A Cottage By the Sea

Come on in and see my little house by the water......

When I was designing the remodel/rebuild of my tiny vacation home, I hit the salvage yards with a vengeance.

I found this door with a round stained glass window that screamed at me 

"Take me home and use me!!!!!"

It needed a lot of chalking and paint to make it functional, so it probably wasn't the most practical of choices.....

but then living on the ocean isn't the most practical of choices.

For the outdoor sconce I chose a classic onion light that reflected the nautical theme.

The storm door was the old fashioned wood kind that has both a glass and screen insert for the change of the seasons.

Once you stepped in the door, there was a clear unobstructed view of the ocean.

I had a pair of French doors installed directly across from the front door to accommodate the view.

On the other side of the stained glass front door was the kitchen.

Boston  Globe Magazine 1190

When I raised the roof on the house I had several sky lights added.

In the kitchen I had a stained glass window framed in to rest just below the sky light, so it would be lit by the sun.

It repeated the feeling of the front door.

I wanted the look of a vintage stove, and found this one in a second hand appliance shop.

It cost 50 dollars and worked great.

It's from the 1950's.

Maybe if it had been from the 1960's it would have cost 60 dollars?????

Decorating Magazine 1990

Over the stove, below the rose water color, I hung a pair of alphabet prints of my initials.....

B S

I love my initials.....

They really sum up my outlook on life!!!!!

To the right of the stove is a wall cabinet that I had made out of a radiator cover.

Boston Globe Magazine 1990

I wanted something that had ventilation in the doors, due to the humidity by the water.

I found this in a salvage yard.

I had it turned up side down, and put a bottom on it, and added shelves inside.

See, I turned it upside down!!!!!

I thought the legs made a great looking crown molding,

See?????

I know....

I know.....

I'm very clever!!!!!

That's it for today, campers.

I've been working my fingers to the bone on Miriam's ottomans.

I did one wrong and had to redo it today, so not a lot of time to blog.

On that note,

Latah, Gatah

A Cape Cod Ocean Side Cottage

Today I am going to start strolling down memory lane, and begin to show you guys the cottage I renovated on Cape Cod when I was younger and foolish.

Decorating Magazine 1990

There's a split down the picture because this is scanned from a magazine, and it was a two page spread.

I had a fantasy that it would be marvelous to have a little vacation home by the ocean.

On Cape Cod.

I was out of my friggin' mind!!!!!

Sooooooo.......

I started looking around the cape.

Of course it's easy to get to the Cape in the winter, when I was looking at real estate.

Try getting there in the summer, when I actually used this house.

Your whole life becomes scheduled around trying to beat the traffic.

anyway.......

this is what I first saw when I found my little cottage.

It was part of a group of 8 cottages that had been made into a co-op, so the land was owned by everybody, and the individual units had a 99 year lease.

It's similar to a condo, only different.........

 I know, I know.....

OY!!!!!

So....

here's a side by side of the before and after, just to show you much I changed

 this piece of crap sad little cottage.

It was right, smack on the ocean.....just sitting at the top of the sea wall.....nothing between the view and the house!!!!!!!

Which meant, nothing between the hurricanes and the house.

I was young.

I was idealistic.

I was stoopid.

I fantasized about having my morning coffee looking over the ocean.

AND I DID IT!!!!!

Look!!!!!

There I am doing it!!!!!

Over the next week or so, I will show you the renovation and

 how I did what I did and why I did it.....

So, let me just give you a little peak of the inside, because I really don't have time today to write a long post.

Decorating magazine 1990

I need to go for my walk, so my body doesn't fall apart any more than it already has.

And don't forget I'm working my behind off trying to finish the ottomans for Miriam's living room before her baby shower.

Soooooo.....

on that note.....

Latah, Gatah

A Nursery For Leo

Let's leave Connie and Chris's house for a bit and return to Miriam and Ross's home in Massachusetts.

I've shown you guys their dining room and living room redos.

Here's a shot of the living room....

There's still a lot more to do, and I'm working on it, but things keep getting in my way.

Like this.....

Miriam and Ross refused to put their family planning on hold so I could finish the living room.

This will be my first great nephew!!!!!

Kids are great, but decorating a baby's room is GREATererer!!!!!

Sooooo...

let me share what we are going to do.

This is a before shot of what will be the nursery.

It was Ross's office and a catch all for lots of crappola.

And let's not forget this attractive view!!!!!

I booted that chair and ottoman out of the living room, and now it's AGAIN in my way.

First we chose a rug to work off of.

Pottery Barn has some great stuff, and I used their website and store A LOT.

I found this rug and just loved it, imagining when the baby boy.....

YES WE'RE HAVING A BOY!!!!

anyway....imagining the little boy playing with cars on it.

Sooooo.....

We ordered it , and checked it out in the room with Perla the wonderdog's help.

To go with the rug we are doing Pottery barn ready made window panels in madras.

And will paint the walls blue, like the gingham crib sheets we bought.

We chose the light blue ones.

We are not going to use a bumper, because of concerns regarding them.

I don't know, don't ask me, I never had kids.

For the crib, we're going with a very economical one....

I chose the largest changing chest I could fit, as Miriam can use all the room for storage she can get.

The baby shower is in two weeks, and I am rushing to finish the footstools that go in front of the two slipcovered chairs in the living room.

