Having just come back from coffee and walking on the beach, I have to say that Monday mornings could be a whole lot tougher around here, though coming home to a cottage that looked like it had been burgled it was so messy and a pile of laundry so huge it nearly hit the ceiling is always a good thing to burst one's happy-to-live-by-the-sea bubble.
Anyway, this is my latest trash to treasure thrifty makeover. There is a joy for me in trash to treasure, particularly in ones like this where even a half hour of therapeutic painting makes such a difference to a piece that, might otherwise, have found itself not long for this world.
And see just how bad this one was, with the added benefit of a beautifully cut hole in the bottom shelf.
What caught my eye in this though was the chippy layers of paint, something money cannot buy and the detail to the top…I thought this might look nice with a coat of primer (I use an anti-stain primer/sealer) and then a couple of coats of beachy white. I wasn't sure whether or not the top would clean up well enough to leave it without painting, Mr BC thought not but I thought I'd leave it and see how it turned out.
So I spent a while on the top, I gave it a clean to start with and then hand-sanded with a rough and then a very fine sandpaper. I like to hand sand, and though I surely see the benefits of my power version, actually it's nice to just put a bit of elbow grease into a small project like this. At various stages throughout I also disinfected it with a good dose of Dettol, I like to do this, just call me obsessive.
So the top came up better than I had hoped, a fine layer of pale yellow under the light pink (oh yep another piece of colour creeps on into the cottage does it not?).
I think we all already know I have a weakness for one-off vintage furniture, the shabbier the better, but with this one it didn't seem to fit anywhere and I wasn't sure where it was going to go, it sat by the dining table for a while to hold bits and bobs, but really I didn't like it there and so it took a step back into the garage, not the most pleasant of places to be I would say.
And then yesterday afternoon I was doing those Sunday things you do, just mooching around, the kids were outside, Mr BC was writing notes again and I was reading a magazine, where I saw a little table in an en-suite bathroom with a vase of flowers and a white bowl to hold make-up and such like. The table, though black, was similar to my little found one and it suddenly hit me that it was just right for a space in the en-suite. Just right to hold a few bits to touch up as you fly out the door. I don't know about you but I need serious cosmetic refinement in the mornings and you'll rarely either find me without help. Au natrel just never did work for me people.
Well I love it and it worked well in there this morning – a double whammy then, aesthetically pleasing both of us.
So in other Beach Cottage news I am still making shutters, thought that was a good idea at the time, and now have some shuttered and some uns-shuttered windows…and I am cooking up a makeover for the wc, I have to hesitate to call it a Powder Room, I mean it's just big enough to get oneself in there. At the moment there's one toilet, one horrid teeny hand sink and one ugly aluminium window, soon I'm hoping there'll be a whole new look going on in there. Watch this space.
It looks beautiful there! As though it were made for that space. And I am so excited to see some red! You know me and red, Sarah. Those tulips just look so elegant there in the pitcher.
Brenda
lovely table rehab. love your gorgeous makeup in the white bowl, very streamlined but girly… love the white vase & tulips… Adore the ladder…
Great place to get ready in the morning….
You lucky thing where did you find it? I have been looking for a table just like that to put in my hallway so I can throw the mail on it when I come home and I have been searching for months to no avail! Anyway your table looks fantastic!!
Sarah…it’s perfect there! And the flowers are perfection against the white…really stunning! I was wondering…did you try to fix the hole or just not worry about it. I think it’s fine with the hole…just more character.
Oh Sarah Every time I visit your lovely blog I leave it completely inspired by all your finds and how you transform them! Absolutely beautiful!!!
thank you for motivating me!
wishing you a wonderful evening,
LuLu
That is one very sweet little makeover! I need a table about that size for my telephone, if you find another one, send it to me in Canada! hah! hugs, ~cindy s~
Absolutely wonderful find!!! I wish I had the patience to tackle a piece like that–I need to perfect my wood painting a bit more since I’m always so quick to grab a can of spray paint!
I love your pretty little table. You are always up to good things..you make me want to start a project! I cannot wait to see your shutters. I am a shutters gal myself, so I will be watching to see the finished product.
Have a great week in your beautiful cottage!
Linda
G'day! I'm Sarah, I live in a tatty old cottage, near the sea in Australia with a battered old deck & a big old fig tree out the back...stripped wooden floors, old sash windows & a jumble of vintage furniture. [Read More …]
Well G’day Beach Cottage ladies. Of course some of you guessed correctly, no flies on Beach Cottage gals are there? A Summer House window dressing, beach vintage style. One that I got very wrong. I’ll keep this short and sweet The vintage crochet patchwork curtain? Love. Pure love. But, put it this [...]
