G'day!
Thanks for all the lovely comments and more for your opinions on style and styling…may I just clear up though that I wasn't intimating that I have got 'style' (whatever that is) more that it irritates the **** out of me when people furiously lament their skills in style just 'cos they shop the trendy shops…
Anyway, less of that and moving swiftly onto much more interesting things…the other side of the hall…
There is no denying that this is white porn…and I am one hundred percent holding my hands up to that…I still love it, in fact as I was ensconced in Dulux White on White on Sunday I wondered firstly how much longer this might last and secondly how it started.
It started back in England when I began seriously looking for vintage furniture and was astonished at the power of white paint when turning an old sad and lonely piece of furniture into a new life…back then I liked the whole English vintage scene…floral Cath Kidston prints, oilcloth table covering, white and brights and vintage props.
When we moved here I had a lot of that stuff with me, but somehow it didn't seem to hack it with the bright colours outside everywhere else…the climate here in Sydney didn't seem to sit too well with vintage carpet and floral sheets… and that whole English vintage thing seemed somehow inappropriate to a life in Australia…and so I found my self one day in the Beach Boutique and thought how my old white furniture might suit a more rustic beach hut feel…
This was the ambiance I wanted here…white 'panelled' walls reminiscent of an old beach hut, lots of hooks hinting at the Scandinavian, the odd nautical thing, bare floorboards and sandy feet, whitewashed driftwood and putty coloured stripes…
plus of course a jug of drugstore flowers
a rustic, weathered lantern…
a bench for things washed up by the sea
Shall I tell you though that all this decoration very much has to fit in with the reality of my day-to-day, you probably don't wanna hear that but it is very much true and reality means most of the time, it don't look like this baby…hence this here blog…
and I hate to burst the bubble but I can assure you I am no self-proclaimed home purist…this place will be by this evening a riot of life…school bags, sports equipment, flung-off shoes, dropped jumpers, an empty lunchbox, a newspaper, homework, a briefcase dumped by the door…
…and into this white cavern there will be the males in my life who will squalidly drink from the bottle in my panelled heaven and take this whole white beachy vintage coastal cr*pola as they call it on the chin
males who I make sit with me on white sofas, sleep in frenchy white beds, carry baskets to the beach and load vintage furniture into the back of the car…
…who however much I try to pretend, will use my finds to their own ends…
But at the end of the day, when I walk in this tatty old cottage and kick the door shut I feel like I have come home…I am safe…
and that is what this whole journey my friends in this old cottage is all about.
I will see you beach chicks later
p.s sorry if I haven't answered all your questions in the comments – for sure I read, smiled, and more, LOVED them all, I am so glad I know you guys…I am busily working on my website and other stuff – if there is anything you really wanna know shoot me an email
abeachcottageblog@gmail.com
oh and the rugs, from that exclusive boutique Ickea….. nope I have them everywhere and they don't curl and come up…I shove them in the machine all the time and dry 'em on the line in the aussie sun ;-)
stacy I am looking for a garage sale buddy…it seems they are not quite forthcoming 'round here…wonder why??? ;-))
and yes Vickie in Rockaway Beach (hey I'm lurvin that) I am just so darn adorable
Sharon, I would love to come do up your brick cottage with you…watch this space lol!
hook rack : IKEA
bench : thrifted
glass float : Bed Bath & Table
umbrella : garage sale
jug : Wheel & Barrow
I love your style, attention to detail and willingness for imperfection! I’m dreaming of my own beach cottage some day and in my dreams the style is inspired by you! Thanks for blogging and helping me live vicariously through you!
I had to laugh cause I know exactly what you mean when they all come in and kick off their shoes and have their way with your precious finds! I’s a riot that you are on the other side of the world and it’s winter for you now. I only get what seems like 12 short weeks of great beach weather here in New Jersey. I am often torn between puttering around the Cottage and going to the Beach. Usually only get to my Cottage Beach House on the weekends. Sometimes it’s the entire gang along with me and sometimes just one or 2 of the crew. It’s always a blast.