Beachside Bliss

Ok, here's the thing. Rationally, I know that we're absolutely, totally, completely NOT in the market for a beach house. But dreams aren't rational and a girl can always dream can't she? Anyway, so I was looking at potential beach houses (because, well you never know......) and I came across this one. It's in Fairhaven, on West Island and it is absolutely, totally, completely PERFECT. It looks like something out of Coastal Living magazine and the kicker is- it comes fully furnished!! Did you hear me say OMG? OMG!!!!! The decor makes me swooooon. The sad thing is it really isn't THAT expensive- just a BIT out of reach for a family NOT in the market for a beach house. And, given that it is my absolute DREAM vacation house I just had to share....

the totally adorable exterior

yes, I did say it comes FULLY furnished-

all this lovely furniture could be yours (or, mine!!)!!

don't you just want to crawl into this bed and listen

to the ocean waves and island breezes?

perfect for the kiddies!

cooking in here would be a dream!

really, isn't this just the perfect place to curl up with a

good book after a long day at the beach?

I am totally in looooooove.

TOTALLY in love...

We're getting there...

I can see the light! It's week 16 of our 5 week project, and finally the attic is beginning to resemble a livable space. The original floors were salvaged and refinished and look amazing. The walls and collar ties look good, and the barnboard on the sidewalls is really going to help add character. We're painting this week, completing the electrical and heating next week and hopefully moving the kids up there the week after that. I can't wait to set it up!

White is not boring!

The first thing you'd notice if you came to my house is that I LOVE color. I have a pumkin orange accent wall in my hallway, a jalepeno pepper green breakfast room, dark yellow kitchen, blue bathrooms, and the kids new room will have some peach (yep, we're off blue now and onto orange- but that's ok!). It all sounds frightening, but somehow it works- well it works for us at least. No matter what other people think of my personal space, I love to be surrounded by color. But, that being said, I think it would be so refreshing and lovely to decorate using an all white pallet. White is so clean, so crisp. White rooms just naturally seem simple and uncluttered. And I hate, hate, hate clutter. I wish I had the courage to have an all white house, and who knows maybe after the kids are done destroying everything in their wake, I just might try to work towards that. But for now, I'll satisfy my craving but oogling photos of white rooms. Here are a few I've found recently:

White pottery- oooh, j'adore! from The Vintage Rose

from Beach Studios UK

from Stacy Branford Photography


from Jeanne De Arc Living

ok, this isn't technically a room, but as a floral designer

I couldn't resist this, from Martha Stewart

from Domino Magazine

from Beach Studios UK

Beach Studios UK

from Country Living

HGTV Green Home

As an admitted addict of HGTV, lover of all things eco friendly, and person strangely obsessed with winning a sweepstakes (any kind will do!), I was THRILLED to find out that this year's HGTV green house was being built a mere 45 minutes from my home. Yesterday the family (mother -in-law and all!) and I took a ride down to check it out. It's located in the Pinehills in Plymouth. The Pinehills is a planned community with shopping, golf, and all different sorts of housing options- including cottages like the one HGTV built. We were able to drive right up to it, and were so inspired by the lovely setting, beautifully built homes and well manicured property that my husband actually went to the clubhouse and listened to the sales pitch (you know, for when we retire in 30 years). The pitch was fun for him- he even got cookies!!- but no so great for me as I was left waiting, wedged between two hungry and restless kids in the not quite big enough back seat of our car! Anyway- it was a fun little excursion which makes me look forward to kicking off my shoes and spending long summer days down there when we win the house! Ha! You can find lots of photos on the hgtv.com website, but for now here are some teasers (it's a beauty, and definitely worth a look !!!). www.hgtv.com/green-home/index.html

Oh and a ps- we did go look at the blue dresser I was coveting, but my practical side won out and I went home emtpy handed. It was pretty though....

Feeling Blue...

I don't know why, but blue has never really been one of my favorite colors. Generally, I'm drawn more toward warm colors- I can't get enough of yellow, orange, red, hot pink.. and all shades in between. But I have to say blue is growing on me- especially the vibrant, bold shades. I like it enough that I even agreed to use it as one of the main colors for the kids' new room (if it's EVER completed!). And I'm thinking of adding it as an accent color in some of my other rooms.. mainly because I found a really cool dresser for super cheap that I feel the need to own and therefore must find a place for! Anyway, here are some ideas I found that convinced me that blue is beautiful.