G'day ladies, let's have a Too Easy Beach Cottage recipe yeah? The original place for Too Easy Recipes on the web ;-)
So, after my last salad went down a storm in my inbox, that's here if you missed it, I had to do this one seeing as I make it most weeks.
There is a problem with this salad and kiddos though...it looks, well, it looks, kinda yucky...but once they try it, they'll ask if and when they are next having it....at least that's what happens in this ratty old cottage...but I must interject here that my kiddos are 'good eaters'? ...they didn't get a choice in that ;-)
Now, stop, don't start running and hitting that next on your blog reading list, pulses are your best friend in the Too Easy Dump & Go kitchen for the busy mum, or busy anyone for that matter...that reminds me I must blog the garlic canneloni Go To for when you forgot to do dinner, feel like a bath but have three ravenous young Beach Cottage Kiddos on your hands...another day.
I am almost embarrassed to tell you how easy this is, we have it so much that I always have a couple, make that six, cans of lentils around and a jar of goat's cheese in the fridge...the great thing about this is that it's all too easy to get ready in just a few minutes, but it looks, tastes and seems like you did oh so very much more than that.
You can obviously too change it up a bit depending on what you have to hand in your kitchen, and I must say that is how I settled on this version...because one day when I made it I didn't have enough Parsley in the garden and so I chucked in some basil too, and liked the Summer feel it added.
I think of this as being a rather posh salad, not sure why, because it couldn't really be further from the truth...the great thing is that it works so well for an average run of the mill day, (when I did this for this blog post, it was a hot Sydney Sunday and I did it just simply to go with Rosemary & Garlic stuffed pork, you can see that pork here),
...but just as easily it works on a regular old Wednesday night when you have lost all enthusiasm for rustling up yet another meal, or indeed on Saturday night, when your friends are on their way over for dinner and you my friend, are in your new vintage inspired clawfoot bathtub (that's me in a few weeks time, k?) without any clothes on, a tipple and no idea what to cook for dinner...
I have a complicated and ever-changing relationship with goat's cheese...it never fails me in its performance and it never fails to impress me (you can find out a bit more on what I like in food here if you like) and I kinda collect it...because it's very easy to collect and has a fairly long fridge-life, I love trying out different ones and there's not many things I love more than goat's cheese on sourdough...but I think the best thing about it is not thinking about it exclusively in the toast/salad department...I've stuffed it in chicken and all sorts of things as a last minute and it's been fab.
But let's get down to the nitty gritty of this super salad that makes you look like an angel who has been on her knees all day scrubbing the front step when really you are in the digital world and spent most of ...
G'day Beach Cottage ladies, howdy, howdy howdy today for a Beach Cottage Too Easy recipe.
If you like cake, cream, sugar and chocolate, make this.
This is, rather than a recipe, a putting it together...as you know I am no dessert maker, but, I do make quite a few sweet things, because, somehow I have ended up with kiddos, who in their roles as offspring, believe that part of the deal, is that not only do I feed them a home-cooked meal with a few homegrown ingredients in there, yes, they also believe that dessert and not the kind that comes out of a packet is included too in this All-Inclusive Deal they call Parenthood.
So, this, for sure, is no culinary masterpiece, but if you are looking for something that is so very easy, dump-able, uses everyday ingredients and at the same time makes you look like you spent hours pulling things together plus tastes good....well, then this is for you.
Best though, you don't make this for yourself, if you have spent the most part of your week sitting on your derriere reading blogs...this my friend ain't low in the calories department...if, however, you are treating yourself to a delight in a mason jar, this is so for you.
I first had a version of this when at dinner back in Old Blighty with a girl, I once, in another life, caught the train up from our village to London with...she was a funny thing really...I am not quite sure how we got on...she was kinda prissy and a bit bothered by too much...I would run to the train flustered, having got up late, and she would have a spreadsheet on the train times, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, a few years later when we both had bambinos, I bumped into her again and we met up for playdates and dinner sometimes....this particular night, after a lovely meal she served up little bowls of creamy, cakey fruity stuff topped off with chocolate flake...it was delicious!
She didn't serve hers in little jars like this, hers were in a champagne glass and not quite so layered as these ones, plus she used tinned fruit not fresh or frozen.