Miriam has invited 1327 people to this shower, and we need extra seating.

Just a note for my readers.....

I've never changed a diaper, 

and I'm not going to start now!!!!!

On that note, 

Latah, Gatah

Hollywood Glamour for a Florida Bedroom

Last post I showed you guys what Connie's bedroom looked like when the house was owned by two previous families.

Today I will show you what our plans are to transform the space into Connie's serene resting place.

She wanted peaceful.

She wanted pretty.

She wanted me to talk a little less.....

two out of three ain't bad!!!!!

This is the floorplan that she approved.

Excuse my sloppy drafting, I am retired and didn't have a template......

This room has been a lot of fun for me because it is outside my usual style.

Connie is going for a different feel in this house than she had me do on her last two.

We chose an upholstered bed with nickel nail head trim.

Here's a shot of it in the store, Pineapples and Palms, where we saw it.

As Kevin from Beverly Hills would say...."Very chi chi chi!!!!!"

We are having it upholstered in a creamy white fabric.

The club chairs, across from the bed, are going to be in the aqua and cream print.

Connie also liked the white chests of drawers we saw, so we're putting one against the wall, next to the doors leading to the pool.

It's from Bungalo 5, as are the night stands and desk

The chest is called the Savoy medium 3-drawer.

The night stands are going to be in the same white finish.

They are called Piedmont 1-drawer.

For the true glam factor, we are doing a mirrored table as Connie's desk.

It's called the Console Laura Mirror.

Connie just wanted a small surface to set up her laptop.

If I hang a mirror over it, it will have the effect of being a vanity.

Here's a collage I made of all the furniture in the room.....

We still need to find the table that goes between the club chairs, but that's for next season,

We will fly Drape It (my workroom of choice) down to measure the windows for the draperies.

Connie and I are fighting over the box over the doors.

She doesn't want to get rid of it.

She claims only I notice it.

I pointed out that several readers of my blog didn't like it either.
And she said.......

"That's because you pointed it out!!!!!!!"

So, I thought I'd point it out again!!!!!

I think I'm going to loose this battle.

Only time will tell.......

On that note,

Latah, Gatah

Choosing a New Look for Connie's Florida Bedroom

Okee Dokee.....

Let's return to Connie and Chris's new Florida home.

As I've mentioned before,

 more and more people of a certain age are using separate bedrooms due to changing sleep patterns and the noise of one or both partners creating a less than ideal snoozing environment.

It seems that if folks have the room, and with children leaving the home, many do, spreading out into separate but close bedrooms is doing wonders for their health and peace of mind.

I remember eons and eons ago.....when I was engaged.....I would get so angry at my fiance snoring that I would lie in bed and plan all sorts of ways of getting my revenge.

One of the great things about being a baby boomer, is that we discuss this type of thing openly, and feel camaraderie in our numbers of fellow sufferers.

So if your husband's snoring is driving you to distraction, just know that you are in good company, and feel free to spread out into other rooms of the house for some quality sleep.

So, with that said, 

let's look at Connie's glamorous plans for her new bedroom.

Her old bedroom was country and eclectic.

Traditional Home Magazind

 Connie wanted to try a completely new style for her new home.

This is what the room looked like when we previewed the house before she bought it.

Note that the first two shots are from the real estate site, and are using a wide angle lens that makes the room look enormous.

The shots below are mine, and are more representative of the rooms scale and size.

You can see the hallway that leads down to the second bedroom in the master suite.

The layout of this house is wonderful, there are two separate bathrooms back to back in the master suite.

I think that if there's room, that's such a great idea.

We are keeping the wall to wall carpet, as it is a beautiful wool Wilton carpet.

Realizing that many of you may not know what that is, I've stolen an explanation from this website.

.

Wilton carpets are pile carpets whereby the pile is formed by inserting wires in the pile warps of the carpet. After extraction of the wires the pile is looped (in case straight wires have been used) or cut (in case cutting wires are used). Because the yarn is buried on the back and only lifted when a specirfic color is needed, it gives the wilton product more body, resilience, and great quality.

This shot shows the French doors that lead to the sunroom which is off the living room.

These French doors lead out to the pool.

The previous owners installed an electric black out shade and screen that rolls up into the wooden box over the doors.

I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like it.

I am going to figure out a way to hide the damn thing.

I am a smarty, I will conquer this problem.

The ceiling in this room is another interesting one.

I tell you the architect had a ball with the ceilings in this house.

Sooooooo........

since we were keeping the rug, and Connie likes the color of the walls which match the rug.....

I lucked out and was able to find fabrics at Pineapples and Palms that went perfectly with the colors in this room.

 (Pineapples and Palms is the store from which we are purchasing the lions share of furnishings for the house.)

The bed is in the white fabric, and the pair of chairs is in the patterned fabric.

The solid aqua is in case I need it, for things like toss pillows.

Below is the floorplan.

It's very similar to the previous owners layout, just a little different.

You can tell I didn't have my furniture templates when I drew this, so ignore that the chairs are all messy.....

Below are pictures of the way the room looked with the owners before the previous owners.......

Very Palm Beachy.

Not my style, but pretty.

Next post I will show you the furniture we've ordered for this space.

This house has been fun because it's not my usual look,

On that note,

Latah, Gatah