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So, lovely ladies fluent in Vintage Speak ;-) I would like to present you with another recent find. Not 'found' as it were, but bought at a sale (along with other goodies).
And yes it's getting packed in this old cottage, chocka with beachy vintage things…so this one is going to have to find a new owner to love and cherish her.
She needs a bit of work for sure, she is rather dirty and that is always* the time consuming thing with these pieces…then she'll get the Beach Cottage treatment…white paint and love..(oh and yeah btw the one from yesterday was the before, not painted yet). I've got a new white to try on this one…it's not a ready-mixed-up colour from Dulux or from anywhere else for that matter, it's a white that I got made up myself…
Although I love the walls in pure white or White on White (see more of that here), for this piece and the pie cabinet I showed you yesterday I wanted them with just a hint of clotted cream, a hint of antique, the whisper of a faded patina…but not that real warm yellowy cream, more a…beachy frothy sea-cream, if ever there was such a colour. So I headed up to the paint store and the Paint Man I now know rather well, clutching a piece of off-white vintage linen and asked him if he could match it….he did a good job…
And so tomorrow hopefully, after a morning full of sport and no 
( treasure hunting, I will set about getting that chunky old beauty looking a little bit more coastal.
And righto, while I'm here I have a couple of things to share with you, some things Beach Cottage readers have recently shared with me…
First this email from Laurie Shoemaker
Hi Sarah - I just HAD to share these photos with you – since you continue to be my inspiration and motivation in my own beach cottage! I love the way my linen closet turned out! My girlfriend said that it changed my bath from Victorian Country house to Beach Cottage chic. Hugs, Laurie
PS I'll send you pics of my own pie safe as soon as I complete it. Should be by Sun morn! (along with pics of the fireplace, Dutch door,
and basement door!)
Here's how it looked before the Beach Cottage Treatment 
and yes I dream of a Linen Cupboard like that, in fact any cupboard like that…
and after (and yes I drooled at the beading)
and secondly, here's a letter from another reader Jessica, I thought you'd be interested to read what she had to say..she seems to have put the nail on the head of what it's all about at ABeachCottage.com…
Hi Sarah
I just wanted to take a moment and thankyou for your awesome blog! I only discovered it this week but have already gone through your 50+ pages of archives reading every single article and trying not to drool on my desk. Your beach cottage is amazing! Cosy, neat, inviting, chic, I could just keep going…
I bought my first house just over 2 years ago and have been at a loss as to how I can transform it into my own 'beach cottage'. I live in western australia about 5 minutes from a seaside town called fremantle and a 2 minute drive to the beach. Living near the coast is amazing and something I definitely don't take for granted! My house is still a mish mash of different hand-me-down furniture and different themes I've tried, including a beachy blue and white dining room and an african (?) themed loungeroom (that's my fiances domain). But, as I regularly remind myself when I get down about my jumbled abode, at least the walls are no longer pea green and dirty yellow with bright scarlet brick pillars (the last owners were, lets say, an interesting lot)
Every month I buy lots of housey magazines and get house-envy when I see so many immaculately renovated houses filled with beautiful designer things. I pore over country style articles and yearn for an old cottage on acres of land. I read backyard design and immediately want a slick, modern backyard with an outdoor kitchen and manicured lawns and a day bed and some loungers to sit next to my pool. And most of it is just out of my budget! Which frustrates the hell out of me.
And then I happened upon your blog. And I devoured all of the articles, the how-to's and the junk finds and the white paint and I thought to myself – I can do this. All of this. I can afford white paint, and I love sourcing old pieces of tatty furniture from junk shops and roadside collections. It made me realise that the only thing stopping me from having my own lovely white beach cottage is – me!
I've already decided on some projects to attempt, including your lovely framed bus stops project, and I'm waking up extra early this saturday to trawl a couple of local swapmeets. I can wait to find some old mirrors or some wicker chairs in need of some restoration.
Thanks for inspiring me!
I know how Jessica feels, if you've been with me since the early days, you'll know I started this blog to focus on this old cottage (you can read more here)…and on getting my act together and setting about getting it to reflect the lifestyle we had moved half way across the world to find.
I had done almost exactly the same thing as Jessica, moved into an old cottage, a short drive from the sea, living in my dream location but the old cottage (though it ticked the potential boxes…it had lots of our 'must haves' like sash windows, fluted ceilings, wood floors, a big plot, a quiet road, an old fig tree, a cross breeze) was in need of lots of help to get it up to scratch.
And you know what? Although, sure we've renovated (see some before/afters here) , pulled out kitchens, added things, painted a lot of things lol, made-over, ripped out, doused in white...
..essentially, the change, has been, like Jessica, in me.
