G’day my beauties!
Guess what Mr BC made me? This lovely chair for outside.
Haha. Not really.
This is the latest acquisition to BC Land, I have been hankering after one of these for longer than I care to admit. You see I was just about to buy a few of them, when Mr BC, in the middle of the global crisis thingy decided to walk away from a very nice job thank-you-very-much and start his own business. At which point I thought it fair that I do my bit and not spend too much of our money on things quite as inconsequential as outdoor chairs, and spend my days making meals with rubber chickens ;-)
Now, finally, I have this in my possession. Even sweeter, for sure, because of the wait.
Funny how life is like that huh?
I just absolutely lurve these chairs, and even though I am the very proud owner of a chippy old peely one I must say a sturdy, newly crafted and very white one was on the agenda for out the front of our old place, for morning coffee, for coastal air sniffing, and for book reading & newspaper perusing…
Along with that, while having the paint out and ready to go, I have painted the kitchen trolley…it is being slotted into the shelving system in the Breakfast Room that Mr BC has been using as his excuse to drink copious amounts of beer.
I am loving how it is looking after its primer….I had seen something similar in the Frenchy shop recently…you know, a kinda butcher’s block top with a white underneath, though ahem this particular item that took my fancy was, how shall we put it, priced by someone who was away with the fairies.
And so when I came home and saw sitting there in the corner the little sweetie from my fave boutique, also known around these parts as Iqkea, I thought I would have a go at making my own.
I acquired this, Bekvam by name, when we had moved to our second rental house in Australia…still very much settling into this land they call Down Under…the house, a typical rental, didn’t have the nicest of kitchens, in fact it was a kinda dark brown 60′s affair that laughingly I see now has become all the rage. Oh how I bemoaned it. I was the quintessential pommie-from-hell. And did the best I could to make it a bit more me. And with that, I slammed shut all the horrid little 60′s brown cupboards and in front of it all came Ikea, the trolley and open shelving.
And so, as I was painting this white today, I thought about that place we rented and how far we’ve come from that family with 5 suitcases and one job, but more what was really strange, is that now, I have a, albeit very fleeting, history in Australia…a few years in and now I am beginning to have memories about things here, even if it is about horrible rental kitchens.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t think that would happen. It’s kinda weird. But oh so very nice.
Anyway, enough of my rambling…
Back to the kitchen trolley and the chair.
So far so good.
I love white paint.
Be seeing you BCer’s.
I understand how you feel Sarah! We transplanted here 11 years ago now…….when the city mice became the country mice! My son even mentioned the other day that he is grateful that NOW he has spent the majority of his childhood here.
Lots to be grateful for for sure……
God bless!
Hooray for white paint! Oh how I love white!
Absolutely love it!! I myself love many shades of white.
Have a bright and sunny day…Chickie
Oh my gosh! I have the same kitchen cart and after seeing your post I am going to go home and paint mine too! Thanks for the inspiration. :-)
Lol I’m mid way through painting mine at the moment, after seeing a french butchers block in a v. swanky store… I also share your sentiment about creating memories in a new country… I was chatting with my mum today, about how much I have managed to bring over here from the UK (passed off as regular luggage)… I landed here with one suitcase and I’m still in awe at how far I’ve come! Lx
Looovvvee the adirondack chair! I so want some – saw a Jamie Durie one at Big W yesterday reduced to $100 – I was tempted but I want at least 2 and I refuse to pay $300 for one- so I am still on the look out for some old ones problem is they are as rare as hen’s teeth!!!
Ewww, those fake timber 60s cupboards Not only do I remember them well, a friend recently got brand new ones with her expensive kitchen reno. Your kitchen is a million times nicer and many thousands of dollars cheaper.
Wow super clever husband! I seriously want some Adirondacks, definitely on my Christmas list.
Keren
xx
ok. … did BC husband make the chair ? … or was it a purchase? … LOVE it and the trolley … have seen a few things lately that just transform once they have some of those industrial wheels put on … how did you go with finding those picture frames from bed bath n table by the way … any luck? Steph x
Great idea. I feel like painting my dark furniture right now.
Love that chair and the white suits that trolley so much. Every piece of tatty furniture I see at garage sales and second hand shops are seen through white coloured glasses!!
Ah, that simple phrase that says so much: ‘I love white paint’. I’m a white paint lover too.
Love both pieces, and agree about the horrid brown kitchens making a ‘comeback’. Yuck.
You know all those things of mine you keep hoarding away????? Well you can keep them all if I can have that chair!!!!!!!!!!
lg xx
nup ;-)
Did you know that Aldi (of all places) were selling Airdonack chairs last week for……$99! I sent husband there first thing and he said that there were only two left in the store by 9.15am. They are not so wonderful as the ‘real’ thing, but hey, for that price!?
