Good moaning Beach Cottage friends, how you cooking?
Righto, seeing as we are halfway through February already and even though I am Down Under, February always feels like Spring Clean Time to me, welcome to the Beach Cottage De-Clutter Challenge!
Are you in a cluttered old mess? Have you let things build up and get on top of you? Do you have a vintage treasure hunting habit that has gotten out of hand, ahem?
If so, you are in the right place! I have just the Beach Cottage Mission for you.
I must say, it’s been getting that way in this tatty old cottage for a while…with the work we’ve had in here over the last few months I have let things slip and slide… I think with a family of five, if you want things to resemble order, unfortunately it is a true fact of life, that you have to put some effort into that, otherwise there will be chaos.
This is a small old cottage…there is not much storage to speak of and five of us with things…and one of us who likes to add to those things regularly…hence we always need a good ‘editing’ and de-clutter every now and then.
I was though, not looking forward to it this time…really because there seems to be, all of a sudden, too many areas, that well, need help.
So I decided to man up to it, and put it on this here blog…issuing a challenge to myself…blogging it means I have to do it, right? Hopefully some of you will join me and we can get our mojos going together!
Here’s what I am planning…the first three of these are in view of the fact that these rooms are in need of a freshen up…I don’t know if it is something to do with the fact that this cottage is old, or the fact that these rooms face North and so they are in the sun, but they seem to require paint freshening quite a bit…well it’s nothing to do with the fact that in my head I NEED a feature wall in a different colour to white…I didn’t tell Mr Beach Cottage that bit, I just told him the rooms seem ‘tired’.
So, if you instagram with me, you’ll know that yesterday I started, on the cupboard in the breakfast room. Gah!!!!!!!!!!
This cupboard has been driving me mad for too long…and I cannot blame it on anyone else, most of this junk, I mean vintage treasure, falls down to one and only one person.
Me.
It was amazing though, that actually, it doesn’t take that much time to
1. find out how much stuff you have got
2. discover how much stuff you don’t need and
3. pull it out and send it to Vinnies
This was the Vinnies Pile
It grew larger than that…much larger.
There was a small problem in my de-cluttering Mission…I made that fatal mistake of getting side-tracked while chucking out the chintz….
I kept finding vintage Pyrex, funny that, I have no idea how so many vintage Pyrex dishes got into that cupboard, I mean someone in my family must find them…and as i came across them, I decided it might be nice to take a few photos…
oh yes, while the contents of that cupboard were all over the floor of our breakfast room, and the bathroom tiler was walking in and out of here to his tools, I decided to take photos of dishes
oh no, not only dishes on tables, dishes on the floor
…it was at this point that he asked me ‘do you take photographs of everything’
I couldn’t explain the blog thing to him, I just couldn’t go there with vintage china all over the floor
These are mainly just the shallow Pryex vegetable dishes that I have ….I didn’t even pull the others out…
My fave is the yellow one with the snowflakes…so far I have only found two pieces of this particular pattern…
and a few of the Pyrex bowls I have collected, my favourite is the aqua fluted one, never seen another one like that either, followed by these green ones with the daisies, are they 60′s? not sure, I don’t really do the whole Retro thing apart from in Pyrex, there is just something about it and it gets some colour in my life!
note to self : I do not need a vintage Pyrex again ever ever ever
So anyway, if you are drowning in stuff too, why not join me for this Beach Cottage De-Clutter Challenge?
I want to power on into this and get some STUFF out of this tatty old cottage.
So, this is a two week, in your face, hit it with your de-clutter stick, love it or lose it Beach Cottage Mission.
You are welcome to join me…for the next two weeks I will be covering the five rooms that I want to get clear…of course you can substitute any room that you like, do one, three or all of them…or change one of them to a cupboard…
If you are in, leave your name in the comments to that I know if there is anyone willing to join me!
you can join in just by telling me what you’ve done, blogging it or sharing on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc use the hashtag #BCDECLUTTER, I am hoping to be using that a lot over the next 14 days
So that’s it from me and the Beach Cottage Two Week De-Clutter Mission
I am moving on to the open-shelving in the Breakfast Room today (while the bathroom suite goes in, yippee!), yowzas there is so much to photograph on those and I am making over the cupboard you see up there with some new paint
you in for some serious de-cluttering and get some order in your life?
I’m ahead of you girl. I, too, have the thrifting problem and as a result, I started decluttering in January. It’s amazing what you find that you forgot you had.
