Get It Together!

I had fun in this post and this one showing you some of the pretties that I found for the living room at Doc Holiday cottage.  Now it's time to get it together and show you how they 

look in the room!

I've already changed some things around since this photo was taken in July.  The rustic wood coffee table now resides on the front porch.  And see the burlap pillow on the sofa that has 

the phrase "Happy All Around" stenciled on it?  It has been re-located to one of 

the master bedrooms. 

Yes, despite the voting results I used Look #5 because back in the summer at move-in time my budget needed all the help it could get and I already owned the pillow.  But that is the beauty of this little cottage--the color scheme is carried throughout so the furniture and most of the accessories can move around and find a new life in any of the other rooms.

There is an undercurrent of watery blue throughout the entire house and punches of other colors like yellow, lime green and coral are used in varying degrees so that the rooms each have their own personality!  

This beautiful painting by Bellamy Murphy was my inspiration piece:

 I love the pops of yellow in the painting, the lamp and the pillows.  And if you 

turn in the other direction...

Don't you love the way the yellow bar stools play with the starfish pillows?  It's important to keep your line of sight in mind when you have rooms with an open concept like in this 

living room/dining room combo.

There are also a few touches of coral sprinkled about in the front door, the pillows on the sofa...

...the painting and the mirror (a thrift store find that we painted)....just enough to be interesting and carry your eye through the space.

On the opposite wall from the sofa are the DIY painted pieces posted about here and here. 

 I still have some final touches to do before everything is complete but overall I'm happy--and

 I think my room is happy too!

He Sells Seashells!

Last week one of my favorite blog friends, Julie, asked to see a close-up of this mirror that was shown from a distance over the seahorse stenciled chest that I posted about here. 

I promised her a closer look at this absolutely fabulous seashell-encrusted mirror and so here we go!  It was my big splurge (an anniversary present from my hubby) when I was decorating Coast Awhile Cottage....and when we sold the cottage, the mirror stayed with its mama (me-a)!
 
I can remember the day that it arrived.  It had been crated up within an inch of its life in a big box made of hunks of styrofoam and then that was packed in sturdy cardboard.  Henry (my husband) tackled the job of unpacking it.  He saw it first and when he came to tell me it was ready to view, he was clearly in awe--all he could say was something like "Whooooaa...Woooow--you've got to see this!"

Can you imagine all the time and talent involved in placing and gluing each shell so precisely?

 Not to mention the patience you would need?

 

When I consider all the time and skillful work--not to mention the material involved in creating this piece I can understand its hefty price tag.  The first time I saw a picture of the mirror, I loved it but I was sad because I just couldn't work it into our budget for decorating the cottage I was currently working on.  Coast Awhile Cottage was big and required a lot of stuff to fill it up so we had to stretch every dollar.  Story of my life :)

  
But you know me, the shopper.  I had a dream and I didn't want to give up the idea of having a beautiful shell mirror.  So I began regularly searching eBay for a shell mirror I could like just as much but the results were disappointing...until one day!!! 
 

What was that?  It looked just like the one I wanted and it was sold by "Larry the Actuary"!  It was the mirror--my mirror!  And it was listed for a much better price--an eBay starting bid price!  Imagine how thrilled I was when no one bid against me and I was able to have this mirror I had dreamed about!  I wish my picture did it justice.

 

If you'd like to see more from Larry the Actuary, a gallery of his work can be seen at his website,  Covered With Shells.  Take a look--it's quite a treat!  Larry's actual name is Lawrence Steinert and he is an amazing artist!

Have you ever had the experience of waiting for a purchase you couldn't afford and then having it provided for you in another way?  It doesn't happen every time but it has happened to me so often--I think it is a God-thing!  I don't deserve it but out of kindness He just up and surprises me from time to time!  And I think it is so neat to see that God cares about such small and inconsequential things as decorating a cottage--probably because He knows 
it's important to His child.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things!

 In working on Doc Holiday, our little beach cottage, my plan for the living/dining space was to try to squeeze as much out of the small space as possible.  I had learned from working with designer Jane Coslick on other projects that it would help to lighten up the dark paneled rooms with white paint--not only does it make the space seem brighter but it also makes it appear to be larger and gives a neutral backdrop for any color I want to introduce.

When it was time to select a sofa and upholstered chairs I chose white slipcovered pieces because they would blend in and take up less space visually plus the slipcovers make it easy to wash away the occasional spills of little (or big) people.  

