Summer Is One Of My Favorite Words!

Summer is one of my favorite words...Ever since I was a little girl the word "summer" conjured up thoughts of fun and freedom!  This summer has not disappointed.  

Summer started during Memorial Day Weekend for me and mine as we spent a week together at Tybee Island.  Our family has grown into a big group (yay! the more the merrier!) and we spread out among three little cottages:

Our Doc Holiday

Coral Cottage...btw did you see the article on Coral Cottage that is in the 
July/August 2014 issue of HGTV magazine?

and Bead Cottage

Source

My sister Crystal joined the party and we had quite the family reunion!  

Bill, me, Crystal, and our cousin John with his wife Judy

We kicked off the week with my nephew Billy's high school graduation.

Yaay!

Billy is my brother Bill and his wife Kim's only child and he has always been totally lovable.  Rarely do you meet a teenager who has friends of every age group, who seems really interested in what his aunt of a certain age has to say and can hold up his end of the conversation...Billy is that guy.  

Here Billy is with his mom Kim who prepared quite a 
special event to celebrate the occasion!

Just look at the tables...now I know why they used to call sideboards "groaning boards" because these tables were groaning with the weight of all the beautiful and tasty food!  I snapped a few photos while Kim was setting things out...

We had a great evening visiting and celebrating Billy while being serenaded by a great band called The Accomplices.

Bill and Kim throw the best parties!  All the guests, young and young at heart alike, had a 
great evening!

Henry with Ella and Charlotte

Meghan with her Uncle Bill

Jordan and Sarah arrived in town and came straight from the airport to the party.

Anna Kate holding the youngest guest, her two months old cousin Piper

Sisters Meghan and Kristen with Charlotte

The Fab Four...Madeline, Tyler, Anna Kate, and Violet

The guest of honor with his Aunt Vicky

We love you Billy and can't wait to see what the next chapter brings!

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! 

Little Things Add Up!

Coast Awhile Cottage has been a huge project!  It's such a big house that it took lots of time to handle all the little details that make it special.  The last space I have left to show you in the main house is the upstairs master bathroom.  It ended up like this....

...but it started out like this....

Yes, I know---ewww.  

This is what we did...we started out with a brand new tub/shower and added new white tile to its walls and ceiling.  The tiles were inexpensive but I had them applied at a diagonal for a little more pizzazz.

The walls were covered with bead board and eventually painted with white semi-gloss paint.

We tiled the floors with white and black hexagon tile to keep the vintage flavor.

A new toilet and a new vanity were installed as well as a new light fixture.  You can't see it but we also installed new towel bars.

Then it was time for the fun stuff.  We found this cool mirror at Home Goods and an inexpensive but colorful shower curtain at Wal-Mart.  Good design can also be a good bargain.

And last but not least Target's Room Essentials collection has wonderful fast-dry towels and bath rugs at a great price point and in so many colors!  I liked these sky blue ones.....

My designer, Jane Coslick, always says that you can't have too many hooks on the walls of a beach cottage.  My sister Crystal sent me some really fun ones--the crab hook is shown...

And there you have it right down to the last little thing!

I am always amazed at each layer of decorating and how it adds to the whole.  Careful attention to detail can be a powerful thing.  

Makes me think of one of my favorite quotes which I heard attributed to missionary Amy Carmichael..."A little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in little things is a very great thing."  I used to stress this to my kids when they were young and still living in our home.  It's a good lesson for all of us.  Think about it :) 

It's A Girl!

Happy news!

 

 

 

Introducing our precious new granddaughter Piper who from day one already knew how to 

make a fashion statement!

 

 

 

She was born April 3rd, weighed in at a healthy 9lb 3oz, and was 22 inches long!   Her mother Meghan (our daughter) was a trooper and managed to deliver her with natural childbirth and Piper's daddy Tom was an excellent birth coach!

 

 

 

It would be an understatement to say her family is already in love with her!

Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Lisa brought two of the Fab Four to get acquainted (Violet, top left and Anna Kate, lower right)

Big sister Josey is thrilled and when she's not busy being awesome in her own right...

 

 

 

 ...she loves to hug and kiss her baby sister.

 

Piper already has a few nicknames..."Pipsqueak" (although she really doesn't deserve it) and my personal favorite--she was dubbed "Pipette" by her grandfather who was a Chemistry major as an undergrad.  She has also been called "Pipes" and I must say she can certainly speak up for herself...I am woman, hear me roar!

 

 

Daddy was trying to work and either Piper thought he was writing some bad code or she was letting Mommy know that it was time for her second or was that third (?) breakfast.  

 

But most of the time--all of the time--precious Piper is just that...precious!

  

Welcome to the world sweet girl and welcome to the family!

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.)

My Favorite Bedroom--No Foolin'

Lots of work went into making an appealing and welcoming room in the largest master bedroom at Coast Awhile Cottage.  It took months to get everything in shape but we will compress the time and show you how things turned out with some before and afters of a few different angles...

Before

 

After

The sitting room area....

Before

 It looks very different with the closet and fake wood flooring torn out and beadboard walls instead of wallpaper.

 The white paint (Martha Stewart Living #8002 Glass of Milk) makes a huge difference!  There's nothing like crisp white walls to create a great background for cottage-y decor.  Because the budget was tight, we painted the floor with deck paint in lieu of adding more hardwood to match the other half of the room.

After

Next time I'll show you the decor...this bedroom is my favorite in this cottage!