Slow Winter Days in My Cottage 🧣_ Cozy Cottagecore Vlog.

There has been a flux of gray and sunny days here in Northern California, drifting around my cottage. A quiet symbol of the seasons we as humans move through as well. Life can be full of gray days, but I've begun to wonder, can gray also be a color of hope? When I was in art school, I learned that gray is a versatile neutral, one that supports other colors, allowing them to appear more vivid and alive. In the right balance, it can even create tones that would not exist on their own. Now as an adult, an artist, and a student of life, I've come to appreciate those gray days. I understand that their muted presence is what gives the sunny days ahead their brilliance. I bought this bedside table on Marketplace for $20. I had been looking for something small to fit in our room next to our bed and felt it was perfect. It's a very sturdy piece that only needs some love. I bought a couple of spray paints in the color Tulip Field to give it a quick makeover. I've been slowly working on adding more color to the cottage. I've realized the lack of color in my home and I truly wish to change that this year. I am sitting right outside Goodwill. It is our first thrift with me for the year. I am very excited, though I will admit friends that I have been thrifting a ton this year. My mom was actually over for her birthday and she stayed with me for a couple days and the entire time that she was here, I took her out on a good time. We both love antiquing. We both love thrifting and that is all me and my mom were doing while we were out here and it was so much fun. It was so much fun. I found so many goodies. I don't know if you guys remember but I did mention in a previous vlog that this year I do want to add more color to the cottage. I realized that I have tons of black and brown furniture and not enough color so I really am working towards adding more color hence why I decided to paint the little dresser that I got in a color that is outside of my comfort zone. I've never owned a piece of furniture that is a sort of lilac-y color but I'm very excited for it. I'm actually working on starting off with the bedroom and I've already found a couple stuff. When my mom was here, I found so many great goodies so I'm going to sprinkle some around the house but also some in the bedroom. However, I have yet to find a little bedside lamp. I've been looking just for a cute little lamp. I'll put a little mood board here of what I am going for this year. I want to integrate vintage with cottage core and patterns and modern designs. Just kind of a mesh of everything. So yes, today first and foremost is to find hopefully a bedside lamp and then we'll see what other trinkets I find mostly to decorate the little bedside table. So we're going to go into Goodwill and hopefully we find some treasures. I headed straight to the lamp aisle and wasted no time to see if I could find the one thing I was desperately looking for and lucky for me, I found a few options. This trip around, I was looking for pieces that felt playful and that of course have some sort of vibrant color or pattern. There were so many things to look at this time around which is great but also not great for my wallet. Also, I'm so glad I've been making it a habit to always check the linen blanket section. I've scored some great things in the past in this section but this time around, I found some great gems. I'm not a huge fan of pink though but these are gorgeous. Now I don't know if I should take these or these. I don't like the white on this but I don't like the pink on this. You guys, look at what I just found. Oh my goodness! A circle tablecloth. Perfect for my dining room table. I'm so excited. I'm definitely taking this. I found way too many good stuff. Oh my goodness. I am leaving as a happy thrifter. I went in for a lamp front and I came back with more than one lamp and I had full of other things as you guys can tell. Okay, let's do a quick haul of everything that I went through. I found way too many good stuff. This is why I love thrifting the beginning of the year because January is usually a time that folks clean out their house and they get rid of stuff and you just always find some good treasures. I've been finding some great treasures all month and I'm just so excited to put everything together. Okay, this is in no particular order. So, I found this little basket. Plant season is well on its way. I would love to hang this somewhere with a little plant. I want to put this hanging up where my kitchen window is. I think a little droopy plant will look really cute on this. This was $1.99. Then I found this gorgeous table runner. Beautiful color with these little florals. It is this velveteen material but it's in great condition. This was $3.99. Oh my gosh and the finds that I'm very excited for, which you guys seen, are these round table covers. I have a little vintage round table that I've had such a hard time finding tablecloths for and I cannot believe that I came across not just one but two table covers that are in these beautiful colors. This one is in this dusty baby blue with this little ruffle at the ends. Oh, I cannot wait to put this on my table. Hopefully they fit. I think they will. My table is not that big. And then I found this one with these little butterflies which I think