Years later when said offspring kept requesting dessert, one day I wangled together somehow these from what was around in the fridge and they've been with us ever since.
Most likely, if you ever come here for dinner, and shock horror, you dont' bring the dessert with you, this, if you are lucky, will be what you will get.
Throw it all together, sprinkle a lil bit of chocolate on the top and the blog reading past-time you so rudely left in order to make this, is my friend, your oyster.
Beach Cottage Too Easy Layered Raspberry, Cream & Sponge Dessert
1 small maderia or butter cake or a pack of cupcakes (or of course make your own)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
8 tbsp fruit
1 x chocolate Flake or chocolate bar for grating
1. beat the cream cheese until it is soft
2. whip the cream until soft peaks form
3. combine & add the sugar through
4. cut your cake into portions
& layer into the bottom of your jar
5. add a tablespoon of fruit
6. layer on top the cream combo
7. repeat
8. grate chocolate or Flake on top
*Beach Cottage Recipe Notes : this is just a guide really, you can use any cream that you have on hand...I have made this with clotted cream (don't even go there unless you want to seriously get these babies on your thighs), with double cream and I have even, in desperate times squirted in that, ...
G'day Beach Cottage ladies, well I thought it was time for some blogging tips here today, alongside a few nice flowers and shells ;-)
I was recently part of a blogger discussion group over at Kidspot and a couple of hours later had a few questions from girls who couldn't make it to the live chat, one was on my Facebook page and one via email, the Facebook one I will deal with in another Real Girl Blogging Tips post...the email one asked me what essentials do I think every blog needs?
Well I have been around here for a while now doing the blogging thing, so I should know this, yeah and I mused this on my walk by the sea this morning I thought well what do you only need?
...I think it is really very easy when blogging, whether or not you are blogging up there in the lofty heights of the Super Bloggers or you are just dipping your toe in the water, to get side-tracked by 101 million different things that are 'essential' to your blog and if you are someone like me who actually gets a thrill from reading blogging tips then you are in an even worse place because you will find yourself literally buzzing with these essential things to add/do/implement on your blog.
However, walking along, gulping down that brisk sea air today (no sunshine & clouds) I thought you actually don't need any of that professional blogging stuff to be successful...but there are a few things that are pretty much crucial ...and once I started to think about it I got it down to about 5 - these are the only things that you need to concentrate on...once you have read through take a look at some of the big girl's blogs...you'll see that actually they don't have bundles of stuff on their blogs...but they do have all of these...
So here are my top things that your blog must have
1. About Page
There are all sorts of About Pages out there, and if you search on it there are many different tips and ideas for what to have on yours
Whatever blogging platform you use, adding an About Me Page is easy, quick and simple and will do everything to grow your blog.
I like a long-ish About Page, I am inherently nosy and I like to know a bit more about the person but at the least you should have on it your name and where you are located. I also think a photo is good too...over the last year or so I think this has become more important in blogging - if you are hesitant about that as I was, you can try using sunglasses or a behind shot until you get comfortable.
There is nothing worse than stumbling upon a new blog and going to find out more to only be faced with a piddly little one liner About Me Page...well there is something worse, not having one at all!
2. Contact Page
The chances are someone, somewhere will want to contact you and you will be surprised what lands in your inbox once you put yourself out there on the world wide web with a blog.
Many bloggers also use this page to include details for PR's/brands that may want to contact them and some bloggers put their stats on there too.
A short, to the point and simple Contact Page works really well...whenever I have wanted to contact another blogger I am often very busy and have limited time so I don't want to hang around sifting through information looking for an email address, so concise and clear ...
G'day lovely Beach Cottage lovelies.
So, yeah, so on a roll people, so on a roll.
I feel kinda home accessory wired right now.
I am always telling people, if anyone ever listens, that blogging is all about passion, not that sort of passion, but about passion that makes one tick.
Things like this make me tick tick boom.
I love finding things that suit my budget and let me treat my home but look amazing too.
So without further adieu I introduce you, ladies of the beach, to the blue vintage glasses that I have been stroking for about a week or two now...
These glasses are from a little boutique I sometimes happen upon, this boutique sells also pet accessories, carpet cleaner, bras and compost...it's quite unique though.
And, thanks to my friend Marnie (she blogs over here, go take a look at her praying position, interesting), who just so happens to be one day having me over for a lil' Greek dinner, has let me in on the fact that we call Kmart....The KMart...with an accent ....as in 'I love The KMart'...just like her MIL does. Oh yeah. Love that.
