Hi girls, how you going…it's very cold here in New South Wales, not at all what I expected to wake up to this morning, glad I made that Minestrone yesterday, think one may be eating that for lunch today too.
I recently found this old stool – brimming with shabby, peely, country cottage style! Rescued it one day, sprinting to nab it before someone else did.
Would you of picked this up? Apparently those who were with me, would not - admittedly it is not looking full of potential here but I could see it…among the debris…just!
Observations on this from those others in this cottage as I slung it in the boot of the car – 'rusty', 'yuck', 'this is going too shabby'…but I liked it, just a faint hint of the slightest pink and thought it might well be a nice addition as a little sidetable for one's coffee and book, because of course there is such a distinct lack of furniture in this place *wink.
Sadly as I picked it up the wooden 'seat' kinda came off which made balancing a cup of coffee on it tricky, so guess what came to the rescue? DIY skills and hot glue gun, of course!
I've got no further than that but thought it would contrast nicely with white and sit happily with these ever-so-pale-hint-of-pink flowers – I have vague ideas of spray painting the legs with that rust-off paint…anyone used that? Wonder if it works? I wiped it clean just for this 'before' shot and not sure that if I sand it down there will be any peely paint left, so may have to just leave the top as is…
Don't forget theBeach Cottage interview at Houzzwith the giveaway is still open, if you'd like a chance to win a Pottery Barn voucher, then pop over and leave a comment!
p.s. if you're interested in other junkin' finds, go here for a side/coffee table which turned out singing or the coffee table in the Family Room that I rescued here
Hi Sarah
You could polish the old timber stool top with beeswax or a cream furniture polish, use very fine wire wool (steel wool) 000 or 0000 grade is good, to apply the wax, then polish it off with a soft cloth, gives a gorgeous deep sheen to old timber.
Tony uses this method on his timber tops, also good for painted pieces
You probably already know of this method, but just in case!
Yes I would have picked it up and it looks so pretty with the flowers on it. Actually you just reminded me of an old chair I got years ago. I wonder if it’s still under the house. Must go and check. I havent been under the house for years since our hot water service blew a hole in it’s top and of course it happened on a Friday night and Tony was away for the weekend in a place with no mobile phone coverage but that’s another story.lol So I guess the moral to the story is to ignore those with you they just dont get it lol.
Thank you for stopping by my blog ~ I am so excited you did because now I found you ~ I love your blog and I love seeing all of your pictures and stories of your beach cottage ~
YAYYYYY !
xoxo
Lori
Oh, I love that! I would have grabbed it, too! I wouldn’t change it at all – I love all of the rust.
While at the veterinarian last week, I noticed that they had a fabulous little side table in their bathroom, with a tablecloth thrown on top – presumably to hide the shabbiness of it. It was absolute perfection. I’m thinking of asking them if I could buy them a new table so I could have that one.
I adore the table and would have snatched it up if I had seen it before you!! It just has to stay the way it is so that the marvelous shade of pale pink can show through. Maybe the Rustoleum on the legs would make it look a bit less outdoor~like and maybe if you dapped some white paint on and then sanded that a bit, it would look more at home. Just some thoughts…
How I love finding buried treasures like these. The rose looks perfect on it.
Thank you for stopping by. I enjoyed your post and will come by again!
You are simply amazing! I found your link through A Soft Place to Land last week and have been addicted to your site ever since. Hard to believe that so many different and absolutely wonderful blogs link up in one place every week.
I absolutely would’ve picked up that stool!! Either people “get” the shabby thing or they don’t. I can look at the rustiest old fence or broken down something or other and fall in love with it and my husband just sees the rust or the wear and tear. He definitely doesn’t “get” it!! But he still lets me bring it home anyway. : )
Hey Sarah- I think is is perfect “as is”. I would of flipped you for it had I been shopping with you. lol Just Kidding. Here in Minnesota, this type of thing the industrial with the rust and shabby chic appeal is very popular. I would actually give the lower metal part a spray of polyeurethane to keep the rust as is and protect it and than maybe do what Gail suggested with the top wood piece. It’s truly lovely Sarah and like you say is perfect for that cup of coffee, tea, or a book. You found a winner here.
Hello Sara and thanks for your nice words! Your stool is faboulous! I adore its shabby look and with the pale pink flower is enchanting! You’re lucky to find it!
Vale
I would have picked it up too. And, thanks to you, I would do it proudly, not sneakily … meaning, I would say, yep, I need that no matter who I was with.
Love the peeling paint on the stool. Aren’t you glad not everyone would pick it up … that means you could take it home. All those other people have to go to stores and buy boring furniture.
I would have pulled that out of the bushes – it’s adorable!! I forget you are moving into summer there and we are full on fall here. Your pretty geraniums are so happy.
Hi Sarah!