is going to be perfect for the spring and the summer. I am so excited. These were, let's see, $3.99 and let's see, let's see. I always like to say prices because thrifting is fun and all but sometimes prices are out of hand at thrift stores but usually the Goodwill near me has some pretty decent prices. This one was $4.99. I also found a handful of lace curtains which I've been wanting. I don't have that many curtains and I have been wanting to put some curtains in my bedroom. I don't think I'll put these in my bedroom. I might put these in my living room here and actually replace these green ones which I've been wanting to do. I found four of these and a pair was $4.99. I really love this little lacy pattern. I was a little skeptical because I've never thought about putting lace curtains up but these seemed really nice, great condition, and kind of goes with the vibe that I'm going for. Also if you guys hear, Dobby is munching his bone away in the background. Let's see if you guys can see him. Where is he? Ah, there he is. He's going in. I also got this little tin can of sorts. I really loved it because it has these little fruits on them. I love the colors of this. I don't think you can ever go wrong with a nice little tin for storage. Don't know where I'm going to put this at but I know I'm going to get a nice little good use out of this. This was $1.99. Next I found this little faux flower vase. I loved the baby blue on this and the little florals on here. I think again this is going to be very nice for spring and summer. Of course I'm already going to put it up. I think this would be great year round. I think I'm just going to take this ribbon off though because I don't really like this ribbon. There we go. Much better. This was $2.99. Okay so I ended up bringing two of these lamps. I am hoping they work. I need to try them out. I was looking for this size. I didn't want something too big or something way too small. I really wanted something with a little bit more color but it's okay. I think that I can play around with this. I can either paint on this. I can do something with the lampshade. I can put some fabric on this. Some really cool fabric. Paint on the vase itself. I think this is good. This is a really good starter. I also did however bring the other little lamp that I found. Our little cottage tends to get very dark sometimes so I'm always looking for lights to just light up the space and I thought this was very cute. I forgot to mention this was $4.99. This one was also $4.99 but it's so cute. It's tiny. I really love all the little details on this. Look at that butterfly. I thought it was so cute. I just ended up picking up this lampshade as well to pop on there. Again I can do something with this. I can paint it. I can put some fabric on this. I don't know. I'll figure this out eventually. I also ended up finding this little cup canister of sorts that is actually a candle. It doesn't smell like much but it's okay. I have some oils that I can drop in here to hopefully give it some sort of scent. I just really liked this because the little cup itself just seemed very cute and I could definitely see myself using this little cup again. Plus I love the little vintage rustic feel that this gives combined with everything else. I also found this very cool frame. I am always looking for frames and this one is just so cute. I love the stained glass on this. I'm a sucker for frames. I have so many frames that I still need to add pictures to. One of my goals this year is to get my photos out of my phone and into actual physical photos and frame them. Put them around my house. I don't want to let go of the nostalgia of a good physical photo rather than a digital photo. So for the last few months actually I've been collecting a handful of frames that way I can put some photos on here and this one is just super super super cute. I love this. I forgot to mention that this was $2.99 and then $1.99 and then this was $2.99. This cute little swan. I am always looking for little trinkets of sorts and this is just super cute. I love all the colors in here. Cute little swan which I actually don't have. I have a whole bunch of little different critters mostly ducks. I have a good duck collection going but swans not really. So this was quite an exciting find and you guys one of my most favorite finds as well. I think this is the second favorite find that I got outside of the round table covers that I found. I found another duck. I found this huge duck you guys. It is absolutely gorgeous and it was only $2.99 and look at all the details. Oh my goodness. I almost didn't bring it because to be completely honest I'm not a huge fan of pink but I think this will go very well with just the theme that I'm going for. Just adding more color, more whimsy, more playfulness to the cottage and this this is just super super exciting. I cannot believe I found this big old duck. You guys that was quite the rush. That was quite the rush. Nothing makes me more excited than going on a good hunt and finding some nice whimsy treasures. I am so excited. Okay I just quickly want to see if these table runners are actually going to fit my table. Going to be moment of truth. Oh my goodness. Please fit. Please fit. Please fit. Stop it. Stop it. Oh my goodness. Oh wow. You guys. I do wish it was a little bit longer