Morning all. Phew you gals certainly showed me all yesterday didn't you? Thank you.
We were in fact celebrating a rather big birthday here at the Beach Cottage, so between making cakes, spectacular coastal birthday walks & breakfasts, eating too much at just about every mealtime and opening gifts, I kept sneaking in to take a look at what you all thought of my little antique lady sitting in the bedroom in all her pinkness.
My thought process went. Oh great I'm painting it. Oh great, no I'm leaving it. Oh great, I'm just painting all but the top. Oh I'm gonna definitely whitewash it. Oh I'm definitely painting the whole thing and sanding it to show the pink. Oh I'm definitely definitely painting it with the ice blue. Oh I'm definitely painting it beachy white.
And then today just as I thought it was all over, comment number 100 was this from Susheela Myers
So many impassioned comments- Reminds me a bit of America's Next Top Model-do you get it in Oz?- Every year during the "makeover" week, they take the girl with 3ft. of hair and do a Mia Farrow to her- she is always traumatized, weeping into her pillow, but they are tough as drill sargeants & give no quarter. Often she gets cut from the show soon after and has to go back to Texas & the boyfriend shorn and rejected. Will she ever recover? Why do they do it- we are all screaming at the t.v. "don't let them do it- Run!" The whole enterprise reminiscent of the mob shearing the heads of pretty Parisian collaborators.
I'm imagining Pink Dresser slumped in the corner after her makeover, never the same sassy gal again… hee hee
OMG! My poor little dresser in the corner, painted white, stripped of pink, images of the mob, and shears and ahhhhhh slumped over and un-sassy.
So it looks I am back to the drawing board, I'm in an antique furniture blur.
Anyway back to today, I had this morning earmarked for some moving around on the deck, as you can see it's needing a spruce up out there. I have a few of these old cane chairs in the garage awaiting some love, I found them at a garage sale for a dollar and while I've only managed to get one painted and hastily distressed so far, I was itching to get it out there, sadly gazumped though by sheets of driving rain…
This decorating itch was triggered by something exciting that's happening to the Beach Cottage next week (watch this space) and a tiny little fly-by sneak into a new-to-me gifty shop at the village we started our clifftop birthday walk in yesterday morning. I slyly said to Mr Beach Cottage, why don't you get a coffee and I'll just hop over the road to the newsagents? Little did he know I had already spied the driftwood hanging thingy in the window of the gift shop. Mmmm mmmmm…oh and yes a coupla new cushions.
But, what on earth do you do with a driftwood hanging thingy? Well it certainly stumped me. First I hung it on the curtain rail, as seen in a magazine. Nah. Then I hung it on the outside at the front of the cottage. Nah. Slung over the back deck railing. Nah.
And I'm still doing that, walking round, hanging it on random hooks and anything that sticks out really, examining it and then saying nah.
Any ideas? Not of course that I expect you, my poor blog readers, to, every time you surf on in here, have to give me help. Of course not.
blogged for the Outdoor Wednesday event at A Southern Daydreamer
oh and I nearly forgot, go stop by and say g'day to Rachel, she's new to blogland, I'm sure she'll be great around here while I wouldn't want to shamelessly plug it, silly old me, of course not, Beach Cottage Inspiration has some nice new shots for you to tumble on through…
Really cool porch! I’d love to come and sit a while!!
Hugs,Lisa
That’s such a fun deck! I love all of your pictures. That cushion is wonderful!
Happy OW…
XO,
Sheila
hi Sarah, loving your house, what about at the end of your deck, maybe get three and hang them at different heights?
The driftwood ‘thingy’ looks interesting but I love the new cushion cover. Very crisp, fresh and beachy.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne
Happy Outdoor Wednesday Sarah! Your deck is very inviting! Thanks for sharing your photos.~ Susan
Don’t let the nasties get to you. You can plug anything, including your own blogs, it’s your site and if they don’t like it they can just slink away into oblivion. Maybe over the rail is a great place to enjoy the beauty of the driftwood, bit like a lei. If you can’t decide to paint the pink thing or not you shouldn’t. I f you ask someone whether they want a drink and it takes them five minutes to think about it, obviosly they don’t. You will paint it, if and when it gets to you, otherwise enjoy it’s specialness. Confused!!
)
Oh no! Overwhelmed with advice. That’s difficult.
