It's easy to change the look with white and naturals – you can add just about anything you fancy for a low price, or as I did no price and a totally new look. I've had so many questions lately about how I do things on a budget and where I get them from (I'm so sorry if you've left me a message or sent me an email with a question and I haven't got back to you). I am certainly no expert in style or budgeting but I thought seeing as I've got a bit of expertise in nesting but not splurging I'd note a few ways I've been able to achieve a beachy laid-back, easy, casual style in my bedroom without spending a fortune.
The Floor
I've always wanted wood underfoot, I love the feel of it and yes I know it can sometimes be cold. But in the winter (it was cold in England) I rugged up. Oh and wore slippers 
Pull up your carpet and look for wood. If you've got it, lucky you. If you can afford it get a professioal sander (we got the whole of the Beach Cottage done in one hit). If you can't afford it or are doing just one room, hire a sander and do it yourself. We did this in our house in England. It wasn't too difficult…
Gotta love a touch of coir matting for that natural outside/inside feel. IKEA has a great range of matting and rugs. If you don't have the wood floor option or are renting the large coir mats are great to cover up and give a neutral base. I used these in our rental to add a relaxed feel and conceal the carpet.
Paint, Paper & Walls
I want always to keep the pallette neutral but I went against the advice of just about every designer I'd read and every home book I have (and baby that's alot), for pure brilliant white. The main reason for this though was not because I have any trick up my sleeve or any belief that my way is better but rather because we were in a big hurry and all white, everywhere, meant no cutting-in and no fuss. I'm more than pleased with how it turned out and in my opinion it doesn't look like we live in a hospital.
But when we re-paint I will examine the many subtle and lovely shades of white there are out there…Oh and I go for mid-range paint, the cheap stuff really does mark easily. I never though quite really understood paint snobbery and why some people have to have a label on their paint can.
And I like paper, not that I've been brave enough to put it up yet, but there are some great neutrally/florally ones out there that on just one wall would be fab…
The Bed
I want my bed to feel wistful for a life I don't have, ya know? I feel a a kinda nostalgic longing for a frenchy style bed that certainly wasn't part of my suburban childhood. Which is why I hanker after white iron style beds. I would have loved this one to be old, vintage and really solid but when you arrive in a foreign country with five beds to buy, and nothing to sleep on at night errr, the last thing you're gonna be doing is scouring around for a just-so antique delight.
Which leads me to cheap reproduction metal beds, which I've bought before and this one we have at the moment and I would buy again. You can pick them up for a great price if you do your homework and they don't look too budgety. Save all your money for the mattress, we've always spent as much as, if not more than, we can afford and never regretted a single penny.
Furniture
Budget bedroom furniture, like that from IKEA, has never been a success for me. Bedroom wise I've always been disappointed in the cheap option. I dunno about you but I want to feel sturdiness when I open a drawer or yank open a wardrobe in a rush to chuck some clothes on when someone's at the door. But it's very tempting to buy something cheap from one of these places to tide you over. I've learnt from too many mistakes here, now I'd rather live with it in a box on the floor than buy a cheap set of drawers or bookcase…
For the Beach Cottage bedroom I hunted in thrift stores, garage sales and secondhand shops for old pieces I liked the shape of and then painted them white. A much slower process than going into a shop and ordering what you fancy…but if you look for long enough, I'm sure you'll come across some beauties…
Linen
I want my bed to feel calm… somewhere to escape to, comforting and ready to be climbed into. No pattern, no busy colours - I don't think white linen can fail to induce serenity when you're on your knees at the end of the day.
So I look out for good quality, luxury white linen when it is on sale, I more often than not get it for at least half price off, linen shops seem to always have a sale. I scrimp in many areas of my life, and get away with it, but here I'd rather save up and spend well.
Vintage Linen – I am constantly on the lookout for old linen pieces, I love the lace and embroidery that's often been added and if you've used a white pallette for the main stuff you can add just about any pillowslip in and mix and match every time you change the bed.
