Living Room - Before

This is the first room we walked into when we first looked at the house.

Lovely, isn't it?









It came complete with laquered pine paneling, weird little lanterns above the fireplace, odd brick on the fireplace, a firebox insert "thingy", and a bunch of stretched out carpeting that was chock full o' dog pee. Mmmmm. Our friend Jason had to actually excuse himself from the room after taking in about 5 minutes worth of fumes. Said he had to "go outside and get some air". Wow. Kevin and I looked at each other with that "what-have-we-gotten-into" look on our faces.
Since these photos were taken, the carpet has been removed, the walls have been primed, primed, painted, painted and painted. The mantle has been changed to a bigger, distressed, espresso-stained chunky beam. The lanterns have been removed and the fireplace looks exactly the same. I'm torn as what to cover it with. I love the look of fireplaces covered in 1" tiles. Maybe some kind of creamy travertine. Oh yeah, and we took down the ceiling fan and installed recessed lighting around the room. One day, I dream of covering every bit of ceiling with tongue and groove planks painted white. One day....
Stayed tuned for photos of the Living Room in it's current state. They're less laquered. :-)

Exterior Motives

So here it is.

Our house...



It's made out of cinderblocks.
Yep, that's right- I said cinderblocks.

My husband was appalled the first time we drove up to it, but I convinced him that maybe we could cover the house with wood siding, or even just paint it another color (other than gray) and it would look okay.
(Can't believe he bought it!)
>:-)

I figured I'd start the blog with an exterior shot of our house, and then ease you into the interior photos slowly.
Very slowly.

Because I'm telling you, they're scary.
And I don't want to scare you away right off the bat!

The photos I'll be posting are mainly "before" pictures, because we haven't fully finished any of the rooms in the house yet.

We're in what feels like a never-ending "during" stage.

Just ask my back.

Hello World!

I'm Layla, and my "Mr. Right" is Kevin:

We're the Palmers.

We are dream believers.

We see every ending as a new beginning, and we prefer dancing on the edge, over "Dancing with the Stars".



Right now, we're in the process of creating a place that makes our souls smile.

One that cultivates creativity and reminds us to seize every one of our days.

We've nicknamed our fixer upper "The Lettered Cottage" because of the passion we share for writing, and our love of all things lettered.

It also seems kind of appropriate that the first letter of each word in its name are "T", "L" and "C" because it's definitely in need of lots of Tender Lovin' Care!

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I am a writer/photo stylist.
Some of my clients include HGTV.com, Flea Market Style magazine and Cottages & Bungalows magazine.

In my free time, I like to go "junkin" and work on DIY projects here at TLC.
I think a fresh mix of country, cottage and coastal touches will have this place radiating love in no time, and I'm not afraid to wield a noisy power tool or two!

Kevin is a musician. When he's not recording or on tour with his band, he's usually fixing something up, or tearing something down, in this "little cottage that could" of ours.

I guess you could say we're a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll.



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This is our dog, "Maximus":


He was a gift from Mr. LC to me, on my birthday in June of 2006. I'll never forget the day we picked him up. He was such a sweet little thing. He fit into the palms of my hands- but I do believe his ears were exactly the same size back then as they are now. He currently weighs 9.6 pounds. His hobbies include sunning on the back of the couch, and barking like a ferocious beast at all who dare to come near his Lettered Cottage. Favorite pasttimes include: devouring two Dingo bones before escaping under the covers between Kevin and I each night and hearing us come in the door with grocery bags.
Grocery bags = New buddies.

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This is our cat "Bean".



He pretty much hides all day long, and is deathly afraid of cameras. That, along with: most people, grocery bags, vacuum cleaners, power tools, water, air and movement.

But we love him anyway.

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I started writing this blog because, for me, writing is a process of discovery, and so is renovating a house- and there's excitement in not knowing what you're going to reveal about yourself, or your surroundings, from one day to the next!