Love the butcher’s block trolley, I painted mine and put an offcut stone stop on it – it’s now a bit heavy to move around, but I have it oustide so it’s OK. Have a great Aussie day – I know what you mean about starting to get a history here. It’s nice to feel that you are starting to ‘belong’ in Australia. x
if I had of known I would have bought the lot :-))
I love your cottage, style and decorating but don’t you ever want to add some vibrant colour??!! I tried a white room once…it lasted a week or so before I started adding the bright colours of nature.
errm that would be a no Hazel :-)
Airdonack Chairs just scream “beach” to me!
My Grandfather lived in a little Beach Cottage in a little town called Whitianga in NZ , my favourite memories of him are sitting on his porch in the Airdonack Chairs that he made for my Grandmother, looking accross the road to the beach and having wonderful conversations about all manner of nothing – as young grand-daughters do with their adored Grandfathers!
me too, I would love to have sat on a porch with a grandmother and chair
Love them both! Gorgeous!
You sound like me a can of white paint watch out furniture you might be next. Love Love the Cape Cod chair. Can’t wait till my birthday in December when I will have two of my very own. Charmaine
it’s sweet if you have to wait :-)
….we in BC love those chairs too!…..and your trolley painted white is awesome!
I love what you did with the table…Is that a piece of part 2 for the kitchen unveiling? I’m a big fan of white paint (Whisper, in particular)… I’m on the lookout for two Ad. chairs myself…Way over here on the West Coast! Have fun, Sarah!
well yep but it really is nothing more than lots more shelving…:-)
Great job on both!!
Oh, awesome chair! I’m still waiting for the hubs to make good on his promise for a hand-constructed adirondack loveseat for watching the high tide come in. Since that project kept getting bumped down on the “project list” I took matters into my own hands and went straight to the BIG ORANGE store. I picked up a fun pair of Adirondacks in “Appletini” green. They look like this: http://pachamamahouse.blogspot.com/2010/10/hello-adirondacks.html
Our newly rental property is SO 70′s and I would love to be able to paint the cream, caramel and natural wood look white! How can I live like this for a year or more? Anything new I buy, if I can’t get it in white, I get it in natural.
I’ve also had my eye on these chairs for a while and Aldi currently have them for $99 here in Melbourne! I’ve also seen a pattern for them on eBay. Could be worth a try.
BTW, I bought your clay tags tutorial and am sitting patiently waiting for my first batch to dry! Quick question: how do you stop the clay sticking to the board?
I’m a slow transplant – took me ages to adjust and build up that precious history, but Ikea furniture features through it all. I now have vintage Ikea, fancy that! One of my white sofas is now fifteen years old, still going strong but with its fourth slip cover.
Somehow those chairs just seem right on porches, sipping long cold drinks in the summer….. been longing for a couple for a while now.. have often wondered how hard they would be to make…… Kitchen trolley (where are the wheels) looking good with white!
you have worked hard for those memories miss.sarah…
it’s taken alot of walks by the sea…
alot of butt crunches…was it 300?…
alot of tins of white paint…
many a sports meet for kiddos…
& a little old beach shack to get there…
sit back & enjoy the memories…they are gonna keep coming now!!
melissa xx
Sarah, I know justbhow you feel. We moved to our beachside town eighteen months ago and are in our second (thankfully purchased) home and beginning to have memories here . Like you we feel incredibly lucky to live so close to the ocean.
I’m loving that Adirondack chair! Definately on my wishlist also…but I’ll have to keep dreaming about them for awhile….they haven’t really hit the mainstream garden furniture fashion here in Deutschland. Will have to find some building plans for them if I ever want to sit in one around here!
I’m starting to have fantasies about taking all of our wood furniture into the basement and painting it white! You’re giving me quite some dangerous ideas there Sarah!
I love Adirondack chairs! They scream of summer. Well, maybe whisper would be a more gentle word.
You have an amazing way of making white cozy and inviting.
Adirondacks are one of the most comfortable chairs for sitting outside!
I have several Adirondacks made be my husband. Two I left out to weather with sun and rain and love their grey colour. Two, at my beach house I painted a bright pink and a lobster orange, but just 1 layer of paint so that the wood would show through.
By the way I got the plans free on the internet some years ago! So if anyone has a handy hubby, just look around the web and you might end up with a couple of wonderful and comfortable chairs for Christmas!!
I spy with my little eye a lovely jute bag from my favourite cleaning product company beginning with MH tucked near your shelves! (Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me!) Don’t you just love their products? Now I know why your home just sparkles Sarah!