G'day girls, I hope your weekend meant you could sit around with your feet up drinking tea. My Saturday certainly did not provide that, I was the beachside taxi driver from hell but yesterday with a beautiful day forecast we headed down the beach at about 11am, stumbled into a few friends and mooched on home at about three o'clock. Mr Beach Cottage and I thanked our lucky stars for our new life in the sun, by the sea and although things here are sooo far from perfect with lots of real life pressures, being able to take time out at the beach really really does re-charge.
So, anyway, this coffee table, I am almost embarassed to tell you I picked up for zero, yep that would be nothing. I spied it outside the back of an old junk shop that likes to call itself an antique junque shop, but we all know that really it's proper junk mixed in with a tad of antique. Don't ask me what I was doing around the back of this shop but it has to do with paint and children and walking.
This old table was kinda propped up and looking very forlorn and sorry for itself, BUT it was just what I had been looking for for a long time – I had been harbouring romantic notions of a bistro we once had morning coffee in right down in the south of France, a few years before we came out to Australia. The outside area consisted of heaps of white painted furniture, truly chippy and shabby and dripping laid-back elegance. We sat at a table similar to this, strewn with cushions and throws. Rattan or wicker or whatever it is, criss-crossed to the sides and with the little wrapped corners, just like this one.
So when I saw it I really wanted it. Like really wanted it. I thought this old girl had just the right mix of beachy/rustic and vintage to sing once it got the beach whitewash.
I popped my head through the back door (in my running gear and errrm quite errrm sweaty and not attractive).
'Scuse me, is this old table for sale?
What, that old piece of junk?
Yep.
Nah, that's not for sale love, no-one will want that.
(What you mean no-one would want to buy a piece of junk like this from this junque shop?)
Errm, well how much do you want for it?
It's not for sale.
Oh ok but I like it?
Sorry I'm waiting for the boys to get rid of it for me, no use to anyone.
But I'd quite like it.
Whaaat??? You want that old piece o' junk? !
Yep.
Lady, you can have it!
Hoorah. So I scooted it into the back of the Beach Mobile before he could change his mind and think it might be a piece of junque rather than a piece of junk.
It's been sitting in the whitewashing studio, *wink forever and waiting and just recently it finally got some treatment as I'd found a chair while not the same, I thought might tie in quite nicely with it.
So I brought it into the cottage as a place for books and magazines (not that I have that many, of course not, ho ho ho) and just a place to sit and flick. Because I sooooo like doing that.
And if you like to sit and flick too, while I can't provide you with a vintage table from a junque shop, I can give you a chance to win my new favourite coffee time browsing.
Easy Elegance, from Atlanta Bartlett – easy to dip into for a little bit of somtimes unrealistic but fabulously inspiring ideas to fill your home with laid-back charm, and make you dream of the easy elegance of a French cafe somewhere in a former life…
For a chance to win, just leave a comment anytime this week on any post. Oh and yep I'll ship anywhere.
One comment = one entry, so if you comment 102 times you'll get, yep you guessed it 102 chances to win.
And if you subscribe to my feed I'll make sure you're entered lots of times.
Kelly from Design-Ties is the winner of last weeks' giveaway, congrats – two beachy stripe cushion covers will be winging their way over the oceans sometime soon!
Oh and don't forget you can also do some flicking at Beach Cottage Inspiration
…stacked to the brim full of white inspiration – pictures and things I've found to keep in an online portal to inspire me
Blogged for Susan's event over at Between Naps on the Porch, where on Mondays you will find a whole heap of creative and inspirational gals in the real world making over…and Rhoda's thrifting show and tell, here
If you enjoyed this post, sign-up for the Beach Cottage email updates (just up there on the top right of the bar) for more chances to win and to access more from the Beach Cottage….unplugged!
I love your table and I like the story of how you found it. I love to treasure hunt and free is better than cheap! You have it accessorized so nicely too. I would love to enter in your drawing for the book. goodday! Mary
I love that…and you have bottles in your burlap tote! LOVE it and love them.
gosh, great story and the usual amazing photos and project. have you considered writing a book? it would be beautiful!
xo
Really like your new table! Thank you for the chance to win the magazine.
Blessings,
Marie
blog: http://emmacallsmemama.com
email: marie@waltercom.com
Love your find!!
Love the table. I think it’s adorable.
I wish that I could escape away to the beach, even for an hour.
Sarah, you are my inspiration! free table amazing….
LuLu
Great find!
your coffee table is great! I just got a whole bedroom suite this weekend for free!!! I hve no where to put it and I need to do sme wor to it butit was FREE!
I’d love a chance at your book and thanks for visiting my blog! Yours is fun!
I just found your blog. I must say your home is beautiful.(as well as your blog)
I love how crisp and clean all the white looks. I currently have a 9 year old and a 21 month old so even the dark colors show stains!!! I also subscribed. Can’t wait to see more.
