Vintage Cottage With Glam Flair!

Come be inspired by this vintage cottage transformed by Samantha and her husband Todd. I hope you enjoy visiting this great gal and her home as much as I enjoyed bringing you this story. To see what some TLC, elbow grease and determination can do, is truly amazing. This vintage cottage home is oozing with cozy charm, and you can feel the love and time that was put into taking this old home from dingy to dazzling.

So now let's see more and hear about this talented homeowner and her restored vintage style home. Enjoy the slide show below featuring 50 images, then read her story and get to know a little bit more about her.

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How it all began...

For the first 12 years of our marriage my husband Todd and I moved around a great deal. Finally, in 2002 we had the opportunity to move back to our hometown in northern Indiana, near Lake Michigan. We wanted to rent since we were not certain this would be a permanent move. Rentals were few and far between in the area at the time, so I talked with my parents about moving into my grandparent's home that sat empty for 4 years.

I can still hear the sound of my mothers voice saying, "you have got to be kidding". After looking at the before photos of the house you will understand why! (Here is a before picture of the vintage kitchen below!) I had a vision, beneath the 1970's carpet and miles of cheap paneling and trim, I believed there was a charming cottage just waiting for my small family of 3.

Even though this pitiful little vintage cottage had no style or class it had the most important thing to me...memories. Memories were the driving force through this whole adventure. Looking back now I admit it was a dump!

But I was always looking past the peeling paint and yuck, to the years that my grandfather and I played checkers in the living room. Times when I'd sit and watch my grandmother make pies in the kitchen. My father was born in the very room where I sleep now.

I thought, "how could I let anyone tear that old house down?" Now I had a chance to make new memories with Todd and my daughter Emma. This is priceless.

So, after a huge clean up, and with paint brush in hand, my mother and I painted for days on end. I can't say enough about white paint and mirrors. It transformed the house. January of this year we started a major home renovation. Taking some walls down to the lathe and replacing some of the walls altogether.

We worked with an amazing contractor who never once made us feel like we were wasting our time on a place like that. He said, " I love taking a vintage cottage and transforming it into a showplace". I love the fact he made it look so wonderful, but it's still the place I remember as a child. I have to say I do get some satisfaction from hearing, "WOW" from all the doubters we had. But, the greatest satisfaction of all is awakening this house back into a home-our home!

As for how our house evolved from March of 2002 until now, it was an ongoing process. It took a lot of trial and error. The transformation was in two stages. The first stage was to make the 1905 house ready to live in. We didn't want to spend much money, since we thought this was a temporary move.

Paint is the easiest and cheapest thing to do to completely change the feel of a house. After we painted we added shutters to the exterior and landscaped. The cost of these things were minimal, it was sweat equity more than anything

I started decorating in primitive decor. I thought this was the perfect style since the house was old. The colors were dark, dreary, and grungy. It was very cute but after 3 years of living with that decor, it was starting to suck the life out of me.

So the first thing I did was paint my kitchen cabinets and floor white. It really gave me a boost. After, that nothing was safe! Everything got a fresh coat of white paint. What I couldn't paint I gave away. It really opened the small house up, I still can't believe what color can do. For years now, I have a strict color palette I stick with muted blues, silver, and earth tones (and of course WHITE).

I stay away from vivid colors. I've discovered living in a small 1400 sq ft home, color that flows from room to room is very soothing to the eye. Adding mirrors and sparkly things to the decor is like, putting candles on a birthday cake, it's fine without them, but boy do they make a difference. For example, I love to pair an old wooden bowl with a crystal candle stick holder my grandmother bought at the Water Tower Place, in Chicago. I like to say my style is "Vintage Cottage with a Glam Flair". I have pieces all the way from Tiffany's to the dollar store. I buy what I like and that flows in the home.

I stick to 1 rule of decorating. Control clutter, when something new comes in 2 things go out. Emma, my daughter, knows that about every 3 months I will hand her a bag and I will say, "fill it". Then we make a trip to the Good Will. The things in our vintage cottage home are things we adore. We don't have room for just "stuff". This keeps your house in order, it gives you a calming feeling.

Yes, I still can't resist the occasional trip to hunt for flea market finds or a TJ Maxx treasure. But, I will stand there, and try to visualize if I have room for it. If I don't I will walk away from the best of deals. Believe me, that method is hard at times. But when faced with what I would get rid of to make room for it, it puts everything in prospective.

The second stage of our home renovation cost less than some people pay for a new vehicle. The last thing my husband and I wanted was to make payments for a remodel. So, we had a strict budget to keep it under $50,000. To keep costs down we did some things ourselves. I was suprised to see how good Todd was at installing hardwood floors. Finding this out, I thought hmmmm...crown moldings can't be that difficult or how about a stair balister? Yes, he was great at all those jobs (although a bit reluctant at times). All the jobs we could do ourselves helped on cutting cost. We didn't skimp on our windows, and that was money well spent. It helped transform the look of the house. Our windowseat was a splurge of over $3000, but we love all the details of the window. Another splurge was the stone on the chimney. That was an extra I couldn't live without and the chimney cost $3500. I believe it changes the whole look of the house.

Our home is forever changing, who knows what's ahead for Todd to change or when Dan, our contractor, will receive a call. The only thing I do know is we'll do it on a strict budget and, of course, it will be in line with our "vintage cottage glam" style.