Kid Stuff at Sassy Seagull!

 There is something magical about being a kid at the beach. Times of hanging out with cousins or friends having fun. Sleepovers.  Resting by playing board games or reading a good book after a long day of riding the waves and building sand castles. Ice cream outings in the evenings after supper. Simple pleasures.

I wanted to design a room at the Sassy Seagull cottage just for kids. There was one tiny bedroom in the cottage that seemed like just the spot. Here are the "before" photos...

There was a closet in the wall that adjoins the front master bathroom. I decided to steal it for the master bedroom/bathroom side and close up the wall on the bunk room side. There will be hooks and drawers for storage in the bunk room instead.

Part of the floor had to be pulled up because there was some rotting and there were also some foundation issues under the house needing repair.

And then we had to steal a few inches in order to widen the next door bathroom to fit all the fixtures back in. Those few inches made a tiny room even tinier and I had to rework the arrangement of the bunks. But it will be functional and cozy.

Once the wall was framed out and the plumbing and electrical were completed the walls were clad in paneling to match the rest of the room.

Then the floors were sanded and stained and the room was painted.

Finally the the light fixtures were installed. I love to give each bunkmate his or her own reading light with their own on/off switch. It gives them a measure of control over their personal space and kids seem to love it! I found a fixture at Lowes that has a grille over the cover that helps give it a nautical look.

I loved this starfish flushmount light at Shades of Light and thought it would be perfect for the ceiling!

Now all we need for this bunk room is bunk beds! I'll save that for my next post! Thanks for stopping by! See you soon!

"Before" At The Beach Part Two!

Last week I posted the "before" pictures of the common areas at our little beach cottage.

Now I want to show you each of the three bedrooms and the two bathrooms--how they look before any work is done.

There will be two master bedrooms--each with an adjoining bathroom.  There is one other very small bedroom that we plan to turn into a bunk room.

Front Master Bedroom

The front bedroom is off the living room (living room is through door on left) and is fairly large for a vintage Tybee cottage.

You can see what the paneling used to look like before the previous owner painted. Wonder how they missed that spot? 

The door in next photo leads to the bathroom.

Bathroom adjoining the Front Bedroom

Don't you love the claw foot tub?!?

The bathroom is long and skinny. Part of it was closed off by the previous owner to make a closet for the bedroom next door.

Bunk Room

This room is off the kitchen in the middle of the house. The door leads out to the kitchen.

Here is the closet that goes into the front bath.

It will be a challenge to make the most of this cozy space so that its occupants have a relaxing space with some storage for their belongings.



Back Master Bedroom

This bedroom is more compact but it has wonderful windows!

Tybee cottages are known to be a little funky.  There is a water heater and a makeshift closet on this wall. The door leads to the backyard.

Back Bathroom

This long, skinny bathroom does not currently connect to the next-door back master bedroom. We are hoping to find a way to connect them. Talk about funky--check this out! 

I guess they built the room around the appliances because there is no way the washer and dryer fit through the door! And check this out--only about 18 inches between the sink and the dryer. Not much room to stand...

Looking back in the other direction...

So that is a "Before" tour of the bedrooms and bathrooms at our little beach cottage. We've doing a lot of thinking and planning and now it is time to roll up our sleeves and get started!

I hope you'll join us on the journey!

A "Makes-You-Smile" Bunk Room!

Coast Awhile Cottage is a spacious home with 5 bedrooms plus a separate 1 bedroom apartment and when designing it I envisioned multigenerational family groups coming for a stay.  I could just imagine lots of cousins hanging out together just like I did with my cousins when my family had a reunion at Tybee over 40 years ago.  The more the merrier!

The bunk room is not very big but I wanted to squeeze two sets of bunk beds in.  They were custom made by Peter Dittmar and designed by me and Jane Coslick based on previous projects of hers plus a few Pinterest pins that I liked.  We had space in the corner to add some shelves for each person so they could have some storage.

