relaxation, decoration!
My regular beloved home in downtown Chicago is nearing year two of various roof problems which severely diminish quality of life through noise and vibration, caused mainly by faulty roof installation and repair, so I'm renting an adorable 1,700 square foot "fixer" of a house that was built in 1906, and decorating it in Great Lakes style, to escape the turmoil for the summer.
If I have overnight guests, they can enjoy serenity too, and will have a room of their own (and bathroom of their own) to enjoy when not enjoying the rest of the cottage with sweet Jorji the cat and me!
Here I am outside the guest bedroom; let's go in!
Before
The room I decided to turn into a guest room is off of the dining room (as is the cat room; post to come!), with the living room to the left, and came with a window with dirty blinds that fell down -- good: I didn't want to look at those filthy flimsy blinds, didn't want guests to have to look at them, and stashed them away. The room also has a closet with no door -- also good: I could do matching curtains on window and door space.
First step: I ordered a simple white wood daybed from Wayfair, to harmonize with my beach cottage theme. Sweet Jorji the cat supervised its assembly by the very capable, clean, and courteous handyman, Johnny, whom I've hired through TaskRabbit for several projects at the cottage.
Intermediate
I found that I kept rearranging and redecorating the guest room, experimenting to find what would click and have the right energy, as the house itself has such good energy.
Here is a peek from outside the guest room again, looking in from the dining room, with Jorji's cat tree -- and Jorji -- stationed in the dining room.
The picture I hung on the guest room wall that you see below was a $3
street sale find, framed. I like its coastal interpretation.
The vase with its blue-and-aqua-on-white waves was also a street sale find ($1). The gold base ties in with other gold elements I would soon add to the room, and the free-form wave design plays with the chevron-patterned curtains I brought in. The chair came from the same street sale ($25 for 4) as picture and vase.
I bought the white folding desk from a friend who was selling it -- its open nature and simple design work with the airy beach feel of the cottage -- added some more decor items, and the room started to come together.
I experimented with this corner, with the walls, and with the guest room overall. At first I thought I might give it a poetry-and-Harvard theme, in sort of a guest room / library concept, within the overall Great Lakes theme of the house.
The wall on the right posed interesting challenges; it seems to have a lot of metal and studs behind it, and a Poetry Foundation poster of Gwendolyn Brooks that I framed myself jumped off of the wall and crashed to the ground, as I didn't anchor it well enough, or as the house needed the soothing wall covering which I was soon to find!
The wall was also particularly dirty and scarred, and, like other walls inside the house as well as like the exterior of the house, has peeling paint (the owner of the house is a semi-retired housepainter; peeling paint was somehow not something I expected!). I scrubbed all of the walls in the cottage -- if you've been reading this blog for a while, you might remember the layers of
grime and let's just call it "whatnot" I scrubbed through, as I was not able to find a cleaning service to tackle this (why not?) -- and this wall was especially difficult to clean. Even after washing, marks remain throughout the cottage, including prominent marks on this wall.
I played with lighter and softer hangings for a while.
I chose these cotton curtains by West Elm for windows a couple of apartments ago, saved them, and brought them back into use here at the cottage; I hung one the guest room window, and one is now the closet "door!"
I keep this textile door ajar so that sweet Jorji the cat can saunter in and relax in a box inside the closet; if you know cats you know how exquisite such an arrangement can be for a feline!
I experimented with this wall too, hanging first a delightful drawing from a fabulous friend from college who is a professor, researcher, and artist of spiders who also teaches kids about
spider superheroes; a nautical-themed fabric and mixed media piece by yours truly; and a shell mirror; all of which I had at my regular place.
My mother mentioned that she likes blue and yellow, and so do I, so I chose yellow as the guest room's special color to add to the blue-and-white of my overall color scheme.
I made a tie-back for the window curtain with a simple piece of yellow
grosgrain ribbon, tied some additional ribbons for decor, and slipped one on as a fabric bracelet; why not!
Also below: Jorji takes over this new part of her domain.
Here is a view into the guest room at that stage, again from the dining room, with the
living room to the left.
Why bother with curtain rods when tacking up the curtains with hammer and nails is so cottage-simple and cottage-chic?
In my opinion, a good guest room (any good room) contains books! Sometimes books are the room! Why not make an entire house, or cottage, a library? Here is a
post on the books I have at the cottage, and how I chose them. How to keep the pages from curling in the humidity is an additional endeavor!
After
The solution I'm happiest with for the challenging wall is covering part of it with "renter's wallpaper," which has removable adhesive backing and which I also had from a few apartments ago. This way, many of the scars on this wall are covered -- soothed as with a bandaid! I think this house and I are good for each other.
I actually didn't use the adhesive on the back of the wallpaper, but just tacked it up with gold-colored escutcheon pins, which are nice decorative nails that I always have in my hammer-and-nail bag.
