So hello, here we are again, in my tatty little cottage on Sydney's beaches talking about all things white, vintagey, beachy, coastal.  I aim to please

Thanks for all who guessed in the impromptu giveaway  posts today…too funny…yeah I am a wicked old teasing Beach Cottage Witch….I really enjoyed this, that'd be my warped sense of British humour coming through…some great comments, love you gals thank you…

…errrrm BUT what I didn't expect were the emails protesting that this giveaway was a little bit leaning towards those of us in the Lucky Country cos a lot of you were asleep.  Well, I must just point out here, that Down Under, we often miss out when we are snoozing but I have decided to extend this giveaway to include this Reveal Post…but it won't last all week like usual, giveaway will close when the next post goes up

So yep as many of you guessed a nautical inspired coat rack, actually inspired by a shop round here where they wanted $400 for one of these…as is my usual fashion I set about making my own and was hoping to utilize those knobs from last week, alas they weren't rocking it on the oar at all. 

Now, this actually all started though sometime last week, when I happened to get into a conversation 

about style and styling, who has it, who doesn't have it, who wants it and who thinks they have style 'cos they can head to the nearest trendy homewares store with a big price tag and chuck a few thousand dollars at it.

It got me to thinking alot about it.  A throwaway comment from a wannabe with just a tad too much casheroony on her hands led me on a mission.

So, having been thinking about the state of my hallway and it's general grubbiness from those pesky BC kiddos coming and going I decided to put myself up for a challenge…a budget makeover for a very small space…it's amazing what a lack of being able to throw money around can do for ones 'style', cough cough.

~~~~~~

There is no getting away from it, I have one seriously tiny entrance hall.  Not that I am moaning (as if you would hear such a thing from me). 

But no fear fellow beach cottagers, there ain't nothing white paint, beadboard, vintage things and knobs can't fix!

This is one of those makeovers that you start on a rainy weekend, when you are already in the midst of a bathroom makeover that is taking the longest time e v e r.  When your cottage is such a tip that you feel a burglar must have ransacked through in the night without your knowing, when your husband is so up to his eyes in business that you have to offer him things to crack his face into a smile, when your teenager has exams and you really should be playing Perfect Beach Cottage Mum, floating about in white linen, dolling out comfort food and aiding revision notes.  When you are suffering a pretty sore head courtesy of a night at lg's.

Yup when you have all that on your plate, you announce to the family that there is some serious need of some serious hallway kerb appeal…you declare that we are gonna sweep the decks of all the old, paste on some beadboard for a nautical vibe, we will add vintage oars for a coastal twist and slather everything in a pure zap of white for a wash of pure.

The design brief for the Stylist Extraordinaire intiated from, my friends, problems when we enter our little cottage….it was getting um rather packed, was to get rid of some of the furniture and free up some of the precious space.  So this new minimilist me with a vintage twist would mean the Beach Cottage hallway would be free of too much paraphernalia from treasure hunting trips so we will be able to walk in without dodging a vintage cupboard, we will not need to shimmy around various beach baskets hung for decor but with no real purpose in life and we will not need a deft little twist as we walk into the breakfast room to avoid the leaning vintage ladder.

That was the plan…a tiny hallway that we could walk through, a front door that spoke softly in dulcet tones of glossy black, hints of an old house by the sea, a glut of knobs, a dab of Frenchy chic, a dash of laid-back whitewashed beach…

Halfway through the weekend, with a 1970's amber glass panelled front door halfway through its transformation, a wooden floor splatted with spills of white paint, wallpaper that had come unstuck, no roast dinner to be seen, school uniforms not washed and husband's mumbling, I had to give myself a stern talking to.  Along the lines of get your act together lady.

Hours of white paint brush in hand later, a cleaned up floor, a whitewashed oar, and freshly painted beadboard walls and I was one very happy beach vintage loving girl.

And we all know what happens in Beach Cottage Land when Mrs BC is happy!

Stop by tomorrow for Part II (what's on the other side)

Let me know what you think, c'mon Lurker Babes you know you wanna!

comment to win the Beach Cottage Care Package

white treasures, vintage finds and of course a shell decor ball

hooks  :  IKEA Lillholmnet $18 for 2 

oar  :  garage sale $5 for 2

white paint : Dulux White on White $50

beadboard wallpaper  :  Graham and Brown (not in Aus) $50

mirror  :  thrifted

white paint on mirror  :  Dulux whisper white sample pot

stylist  :  free

gaffer  :  free

painter & decorator  :  free

TOTAL COST OF MAKEOVER  :  PRICELESS

shared atShabby Nest and Romantic Home & Miss Mustard Seed