Hello everybody!
Welcome to my blog CottageMade!
Thank you for stopping by and spending some time reading it. I hope you enjoy. This blog will cover things related to do-it-yourself projects, design ideas (or dilemmas) and sometimes I will talk about other topics like food and organization tips. You see… it is hard for me to stay focus on one topic. Basically, the idea of starting a blog arrived as an outlet for me to share the things I do in my house and some of my thoughts with my friends here in the US, my friends and family from Brazil. Yeah! I am from Brazil. I live in the US for about 10 years…
Today – I will talk about what I want this blog to be. I work full time and am a mother of 2. So… unfortunately, I will not be posting daily like many DIY bloggers do, but I will try my best to post 2-3 times a week with decoration ideas to make your home relaxed, comfortable, cozy and a happy place for you and your family in a budget that you will not have to sweat about it. Recently, my family and I purchased this home in Connecticut. We love it. We also love the potential it has. Uhhh… the “potential” it has?? Yes – that kindly means, it needs work. When we were looking to buy it… it needed super turbo power TLC on it. I was in fact, a bit skeptical that we would be able to do it in such short time ( we had 2 months to make it livable before the contract to our rental expired ) and budget constraints. We did it though. Lots of sweat, tears and laughs. We did it. My sister was visiting from brazil the week we closed on the house and started the “demolition” phase. She came straight from the airport after a 8 hour flight to the house to help me remove maybe 1,000 + staples from the carpet I had just removed before rushing to pick her up. She stayed 2 weeks, party, shop, eat and stripped paint and staples with me along her visit. So, nether less to say that when she visit us last month and said: “Oh I love how this place turned out… it feels so comfy and welcoming!”, it made my heart jump in happiness. After all I was going thru the right direction!
I have a section on this blog dedicated only on my house and its progress. Right now, you can check it here. I don’t have a lot of before and after pictures, but will have it soon as this blog progresses. Stay tuned!
So… to end this big monolog I would like to tell this little story about the flip-flops Havainas. Uh??? Flip-flops? Please, stay with me a little longer… I promise you will enjoy. Havainas are a type of flip-flops made in Brazil. In the 80s they were very popular among all type of people. You could even buy them in the groceries! Every person that I knew and even the ones that I didn’t know during those years had at least a pair of the Havainas. Then in the early 90s, they lost their popularity. They were not seen as an appealing article were you get a lot for the little money. The Brazilians feet became demanding, my friend. In 1993, in order to revamp the brand, they changed the design of the flip-flops. They wanted to capture the true soul ( I did write “sole” on my first draft…) and vibe of the Brazilian culture. It worked. Something that was blah, became the image of this beautiful people. Simple, uncomplicated and happy.
That’s my ultimately goal while decorating/renovating my house and that’s how I want this blog to feel for you. Simple, uncomplicated and happy.
I will leave you today with this video and the hope I did not bored you to death…
And of course… since this is a home-decoration-do-it-yourself-craft-kind-of-blog, if you stayed with me this long… a little dyi for you on an old pair of Havainas*… lol.
Xoxo,
*Havainas did not pay me. These are my personal opinions and thoughts.
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