(zippieee@msn.com)
Thanks so much
Love your table,i had a similar experience with my cane coffee table,its amazing what some people throw out and the guy i got it from obviously thought i was a looney,kept shaking his head at me,no imagination clearly, now it sits beautifully restored in my lounge room.
I really enjoyed your story about the little table-and I would love to win the book.
What a great little table!
That table is lucky to have found YOU!!! You saved it and gave it a charmed life!
I came over from Rhoda’s. The photo and the table are great! I love the way you wrote out the experience of getting it.
Kelly
Love a free treasure find! – lucky little table to be given the beach cottage overhaul. Yay for flicking material!
Thanks so much for the cushions!! I can’t wait to see them in real life — they’re going to have the perfect home in our cottage by the lake
It’s not quite a beach cottage, but almost 
The table was a great find — can’t do better than FREE!!! It looks great freshened up with its new coat of white paint
BTW, I’m still including your badge and May giveaways in our sidebar — not to win again, I just want to let our blog visitors know about your giveaways
Thanks again!!
Kelly @ DesignTies
You’ve done it again! Great score!
LOVE FREEBIES
of course I subscribe
I think the table and chair look gorgeous, what a lucky find, that never happens to me! I love Atlanta Bartlett – I spend ages drooling over her houses
I wish I could leave 102 comments so I could win this book, but I would sure hate to resort to leaving insubstantial comments as I really can’t think of anything really to say. I hope you had a safe trip.
You always seem to be in the right place at the right time! Great table.
Clare x
Free things make the best type of treasure!
I love your blog….that shabby chic table is what I would love too. Lots of character and charm.
Excellent find! Love the coffee table…perfect for a beach cottage. White seems to be my newest obsession and this vignette is just lovely.
?, Susan
I live in a coastal cottage in Maine, USA. Your entire site is such wonderful inspriation to me! I can’t get enough!!
Found your blog last week thru Southern Hospitality blog; spent an entire Saturday night reading through! Love it, love your taste, love your adventures. This latest find, both free and fantastic (table) provides vicarious, ‘boom-boom’ thrills! Reminds me so much of my now-departed grandparents’ cabins down on the Texas Gulf Coast. Keep up the wonderful work (words and photos).
Hi! I just found your blog and I am in LOVE !!!
You scored! What a fantastic find. And for free! Every time you find something that’s blah and transform it in to something lovely just with white paint, it makes me want to paint every piece of furniture in my house white.
I’m really enjoying the shades and textures your white on white decor. Nothing like painting old furniture too! I love that.
ur story is so much like mine, we r leaving Boston and moving to Flordia in 9 more days, the moving truck comes monday, I live in a 2 bdrm condo and bought a 4 bedrm house, I have been buying things off craigslist, I was misdiagnosed 4 yrs ago and had bilateral nerve surgery on my feet, I was left with severe nerve damage, I am now disabled, this is the reason I am moving to a warmer climate, so I can swim and try riding a bike at night while my dog walks beside me, I can go to the ocean whenever I want, I needed to do something to change my life, for I was bed ridden for 2 yrs, I was on so much pain meds just to try to walk to the bathroom, I was only married for 1 yr and 4 days when this happened, my husband is moving with me and does not even have a job down there yet, but I know in my heart all will work out, you know what I mean since you did this yourself, I have been praying so much and it just seem to all come together, so I am ready to go, been living with boxes all over the place, I came upon your site by google, I entered decorating with white furniture which I have. I want my living room to be different, my style is cottage, shabby chic, french country..I love, love your site so happy I found you, do you make any of your furniture? I would like to try and make a country coffee table, I like to pick up old things and paint them new, I have not had much luck since I am moving, but I have found so many places in Flordia that sell this stuff, just so excited, thanks for allowing me to write to you, your moving story touched me soince I am going thru this now, I look forward learning from you, Kindly, Janice Power
Sarah,
Do you sell items? and do you have a store, it must be very hard to give away items and pay for this, no one does this, you are amazing to make people happy like this and to share your story and knowledge of decorating, you respond so fast to my email how exciting is it to chat with you on another part of the world, I have seen so many pics of Australia and it is beautiful, boy do I wish I could of gone there, getting my husband to move to Flordia was extremly difficult, but we will be on our way in days, the beaches there are so beautiful, what part are you in? sometimes I read the news in Perth, Western Australia, and I look at pics on http://www.earthcam.com this is my only way to see the world, I love it, nice to dream of these places, when I was bed ridden my husband bought me a laptop, this saved my life, I was so active before all this so it was very difficult not being able to do anything, I found help thru another person online at wellness resources, I have alot of vitamans for nerve pain and it helps so much, I walk almost everyday now, I know Flordia will change my life for all good things, I will be so much stronger swimming everyday, ok enough now back to your vintage work I LOVE IT….thanks so much for being you….Kindly, ~janice power