I did a thing. It was kind of a naughty thing, but I just HAD to! I told you a while back [HERE] that I was going to test out paint on our kitchen shelves because I just HAD to see what it would look like. I made a mistake, but more coming on that later…

Eeeeek! See, I painted them. Well, kind of but not really. You see, I just used the same color as our floor paint because I had some extra leftover & it was really not a great idea because I should have just painted them white like our shiplap behind the shelves. So, I’ll be testing out actual white really soon, but this kind of gives you an idea of what the painted shelves will look like. The nice thing about these shelves is that I can just pop off the shelf part from the corbels and test out different color paint & stains… there is no stress! I know some people were stressed about me testing out painted shelves, but no need when you can easily switch it back. It’s just a matter of cutting a few more pine boards & testing some out. But that is not what all of today’s post is about. Today’s post was a little update on the shelf painting saga & mostly about a sweet little painting that is on those kitchen shelves of ours…

A few weeks ago, on my birthday, a very special girl in my life dropped off an amazing gift that I will treasure forever & ever. Amen. Her name is Joy & she is our shop manager. If you don’t know, we own a shop called The Found Cottage here in Michigan & it’s been a dream come true, but with dreams come a lot of hard work & some of that work… well, quite frankly, we don’t have time for. That is where Joy comes in along with the rest of our amazing staff. Joy wrangles everyone together, she keeps me in line [the hardest job ever], & is a true sidekick that I am so grateful for [along with my other other two partners…. Hi Lisa & Abby!]. Joy is a true joy. A light in my life. I’ve talked about it many times, but I suffer from anxiety and depression… it’s just something I’m navigating through & whenever I’m having a really hard day, I go into the shop & Joy is there to cheer me up. When I get there she always says “Do you want to go for a walk?” which involves us grabbing our coffees & walking around the shop talking about plans & things we should do that day to make it better. She’s really special.. you get the idea…. Well, on my birthday she dropped off a watercolor painting of us on the farm with our animals & I cried. I mean, tears streaming down my cheeks. & I’m not sure I even told her this, but that painting meant more than I could ever tell her. Her card & the painting were a reminder of all of the creative people in our life that lift me up daily & inspire me to keep doing what I’m doing. I stopped to wonder what I even did to deserve these people. But they are here & I appreciate the daylights out of them.

I am so in love with this watercolor painting she made for us that I placed it somewhere I looked everyday & right now that is on the shelves in our kitchen. It’s such a great family photo with all of our farm babies [minus Winnie: Funny story… she saw my announcement photo of us getting Winnie the night before she gave this to me & by that time it was too late. We had a big laugh over that one. I apologized. I would get a new puppy right when she finished a painting.] The best part about Joy working at our shop is watching her grow as an artist, find her niche, & be by her side cheering her on as we go. She just started selling her paintings & you can find her & contact her [HERE] on her Instagram. She’s a gem. You should get to know her… I know you will like her too! Ok, I’m done. I hop you guys liked today’s post & I’ll be back with a shelfie update soon… I actually have some exciting plans for it & can’t wait to show you what I’ve come up with. Thank you for stopping by today!!! xx

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