Lamps
I adore the cosy glow of of lamps in the bedroom. There's nothing like that feeling of switching on the lamp, when all those Beach Cottage kiddos have gone to bed and I know that all I have left to do is climb into bed and read. I can never have enough lamps.
Of course you don't need me to tell you where to shop for lamps but I have found that Target have a good selection at great prices that look like they cost a lot more than they actually do.
I've bought lamps at garage sales, auctions and thrift stores with great success. I don't think you can go too wrong if you look out for a classic shaped lampbase and team it with a neutral shade.
Drapes
Sadly I don't have beautiful floor length sash windows that look out over the ocean and therefore do not need some form of embellishment. It makes me chuckle when so often in home-style books you see it written 'oh no I so don't like anything at the windows'. In a perfect world I'd also have undressed windows but here I have ugly aluminium windows in the new part of the cottage at the back that I need to conceal and old sash windows in the front that while would be nice left uncovered I like the ritual nightly repitition of drawing the curtains and shutting the world out to signal the end of the day.
I want to keep it simple, laid back and layered but 'undone', to be able to throw them in the wash and drape them on the floor - festooned drapes are never gonna work for me. But I like a little more than just a single hanging curtain and the double layer look works quite well. It kinda dresses the window but in a relaxed way and is very easily achieved by using IKEA's double pronged brackets. I also like the IKEA finials. Super cheap price but as they are pretty far away from the eye so don't look too oh-yeah-I've-been-to-IKEA.
I would like nothing more than to say that I sourced my curtains from some little French market linen stall and then had them beautifully hand stitched…but most of my curtains in the Beach Cottage I've bought from IKEA (look for the most expensive ones in there, the really really cheap ones are awful) or made myself. I'm no seamstress, I potter around with my sewing machine, but I can make a curtain and a tie-up blind without too much stress.
Chairs
I like chairs around in the bedroom - I want to chuck my clothes on one at the end of the day when I simply cannot face yet another chore. I like director's chairs covered in neutral putty linen or old rattan chairs painted white.
What I'm really looking out for is an old wing-back chair that I can cover in white. I haven't found it yet, but it's on the Beach Cottage Most Wanted List.
So there you go, if there really is anyone with anymore questions, leave them it in the comments and I'll edit and update the post.
As I’ve said before. I like your style. Not bad for a Pom were my words and you so got it. I would like to win your give away but of course I will not be unhappy if your generous gift goes to another deserving home. On Australia Day I bought a raffle ticket at the local Bush Fire Brigade breakfast but did not win the Didgeridoo (I’m a woman so I’m not allowed to play it anyway)and then paid $5 for a little yellow duck to race in the Duck Derby but did not win the $500. I’ve become a bit of a gambler and I’m quite enjoying it. So count me in as a contender.
I’m so glad I found your blog today!! Not only are you having an awesome giveaway, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your style!! I’ve already added you to my favorites so I can make lots of visits back here!!
****I added your button to my blog, Butterfly Whispers (link below my email)****
Thanks so much!!
Michele R.(CA)
luvkittysmeowmail@gmail.com
Butterfly Whispers– http://michele-butterflywhispers.blogspot.com/
Your style is right up my alley. I like coming to rad your blog last thing – so that I have beautiful thoughts at the end of the night.
So glad I found your site. Great look and tips. kath
Your cushions look lovely. I really love the fairy lights on the bed – beautiful.
I looks like lots of people have been popping over from my blog – I hope they enjoy it as much as I do!!
The bed looks gorgeous all three ways, love the fairy lights too!
I like your tips. We always have white bed linen, but we have CK Roses pillowcases behind the front ones to brighten it up a bit and somehow I don’t get bored of it. I totally agree about cheap furniture, we’ve made that mistake before but you end up feeling guilty about binning it (even though it’s flimsy crap!) and then you end up spending money on the good stuff anyway.
Don’t worry about putting me in your giveaway, I wouldn’t expect you to post anything to the UK!
