MountainMama: August 2015

Monday, August 31, 2015

Firewood Storage Solutions

Hi All - I hope you had a fabulous weekend! Ours was BEYOND busy and I am looking forward to a quiet evening tonight for certain!

Something I've been researching since I bought my house is how and where to store the firewood in my living room for the upcoming wood season. I've used wood as my primary heat source for years, and I love not only how much I save on oil but also the ambiance of a nice warm fire on a cold night.

We've got two cords of wood stacked in the garage and ready to go. The problem I have is that I have nowhere to store the wood inside next to the wood stove. The hearth is too narrow to stack wood, so the only options are either to the right or left of the fireplace, with a little rearranging.

I replaced the antique wood burning insert that was in the house when I bought it with this gorgeous insert made by Jotul http://jotul.com/us/home and I absolutely love the way it looks. It truly is the centerpiece of the room. I'm really looking forward to the first cold night just so I can try it out! (Sorry all you sun worshipers out there who are loving summer so much!)

But as you can see, my living room is long and narrow with not a ton of space to store wood. I could get one of those circular, metal wood rings but it bugs me that it serves no other purpose, other than wood storage. In my online research I decided I'd be making better use of the space if I stored the wood in a console table rather than a wood ring. At least it can be used to hold decorative items on top such as plants, photos, candles, holiday decor, etc.

I found some photos online where other folks had the same idea.

Via

You get the idea. So, the search began for the perfect console to fit my needs. It couldn't be too deep or it would be too big not only in the room but also too large for the wood. It needed to suit the style of my other furniture pieces. And I wanted something not too crazy expensive so I wouldn't feel guilty nicking it up using it for wood storage.

I thought I found the perfect piece here:

Via

It seemed to check all the boxes. My sweetie had concerns that it wouldn't be able to support the weight of the wood but I thought if need be we could support the middle of the bottom shelf from underneath to give it a little extra strength. Seemed like the perfect solution. So after much hemming and hawing and weighing all my options I placed the order! I immediately received an automated confirmation from the company I ordered the console through.

Boom! Done. Whew. Cross another thing off my list. So glad.

And I never heard another word about it. Not a peep. It's been a month. I have attempted to contact the company SEVEN times via phone and email. And I have never received so much as an inkling of a response. Nothing. Nada. Nil.

So today I finally gave up and got in touch with PayPal to let them know what's happening and to cancel payment.

And now the hunt begins again. This time around I'm thinking of my sweetie's concerns and looking for a console without a bottom "shelf" but rather where the "shelf" sits right on the floor. Yes, sweetie, I'm listening to you. Yaaaasssss.

It's not the easiest thing to find. I'm shocked that more people haven't had the same idea for wood storage - it just seems to make more sense to have an item do double duty, especially in a narrow space like mine.

I found a few options so far but I'm on the fence.

Via

What do you think? Any favorites?

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Styling a Dresser

Good Morning, All!! I hope you all have wonderful plans for the weekend ahead....make sure you find time to do something that makes you happy!!

Today I'm thinking about how to style the new dresser in my bedroom. It's been naked except for a small lamp since it arrived, while I gave some thought to what I'd like to put on it.

This morning I shopped my house to find a few items to place on the dresser, as we are having company tonight who have never seen my house....I certainly can't have them looking at a naked dresser!

(Excuse the horrible photos - my daughter absconded with my good camera so I was forced, kicking and screaming, to take photos on my iPhone.)

Soooooo....it's better, obviously, than a naked dresser but it still needs help.

What's a girl to do?

First, get ideas.....Pinterest to the rescue!!

Via

So many great ideas out there and hey, doesn't that doggie look alot like my Lily/Tubs?

I'm noticing a trend here and it tells me the first thing I need to get is a pretty mirror for on top of the dresser....which is exactly what I was thinking!! The dresser is across from a window and I love putting a mirror across from a window to increase the amount of sunshine in a room.

I think I'm also due a trip to Home Goods for a good look around.....who's in?

I call shotgun!

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

My Garden Cottage

Mornin' All! Hope you are having a great week so far!

I'm dreaming today about my garden shed aka my Garden Cottage.....to be.

It sits up on the hill in the far corner of my property, next to the property with the horses.

The shed was such a disaster when I moved in but my sweetie took it on as a challenge and there has been tremendous progress in the past few months.

It's nothing fancy inside but the shed has such value to me as a gardener that it was well worth putting time and effort into it.

When I moved in, we fell through the floor the first time we walked into the shed. And that was without so much as a sip of a cocktail!

So, a new plywood floor went down first thing.

My sweetie hung hooks to organize all my garden tools and cleaned out the shed thoroughly, which took about a billion trips to the other shed and also to the dump. And a shopvac. And a dust mask. Followed by a cocktail to wash down the dust. And another...just because.

The cracks are now all sealed in an attempt to keep the critters at bay and the back wall holds my power tools and garden trugs....again, all thanks to my sweetie. He's a keeper!

I have all my pots on a shelving rack in the corner and of course had to hang a little something decorative....after all, it is a cottage!

The shed was honestly a mess - it was rotten and lopsided and full of critter nests....it had to be jacked up and new supports put underneath. Part of the roof was replaced and the whole right side and back of the shed had never been shingled so that had to be taken care of.

And of course all the work had to be put on hold while we waited for the baby birds in the nest under the eaves to fly the nest!

But from the first time I viewed this property I saw potential in this shed. I always saw it in my mind as my garden cottage, not just a potting shed. I've been drooling over some of the sheds I see online....and getting loads of ideas for the next stage in the rehab.