Cottagecharm

My "girly" Toolbox!

"Junk to Treasure"
(old sewing machine drawer turned trinket box)

What we call "chippy"
This is heart-stopping peeling paint in the "shabby" world!!
(old head and foot board I turned into a patio bench seat)

I wanted to give you a little background about "Cottagecharm". Cottagecharm, began in 1998. I started, like many of you, at the Saturday morning garage sales. Oh, the things WE would find!! Vintage linens, antique furniture and pure junk that would eventually be turned into lovely treasures. Some Saturday mornings, coffee in hand, "we" was me and my hubby. Other, more serious, Saturday mornings, maps in hand and strategic routes planned, "we" was me and my best garage sale buddy, Susan. To make a very long story short, eventually Susan and I collected so much stuff that we needed to do something with it.....we furnished our homes and we became part-time vendors at the Ventura Flea Market. We also held our own garage sales, of course, to make room for more "treasures". Cottagecharm then expanded to "Cheryl's Cottage" which was located inside of "LaDeeDa" at the Antique Mall in Agoura Hills. LaDeeDa was frequented by Rachel Ashwell as well as famous stars that lived in the Malibu area. Of course, Rachel Ashwell was the inspiration for all of us who bought and sold "shabby-chic"!

Shabby Chic style has changed some over the years and I, too, have changed a bit. I still love the comfort of cottage style, but I am now living in the country with farms all around. My feeling of farm style is a little "heavier" and darker than cottage. As I mentioned in the  "about me", we have built a home which is "European Villa" in it's achitecture. Stone, brick, high pitched roof's, Old World textured walls. Hence; CottageFarmVilla! Someday I would like to share the process of building a home from the ground up, in this blog. From California Cottage style to Texas Farm style has been a big change and the transformation to "Farmhouse Villa" is slow going, but I hope you will enjoy visiting from time to time.