Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:10:56 +0000

from the windows of the cottage where rosie brown lives with her husband ewan and little baby girl, verity belle (isn’t that the sweetest name), she can look out over the garden and watch the sea foretell the changing weather. the family just moved into this cottage in pittenweem, a small fishing village with one of the last working harbors in the area , just 7 months ago. the couple had wanted to move from edinburgh (see rosie’s edinburgh home here) and the tiny artist community seemed like the perfect choice for the owner of papa stour. each august the artists in the town throw open their doors to welcome visitors and show their work. rosie’s cottage is located just opposite a 7th century cave on a wynd (doesn’t that word just make you want to buy a ticket to scotland?) leading up from the harbor and is inaccessible by car. (see all of rosie’s home on flickr)   {thanks rosie, ewan and verity belle!} -amy a.

[photo above: The house was originally 2 cottage that were made into one in the 70's by the National Trust so it's a very quirky shape.  Most of the windows are south facing which is where the garden is too which makes it a lovely sunny place.  I wanted to give it a more spacious feel so painted most of the house white except for our studio and bedroom. There was a big red check carpet running throughout the hall and curtains with pelmets which took away a lot of the light.  We re-carpeted the hall in a thin stripe of duck egg and off white which gives it a more beachy light look.  We used white blinds instead of curtains to give it a more modern and light feel.]

[photo above: The nursery is located in a lovely little room at the top of the house with amazing views out the sea. The cot was mine when I was little and the blankets are by Nicola Mcghee, our newest Papa Stour artist, she does beautiful wool blankets that all come in vintage bags. The Chinese lantern was a find from New York many years ago.  The quilted blankets were bought in India from one of the hotel owners who had a small hand block print studio in one of the rooms they were beautiful and cost next to nothing.]

[photo above: This is the spare room. The map is an old map of the Kingdom of Fife (where we now live) that my husband has had for 15 or odd years, so amazing that we are now there!)]

Truth be told, I think Kevin is starting to look at the guest bathroom sort of like it's his arch nemesis at this point.



Don't get me wrong, he is loving how the room is shaping up, and he can't believe that he is actually responsible for its so-far-so-good transformation- but after EIGHTY TWO days of back-breaking, stinky, dusty, wet, sticky, messy, seemingly never-ending work, and having to tightly strap more than one piece of equipment to his face at a time, he is definitely ready to wrap this puppy up! Plus, he's a big "natural light guy". I'm tellin' ya, the stuff seriously dictates his mood. There's nothing like a dimly-lit room to majorly mess with his mojo.
I just keep rooting him on and assuring him that all his hard work will pay off in the end! (At least I hope it does!) :-)

Anywho...as you can see in the photos below, we changed our minds about installing the beadboard ceiling. For some reason whenever I announce a design decision out loud, I always end up doing something different. Announcing things is like the kiss of death. That poor beadboard never had a chance. :-)
Instead, Kevin removed the drywall ceiling, and uncovered the original tongue-and-groove wood planks that were previously hidden above it...



The color of the wood matches the top of the farmhouse table, the new flooring and the new mirror (more on that next week) just perfectly.



Of course we had to document this part of the reno on video, so that we could watch it when we're too old to rip down ceilings and install crown molding anymore...



Happy Weekend!

Layla