but who cares. Oh my gosh. I am so excited now. How is it possible that little things like this just make my heart flutter? There's just something about making your space feel so cozy and just playful. In a way for me this just makes my inner child. I don't mean to get all sentimental but this just makes my inner child so happy. The little girl in me is so so excited. Okay let's try this other one. My goodness. What in the world. You guys this just looks absolutely stunning. I am so excited. I need to wash these but so cute. How cute. She looks a little pink on camera but she's more of a a little muted lavender color. Really love how this turned out. So I'm thinking of actually doing some little art on this little side bed table. I actually got some stencils because I was too nervous to draw the flowers myself. I thought that it would just be better to not be super worried of if I mess up to just get some stencils. So I bought some little floral stencils. It was like a whole package and I separated some of my favorite ones. I don't know. I really like this one. Probably do either or flower. Don't know. Okay let me separate this one. I like that one. Don't know how this is going to turn out. Hope you guys can see this. Don't know how this is going to turn out but I have good faith that. Oh I really love this little dragonfly. I have good faith that something good will happen. There's so many cute little stencils. I got a whole pack and a whole bunch of them came on this. I really like this one too. This is really hard for someone who's a Gemini like me because they contemplate everything and I'm not going to know which one I'm going to want to use. I also separated some gouache colors that I'll be using on the stencils. Because the base is light I figured that something a little bit darker would pop. I really love this Bordeaux red. I also really like this light sap green. I think these two will look nice. There's so many. I also have this crimson red that I think will look really nice against this vase. I also have this vermilion red. I don't know why I just feel like a red, some sort of red will look nice. I also have this deep green. I separate a few. I want to see what color will look nice against this backdrop. These are the colors. Now I'm nervous. Now I'm thinking if I should just do one solid color. I was thinking of doing maybe like the the stem a color and then the petals a different color. But now I'm thinking if I should do everything one solid color. Decisions, decisions. Okay that's not horrible. I can definitely touch this up. Okay so I already messed up. I think I added too much water when I was doing this side and it got a little bit smeared when I took off the stencil but it's okay. I have still more spray paint so I'm just going to quickly spray that area, cover that up. I also ended up finding out that laying the dresser is way better than having it standing up just because my hand can focus a little bit better and not be too wobbly. So we're doing it by laying this down now. Oh that looks so adorable. Hi friends it is the next day. It is a beautiful day today. The sun is out. It is shining. I'm feeling good. It's motivating me to play around with some decor. Like I mentioned I've been working on adding some color to the bedroom first. The entire cottage but the bedroom first. And I want to show you guys before I get started on decorating the room some items that I picked up when my mom was here when we went antiquing. I found some gems. I want to show you guys a couple things that I got that are going to be for the room. Also by the way oh my gosh did the little bedside table come out so good. Super excited how it came out. I wanted to add more details to to the drawers but I stuck to only doing what I did because I didn't want to mess it up and I really liked where it was. I'm so happy I did. I think just even that little corner over there where it's at there's so much color already. Such a good DIY. I got the dresser for $20 and the paint cost me like five five dollars each. I wasted roughly around I want to say like thirty dollars. So let me show you guys what I actually got while I was out antiquing. I have two windows in my bedroom and I've been wanting to get some curtains for this space. I have yet to find some curtains that I really like so I'm going to hold off on the whole curtain buying thing even though I am putting up some curtains today. But these are curtains I've had. But I did find these little curtain skirts that I thought were so cute. I found two of these. I love the little ruffle. I've been really into ruffles lately. So I'm going to add it to the top of my two windows and then add a layer of just a curtain. I also found this little wooden duck. At first I was like wait what is that when I seen it. I liked the stain of this wood and I wasn't finding a shape to it in the beginning and I had a stare at it for some time and then I was like okay it's a bird. I found this for five dollars at this antique store. I forgot how much these were. I'm pretty sure I paid like three dollars or something. And then I found this beautiful huge with a nice little scenic view that has some beautiful colors in it. I really love this little scenic view on here. I love the shades of green, the water that's blue, the little cottage in the mountains in the background. I