our pentwater cottage has been about 7 years in the making. when we bought the house we thought it was going to be a one summer fixer upper. 7 years later we are finally hanging some of our pentwater art on the walls. what is it about hanging pictures on the wall that makes me so nervous? it’s probably because i tore down the old drywall, vacuumed out the mouse turds, cleaned everything up, put up new walls and painted them that hammering into them just seems wrong. but you know me and i know you and i can’t have a tiny house with just white walls. i have to have stuff everywhere it’s part of my nature.
i have been hoarding pieces for this house since we bought it. my style has changed in seven years but the pieces i have held on to still fit in. our house is a small one built in the late 1800’s and has been a lot of blood, sweat and tears. i will never forget when the damper to the chimney shut while we were at home depot and the entire place filled with smoke. luckily nothing was put back together, the house was in shambles anyway and we were so frustrated we just locked the door and went home. things like that happen when you are in the process of DIYing when you’re not very good at it haha.
now a little bit about my pentwater art collection.
the ship paintings are collections from various flea markets and estate sales. the painting in the top right was an acquisition i found at a local estate sale right before heading up north. it fit in perfectly to my gallery wall above the fire place. we were going to hang a tv there but decided we liked this room for peace and quiet and just have a small television in our bedroom to fall asleep to. plus the ship paintings just finish off this wall.
the plaid stamp metal signs were a huge score. my friend jess’s parents have a booth in an antique store near lansing and they saw it in a neighboring booth and grabbed it for me. about a year ago i found a second on facebook marketplace in muskegon and made my mom go meet a guy in a parking lot of a gas station to get it for me. one would have looked great above this green cabinet that i’m using as a counter but two really completes the wall.
the map of michigan hanging in our bathroom is a funny flea market story as well. i saw it on my first round of allegan two summers ago and the guy had $125 on it. It’s in great shape and the illustrations are amazing but $125 was more than what was in my budget that day. every time joe and i did a lap around the market he would lower the price until we were on our way out and he yelled “HEY LADY $40!” that was good enough for me and the best kind of “haggling” ever. I didn’t have to say anything just make eye contact.
i hung a few other pieces of pentwater art and things around the house but it’s not quite finished yet. I hope in the summer months to come we can really finish this place up!
to view more about pentwaters progress visit here.
Bravo!