There is NOTHING more satisfying than going on a cleaning frenzie and DOWNSIZING your so called ‘treasures’. Sure, at the time you just had to have them and now you think to yourself, ‘what was I thinking? Do I really need this?’ I purdge ALOT throughout the year, with my daughter – she’s great at ‘making me part with items’. Her philosophy is – when was last time you used it? is it a sentimental item? do you really need it? then get rid of it!!! You wouldn’t believe the boxes we’ve given our local Thrift Shops! Feels like a big weight has been lifted when the process is complete. You can do it!!! )
Go Sarah! Already started on
everywhere…..
too many rooms to list ….
too much stuff to list….
but so far so good just never give up and keep going………
(advice you gave a year or so ago…..xx)
me, too. i have a cabinet FULL of plastic containers..thinking my husband might need more than one a day for lunch!..also need to clean out pantry, and downstairs!
I am in also Sarah, I actually have a to do list already written out and I was going to start with my pantry and my wardrobe tomorrow.
Will review to do pantry and kitchen cupboards. They Are not too bad after a house move last year which resulted in a major declutter.
I try to stay in the de-clutter mode. My challenge is: What do I do with it after I have bagged it up and sent it out to the suburban (lots of room and it is out of the house)!
i do so love me some pyrex! i was given my grandmothers old pyrex..i adore them. if you want to unload some of your’s….particularly the aqua one…i wouldn’t mind…lol!
Ooooh yes, I worked at it in January, and have a table full of stuff to sell on ebay( I made $500 in jan) or take to charity(probably more inclined to do this due to recent major floods) I just have waaaay too much stuff lurking in cupboards. Tupperware is my next target! I just don’t use much of it anymore. I now prefer Pyrex and glass lick and lock.
My biggest problem is removing the stuff from the house once I have made the decision for it to go.
Growing up in Corning, NY, home to Pyrex, I still have many wedding presents from the late ’60s from Conring.. A couple of years ago I was doing the declutter thing because we are eventually moving onto a boat, and I sold my husband’s favorite pyrex mixing bowl with the funny little handles. It has been such a joke that my brother-in-law saw one at a yard sale recently and bought it for him. Maybe I am out of the dog house now!
I’m starting to do that as well, but so far I’m still trapped in my closet! I dread getting to the other rooms. Hubby will go thru the bags and boxes saying “are you sure we don’t need that??”, then some things will find their way back to the cupboards. The trick is to do this while he’s at work, then rush the boxes to the thrift store before he gets home! He will never miss anything at all, I am quite sure.
Love the vintage Pyrex. I’ve never seen some of those patterns! Trying to hold myself back from saying “Sarah, send those to me!”
Hi Sarah. Wow what a fabulous place you have created. I’m moving up the coast and have a little beach house to do up. Wondering if you or someone else who may know can tell me what white you use. I’ve used antique white USA but I think yours is a little brighter, less creamy. Or maybe it’s just the pics. Because as all white lovers know not all whites are made equal. I have done an antartica ice blue/white on some cane furniture. anyway I have gone thru do many amazing posts and still can’t quite find the name of what u use. Thanks Mel.
Those green pyrex mixing bowls – I had a set for wedding present, and was married in 1976. Still drawing from the 60′s Flower Power movement, but it had gone mainstream by then. I still love green and flowers. Thanks for the memories.
Hi,
I like to join in too! I have just spent the money clearing the garage and then sat down and read your blog! I have other areas that need sorting out to. I love you green pyrex dish.
Sarah
We tackled the attic today. Next Saturday a friend is putting down flooring in our attic so we can organize everything that is “up there”. We purged a lot and feel really good. Can’t wait until everything is accessiblein the attic.
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
I am definitely in on this! I have a larder/pantry that has been used as a junk room for 2 years – it needs a new look.
Thanks for the push I needed
S x
I’m ahead of you girl. I, too, have the thrifting problem and as a result, I started decluttering in January. It’s amazing what you find that you forgot you had.
I’m in.
Kitchen (tell me, how exactly a clean silverware drawer gets so dirty?)
Game cupboard
Laundry room
Master bath/wardrobe
Linen closet
I might haVe missed something….are you no longer having your Wed. meme?
Thanks….bj
oo I love those green ones with the white flowers!
There is NOTHING more satisfying than going on a cleaning frenzie and DOWNSIZING your so called ‘treasures’. Sure, at the time you just had to have them and now you think to yourself, ‘what was I thinking? Do I really need this?’ I purdge ALOT throughout the year, with my daughter – she’s great at ‘making me part with items’. Her philosophy is – when was last time you used it? is it a sentimental item? do you really need it? then get rid of it!!! You wouldn’t believe the boxes we’ve given our local Thrift Shops! Feels like a big weight has been lifted when the process is complete. You can do it!!!
