Hunt Country Cottage

I haven’t been writing anything for the blog in quite awhile, but recently I updated the website and I wanted to share with you what I’ve been up to.

We just held our February sale at our brick and mortar location in Sweet Clover Barn, Frederick, MD. We have a once a month weekend sale there.

At the beginning of the year, I was asked by the barn owners if I would like to set up shop in the cottage behind the barn for the February sale, in addition to my usual space. My normal shop space is about a 10′ x 10′ square, so I love the freedom that the larger cottage space affords me. I have had this opportunity several times and like to display pieces in a cohesive way, as if I were decorating a home in a particular style.

The tricky part about this business is that most of my stock is found objects and furniture makeovers, so I don’t quite know what I will find when I’m in the planning stages. But this time I felt drawn to a hunt country style which is popular in nearby Northern Virginia and the countryside of Maryland. When I think hunt country, I think horse prints, riding boots, brass, silver pieces, trophies, warm wood tones, Persian carpets, deer antlers, leather riding boots, etc. Fortunately, finding those type of vintage items is the kind of hunting I love!

So with hunt country style in mind – I was off to the races – ok I’ll stop with the puns now.

I set out to curate pieces and soon stumbled upon some desks that became my first two projects.

This first desk I found had some chipped veneer on the top, but I loved the overall shape of the piece and the original brass hardware. But then I stumbled upon another desk and I couldn’t decide which I liked better.

I loved the legs on the second desk but there were some significant scratches on the top and a few spots with chipped veneer on this one too. So I decided to take them both.

I fixed the veneer problems and painted each desk. For the first, I used Annie Sloan Chalk paint in “Original” with a wax finish. Here is how it turned out, staged in the cottage.

For the second desk, the top was sanded and stained and then the body of the piece painted using “Black Dog” by Black Dog Salvage Paint. I really love how beautiful the stained top looks with the black paint.

There was an antique bed in my stash, found earlier last year, that became my next project. My husband’s input was important on this one because the bed wasn’t quite as large as they make twin beds today and I wanted to turn it into a daybed and use a tufted mattress I had picked up. He was able to construct some slats and a board for the mattress to sit on.

Using some of my favorite fabrics – ticking, grain sack, plaids and horse prints – I sewed some pillow to go on the bed.

The large ottoman caught my eye because of it’s brass wheels, but it needed to be recovered. With no time to tackle the project, I opted to slipcover it instead using my favorite blue and white ticking.

Searching for a dresser, I stumbled upon an adorable antique farmhouse piece which I painted in “Aviary” by Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint. For the finish I chose a white wax.

A set of four French country chairs fit perfectly around a pine breakfast table I’d painted in Annie Sloan “Original” Chalk Paint. Using some remnant fabric I designed some slipcovers for the ladder back chairs in a charming rooster print.

I’m always amazed at how these shop spaces seem to come together. Pieces found here and there and projects tackled one by one somehow blend together to create a welcoming whole. I love the process of curating pieces, but I really get a lot of satisfaction out of staging them together to create beautiful spaces.

Thanks to all of my great customers who came out to the barn this month to shop in my Hunt Country Cottage. It was a good success and I have many pretty furniture pieces still available. I will be listing them this week if you are interested.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fondly, Michelle