Spring to Summer - 6 Tips for Vignette Styling

Welcome to Quince Cottage!
When it comes to seasonal decor, which part of your home do you most enjoy styling? For Rhiann, it's the mantel.
Follow along as she creates vignettes for spring and summer. Oh, and by the way, some of the items pictured here are available in our brand new Etsy shop! Click here.

Tip 1: the "Power Of Three" is often employed when creating a new vignette. Vignettes work best using an odd number of elements. In other words, five is okay, four, not so much.

Tip 2-5: Mix heights, round shapes and angled shapes, organic with man-made, and if possible, throw in something that is a bit of a surprise!

If you weren't here a few months ago, here's where we were in late winter, sort of a combo of snow and green...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Tip 6: Old books are perfect for adding height, play around to decide exactly what looks best. You can have the leather or cloth spines showing, or the page side, or wrap the books in white or craft paper, all depending on what look you want.

In this vignette on our dining room sideboard, the three primary vignette elements are the wire cage, the plant, and the shell. Broken down further, the two brass quail and the tiny plant form a mini-vignette with the books (showing their leather spines) acting as a base. On a macro level, the windmill head, the mirror and the cage/shell/plant grouping also create a Power Of Three composition. By the way, that mirror? A $7 score at Willie's (aka Goodwill)!
And this is why I'm linking up to Dagmar's Home Blog because she kindly featured us on her IG account for this particular pic! Thank you, Dagmar! If you're a blogger, please consider joining the link party, it's a great way of making new friends.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here you see a vignette that straddles the counter between our kitchen and dining. It's got the "unexpected" in the form of a vintage toy tractor (Ron collects those). The organic element is covered by the flowers and cotton. Don't you just love cotton?

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's another one, this time from our gallery wall. Three. Round and not round. Organic elements.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

But now back to the mantel. In April, the mood switched to romantic. The left side featured a shadow box Rhiann made from an old clock, if you're interested in learning more about that, click here. Technically there are four elements in this grouping, but the books and clock read as one. Note that the page sides are showing, to create a softer, lighter look.

©Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We have a nice collection of vintage floral plates that were just itching to be on display again.

©Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

There's one behind the pink hobnail glass piece on the left and she used them on the right side of the mantel too. That ornate gold frame is completely empty by the way, and we like it that way. It's such a gorgeous piece in and of itself, it really doesn't need any art inside!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Then Rhiann found a little brass bowl, and wanted to see how that looked with some shells and rocks. Note the organic (shells and greenery).

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Then Mother's Day rolled around and Rhiann had to add the lovely milk glass covered box she received! That milk glass bud vase is holding one of our first New Dawn roses of the year.

©Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

She decided to turn the "pretty" to full volume on the left too.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Now that it's Memorial Day, Rhiann thought a summer-by-the-water vibe was in order. No, unfortunately we no longer live near the ocean, but it's still nice to remember those days. Here the three elements are the painting, the shell box, and the creamer with feathers. Aren't those feathers amazing? We found them on a walk with our dogs. They probably belonged to a turkey vulture. Those are both the "organic" element and the unexpected one. They add a little wildness to the composition that keeps it from looking too dull.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's the right side. Note that there's a bird here too. Have you noticed how brass is back in a BIG way? From knicknacks to lighting, brass is hot! Here we have five elements. The shell box, the brass crane, the books, the conch shell, and the mother of pearl necklace. There's that unexpected element again. Jewelry isn't normally part of mantel decor, but here it works because it's made of mother of pearl sourced from the ocean, and the color is harmonious.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Finally, here's the whole shebang...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

This week there's no #MagpieMonday, but we hope you'll join us on Instagram June 6, when we'll be ready to see all your thingummies and gewgaws once again!

©Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

You can also play along with our #HometownCapture hashie any time. Follow us, post a pic of your hometown with the # in the text, and tag us!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Daisy and Buster have been enjoying the backyard. Literally. They both love eating grass. We don't love all the gacking that follows...

Daisy © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Buster © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Tell us how you like to decorate for spring and summer. We'd love to hear. Hope to see you again soon!

Quince Cottage Style is #agrarianchic - a mix of old and new, rustic and opulent.

Our goal is to make our new subdivision house look inviting, beautiful, 

and as though it wasn't born yesterday!

Healthy Homemade Pet Treats

Welcome back to Quince Cottage!