I thought it would be nice for the bunkmates to have their own light for reading, etc.  and these inexpensive  nautical ones fit the bill perfectly!

I also liked the idea of having curtains so if one person felt a need for privacy or wanted to shut the light out to nap, they could.  Peter fashioned some strong metal bars for us to use as curtain rods on the beds.

Pre-installation--they are leaning against the lower bunk.

I found some wonderful curtains with a flag design at Ikea in the children's department and bought several pairs so we could use them on the windows and french door as well as some to cut up and sew into curtains and pillows for the beds.  

The yellow bean bag seat was a great bargain from Joss and Main, one of my favorite daily sale sites.  You should check them out!

I also found clearance bedding at Target and wonderful decorative pillows at Garnet Hill (on sale of course).

This little lime green dresser came from a flea market--ready to go!  No painting or refurbishing required.  I love that it offers both room for hanging clothes plus drawer space for each guest.

The bunk room is such a happy place--so colorful and bright!  Makes me smile :)

In A Funk Until We Built The Bunks!

I've been taking you on a virtual tour of Coast Awhile Cottage.  So far.....

 

• I met you, my house guest, on the front porch in  the post titled "Relax and Watch The World Go By!"

 

• We went into the living room for a chat in "Coast Awhile Cottage:  The Living Room Is Ready For Company!"

 

 

• We prepared dinner in "Come On Over For Dinner!"  (Now we know we're pretending--I'm more inclined to call for takeout or reservations when I'm on vacation.  Henry says I cook the best takeout in town--haha!)

 

 

 

• We had a lovely pretend dinner in the dining room post called "Gorgeous New Old Stuff!".

Now it is time to get the kids ready for bed and I can't wait to show you the bunk room!  It may just be my most favorite room!  But it started out as my least favorite room:(

 

 The previous owner had been a bachelor who liked to party and he had left a gigantic hot tub in the room.  It had been improperly installed and let's just say it was ewww--we all agreed that 

it had to go.

 

There was a door in the room and somehow my handyman extraordinaire Peter 

managed to get it out!

 

 

We decided that having an exterior door in the children's room might be an issue for young kids and teenagers alike so my designer Jane Coslick and I decided to remove the door and install a couple of windows on that wall.  In this shot taken from the adjoining room you can 

only see one of them.  It worked wonders in making the room brighter.

 

 

 Once we got the plumbing issues cleared up, re-wired the electrical, and put down flooring,  Peter began to build the bunk beds.  I had collected a few pictures of bunk rooms I liked and we borrowed design inspiration from several of them.  

 

We planned for four beds--each with a storage shelf and curtains to give each bunk mate some privacy.  I found some curtains in the children's department at Ikea that made me think of nautical flags and I bought a lot of pairs so we could cut them up and use the fabric.

Later in the week I'll post the "After" pictures--you're gonna love it!

 

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!  

We Have Bunks--And That's No Bunk!

Does anybody remember waaay back in the earliest days of the old melodrama movies?  Me neither but the story of our bunk room at Doc Holiday might have made a good subject.  It might have gone something like this...

The bunk bed saga continues....in our last installment, Vicky arrived at the cottage with a U-Haul truck full of goodies to begin moving in.  But alas, there were no bunk beds in the bunk room.  (Fainting ensues.  Then panic.)

Our builder finally came to understand that children will be in need of those beds in a few days and, being a kind-hearted man and not a mustache-twirling villain, he arranged for one of his best carpenters to come over the weekend and build the bunk beds.

Enter our hero and heroine to the rescue...Jane Coslick, my designer, and John Lindsay!  I found some photos of beds that we wanted to model ours after for John to see then...

They measured.

And they measured.

 And just to be sure, measured again!

John set to work and by the end of the day---Bunk beds!  My hero! (Sigh)

There was no time to paint the beds before the kids showed up but they didn't mind.  And they loved their room!  (Swoon)

 After our week with the family, we took off all the bedding and the beds were painted.  I'll show you how the room looks now when we meet again in our final installment of the 

Saga of the Bunk Beds!