I shopped IKEA because they specialize in small scale furniture and their goods have a nice design and reasonable price.  The only problem I had with IKEA was getting used to the strange names of the furniture!

Ektorp Sofa with Blekinge white slipcover

Ektorp Jennylund Chair with Blekinge white slipcover

Once I had a nice white backdrop it was time to put some color in the room--and that is where the exciting, nail-biting, rewarding, terrifying, thrilling, satisfying part of decorating comes in--the part where you give your room some personality!

I had to decide what kind of feeling my room should evoke when people walked in.  I wanted people to feel uplifted and say Ooooo--niiice and yet not feel intimidated because the room is too precious.  I wanted the room to welcome guests, invite them to relax and to have furnishings that delight them and make them feel happy as they look around. Also I wanted the room to say You're at the beach!!  without getting too cute and overly kitschy.

When I began to shop I tried to keep my objective in mind--to only buy things that met my goals.  I usually try to establish a color scheme fairly early in the game and pull the colors through the house to all the rooms to keep it cohesive.  But who am I kidding?    

My Most Important Rule:  Buy what you really love and skip the rest.

So today I want to show you some of my favorite things--things that made the cut because 

they say "happy" to me.  

This painting was my first purchase--it was my birthday/Christmas present from Henry. 

I blogged about the artist, Bellamy Murphy, way back in April when I visited her studio.  Her paintings make me smile and I'd been wanting one for several years.  The only problem was narrowing my choice down to just one...

After seeing "May Day" on Bellamy's blog I just knew.  I had found it.  The perfect painting to use as a focal point and inspiration for my bright and happy color scheme!

I love to shop for vintage pieces.  I've scored some great deals with Craig's List, eBay, and little local flea markets.  Some have needed do-overs like this cupboard I posted about here.  It now has a split personality since I separated the top and bottom, painted them, and made them into 

two pieces of furniture!   

These tables for each side of the sofa were also flea market finds.

The lamps and shades I bought to go on the side tables came from Target.  They were chosen to echo the yellow found in Bellamy's painting.

It's white, folks!  The picture makes it look sort of grey.

This little painting from Home Goods was left over from decorating a different cottage.  I liked it too much to return it and for now it has found a home above the sofa.

Then there is the matter of pillows...

A pair of these are on the sofa.

These are my faves!  I found them on Amazon but their price took my breath away.  No matter how much I loved them, I could not justify it with my tiny budget :( 

But hooray!  A few weeks later just in time to furnish Doc Holiday, one of my favorite flash sale sites, Joss and Main, offered them for less than half the Amazon price and I snagged a couple!  Sometimes it pays to wait! 

If you'd like to check out some of the great deals at Joss and Main please click my link and join up!  The deals change daily so if you don't find something you like and need today you may find it tomorrow!  At any rate, it's fun to window shop!

These are a few of my favorite things!  This post is getting long so I will wait til next week to show you a close-up of an absolutely fabulous seashell-encrusted mirror!  Then I want to put everything together and show you how it looks in the living room!

What about you?  Do you have any favorite finds or stores to share with us? 

Where do you like to shop?  Are you a flea market enthusiast or do you prefer the

fancier stores?

Treasures Galore!

I'm a clutter-bug.  All you have to do is check out my closets and you can tell.  Apparently other people suffer from the same affliction--only their extra stuff is more exciting than mine--and they are consigning it at a store in Savannah.  The store is appropriately named Clutter.

Clutter is no Goodwill-type store where you pull up to the curb and drop off your old stuff.  In order to consign your wares, you have to pass the screening by emailing photos to the owner.  She is very selective and the result is an assortment of amazing goods.  It's such fun!
 Let me show you what I was drawn to the last time I popped in for a look!

Somebody had a fabulous collection of coral (real, not faux).  These were my favorites...

  Look at these gorgeous mirrors!

 And there were some really great chandeliers...

There is an artist in Savannah who makes these cool industrial chandeliers--this one could have been on somebody's roof top at one time!

And I'm crazy for this shell chandelier!

Not sure how practical it is but this table covered with shells is certainly a conversation piece.

This display of authentic Amazonian Indian headpieces stopped me in my tracks!  My husband, with American Indian in his blood, loved it!  The feathers had such vibrant colors and each piece was so artfully crafted. It was better than a museum because you could handle them 
if you wanted to.