Maybe you need to live with the piece a bit and it will speak to you and let you know what it wants. (yup, I’m weird that way)
Your driftwood is just awesome. I love seeing it over the railing, but I immediately thought of something over the bed or behind the bed on the wall. Maybe with some twinkling lights intertwined.
I just love Outdoor Wednesdays! You have inspired me to get to work on my front porch. I have a “driftwood thingy” on my porch that holds a small pot on the bottom for plants, I think a little whitewash will spruce it right up!
Hi Sarah, wonderful pictures. I adore blue and white. Happy Outdoor Wednesday.
Barb
ooooooo… I want a driftwood thingy too! Draped over the railing is cool, makes you look twice. Seems to be inviting you to fumble around with it.
Happy Birthday wishes
Love your new treasures!!! Especially the driftwood thingy…maybe drape it across a headboard ?
Toni
Hello Sarah! I too am new to your blog, but oh have I enjoyed looking through your beautiful cottage. If you weren’t so far away from me, I would stop by for a coffee and marvel at all your wonderful finds.
You have a beautful deck/porch, (Im not sure which it is) and I love the lantern and the plants!
I love the pink dresser, and I too would wait on painting it. Let it sit in your home for awhile eventually it will tell you what color or stain it should be,as for the drift would, depending on who large your dining room table is, might I suggest laying it lengthwise down the middle. I have a huge table and that would look beautiful down its center. Oooh now I want to go looking for my own diftwood thingy!
Enjoy your day!
Oh, I am loving (and going back to look again) at Coastal Living’s kitchens in your Beach Cottage Inspiration. Love those kitchens with the cute little additions to make them more useful. As for asking us ladies our opinion on anything, I’ll give you some advice, Sarah, from someone I’m sure is older than you. Sage advice: If you open the door and ask a bunch of women (obviously a bunch of women read your blog…) a question, you will get one hell of a bunch of different answers! So just thought I’d give you the tried and true on that. Hell, just do what I always do. Ask everyone and then do what I wanted to do in the first damned place. Works for me. I like your Beach Cottage Inspiration. It’s my first visit over there, as the other times for some reason I couldn’t click through to it.
Brenda
Gotta love chairs that were only $1! I do love that cane chair though, it’s so pretty!
The girls and I are building DH a deck for Father’s Day (I know you can keep a secret, right?) I’m not as worried about building the thing as I am about decorating it in a simple, airy, country, cottagey way. I know I shouldn’t get all worked up, but to go from a roof over a dirt floor to a completely finished deck in just one day seems like something that could only happen on a TV show. Thanks for the inspiration so that I have a little better vision to get it finished. (Wish us luck!)
I didn’t comment on the pink dreser because I thought you might get 100 opinions…and you did…but isn’t the inside of a sea shell PINK? Very “sea side cottage like” if you ask me! ~~Sheri
I really love the pictures of your porch. You’ve made it cool and inviting
. Have a wonderful day.
Gorgeous Outdoor Wednesday post!!!!
Hey Sarah! Love your cute deck and the white cane chair! Thanks so much for popping over for a visit and for mentioning my new blog…so sweet of you!
Blessings!
Rachel
Very nice patio. Im sure this patio is somewhere up north. I can imagine sitting there in the Spring time smelling the flowers and hearing the bird chirping… Very calming!
What great looking pictures and a lovely blog. Happy Outdoor Wednesday! I am participating and showing my white peonies. xo Joan
The pictures are lovely. It looks very cozy there, would love to be on that porch….away from the boyhood angst.
Visiting from SITS.
I Think it has to be hung….somewhere.
I love the colors in your cushsion. What a wonderful place for a bunch.
I think you should definately go back and get a couple more and hang them all together down a wall or something. I have seen a few of them hung altogether in shop windows and they look great! Love the cushions by the way, I have been contemplating them myself but I am thinking I have far to many striped cushion covers already to justify them!!!!
I so wish I bought the driftwood hanging from Moontree Candles… it was one of those things I ummed and aahhed over. Your outdoor area has always been lovely and welcoming
Comment #100 is hyssssttterrrical! I may never be able to paint a piece of furniture. Ever. Again.
Was it a big birthday for YOU??? Happy bigh birthday to whomever at the Beach Cottage!
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
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