Doc Holiday Is Stylin' In Cottage Style Magazine!

Today I got an exciting text message from Jane Coslick, a designer and historical preservationist who collaborated with me to restore Doc Holiday, our family's cottage at Tybee Island....

The exciting news was that Doc Holiday is one of the cottages featured in Cottage Style magazine's Fall/Winter 2018 issue! 

This is the cover of the magazine (not our cottage)

The photoshoot took place over three years ago and I had begun to wonder if the pictures would ever make it to publication. And finally they did!

When I heard the news I asked my husband to stop at Publix on his way home and pick up a copy for me. I hardly dared believe it was true until I saw for myself...

And then there it was...

There are several other pages in the feature that I'm not showing but I couldn't be happier with the beautiful layout and the wonderful article that accompanied it!  Lots of talented people were involved to make it all happen.

I know I come across as kinda starry-eyed and not exactly chill. But y'all. I can't help myself. I'm excited! We had the A Team working on this project and I love it when a plan comes together!

Check Out Coral Cottage In HGTV Magazine!

I'm back....two months ago my trusty, crusty old computer refused to connect to the internet and after mourning and giving it a proper memorial I decided to switch over to a Mac Book Pro.  Easier said than done.  I still don't know what in the world I am doing--it's quite different than my beloved PC but my tech-y son and son-in-law have convinced me that once I learn the ropes I will love it.  It's not love yet, but I am learning.

So after a two month break from this blog.....hi there once again!  I have some exciting news to share.....Last August in this post I shared about the excitement our family had being a part of a photoshoot for HGTV magazine at our Tybee beach cottage, 

the Coral Cottage.  Quite a thrill!

We were told our feature would be on news stands in June 2014.  It was not in the June issue but in mid-June Henry and I were in the check-out line at Wal-Mart and we spied a new issue of HGTV magazine.  The July-August issue had been released.  We wondered if this could be the issue we had waited so long to see?!?  Trying to be cool, I casually reached over to flip through a copy.

All photos from HGTV

It was!!!  I was so excited...it took every bit of self-control I could muster not to show it to all of the other people standing around me in the check-out line.

There was a photo of our granddaughter Ella in the Table of Contents...

A photo of yours truly on the editor's page.....

And there was our little cottage...

(For the record I never thought of my little house as "gross"--just tired and needing an update.)

 My handsome hubby smiling with me at the front door...

 The house tour features ten pages of before and after photos with lots of information about paint colors, design tips, etc.  And there are some great articles about other homes.  Even if you've read all about Coral Cottage as I've been blogging, you should pick up a copy because Elizabeth Beeler did a wonderful job of styling everything!  A million thanks to designer Jane Coslick as well for all she did--too much to list.

I can't resist showing one more picture of our family--gotta get my other little Savannah granddaughter Charlotte into the act.  My daughter Kristen and her husband James were so kind to arrange their family schedule for these pictures.

  My sister Crystal, son Jordan and his wife Sarah stayed at Coral Cottage recently during our family reunion.  We had such a great time--I'll have to share some of the pictures!

If you need a little Tybee Time to kick back and relax, Coral Cottage is available for vacation rentals!  We have a fabulous, customer service-oriented property manager in Jim Heflin at Tybee Cottages.  Ready when you are--come on down! 

Happy, Cozy and Comfy Master Bedroom!

Coast Awhile Cottage has some pretty gorgeous bedrooms thanks to my collaboration with designer Jane Coslick and her assistant (and designer in her own right)  Anna Speir.  Those ladies are sooo creative!  If you haven't picked your favorite yet then take a look at these...

• A "Makes-You-Smile" Bunk Room 

• Nautical and Nice 

• Anna's Magic Touch 

• A Room For Dreaming

But wait to pick your favorite until you see this last bedroom.  It is the upstairs master bedroom and adjoining sitting area.

I'm crazy for the iron bed--a Craig's List find that I picked up for a song!  This is what it looked like when I picked it up.

 

It's amazing what a little white spray paint can do!  The dandelion print pillow was made from a $1.99 scrap of fabric scavenged from Fabric World!  Anybody want to make a wish?

This little dresser came from a flea market as well as the little lamps on top.  The mirror was a cast off from Coral Cottage which we painted white and then distressed to give it 

an antique look.

Leonard Miller, a Savannah artist, painted wonderful window art for this room using an old window salvaged from Coral Cottage. 

Jane Coslick gave him the inspiring words which call the reader back to the freedom of 

simpler, happy days of childhood.  These are some things we need to hold on to.

