2009 March | Real Life Beach Decor, Coastal Living & Nautical Decorating Ideas

Just Treasures

8:02 pm Byabeachcottage

On my treasure hunting adventures, scouring the land for this tatty old cottage, I came across this sea chest. Oh so gorgeous. Do you like it? It was red before and covered with that old black writing, you know, and old labels from far gone days and far off lands. I wished that I had the sort of house where red would have worked, obviously it never would have.

So I gave it the treatment, lashings of my tried and tested shade of beachy white, that is not quite stark white and neither antique cream, but somewhere in between. I get it hand mixed at the paint store. I think the little man in there, who is very nice, sometimes raises his eyes to heaven as I come in with my numbers for the mixture.

In the end, this beauty found a new home, in a cottage by the sea down the coast…how nice..

Filed Underbeach cottage makeovers 19 Comments

Summer House Inspiration

8:09 pm Byabeachcottage

I've been working on the summer house, which you could probably also call a shed or an outbuilding. The Beach Cottage has 4 sheds, mmmm, yep that would be 4. Just as I got this one painted pure white and ready to be foofed a bit, Mr BC thought he would like to use it as his home office. Which, of course, is not a bad idea. Him out there, me in here….you know.

So I've been looking for inspiration on what to do with the outside now it's got the basics, as in the couple of coats of white. And I'm stuck.

I found this pic and it has certainly given me some ideas, maybe I will come across an urn or two and the odd chandelier on my treasure hunting…of course he'll lurve a chandelier in their while he works

picture: country living

Filed Underjust a beach cottage life 14 Comments

Whitewashed Surfing Spot

4:43 pm Byabeachcottage

G'day bloggy gals, wanna see my new surfing spot?

I've been trying to snatch some time to create more of an all around if-you-wanna-do-it then do-it-in-this-room feel to the Family Room at the Beach Cottage. It all started last week when, Mr Teenage Beach Cottage, Miss Beach Cottage, Mr Beach Cottage and the diva herself were all vying for computer time in the study, which is not, by any stretch of the imagination condusive to me being nice.

And people we don't have a shortage of computers in this old place, just that there was only one that was anchored down in the study and, you know, had a real place to live. And laptops on laps, unless on a lap propped up in bed with lots of cushions just doesn't seem to work for us.

Most days, when it comes to the evening, Arsenic Hour, I like to call it in my head, the last thing I wanna be thinking about is whether or not the Family Room is working out for us or whether or not people have a computer to sit at and do their homework. (And how much easier, I think, must it have been in our grandmother's day, when homework was done on paper and pencil and women like me embroidered for entertainment).

So after the sitting room makever I decided to try and create an area where one of the laptops would sit and stay, where one can be doing homework, or I can check a few blogs or write the odd piece of drivel or two without having to cocoon myself into the depths of the study, all untouchable and grouchy. Why not be grouchy with the kids, eh? *wink

I want this room to be all about lounging around on the sofas, someone on the computer, some with a puzzle on the table, some just sitting wondering on the treadmill of the day….there are surely days here in the Beach Cottage, after struggles & just stuff when what I need is somewhere that just works for all of us, because ultimately I'm more worried about how long it is before I get to sit down or more importantly hit my bed than whether or not anyone has the right terminal to produce their next project.

Filed Underbeach cottage makeovers, just a beach cottage life 22 Comments

Casual Cottage Tablescape

1:31 pm Byabeachcottage

It's cooling down here, just a touch…there is a faint autumnal hint to the air, though the temps the last few days have been warm in the heat of the day and today hitting 31C so hardly cool, as it were. But certainly cooler in the evenings and that lovely fresh smell to the morning air.

I walked this morning and did some stretching right by the ocean's edge, it is such a beautiful day and it made me stop and think how grateful I am to live here…

On my way home I really noticed the abundance of flowers around. Someone told me before we ever came to Australia that the colours and the flowers would knock me for six. Well how true that was. I often wonder at the flora all around.

So I thought I'd grab a few sprigs and set a casual lunch table with a few flowers in a jug. It's not really very formal round here at the Beach Cottage but I'm really drawn at the moment to the more relaxed feel to almost everything…I'm assuming this is my mind's way of dealing with what's going on in my life which is kinda not quite so carefree…know what I mean?

Blogged as part of Susans Tablescape Thursday event over at Between Naps on the Porch where you'll find dressed tables galore!

Filed Underthrifted finds for the cottage 35 Comments

Beach Cottage Sitting Room Makeover

4:35 pm Byabeachcottage

More of a change around than a makeover but even so just a little bit of fiddling and it's amazing the difference it makes to a room, don't you think?

I'd been wanting to re-arrange the sitting room for a while and perhaps pull in a new sofa and have two sofas face to face…however there was a problem with there being two doors to this room so I couldn't have what I wanted in the end… So anyway on Saturday morning I decided I would pull the sofa away from the wall and lose some of the clutter in there, there were too many bits around, and it was beginning to drive me around the bend. I wanted the lamps and a couple of old mirrors to be the main focus and I wanted the curtains puddling on the floor…

I got to thinking about the sofa and just how well it has done for us and how much I still love it. We bought two of them about 10 years ago, when really there weren't many white sofas around and I was wondering whether white, a baby and a toddler would truly be such a good idea. I remember we looked around a lot for just the right one. I wanted slouchy cushions but a square-ish frame, removeable, machine washable slipcovers preferably linen or denim. Oh how I searched and in the end found one in the back of one of those magazines in the Sunday newspapers. I phoned the shop and the nearest showroom was in West London and a bit of a hike with a baby and a toddler in tow. But off we went and I loved them. Since then they've been part of 4 houses before the Beach Cottage and in fact became one when we moved to Australia and left one behind. That was a mistake, but I guess it makes me love the one I have now even more. The two white leather ones in the family room just don't seem to do it for me as much. Maybe that was another mistake.

Anyway I'm pleased with it & how the sitting room turned out, I wanna go sit in there and just ponder…