As you may remember, we wrote a post a while back about dogs and allergies. Yep, both Buster and Daisy are allergic to numerous foods. At least that seems to be the most likely cause for their itchy ears and paws (Daisy is "itchier" than Buster).

Since we can't give our dogs any old dog treats (for instance dog treats made with chicken, beef, pork, wheat, soy, corn, dairy...) we are pretty limited. But we DO love our dogs and want to reward them: for listening, for ignoring other dogs on walks, or just for being cute. Seriously, how could you look at these faces and NOT want to give them something yummy?

Buster © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Daisy © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We had been buying packaged dried sweet potato treats, but at $9 a bag, even when we broke each large piece into several smaller ones, they were pretty expensive. So, we thought why not make our own dried sweet potatoes? After all, here in North Carolina we're in Sweet Potato/Yam Country! There's even an annula Ham and Yam Festival in a nearby town.

We bought a very basic Presto dehydrator at WalMart for about forty bucks. Two large sweet potatoes, sliced thinly, fill up four trays. If you want to try this yourself, briefly blanch the sweet potatoes after slicing to keep them from turning black. Buster and Daisy usually score a few slices of sweet potato that don't even make it to the boiling water. You can also bake the sweet potato slices on a cookie sheet for a long time in a very slow oven, of course. The dehydrator is just more convenient for us.

Dehydrator © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

The treats keep nicely in a baggie and are light weight, making them ideal for taking on walks. You could certainly make meat jerky treats, apple jerky, banana chips etc. for your faithful canine friend. Just be careful not to give them raisins or any other food that can poison a dog.
Here's one of many lists you can find on the interwebs...

Sweet Potato Dog Treats © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Hope yall come back and see us soon! 

We have some yummy recipes up our sleeves (one is a Shrimp & "Faux" Grits)

and we're also in the midst of some 

fabulous DIY projects we'll be sharing in the near future.

A Modern Spin on Canopies and Testers

Princesses ALWAYS have canopy beds, and Rhiann desperately wanted one when she was a little girl. Years later, she still craves luxury and style, but with a more practical, modern twist.

We did this bed curtain treatment in our previous house, and it looked good. With the deeper, woodsier wall color in the Quince Cottage master, the result is fabulous!
Thanks, Capitol City Homes for letting us pick whatever color we wanted for our bedroom! FYI, this is Sherwin Williams High Tea.

If you're considering doing bed curtains like these...

Here's what you'll need:
Fabric (to get the necessary fullness we used two 54" wide lengths for the back curtain and stitched them together, and we used three 54" wide lengths for the front curtain). Make sure you buy enough to allow for hems at the bottom and turnovers at the top.
Trim for the bottom of the front curtain, if desired.

We got both fabric and trim in Goldsboro, NC at The Cloth Barn which has TONS of fabric and gorgeous trims at discount prices. 
Two curtain rods. We had to order the one with longer side pieces online, but it was very reasonably priced. Graber makes these and you want one that extends about 3-4".

Studfinder
Screws and wall anchors (because if you're not lucky enough to hit studs, you'll need anchors)

Starter nail
Hammer
Screwdriver
Screw hook
Tape Measure
Level (you'll need this only if you're not hanging at ceiling or crown molding level)
Ladder
Dogs. Well, you don't actually NEED them, but just try doing any project without them... Terriers make everything more fun, right?

Buster & Daisy © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

How To:
Careful measuring is key to successful installation. Fortunately, Ron's a Virgo, so he's a natural when it comes to precision. For our particular space, we needed the middle of the rods to line up with the chandelier. The tray ceiling made this a bit more challenging, but we measured the wall opposite the bed, then measured the same length on the bed wall and marked the center of that.
Next we measured the width of the bed. Because we wanted the curtains to show slightly beyond the edges of the headboard, we added two inches to each side when we measured out from the middle to where the first rod bracket would be installed.
Hopefully that makes sense. Writing this reminds me of a grade school assignment titled "Instructions For Tying Shoelaces".
Ron installed the rod for the back curtain first, using wall anchors to make sure the weight of the fabric would be fully supported. It's easier to use wall anchors if you use a nail to make a starter hole and widen it a bit by wiggling the nail around.

Next he put a screw-in hook in the center for even more support, so the curtain wouldn't sag.