 

The bedroom opens up to a sitting room... 

 We wanted it to be a cozy spot in which to read, talk or watch TV.  The TV can be angled for watching from the bed as well (my favorite).

Like it?   Tell me--which bedroom is your favorite and why?  Which bedroom would you choose for your own if you were staying here at Coast Awhile Cottage?  (See the links at the beginning of this post to view the other bedrooms.)

"Purty" Potty!

I'm very particular about bathrooms.  When I rent a home or stay in a hotel I want the place to have a pristine bathroom--immaculately clean and fresh.  When we bought Coast Awhile Cottage  we knew we had our work cut out for us to bring the tired, old bathrooms up to date.

 Upstairs there is a bathroom which is at the end of a hall-like area.   

Once you step inside there is another hall.  We believe this bathroom may have been added on--not part of the original house.

This photo was taken before the walls in the house were painted white.

There wasn't much to please the eye in the beginning...

...in fact, it was a little scary...

Ewwww.  As we took a closer look, the tub and the tile were in pretty good condition but the glass shower doors needed to go.  

It was the same with the faucets--we needed new ones.  We decided to keep the pedestal sink but replace the toilet.  And since there was no venting, we decided to replace the shelves with a window over the toilet to bring the room up to code.

It was rather disconcerting to find that once the toilet was removed we could see through to the deck outside.  It's a wonder someone hadn't crashed through!  Needless to say that floor was well-supported before things were put back together. 

Once everything was stripped down, we added bead board to the walls and painted everything white.  I like the clean feeling it gives and I think it will be easier to keep clean than drywall.  Here's how it all turned out....

 The sink was a freebie--it was in good condition so we reused it.  We took down the old "Hollywood dressing room" light fixture and replaced it with something more up to date.  The mirror was a find from World Market.  It was beautiful in it's natural wood color but we spray painted it with Rustoleum paint in Aqua to give a punch of color to this all white room.  The towels and throw rugs are from Target--Room Essentials fast dry towels and matching rugs. 

My designer, Jane Coslick, had an old medicine cabinet in her stash that she keeps on hand to furnish her clients with unique pieces when the need arises.  We thought it would be perfect next to the sink to add storage and to have a place to put personal items needed while 
getting dressed.

Some hooks for clothes and towels and a bright and cheery shower curtain from Home Goods finish off the room!

Now that's a safe, clean, "purty" room I could feel good about using to "powder my nose"!
 

A Room for Dreaming!

When we finished up the decorating at Coast Awhile Cottage it was immediately rented to a wonderful family who needed a great big house so they could all be together when they came into town to say their final goodbyes to their mother/grandmother/great-grandmother who had passed away.  Their kind notes in the guestbook brought tears to my eyes as they wrote of what a sweet time they had being together, drawing strength from one another and yet having space to be alone when needed.  They said the beauty of the house was "magical" and really ministered comfort to them as they took pleasure in their surroundings.  I couldn't ask for more.  

 

This feeling has been my goal in decorating our beach cottages--to bring peace and healing and rest and togetherness and comfort and delight to those who enter.  More than paint colors and furniture and accessories in a pleasing arrangement--it's a feeling of welcome and that someone has counted you worthy of being prepared for and fussed over a bit.  A feeling of a beloved home where beautiful things were meant to be enjoyed and used.

I think part of the charm of the bedrooms  I have shown you in these posts....

• A Makes-You-Smile Bunkroom 

• Nautical and Nice Bedroom 

• Anna's Room

  .....comes from their "happy colors" as my designer Jane Coslick refers to them and part is due to the interesting mix of vintage and new.  Not too shabby and not too chic.

I showed you the before pictures and the work-in-progress pictures for the upstairs back hall bedroom at Coast Awhile Cottage last week.  Here is the finished room....

 

Source for this photo:  Jane Coslick

The little bow front dresser with mirror was a fortunate and frugal find at one of our local flea markets.  The TV needs to be relocated so the little dresser can be fully appreciated.  The painted rattan chair was scooped up for around $20 at one of my favorite bargain haunts (I'll blog about that store soon.)

 

The predominant colors in this room are blue and green.  Jane added a pop of eye-catching color with the two coral colored benches at the foot of the bed.

 

 

 I love how it turned out!  I think I would have sweet dreams in this room!

 

 

Bargain-Hunt Beautiful!

On your virtual visit to Coast Awhile Cottage have you decided in which room you'd like to stay?  Would it be the "nautical and nice" downstairs master?  Or the "makes you smile" bunk room?  Or maybe Anna's masterpiece?  Can't make up your mind?