So I have had my eye on reproduction vintage glass blue wine glasses and being trying to find real true vintage blue glasses for like ever.
Oh yes I have spied them in Frenchy boutiques, I have lusted after them in stores that I shouldn't even enter and I have put them back pretty quickly in those shops with the hand-written price tags. C'mon, you know the ones.
And, though all of the above have tempted me, muchly, really, even with my wardrobe stashing skills I just thought that, actually, I'd rather be saving that casherooni for our next trip overseas..
Hello The KMart.
Tick Tick Boom
Vintage style blue wine glasses.
Do not come to my old place and think you might pick up one of these and smile with pleasure at their handblown quality, their weight, and be secretly jealous that my wine glasses cost more than your car...friend, that would not happen...these do not feel like that...indeed these in a funny way reminded me of my baby girl, she was a tiny little thing, with stick legs, the tinsssssssiest ankles and wrists you ever did see, she slept sideways in her cot wedged in between rolled up blankets and would only settle attached to Mr Beach Cottage or I or a (dirty) pj top of mine scrunched up under her nose...the first few times I picked her up to cuddle, being used to Honeymoon Baby who weighed in at 9lbs at birth and has never really stopped growing, I nearly threw her little bird-cum-rat down covered body over my shoulder.
These glasses are like that...be careful or you might lose your wine down the front of your shirt.
But oh baby, we are not talking picking up here, we are not talking quality, we are not talking house accessory snobbery.
Beach Cottage ladies, we are talking aesthetics.
And this is what I need in my cottage.
Blue vintage style glass, paired with coastal / nautical / beach stuff on my deck.
It's The KMart.
Tune in tomorrow, tomorrow, I have more budget foofing for your home, or maybe it will be the dress that wraps me up in supermarket-chic and makes me feel like me again.
Good Day to you my friends, wanna come hang out on my deck, talk house accessories, The KMart and drink some wine from blue glasses?
Sarah
Lovely table for the bathroom. Jackie
Love what you did with the table Sarah and your photos are stunning as usual!
It looks fabulous (great photos too, btw).
Love it in the bathroom. 
Thanks so much for the visit!
Love, love, love it, Sarah! This is the perfect place for it!
Smiles,
Rachel
It looks beautiful there! As though it were made for that space. And I am so excited to see some red! You know me and red, Sarah. Those tulips just look so elegant there in the pitcher.
Brenda
lovely table rehab. love your gorgeous makeup in the white bowl, very streamlined but girly… love the white vase & tulips… Adore the ladder…
Great place to get ready in the morning….
You lucky thing where did you find it? I have been looking for a table just like that to put in my hallway so I can throw the mail on it when I come home and I have been searching for months to no avail! Anyway your table looks fantastic!!
Sarah…it’s perfect there! And the flowers are perfection against the white…really stunning! I was wondering…did you try to fix the hole or just not worry about it. I think it’s fine with the hole…just more character.
Your table metamorphasis is gorgeous. Well done.
Good luck with your trifle.
Have a blessed day!
You do find the bestest stuff out there in your thrifting ventures. Love this piece! I see you got a new button. I’ll change it up.
Love the table! The legs are especially pretty! Linda
Oh Sarah Every time I visit your lovely blog I leave it completely inspired by all your finds and how you transform them! Absolutely beautiful!!!
thank you for motivating me!
wishing you a wonderful evening,
LuLu
That is one very sweet little makeover! I need a table about that size for my telephone, if you find another one, send it to me in Canada! hah! hugs, ~cindy s~
Sarah–
Absolutely wonderful find!!! I wish I had the patience to tackle a piece like that–I need to perfect my wood painting a bit more since I’m always so quick to grab a can of spray paint!
Hugs!
Kristin
Spot on! And those tulips…..
I love your pretty little table. You are always up to good things..you make me want to start a project! I cannot wait to see your shutters. I am a shutters gal myself, so I will be watching to see the finished product.
Have a great week in your beautiful cottage!
Linda
Now that’s a fabulous chippy old table. I love the patina. It’s perfect for that spot. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
This little table is the perfect accompaniment to your bathroom
Don’t you love when you can find a home for a sweet treasure?
Oh that looks so pretty. I wish you could come to my house. I could really put you to work. laurie
Oh, how sweet this little table turned out! Looks perfect in your bathroom!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia
what a gorgeous room, thanks for sharing
I mean…perfection!