Side note: hammer and nails keep coming up, so I should tell you, yes: I have a hammer-and-nail bag that I put together years ago; as you've figured out, I love hanging pictures and curtains and other decor items in my love of art, textiles, and decorating! The bag also contains measuring tape, scissors, picture hooks, and ribbon, and may at any given time also contain scotch tape, fabric tape, duct tape, framing wire, more! Hmm: possible branded item to sell with craft chocolate in my online boutique? : )
Back to our challenging wall: I hung lightweight pieces in such a way that the wallpaper is essentially an additional frame, adding dimension to and distracting from the aggressive wear-and-tear challenges that couldn't be covered. A motto for such circumstances: decor and ignore. Looked at one way, such challenges add vintage charm, as long as there aren't more challenges than wall! And as long as someone would still be comfortable in the room.
The vintage gold frame belonged to my great-grandmother and used to hold a photo of my mother as a little girl, which may turn up one day! Great Grandma Amanda lived in a cottage in Michigan, which she and her husband built with their hands, and where my mother spent part of her childhood -- the happy part! I remember visiting as a little girl and playing on the pebble-filled Lake Michigan shore near the house. Great Grandma was wise; one of her sayings: Common sense isn't common. My mother is wise; she taught me her grandmother's saying. I cherish this frame and placed some green and white wrapping paper inside for now; fresh and simple.
The artwork in the gold frame with the white mat is by a local Midwest
artist, and I purchased it in Geneva, Illinois, an immensely charming and artistic town where I used to have a chocolate tours route back in the old days (
video!). In fact, I purchased it at a (now-closed?) store that used to be a stop on my tours.
Re-addressing the facing wall, I moved the mixed media piece to the
guest bathroom, and hung a painting by a Chicago artist that has a lake-and-sun feeling. I purchased it some time ago at a now-closed shop in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood that used to be a stop on my chocolate tours on that route, and had it framed back then at a frame shop downtown.
I might still add a small night table or chest/trunk to the space below the pictures on this wall. Or another stack of books!
[Update: I did add a night table and stack of books to the space under these pictures, plus another picture!
Here's what happened: I was out for a walk, came across a yard sale, and came out with this adorable little wooden table -- I attracted some looks walking back to the cottage with it tucked under my arm; I think people were jealous haha. While walking back, I came across a farmers market, and came out with this darling print, of yellow flowers in a blue-and-white jar, made by a local young woman,
Catherine Elizabeth "Cassie," who cuts up old newspapers to make collages! She and her mother were delightful, and although the table is lightweight it was good to set it down for a moment while shopping for art! : ) I made it home to the cottage with everything, cleaned the table, and set up this guest room arrangement.
I also added a vibrant throw pillow in an abstract print to the guest bed, by another local woman artist, Adrianne Hawthorne aka
Ponno Pozz. I hung three of her prints in the
dining room.
That's the update for now!]
A yellow Lilly Pulitzer dish and green papier-mache trays made by an artisan in Haiti bring a tiny touch of Palm Beach and Caribbean culture to the generally Great Lakes style of nautical expression I've chosen for the cottage. We're celebrating waterways of the world!
These marine-themed pillows I bought for the guest room are made of cotton, trimmed in jute, filled with down, and very comfy. I've always found that natural fibers enhance serenity and comfort; they also reflect respect for people and planet. I moved the pillows around the cottage while the guest room was in process, and I think they feel very much at home here in this space, which was the original idea, and will help guests feel at home too!
Behind me, you can see the
curtains I hung in the dining room. If you've been reading this blog, you know there is a whole story behind those curtains, so to speak: these are anti-peeper-creeper / pro-serenity curtains, and the link above will tell you more!
I purchased these fascinating used books for a few dollars each to add to the Michigan cottage feel.
[Update number 2: Turquoise! Yes: I've added another color, and another layer of vibrancy and of textile, to the theme and space of the guest room! Why? Why not!
The
Safavieh cotton rug I ordered in turquoise chevron picks up the chevron / wave theme in a freshly and somewhat subtly nautical manner, while being not at all subtle in color or look! I tossed a cotton velvet down-filled pillow (you know how I love natural fibers and elements!) onto the daybed, and let the turquoise and wave pattern of my $1 street sale vase find dynamic new counterparts in these new additions to the room.
And, Jorji has found new nap space!
Focus on these new items is also here. I have long loved turquoise power!]
I hope my overnight guests will feel as [serene and content!] as Jorji, as we live life quietly, calmly, spaciously here at the Summer Serenity Cottage, and dream into existence the coming Golden Age of empathy and equality, courage and compassion, liberty and love!
[Update number 3: I had a guest! Less than a week before move-out day! Hooray!
I'd let it be known in one of my circles that I had a guest room available in case anyone knew someone, and one of my friends in that circle needed a bed one night herself, when her daughter was having a slumber party with friends in the empty apartment they had just moved from!
We had our own slumber party you might say, with wise-woman talk including with another friend from that circle who had come by earlier. Then we enjoyed an organic salad I made, and Naples-style pizza my friend was kind enough to order and pick up.
And we had a fun breakfast in the morning, with chocolate and cacao of course!
Remember: #cacaonibsgowitheverything! : ) ]
Your friend in decorating,
Valerie
Looking for me at Chocolate Uplift? Here I am on Instagram!
Feel free to say hi via email as well: valerie.beck@post.harvard.edu.
Thank you!
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