Let me show you one more and see if I can make it harder to decide:)  This one is next door to "Anna's".  It started out like this...

 As you can see there are lots of big windows. 

There were two lights that were on each side of the bed.  Jane Coslick and I decided to cap them off since we are changing the furniture arrangement to accommodate a king size bed.

We are leaving the bookshelf to store books and games.  The door on the right (above)

leads to a closet.

 As I already mentioned, this room has lots of windows.  They are original to the house with wonderful, wavy, old glass.  I love them!  The room get lots of light yet it looked very dark with it's dark paneling.  Call in the painters!

The paint color is MSL 8002 "Glass of Milk"--a Martha Stewart color.

Ahhh...better already.

While we were busy getting the house ready I was busy bargain-hunting.  One of my daughter's best friends, Jennifer Smith, told me about a fabric store that sells remnants and end-of-the-bolt fabric for unbelievably low prices--just my price range!

 Fabric World is located in Stone Mountain, Georgia.  It's sort of like a big rummage sale but at $1.99 a yard for designer fabric, I'm willing to dig through.

It's very hit or miss.  Sometimes when I go there is nothing I want but on this trip I lucked out and found lots of remnants just perfect for pillows!  I already had a lime green and white duvet cover and these other fabrics will look great!

Source:  Jane Coslick

Once the room was ready, Jane and I began experimenting with the fabric and trying out lamps and other furnishings.

Next time I will show you the finished room--it turned out so beautiful!  Then you can decide where you'd like to stay! 

Pondering and Perfecting!

Last week I showed you the front bedroom at Coast Awhile Cottage.  It was styled by Anna Speir, an  artist and friend of Jane Coslick, my designer.  When I say "cottage" it may give the impression of a charming, tiny home---Coast Awhile Cottage is charming but it is not tiny.  In fact it is quite large and it was all hands on deck when it came time to furnish the house!  We really appreciate Anna's contribution.

Once we had the house and it's furnishings somewhat under control it was time to tweak it and make it just right.  Jane likes to "ponder"--- that's what she calls it.  I'd like to show you how this already beautiful room was finished.

There used to be a game that a kiddie TV show used to play where they would show a picture and then change it slightly and ask the kids to see what was different.  The song keeps playing through my head..."One of these things is not like the other.  One of these things is not the same.  Can you tell me which thing is not like the other before we finish this game?" or something like that.  Let's see if you can find the changes...

Before

After

Did you see the changes?  Now look at these pictures...

 

Before

After

I found the tables next to the bed at a flea market for next to nothing and we decided to paint them white and use them in this room so the lamps would be the same height.  
Could you find the other changes? 

 I am learning this about decorating:  Rarely do you get things "perfect" on the first try--although Anna came very close.  It is usually necessary to arrange things, ponder a while, and then rearrange--add to--or take away--before it's just right.  Don't feel discouraged--even the pros like Anna and Jane consider this to be part of the process of design.  

Keep playing with it and have fun! 

 

Anna Works Her Magic!

We're having an ice storm here in our usually-mild-weather community.  Everyone is housebound and right now it is so delightful to think about going to the beach.  Tybee Island is supposed to be in the mid-60's this weekend and in another month azaleas will be blooming and some days will get into the 80's.  Ahhh...I can't wait for warm days ahead!

While I am dreaming let me show you another of the lovely bedrooms at Coast Awhile Cottage.  The initial styling was done by Anna Speir, a talented artist who sometimes assists Jane Coslick.  Here's a peek inside..

 Before we actually go inside to get a closer look, let me show you what the room looked like "before". The bedroom had dark paneling when we bought the house.  I really wanted to brighten up the room with some white paint.  It was scary to paint over wood paneling but Jane Coslick, my designer, agreed that it needed to be done.   She suggested a Martha Stewart color MSL 8002 "Glass of Milk".

I think it made a huge difference.  

Just look at these before and after pictures and tell me what you think....  

Before

After

The room gets wonderful light from the big windows.  There is a huge porch that wraps around the front of the house and these windows look out onto it.

Before

After

The door on the left leads to a closet and the open door leads out to the living room.  Even though the walls are white the paneling is still beautiful--the texture adds so much!

Now let's get a closer look at the room....

This room was one of the last ones to be decorated and Anna did an amazing job using what we had left to compose a very pleasing space.  She found the green lanterns outside on the floor of the porch--we had bought them to possibly use out there--and decided to hang them on the wall.  It added such a nice pop of color and personality to the room.  Thanks Anna!