)
ok, OK, OKAY…
I’m in.
I’m going to blog about it.
I need to “love it or lose it” in a big way. That really applies to so much more than clutter…
I’m in but sort of forced! I’m moving into my new to me 1946 home. So no storage to speak of and with the renos going on can only take so much.
Go Sarah! Already started on
everywhere…..
too many rooms to list ….
too much stuff to list….
but so far so good just never give up and keep going………
(advice you gave a year or so ago…..xx)
I am in and so happy you are posting this…you can make any job fun and delightful! Yippee! xo jody
I am in …. I’ve got masses to sort in this old bungalow and the sun came out today … Yippee it feels like spring in rainy old England. Jules
Moving to a smaller place at the end of the month gives me no choice . Glad to have the company though
Okay, I’m in, I don’t want to be, but I need to be….there you have it.
me, too. i have a cabinet FULL of plastic containers..thinking my husband might need more than one a day for lunch!..also need to clean out pantry, and downstairs!
I am in also Sarah, I actually have a to do list already written out and I was going to start with my pantry and my wardrobe tomorrow.
Will review to do pantry and kitchen cupboards. They Are not too bad after a house move last year which resulted in a major declutter.
I try to stay in the de-clutter mode. My challenge is: What do I do with it after I have bagged it up and sent it out to the suburban (lots of room and it is out of the house)!
i do so love me some pyrex! i was given my grandmothers old pyrex..i adore them.
if you want to unload some of your’s….particularly the aqua one…i wouldn’t mind…lol! 
Ooooh yes, I worked at it in January, and have a table full of stuff to sell on ebay( I made $500 in jan) or take to charity(probably more inclined to do this due to recent major floods) I just have waaaay too much stuff lurking in cupboards. Tupperware is my next target! I just don’t use much of it anymore. I now prefer Pyrex and glass lick and lock.
My biggest problem is removing the stuff from the house once I have made the decision for it to go.
Growing up in Corning, NY, home to Pyrex, I still have many wedding presents from the late ’60s from Conring.. A couple of years ago I was doing the declutter thing because we are eventually moving onto a boat, and I sold my husband’s favorite pyrex mixing bowl with the funny little handles. It has been such a joke that my brother-in-law saw one at a yard sale recently and bought it for him. Maybe I am out of the dog house now!
But I am still decluttering…look out dishes!!
I’m starting to do that as well, but so far I’m still trapped in my closet! I dread getting to the other rooms. Hubby will go thru the bags and boxes saying “are you sure we don’t need that??”, then some things will find their way back to the cupboards. The trick is to do this while he’s at work, then rush the boxes to the thrift store before he gets home! He will never miss anything at all, I am quite sure.
Love the vintage Pyrex. I’ve never seen some of those patterns! Trying to hold myself back from saying “Sarah, send those to me!”
haha Cyndia, yes do it while he is at work…he will never know!
Hi Sarah. Wow what a fabulous place you have created. I’m moving up the coast and have a little beach house to do up. Wondering if you or someone else who may know can tell me what white you use. I’ve used antique white USA but I think yours is a little brighter, less creamy. Or maybe it’s just the pics. Because as all white lovers know not all whites are made equal. I have done an antartica ice blue/white on some cane furniture. anyway I have gone thru do many amazing posts and still can’t quite find the name of what u use. Thanks Mel.
hi Mel
I use any of the Dulux whites and also just the regular old white..
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
Those green pyrex mixing bowls – I had a set for wedding present, and was married in 1976. Still drawing from the 60′s Flower Power movement, but it had gone mainstream by then. I still love green and flowers. Thanks for the memories.
oh thanks for letting me know… xo
I did a big purge last year before moving to my cottage at the beach, but I am loving the vintage pyrex and need to get me some!
I’m in girl!!! I just put a few things into a cupboard and barely got the door shut!! Ughhh This will keep me motivated!
Hi,
I like to join in too! I have just spent the money clearing the garage and then sat down and read your blog! I have other areas that need sorting out to. I love you green pyrex dish.
Sarah
We tackled the attic today. Next Saturday a friend is putting down flooring in our attic so we can organize everything that is “up there”. We purged a lot and feel really good. Can’t wait until everything is accessiblein the attic.