I still whine quite a bit, (lg will testify to that), but now most of it I do to myself walking on the beach, or sitting looking out on the old deck, or brewing up witches potions in the tiny little wood-floored kitchen…
...and so here we are again, we find ourselves at the weekend, I wonder what you're all up to?
If you're painting vintage things white like me (from my emails it seems a lot of you are) you'll find how I do it here
So long…
{ *giveaway winner announced tomorrow }
That piece is going to look stunning painted white. I love playing with paint as well. I created the perfect milk coffee colour for some of my rooms (well I think it is perfect lol).
You are totally motivating. I see each week how many projects you do and feel guilty for not getting more done. This weekend I am waiting for the silver painted frames to come back from the framers. And I am still deciding on which mirror for my entry. So no projects- I will just have to go out to coffee instead:)
gorgeous….. love the french styles
Thanks for featuring my email sarah!
There’s only an hour of this work week left and I’m chomping at the bit to get out of this office and home to start sanding back an old armoire I found and never knew what to do with before.
I promise to send pictures of the finished product!
I’ve been painting furniture here on the Mountain all day! Unfortunatly it has also been raining all day so am still waiting for the primer to dry properly waaaah. Guess the final coats will have to be tomorrow!
Alicia
I’ve gone the opposite way today! My house is full of white and I decided on the spur of the moment to paint my daughter’s wardrobe aqua. So far it looks great.
Hello Sarah,
This has been such a lovely read, I sooo relate to Jessica’s e.mail, in more ways than one! Desiring different styles, too exxy, hand-me-down mish mash.
The joy of stumbling upon your blog and the inspiration it has given me to discover my own style. Vintagey, white painted old furniture with splashes of colour from my paintings thrown in. What seems to be happening in the process of this is a discovery of self. Who would’ve thought;-)
So as always, Thank you.
May you have a beautiful weekend. Bringing those new/old pieces to life with your Beach Cottage Love;-)
~justine~
That piece looks gorgeous just the way it is.
ooh love the new piece! And love the transformation photo of the buildt in
Oh that new piece has my heart singing. What a beauty she is. I cannot wait to see her transform into white. The power of paint. It can really transform anything. I have bought very few items in my house new. When I moved in, I had a new armoire built (by a friend for a couple hundred bucks) similar to one I found in a magazine. I stained it and instantly knew I had made a mistake. As soon as my schedule slows a bit..she’s getting painted glorious white. My bedroom will breathe again. Thank you for always inspiring me.
Absolutely fabulous! I love how you featured some things from your readers. I never thought of that. I have several blogs that have inspired different things in my house but it didn’t come to my mind to send a pic of it to them. I will get on that post haste.
See Sarah you inspire people all over. LOVED the email from Jessica and wish her and you all the best on your projects. Have a great week end.
LOVELY BONES!! That frenchy number will be smashing painted!
Thank you for sharing AGAIN!
I’ve been painting things gray again—could it be a reflection of MY weather these days??
annie
Laurie’s linen cupboard is superb!! It just looks so charming – well done!
What a beautiful piece. I love that linen cupboard, how great would it be to have that one. Can’t wait to see your new shade of white
I agree with Quinn. I love white furniture white just as much as the next person, but I think I might cry if you paint that chest. Look at that lovely wood grain.
That will look stunning in white, can’t wait to see it! Though my style is very eclectic, I just recently finished painting a very dark side table cupboard thingy white. Now I’m off to distress it!
Love the new piece, will look great in white (can’t wait to see your new “white’). I am going to relax this weekend…we are under winter storm warning…8 to 12 inches of new white stuff plus another one behind it. So I shall get my tea, sit in the bay window seat and watch it happen. Not as good as seaside but entertaining nonetheless. Have a great weekend Sarah.
I love that piece and wish I had it here!
We have snow and more to come. I made crepes today…yum!
Happy weekend, Sarah and family!
Another fabulous find Sarah!! You inspire me so much. Thank you for the gift of your beautiful blog and for your posts and pictures and all you do to make your blog such a happy place to get away from it all!!
xoxxox
OMG Sarah, I was just on “hooked on Houses” and saw photo and link back to your black and white tram stop picture. wooo hooo you are out there!
The love and admiration are palatable here and I love it! So glad you’re all out there somewhere! The cabinet is beautiful and when I look at the pic I already see it painted white. I guess that means my eye is finally trained for shopping. Now all we need is spring to roll in! <3 PS Sarah it sounds like your getting ready for a shop all your own and if and when that happens I for one am going to be mad jealous that I won’t be able to shop there…………
Great post Sarah and fun to see what others have to say.
Look forward to seeing how your next makeover goes
Alison
I LOVE that piece! The legs, oh my. They’re so pretty. It will look beautiful white.
Love this entry. We are raising 2 hoarders here at our beach cottage on the other side of the world. :}
oops wrong entry! the pieces are beauteous, too.