There is always something new every time I visit.  Treasures galore!  Love.

Where do you go to look for treasure?  Do you have any favorite haunts?  Any great spots for bargains?  Do share.

Time For The Good Stuff!

It's time for the good stuff...at last I can show you all the fun things I found for the bunk room during my shopping adventures online.

I fell in love with this fabric when I walked through the kids' department of IKEA!  The flag print made me think of nautical flags and the bright colors are so cheery!  The Atlanta IKEA carries the curtains in this print but the only stores that carry the duvet and pillow sham are the stores on the west coast:(

I was scheming about how I could get the duvets and was just about to pick up the phone to dial up my sister Crystal who lives in the L.A. area to beg her help...then I thought I'd check eBay first.  And yaaaay--there was a seller who had four sets for sale still in the packages! 

Vitaminer Vimpel Duvet Cover and pillow sham set

Does anyone else love to score a bargain?  I get a little thrill each time I find just the right thing for an amazing price and that is just what happened with these euro pillow shams.  I can't keep it to myself--normally $40 each, they were on clearance at C. Wonder for $4.99!

I love the rope and grommet detail on each pillow!

 

There is one more item to share--I was walking through Home Goods one afternoon and this little wicker monkey "spoke" to me--he really did.  I had to take him home!  I'm not sure yet the best way to display him but I think the kids will like this little friend!

Here's the room...the room is small and it was hard to stand far enough back to get a good picture with my little point and shoot but I did my best.

As you can see, we managed to get four bunk beds into the room and still have a little floor space!  The kids seemed to like the room a lot when they stayed here a few weeks ago.  They chose to hang out in there reading or playing games--I guess it is fun to have your own space but to have company nearby!  We've got tweaking to do but I'm already loving the way this room is shaping up!  

Shop What You've Got!

Coast Awhile Cottage is a biggie--5 bedroom house and a 1 bedroom apartment all under one roof!  It took a lot of hunting and gathering to fill it up!  When the house was ready for decorating, Jane Coslick and I placed the furniture in the rooms and then we put most of the decor items in one spot--like a store where we could "shop" what we needed.

 

Here is the Pillow Department...

 

 

The Bedding Department (some of the fabric remnants I got at a sale are there waiting to be made into pillows...

 

 

Let there be light...the Lamp Department

 

 

Mirrors and Artwork Department

 

 

And last but not least,  Hooks (an important thing for beach houses)

 

I'm crazy about my fishbone hook!

 

It is good to lay everything out so you can see what you have and what you still need.  Sometimes when you have a chance to play with all the pretties, you can come up with fresh ideas and combinations that you might not have considered at first.

 

Next post I want to finish up what we started in this post and this one as I show you how the living room at Coast Awhile Cottage turned out!

 

Beautiful!

I'm in the mood to write about something beautiful.  I've been showing lots of "before" pictures and I'm getting ready to show lots of demolition pictures as the renovation of our cottage begins--so today let's take a look at something lovely.

Last week I went to Savannah to attend a bridal luncheon for my beautiful niece Brittney who married her sweetheart Tim on Saturday evening.   It is our family tradition that just before the wedding all of the aunts give a luncheon to honor each of the brides and their attendants.  Brittney chose The Pirates' House, a popular restaurant with locals and tourists alike.

se

Dorothy (Henry's sister who was mother of the bride), Beth, Brittney (bride), Eleanor, Anita and Vicky

Don't you love those special multi-generational parties where everyone from 

the eldest family members to the youngest gather to share food and celebrate together?!

Hilda Patton, Henry's mom, with Jeff (Henry's brother our only male presence at the party)--Look at her blissful expression--so beautiful!

Charlotte's first taste of sugar thanks to some key lime pie served by Aunt Anita and Aunt Beth

I also had a nice surprise at the luncheon--Beth, who is a very talented seamstress and crafter, cross-stitched two pillows as an advance house-warming gift for our cottage.  Take a look at these gorgeous things...

Beth hates to pose for pictures but I made her--a beautiful gift from a beautiful lady!

 Since this post is all about beautiful things, here is one last picture of a beautiful bride and her handsome groom.  Family is meant to be a beautiful thing and this one is just getting started.  Congratulations you two--and heartfelt wishes for

all the best in the years ahead!

Tim and Brittney