First off, let me tell you how tickled I am that you notice my little ol’ blog! I so love coming to yours every- day…. and your style is so wonderful & peaceful. I definitely would have picked up the stool as well! It looks so nice with the geranium blooms…btw I love that shade of pink geranium! I had a few of those a couple summers ago & I forgot how sweet they are!
love it all…as usual~ thanks so much for sharing your talents!
Sarah,
Don’t know how you ever found my little blog but thanks for the visit and nice comment. I am blown away by the beauty of your home. What great tips and ideas. How wonderful to live your dream, and while your young to enjoy it. Lisa
I always spray a coat of clear acrylic sealer over all of my rusty, crusty, metal finds to bring out the deeper color of the metal and keep it from peeling. Otherwise it is perfect as is.
Hello Sarah, wow!! you have a very beautiful and charming white cottage, just LOVE it!! and your images are awesome!!
Thank you very much for your visit and sweet comment.
I´ll be back alwyas to enjoy your home.
Muchos cariños
María Cecilia, from Chile
Sarah, you are amazing, somehow you can make anything look fantastic. If it were in my house I would despair of it ever looking like anything. You have the magic touch! Hugs, Cindy S.
I would have grabbed the stool and immediately thought of putting it in the garden. With a pretty fern perched on it trailing the fronds down the legs so prettily.
Brenda
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 …]
Beach Cottage ladies, we have some vintage linen and some wood/twig washed up on the beach today here in Beach Cottage Land….don’t say I don’t keep you entertained now will you . Â Come on in. So, yep I have posted about colanders on this blog, about things sourced from the side of the road, about [...]
G'day ladies, let's have a Too Easy Beach Cottage recipe yeah? Â 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. Â 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
Â
6. layer on top the cream combo
Â
7. repeat
8. grate chocolate or Flake on top
Â
*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 ;-)Â
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. Â 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.Â
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. Â Oh yeah. Â 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. Â 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
I adore your stool! Love it!
Smiles!
Michelle
I do really like the pink paint. Can’t wait to see what you end up doing, if anything.
I kinda like it just as it is… rusty & shabby and all.
Hi Sarah
You could polish the old timber stool top with beeswax or a cream furniture polish, use very fine wire wool (steel wool) 000 or 0000 grade is good, to apply the wax, then polish it off with a soft cloth, gives a gorgeous deep sheen to old timber.
Tony uses this method on his timber tops, also good for painted pieces
You probably already know of this method, but just in case!
~Gail
Like the contrast of the “table” with the pink and the white items sitting on the top!
It is perfect, Sarah. Simply perfect.
Hi SARAH,
What did we do before glue guns and spray paint?
Such a pretty pink flower..
Thanks for visiting !
Yes I would have picked it up and it looks so pretty with the flowers on it. Actually you just reminded me of an old chair I got years ago. I wonder if it’s still under the house. Must go and check. I havent been under the house for years since our hot water service blew a hole in it’s top and of course it happened on a Friday night and Tony was away for the weekend in a place with no mobile phone coverage but that’s another story.lol So I guess the moral to the story is to ignore those with you they just dont get it lol.
Thank you for stopping by my blog ~ I am so excited you did because now I found you ~ I love your blog and I love seeing all of your pictures and stories of your beach cottage ~
YAYYYYY !
xoxo
Lori
love love love it, yes I would have picked it up too.
Hhmmm… can it ever be too shabby? Clearly the fellow BC treasure hunters were not in their right mind that day!! Good get Sarah.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne
the stool looks perfect – i wouldn’t change a thing. nice find! ruby
So simple and so perfect-I would leave it just the way you have it.
Hope the weather where you are clears up. We have just had the biggest storm in months. The thunder and lightning were spectacular.
Best wishes, NM.
It’s so much fun finding pieces like that – in my hometown trash shopping is a competitive sport.
Hot glue to the rescue! Did it work on metal?
Cute cute lil’ stool!
Oh, I love that! I would have grabbed it, too! I wouldn’t change it at all – I love all of the rust.
While at the veterinarian last week, I noticed that they had a fabulous little side table in their bathroom, with a tablecloth thrown on top – presumably to hide the shabbiness of it. It was absolute perfection. I’m thinking of asking them if I could buy them a new table so I could have that one.
I agree – what did we do before glue guns and spray paint. Beautiful flower and shell ball.
Sarah~
I adore the table and would have snatched it up if I had seen it before you!! It just has to stay the way it is so that the marvelous shade of pale pink can show through. Maybe the Rustoleum on the legs would make it look a bit less outdoor~like and maybe if you dapped some white paint on and then sanded that a bit, it would look more at home. Just some thoughts…
How I love finding buried treasures like these. The rose looks perfect on it.
