Quince Cottage: antique

Welcome to Quince Cottage!
You've chosen a great time to visit, because you're just in time to read about our Fantastic 5K Giveaway!
If you've visited before, you know we love and collect milk glass. In fact, our collection has outgrown not only one, but TWO, cabinets. But we're not hoarders, honest. So, given that we can only hoard, er "display properly", a reasonable amount of milk glass, we've decided to spread the love to our followers.
So, this is the milk glass portion of the giveaway... It includes two footed pieces, a mini bud vase, and a small round vase. Oh, and a velvet bookmark Rhiann made using vintage beads!

Now, to make things even more WONDERFUL, our dear friend Lynn at Paris Hotel Boutique is helping us celebrate the 5K milestone by adding this spectacular hotel silver teapot AND antique French menu to the giveaway. Isn't that incredibly generous? She sells the most stunning antiques and fabulous jewelry from her website ParisHotelBoutique.com (be sure to wear a bib when you visit, because otherwise you'll drool all over your keyboard).

Now you're all grabby hands, right, wondering how to make all this marvelous loot YOURS?

Here's what you do.
1. Follow Quince Cottage on Instagram here.
2. Follow Paris Hotel Boutique on Instagram here.
3. Leave your Instagram name on both our posts about the Giveaway (those will go up Sunday May 22, 2016. Be sure to "like" the posts. Tag as many friends as you want, one per line, (each tag will count as an entry for you).
4. Contest only open to those 18 years of age or older, who live within the contiguous U.S. (sorry, the shipping costs too much otherwise).
Boom! Done! The contest will be open Sunday - Wednesday May 25, 2016. The winner will be chosen randomly. We will announce the winner Saturday May 28, 2016. The contest is not affiliated with Instagram in any way.
Buster passed out when he heard about this giveaway.

And Daisy, well she said you'd be a *bleep fool, if you don't enter! (Yes, she swears like a sailor).

See you on Instagram!

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!

If this is your first time here, you may not realize that Quince Cottage is our brand spanking new home. Now there are LOTS of things to like about "new". We lived in a c. 1903 Craftsman Foursquare for ten years, and believe me, we know that old homes, charming as they are, can be, er, "cranky". We could tell you stories about exploding radiators, a leaking roof, and the floor-sanding disaster that led to a 911 call. Maybe some other time...
What old homes have, and new homes often lack, is character. Character shows up in a home's unique elements, those finely crafted, or even naively-crafted but nonetheless charming, details. There's the indisputable sense that the building has a longish history. How do you make a new subdivision house look as though it wasn't born yesterday? By "aging" it artificially, that's how.
Case in point: our fireplace mantel.
We were really pleased with the way our shiplap turned out. (If you missed that post, you can find it here). That really helped give our house the look of an old farmhouse. However, all that rustic loveliness made our crisp, snowy white fireplace surround look glaringly out of place.
A little while back we toured the Johnston County Parade of Homes and we saw a real, genuine old mantel installed in a new house. It looked fabulous! Here it is...

That piece of paper hanging there shows the old North Carolina plantation the mantel came from. Unfortunately, the house was being razed, but at least a part of it will live on and be treasured by a succeeding generations of home-owners.

It seemed silly-stupid to spend money and effort removing a perfectly good, traditionally shaped mantel, just to replace it with a beat up antique one.
So, given that Ron had just done a fabulous job with refinishing during the Barn Door Project , I "suggested" he employ those same skills on the mantel.

Here's what he did.

1. Tape anything around the fireplace you don't actually want to get "antiqued". Paint streaky marks and coat most edges of the mantel with brown acrylic paint (he used craft paint in a dark umber). Looks really ugly, right? Don't worry, everything will be okay.

Closeup © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

2. Once the paint is dry, go over the brown paint with a candle, esp. the very edges (the candle is unlit, of course, it's the wax you want). Don't completely cover the brown paint, just some of it. Whatever the wax covers won't accept the next layer of paint.

3. Paint over everything with a creamy white paint. We used "Milk" Paint by Sherwin Williams.

4. Once the paint is dry, use a cloth and rub really hard over the areas painted brown. You may need to use your fingernail (covered by the cloth) to really get down to the brown for that "chipped" appearance).

Closeup © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

5. Use a small brush to apply a thin coat of brown stain. Ron used Min-Wax Special Walnut. Make sure to get in creases and crevices for an enhanced aged effect. Quickly wipe off excess with a rag. Work in sections so that most of the brown paint comes right off.

6. Use paste wax to give everything a protective coating. Apply and buff with a soft rag.

Here's a closeup of the finished effect. Yup, all done with paint, brushes, a rag, a candle, stain, and paste wax. Ron's gotten really good at this, don't you think? He's already at work on a Top Secret Project! Don't worry, you'll get to see it eventually.

So, now all that's left is decorating. That's MY favorite part.

Ta-daaaa!!!

This mantel is a perfect example of rustic + opulent = FABULOUS! Here at Quince Cottage, that's what we're all about.
Oh, and of course, no post would be complete without a picture of an adorable terrier. All that hard work on the fireplace was exhausting!

Quince Cottage

Design. Create. Decorate.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Instagram 5K Giveaway!

Friday, July 17, 2015

DIY Project - Fireplace Mantel

A Favorite Online Shop!

Instagram

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