Cottage tour... from the upstairs.

 So, as promised, here is the rest of the tour.

 One of my favorite parts of the cottage is this ladder.  I wish I could have incorporated a ladder in our actual house to get to the second floor.  I think it is so unique.  I had the guy who built it model it after an airplane entrance way.

 And this is the view from above.

 At the time of these photos, I had not yet completed the bed.  I have now.  I have a dustruffle a new comforter, and lots of AWESOME velvet pillows from World Market.  I could've bought every color.  They were so rich and vibrant!

 The little upstairs bedroom has a door which opens out onto a front porch which faces the BAH.

 I had several different men work on this cottage for me.  It was a matter of, "can you build?", and if they said "yes" and were looking for work, I said, COME ON!  With that said, It's kind of miraculous that the workmanship ended up looking so phenomenal!

 And to consider it has also lived through a trip down a main thoroughfare through West Monroe!

 This is the view from the front porch.  My intentions for the BAH is to add a screen porch to that center region, with the single vertical beam, and to add a pergola with vines growing all over it over the bald porch to the left.

 I have enough room in the upstairs area to have this little sitting area.  I bought some bright orange chalkpaint to paint this black cube table.  It also swings open, so it could make for nice blanket/ throw storage for a visitor.

 I will most definitely be covering that little chair.  I got it as a hand me down, and because it was in the family, my hoarding tendencies kicked in and I couldn't let it go.  It'd look AWESOME in a bright green or turquoise velvet!!

 And now, let's have a look outside, shall we?

 Oh, wait... first, this bench was recently recovered with a wine colored velvet.  YUM!

 ANd these pictures were also gifts handmade for me by a staff member when she drew my name for Christmas one year.  They know me well!!  That is a picture of the cottage in its original home.  Man, I loved that garden!!

 These drawers are chock full of fun finds from Tucson.

 and most of these were found in old dig sites, i.e. at my great grandmother's house, or over at Staci's old house, where there had apparently been a very old dump site on the property.

 Now... out the back door.

 I had to add it, because I couldn't believe I had the opportunity to have a view like this and was squandering it.

 This table and chairs needs a little paint job too!

 And (don't judge), now I have a place for my potting bench besides INSIDE the cottage!

 I have started the process of laying out my paths and beds like I had at the old house.  I dream of a garden like I had there... but much more maintenance free.

 It's coming along, I suppose.

 Baby steps.

 And when I put up the arbors  and the fountains, and get the big planting in, it'll look immediately homier!

ANd that concludes the tour...except I think I need to post one more picture of the completed upstairs area with full bedding.  To be continued...

Have a great Tuesday.

MO