Thank you for stopping by. I enjoyed your post and will come by again!
xoxo
Jane
I love that! And everything you’ve paired it with is so crisp, that it doesn’t look overly shabby…just right.
I love the stool just the way it is…true shabby chic!
Jane
It is a little rusty for my taste, but I think it looks great in your space!
I love it Sarah and those pink flowers sweeten it up for sure!
You are simply amazing! I found your link through A Soft Place to Land last week and have been addicted to your site ever since. Hard to believe that so many different and absolutely wonderful blogs link up in one place every week.
I have so much to learn.
-Francesca
I like it! Perfect for the beach cottage.
I absolutely would’ve picked up that stool!! Either people “get” the shabby thing or they don’t. I can look at the rustiest old fence or broken down something or other and fall in love with it and my husband just sees the rust or the wear and tear. He definitely doesn’t “get” it!! But he still lets me bring it home anyway. : )
~ Wendy
http://Crickleberrycottage.blogspot.com/
So fresh and pretty. LOVE the pink geraniums!!
Hey Sarah- I think is is perfect “as is”. I would of flipped you for it had I been shopping with you. lol Just Kidding. Here in Minnesota, this type of thing the industrial with the rust and shabby chic appeal is very popular. I would actually give the lower metal part a spray of polyeurethane to keep the rust as is and protect it and than maybe do what Gail suggested with the top wood piece. It’s truly lovely Sarah and like you say is perfect for that cup of coffee, tea, or a book. You found a winner here.
Mmm….love it Sarah! I actually think she’s perfect as is.
Smiles,
Rachel
Hello Sara and thanks for your nice words! Your stool is faboulous! I adore its shabby look and with the pale pink flower is enchanting! You’re lucky to find it!
Vale
i would have picked it up in a second! such a great find!
love your blog and your house!
I would have picked it up too. And, thanks to you, I would do it proudly, not sneakily … meaning, I would say, yep, I need that no matter who I was with.
Loved your post about the free junque table, too!
Love the peeling paint on the stool. Aren’t you glad not everyone would pick it up … that means you could take it home. All those other people have to go to stores and buy boring furniture.
I would have pulled that out of the bushes – it’s adorable!! I forget you are moving into summer there and we are full on fall here. Your pretty geraniums are so happy.
Hi Sarah!
First off, let me tell you how tickled I am that you notice my little ol’ blog! I so love coming to yours every- day…. and your style is so wonderful & peaceful. I definitely would have picked up the stool as well! It looks so nice with the geranium blooms…btw I love that shade of pink geranium! I had a few of those a couple summers ago & I forgot how sweet they are!
love it all…as usual~ thanks so much for sharing your talents!
Shellagh
Sarah,
Don’t know how you ever found my little blog but thanks for the visit and nice comment. I am blown away by the beauty of your home. What great tips and ideas. How wonderful to live your dream, and while your young to enjoy it. Lisa
I always spray a coat of clear acrylic sealer over all of my rusty, crusty, metal finds to bring out the deeper color of the metal and keep it from peeling. Otherwise it is perfect as is.
Hello Sarah, wow!! you have a very beautiful and charming white cottage, just LOVE it!! and your images are awesome!!
Thank you very much for your visit and sweet comment.
I´ll be back alwyas to enjoy your home.
Muchos cariños
María Cecilia, from Chile
What a lovely little stool. Is there anything a glue gun can’t fix? Well, maybe, but it’s a great tool. That was a piece worth saving.
I sure would have picked it up too!! Your eyes just see with a vision that your friends’ don’t have. It’s just darling!
m ^..^
It’s the perfect chippy, peely work of art right now. But if you change it, I want to see!
Great stool! It’s perfect just the way it is. Industrial chic at it’s best!
Hey Sarah…
I love your little stool…too cute…
my name is Sarah too!
But I don’t live at the beach, more’s the pity,
I live in Oklahoma…waaahhh, trying not to be jealous, trying not to be jealous…failing…
blessings,
Sarah
Sarah, you are amazing, somehow you can make anything look fantastic. If it were in my house I would despair of it ever looking like anything. You have the magic touch! Hugs, Cindy S.
Another vote for leaving it as is!
Sarah, I vote for it to stay as is. I think it is really neat, and I think it has some major character going on now.
If you could see the house I photographed yesterday, you would see a major shabby project that I think it the neatest thing ever.
Great find!
XO,
Sheila
I forgot to say, it belongs to my neighbor in St. Augustine. It dates to the late 1700′s.
Thank for visit my Blog
Hugs Tanja
What a great find! Makes such a cute little table and the way you’ve accessorized and photographed it is fab! Have a good day…
pk @ Room Remix
I would have grabbed the stool and immediately thought of putting it in the garden. With a pretty fern perched on it trailing the fronds down the legs so prettily.
Brenda