Mel xxx
I cannot tell you how often I visit your blog, and how very much I enjoy every one of my visits! I continue to learn many things from you, through your beautiful, unique decorating on a budget. I read things that you do and I find myself thinking, “why didn’t I ever think of that?” It is a joy to visit your beach cottage, and continually learn from your expertise. Thank you! Keep on posting!!
Hi! What I love about your home is that you have such an eclectic mix of charming things that all go so well together. I love when homes look like they have just evolved with love and time. I have the same basic style but sometimes I feel like I just have a bunch of “stuff” scattered around. I love to thrift so I can change things around as much as I want and not feel bad. Your bed is gorgeous! Can’t wait to see more ~ are you going to ever post your bathrooms? I need some bathroom inspiration.
Sarah . . . . have a great day!
Thank you for the great TiPs!!! I just love your style and thrilled you shared… I love that it is all done on a budget, I get so sad seeing in magazines all the lovely rooms and you just know it cost a small fortune! Oh, gosh i saw a wing back chair last time I went thrifting… 2 in fact and they were already slipcovered in duck cloth fabric…. dreamy…. I pulled the slip cover off just to see under and they were a horrible shade of mauve … but with the slipcover they were FAB!!!!
LuLu
I like your style. it’s very “clean and tidy”…I can’t funtion with lots of “stuff” around me…Dont know why? I like that look in other peoples home, just not my own.
Anyhoo~Thanks for the tips. I agree with you…I’d rather have nothing than to buy something cheap. Saving up, if need be, ensures quality in a piece.
Keep the tips coming…
i keep painting everything white…there is something very peaceful about it isn’t there? it’s the best way to turn drab to fab!
I love the lights on the bed! Ooo! And the lamp to the left of the bed! I just love looking at the pictures of your house!
I love your adorned lampshade next to your bed. I find that you can buy most any lamp and turn junk to treasure with paint. And the lampshades are easy enough to redo and embellish. I too MUST have a very good mattress, due to my arthritis. And for some strange reason, I do not like the high thread count sheets. I don’t like the feel of them. Give me the 250-300 thread count and I’m happy. I have never bought from IKEA, mostly because the closest one is 90 miles away in Dallas.
Brenda
glad i found your blog too and added it to my google reader. love your style! great tips. love the look of the pillows. i’ve been searching for the perfect pillows for my bed but no luck yet.
Love the tip list! I agree with so many of your points. I was faced with the need for two beds when we bought the shore house, and went with repros. They’re sturdy (and one was downright cheap!) and the bedding can make them look more authentic. And I’m amassing quite a cushion collection. What an easy way to make a quick change in a room. I really need to learn to sew to make it even easier and cheaper…though I fear I’ll go bananas and swap out new cushions weekly, lol!
I am so sure you will find a wing chair at auction…Or better yet, on the curb.
i love it!
i need to comb your bedroom pictures and reevaluate my master bedroom… there is something i am missing that will pull it together and i am certain it is pillows and rugs!!
You, my girl, are very, very clever and I’m so glad to have found your blog also. I can’t begin to tell you how inspiring you have been to me. I have a dream, much like your cottage… but, unfortunaley it’s nothing more than a “dumpy little house” on a hill, sans waterfront!
But, I see wicker furniture, baskets, candles, books and more books on little old tables everywhere… even a swing on the side porch and a bench inside the kitchen door.
Again, thanks for your inspiration and helping me know that I’m not really as crazy as most people may think!
B:-)
I love your blog and your bed room merci à bientôt Isabelle de France
What a lovely bed!
Just found your blog…via Twitter – thanks for the follow, following you back
Beautiful blog.