feel just like looking at this just brings me so much peace and I already made some space in my wall back here. I'm going to put it right in the middle. I'm so excited for this. This is just so much fun. I got this for $6.99. And then for the star of the show you guys I found a quilt. I found this beautiful quilt at an antique store and it was only $22. It is a little beat up. There are some spots in here that definitely need to get sewn back in. There's some stuff on here that I'm going to be hand sewing. For example this little side right here the threads are coming off so I will be going in there and hand sewing some of this parts as well as some other areas on here that are just not in the best condition but I thought that it was still such a great deal for $22. The design is beautiful. You guys will see once I lay it on my bed and then the other side is this beautiful print here. All right I am feeling good. I am feeling energized. I already had my coffee. I had some breakfast. Let's add more color to my bedroom. It looks so good. I love it so much. It's crooked. Cute. I love this design you guys. It's perfect. This was such a good find. The blocking that's going on and I love the warm tones. Oh and there goes Bilbo. Hi buddy. What do you think about the quilt? Do you like it? I also really love this design here. I would even just put it on this side as well just because I love what's going on right there and I think it goes well with the frame and then I ended up putting my little birdie up here. So far so good you guys. Excuse me bud. Add this blankie here for extra support. Hi buddy. Quilt also? Recently I found myself wondering why color has been so absent from my home over the past few years. When Brandon and I first moved into our first rental a handful of years ago I delighted in decorating with vibrant hues deeply inspired by my culture. As time passed a series of health updates entered my life unexpected and unsettling. Shortly after embarking on a new health journey that took both Brandon and me by surprise I began to notice something subtle but telling. The way we felt was quietly shaping the way we lived. Our home became darker in tone. The items we chose more muted almost as if our surroundings were mirroring the heaviness we were carrying. Don't get me wrong I love dark colors. In my witchcraft practice they symbolize protection action and fierceness. Yet at my core I have always been a colorful person. My art has never let me forget that. Color is what brings me hope, excitement, joy, playfulness, and a sense of safety. And in a world where chaos is something we constantly see, hear, and experience we need more joy. We need more playfulness. These are things that anchor us to our resilience and help us stay rooted in our bodies. Creating small joys can feel almost radical in today's world yet I find deep beauty in them. They are the quiet forces that keep me moving forward. Simple acts, decorating my cottage, painting tiny flowers on a vintage bedside table, thrifting, surrounding myself with color, reach far beyond home decor for me. They are how I stay connected to joy and joy for me is essential to continuing on. This looks so cozy and whimsical. Oh my goodness I couldn't be happier with how things turned out in here. This just goes to show that small little projects are very impactful when it comes to just crafting and trying to give some whimsy and coziness to your space. You don't have to do big old renovations or just projects in order for whimsiness and coziness to be added to your space or for them to just be impactful or meaningful. My whole other side of my bedroom still has so much work to do. I would like to paint that and then paint this or do something with these but this corner of my bedroom is just so so whimsical. And this little dresser is going to be my happiness for the remainder of this month and probably even year honestly. It's like the cutest little thing ever and it just it's perfect for this little corner in the room. So in the spirit of adding a little more color to the cottage, there couldn't be a more perfect time for a new rug. I was recently contacted by Pure Cozy, a rug company thoughtfully designed with pet parents in mind. And if you know me, you know how much my two pups mean to me. I'm always on the hunt for home pieces that feel warm and inviting yet are easy to clean when Dobby or Bilbo inevitably make a mess. Pure Cozy makes that balance effortless. Their rugs are stain resistant, slip preventative, and durable enough to be claw friendly without sacrificing comfort. I'll leave links to their website below as well as this specific rug if you'd like to learn more. Do you like the new rug Dobby? The bedroom feels so cozy and warm. I told Brandon that it finally looks lived in. Not just furniture arranged in certain places but small stories unfolding in every corner of the space. I ended the night with a tarot oracle prompt from the planner I'm using this year. The card that came through was void, which felt almost ironic because that's exactly what I've been tending to lately. This year I've been filling a void I didn't even realize had existed for so long. And I'm beginning with color. And with that, we've come to the end of the video friends. Thank you for spending the day with me. I'll see you again soon. Bye for now.