(Yes, dark paint does scuff easily. In this case those marks will be hidden by the curtains, so no biggie).
Then he hung the first curtain, and installed the second rod's brackets about 2" out on either side.

Done! Doesn't it look great?

Bedroom © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Bed Curtains © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Unfortunately the bedding colors are a bit off in these photos. The sheets are Ralph (found at HomeGoods) and have little cream-colored polka dots, and the quilt isn't nearly as sage-y, it's more of a willow or spring green. Here's a closeup, at least you can see the dots, and the quilt color is better, but not 100% accurate. Sigh.

Here's a macro of the ball trim. Adorable, isn't it?

Daisy found this whole project boring and dozed off in the middle of everything.

At Quince Cottage we like to get a lot of "look" without spending a lot of money. We both love fern motifs and this fabric was the key to everything else in the room in terms of color. Lying in bed, it's easy to imagine we're in a cool forest glade (minus the bugs and snakes).

Thank you for visiting! We hope you'll stop by Quince Cottage again soon. Future topics include: what to do when your curtains are too short, a special door for our office, and a recipe for pineapple rice.

Dogs, Allergies, and Veterinarians

As you may already know, the Quince Cottage team includes two Jack Russell Terriers of the Irish, short-legged variety. Their names are Daisy and Buster. Before we had Jacks, we had a whippet whose name was Sophie.

Sophie Snugglebug © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Now whippets aren't exactly blessed in the fur department. Most have virtually no hair on their underside. The poor cold things become heat-seeking missiles in winter, sunbathing in front of south-facing windows, curling up by the fireplace, and burrowing under bed-covers with great determination. Sophie's fur began to thin once she hit middle age, first on her tail, then her thighs. By the time she was a senior she looked like a leggy Chinese crested, without the crest. We asked her breeder about whippet hair loss, we read online articles, we tried over the counter remedies and food specifically formulated for healthy skin and coat. We took her to the vet, who eventually conceded she had no good suggestions--it was most likely allergies. This led to a consultation with a canine-allergy specialist veterinarian. Hundreds of dollars later we learned it was probably genetic, and without lengthy allergy-testing for specifics we'd never really know for sure. So, bald she remained. We loved her anyway, of course.

Daisy © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Fast forward to Terrier Time. Both Buster and Daisy have allergies which cause itchy ears. Buster's seem to be fairly well-managed by a limited diet. Daisy's have been harder to treat. We've tried ear drops (which help during critical periods), steroids (stopped the itching but led to lots of drinking, followed by many potty accidents), antihistamines (no effect) and a new medication, Atopica, which actually seemed to make it worse. Our vet said allergy testing could be done. We declined. She also suggested yet another protein source - kangaroo. Ack! For the price we should have been getting a bag of gold nuggets. We declined that too. This vet wanted Daisy in for an exam whenever we wanted a prescription renewal (ear drops) or when we wanted to try something different.

Cha-ching.

Based on a friend's recommendation, we brought Daisy to a different vet for a second opinion. He examined her ears, looked at her history of treatment, and came up with a number of possible medications we could try - including a GENERIC, LESS EXPENSIVE version of the ear drops, and a pill that had less prednizone than the one that caused the excessive peeing. Additionally, he named a few other Rx drugs we could try and suggested we switch to a grain-free fish-based diet and put down a cotton blanket wherever she naps regularly. His advice regarding testing was, "Don't bother, it's likely to turn up something like dust mites that really can't be eliminated from a dog's environment." He said that if the ear drops and new medication don't help, to stop in and he'd set us up with one of the other alternative medications he'd mentioned. He also told us about a new drug that takes 7 months to make, and is expected back on the market in April (apparently the company ran out of it a while ago).

All of which leads us to say, if you're not happy with your vet, for whatever reason, try another one! If your vet is suggesting expensive treatment or is out of ideas for treatment, consider getting a second opinion. Ask if the medication being prescribed comes in a generic form. Advocate not only for your pet, but also for yourself.

Our final piece of advice: when you don't know what to do about a problem, take a walk on the beach.

Daisy (front) and Buster at the beach in Maine © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Or take a nap.

Drowsy Daisy © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Quince Cottage believes any house can be transformed into a beautiful home that reflects the unique taste and personality of its owner. In our own place, we mix vintage Southern style with some global spice. 

We also believe pets are part of the family, and should be treated as such. Played with, allowed indoors, and loved like the little fur-children they are.