I love your cottage and decorating ideas. The light, neutral colors you’ve used to furnish your cottage with are so fresh and pretty. I have always wanted to have white slipcovers and white painted furniture but I don’t know how I would keep it looking fresh and clean with my dogs and grandchildren! How do you keep everything so clean and fresh looking? It’s beautiful!
xo
Donna ~ Simplicity Cottage
Was just happily entertaining myself when I stumbled upon your blog. How refreshing! When I am sitting here admiring your obvious sense of style I like to imagine that beyond this very door is a similar home that looks oh so nice! I think I will just stay here and imagine lol. Thanks from Cathy
Was just happily entertaining myself when I stumbled upon your blog. How refreshing! When I am sitting here admiring your obvious sense of style I like to imagine that beyond this very door is a similar home that looks oh so nice! I think I will just stay here and imagine lol. Thanks from Cathy
It’s beautiful. Sorry. I’m not much for words I guess.
You have an excellent sense of style! Ive never seen lights on a bed post like that. Really neat!
kayceewilliams at gmail dot com
Please enter me into your giveaway…I love everything about your blog! Beachy cute!
this is such a fantastic blog!
and your post has really inspired me and informed me of great ideas for my own
White home transformation!
Thankyou!
I would love another entry in the drawing!
thankyou!
Tina
learningcurve7@gmail.com
Love all of your little tips. I really need to start doing something, anything to my house. Once this heatwave passes I have some work to do. Thank you for sharing all your great tips.
Thank you for sharing so openly, it is always a pleasant spot in my day to visit your blog space full of sunshine and practical ideas for real people with cheap aluminium window frames no less.
The bed frames remind me of the ones my paternal grandmother had in her house. Happy memory! I love your use of all white, but I’d be going for some pale blues and greens as well. Your before and after photos are amazing. You’ve accomplished so much in a relatively short period of time!
Ali @ A Cosy Life
this is gorgeous..it looks so fresh and serene.
Thank you for stopping by my blog and for your nice comment, so that I have been able to find your delightful blog. I have had a good look around and have really enjoyed what I have seen and read. And I do have to say I am a bit envious of you at the moment, living in a beach cottage and enjoying that lovely Australian sun. Here in Norway we are in the midst of a dark and cold winter and the summer sun and warmth is just a distant memory…
Your post is so sweet! I like to live frugally and look out for bargains at thrift stores, yard sales, etc.
You are sooooooo good at this, would really make a great home design book.
The tips are great, but the photos are fabulous…as usual. thanks
I love the lights! How cute!
Oooh, that bed looks so cozy! All of the decorative pillows look nice, but I think my favorite was the third photo. Love the fairy lights too. I’m going to have to string those up in my bedroom. My next project is making the master bedroom more romantic and those will help. Thanks for all the budgeting tips. You’re such an inspiration to me. I also love hearing all the different words and phrases you use that I’m not used to hearing, being from the U.S.
The Beds are beautiful. Gorgeous. Thank you so much for sharing your cottage with us in blog land. I am getting some great ideas.
Have a fantastic day!
Thanks for having a great giveaway!
Rene
itsjustmerene2003atyahoodotcom
Love the photos of your bedroom and some great advice there too!
Must show my hubby your ‘angled shots’, he is always picking at me for taking ‘artistic’ photos!!! Now I can tell him I am not the only one.
Alison
You are truely inspirational – I am always so excited to see what you have in store when I see you have a new post – you have helped me to create dreams of what my home can look like – I have renewed a long ago urge to renew old things and make them my own – well done on a fantastic blog!
Amanda
I’ve just come over from Mel’s blog – What a wonderful place to visit, I love your style!!
I’ll be back again soon
I also love chairs in the bedroom, but mine always end up filled with clothes I’m too lazy to hang!
Great suggestions! I love your thoughts on the mattress. I completly agree.
Like the Princess and the Pea, a good mattress is a must! Love to check in to see what fab ideas you’re cooking up.
From one ‘Beach Cottage Chick’ to another!
Great post as always Sarah, amazing how different cushions can give a room a completely different look, I do it in my bedroom quite a lot. Have been meaning to do the *Spring Clean* thing but is just way toooooo hot up here at the moment so it will just have to wait.
Ok as for your give away YES PLEASE count me in.
Have a great weekend Sweet
Lyn xxx
What lovely images
I was directed to your blog from Mels Rose Place and I am so glad I came for a visit. You have a lovely decorating style that is so suited to Australia. I’ll be sure to keep popping back.
Kerryanne
Shabby Art Boutique
Admire your beach house thrift a great deal. Working on old holiday shack in the hills thrift myself! Already too much stuff and not enough room! Keep up the fabulous work!! BTW I loved your ‘custom kitchen from Sweden! Mine is going to be ‘custom built’ by craftsmen! (my husband who used to fit Flat pack kitchens)
Cheers, Irene
I love your decorationg tips… will keep them to refer to.
Came back for another look..lol. Lovely choice for your giveaway too..I looked up the Cath Kidston shopping site and yuuuuuum! Marilyn
I really enjoyed reading your tips!
I agree with you, I would much rather buy a used piece of furniture that’s well built than buy the cheaply built stuff that doesn’t last.
I rarely by lauren ashley either but their stuff is great
Hi, just found this blog this morning…I will put a link up to mine..so I can visit
more often..Even your title the beach cottage is relaxing…Love the Sea…but not near it…only in my dreams..Who is this
Cath Kidson? It is the first I have heard fill me in, fill me in?
Beautimous to you and yours this day
Faith
Hi there
I love how you have made up your bed. It looks so cozy and indeed cottagey. Great eye in your selection and I know about how great it is to decorate with neutral and whites…you can change up so nicely.
Lovely
Have a lovely day and enjoy that hot weather!…we’re quite the opposite. We’re having temps in the -20C ….
Judi
Oh what a delightful read – and very inspiring! Your home is so very stylish and beautiful yet the tips you’ve shared are ones I actually feel I can use (as opposed to some of the country living and home books/magazines etc where it sometimes just feels out of my league!) I wonder if you could share some tips on keeping a home tidy. Your beach cottage very much feels like a living, lived in home as well as looking like it could be in a magazine, I’d love some tips on how to stay on top of the ‘stuff’ from life that just seems to accumulate. How do you do it?
all the best and thanks for taking the time to share your home with us, its a real treat
Lottie x
I just love your style!
I am a fan of white, it is so calm
i have said it a thousand times, but i do love your blog… i just found you recently but i find myself scouring your old posts. and i do envy you for (1) being in australia, and (2) for that certain way english people talk that is so more worldy than americans (which is why i love the comedian eddie izzard), and (3) that you get to have all white. i post all sort of dreamy pictures in my blog, most of them white rooms like fluffy clouds to curl up in. but i live in a world of grubby little fingers, dirty little sneakers and cheetos. drats. at least i can curl up with your blog and dream. sigh….
omg the lights on the headboard…it looks so romantic and gorgeous!!! i’m going to do that and surprise hubby. thanks for the idea!
wonderful tips! i wish my bed were like the one in the pics. alas…:-(
what a wonderful detailed post!
What a beautiful bedroom!!!! Love the sparkly lights on the headboard (are they still called that if they are metal?!?) I can only dream of a white comfortor on my bed, there would be doggy prints on it I’m sure… Violet
I adore your blog! I found you from reading “A View from the Pines” garden blog. You are inspiring me for my own home; I’m in the midst of a kitchen remodel, and my theme I’m striving for is “Beach Cottage”, so its a perfect fit. Of course, unfortunately I don’t live near the beach – sigh – but it is still my fantasy and I want to create the feeling in my home. Your photos and home are incredibly restful, I’m looking forward to reading more.
Great tips, Sarah, as always. The bed in the guestroom at my studio has a repro metal headboard, purchased for maybe $15 when K-Mart was closing stores in the States. It was black wrought-iron looking with some nice scrolls, and I painted it white then roughed it up a bit, followed by a very light spray of gold glitter for a litle sparkle. Sure wish I had one in a larger King size for my bedroom at home. My deep dark secret about this piece is that it’s part of K Mart’s Martha Stewart line … I’m not a Martha fan and figure she already has enough money
)
Cheers,
Victoria
You are living my dream. Love your blog.
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Love looking at these happy rooms, bright and
chipper.