This is the color my daughter picked for the attic bedroom. My only instruction was that she remember she was going to be sharing the space with her brother- in other words: no pink, no purple! I am excited to see how it works out in the attic!

Benjamin Moore Blue Lagoon

My blue heaven! Bold really does work for walls! From Marie Claire Maision.

Who said trim had to be white? From Marie Claire Maison

I am heading down to Salvage Chic Antiques in Pembroke today to take a look at this blue dresser. The price is right and I think it would look cool in my living room.

A pretty blue bathrooom from Country Living

I love the red accent color in this bedroom by Leslie Banks Design. Combines my old love with my new one!

Super fun wallpaper- I'd definitely find somewhere to use it, if only my husband didn't have such a strong aversion to papered walls (or more likely, the task of papering walls!) Sigghhh...
Jamie Drake Alicia B Design from bluehydrangea

I NEED these for my house. NEED. LOVE. from Aniquiare Chicago

Pillows!

Lately I've been obsessing over pillows. Throw pillows to be exact. I think maybe it's because with all the work going on around here I'm itching to change my decor a bit- but I can't afford it. Pillows are definitely a fun and fairly inexpensive way to breathe new life into a room. Here are some that I've been keeping an eye on:

You can buy these felt flowers and dress up ANY boring old pillow. I found several vendors on Etsy that sell felt and crochet flowers- it's a much less expensive option- and lots of fun!

Or, if you're inclined to make your own, it's fairly simple to dress up a pillow with a cute ruffle. I'll post a how to at the end of this note- a good guide I found in my internet travels....

Pier One ruffle pillow- so cute and only $24!

numbers are fun

these are from Pottery Barn- and they're on sale now!

Love these felt pillows from The Purl Bee


Here's the "how to make a ruffled pillow" I found orginally posted on Kelly+ Olive:

Hello friends! Merrilee here, from mermag. I’m so excited to be here and share this little ruffle pillow tutorial with you. It’s super easy…just keep on reading and see!

Items you will need are:

a. An old pillow to recover or a pillow form found at most any fabric store
c. Fabric of your choosing. I purchased one yard of 45” white muslin (because I like the look and it was only $1.79 a yard). I found this to be enough to both cover the pillow and create the ruffles
b. Fabric scissors
c. Sewing machine and thread (or needle and thread if hand sewing)

1. Cut out the fabric. For my pillow I decided to recover an old pillow I already owned so I used the fabric from the original pillow as a pattern. If you using a pillow form, just make sure you have enough for about a ½ inch seam allowance (or whatever you are comfortable with).

Sew three sides of the pillow leaving the forth side open. Clip the corners, turn inside out and iron.

2. Cut strips for your ruffles. You can do these any size you like. I cut out eight strips of two-inch wide fabric that were twice as long as the pillow. You could do longer or shorter depending on how “ruffley” you want your pillow. I left my edges raw because that was the look I was going for.

3. Baste stitch down the middle of each strip of fabric.

4. Pull one end of the thread and scrunch up the fabric.

5. Play around with it until desired ruffle look is achieved.

6. Pin ruffles to pillowcase. You can adjust your ruffles a bit more at this stage.

7. Sew ruffles right onto to tops side of pillowcase being very careful not to catch the backside of case.

8. Insert stuffing or pillow form. Fold under remaining side of pillowcase and stitch close.

9. Fluff up your pillow and enjoy your new creation!

And that’s it! Easy right? I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. I love this series Kelly+Olive have going on here and I’m thrilled to be a part of it. I’d love to see any pillows you might make so be sure to link back!

Thanks, loves!

Mer

The Barn

Well.... as I mentioned we're in process of converting our attic for the kids. As is often the case with home reno, we've run into one delay after another. So in the meantime I thought I'd revisit one of the first projects we tackled in this house: turning the barn into a studio/family room. I've looked everywhere for the "before" pics but have given up- they are lost in the mess of photos I have saved on my laptop! So, you'll just have to imagine the raw space that it was- an old barn.. lots of dirt and that's pretty much it. But now, it's a comfortable place to hang out, have parties and of course work! During my busy season the space is overrun with flowers; but in quieter times we can use it for games, crafts, family dinners or just to hang out:

my most recent project- oversized canvas, natural fiber material, stencils & paint and voila!Instant, cheap wall art.

Another DIY project (this time, my husband's). He painted an old cupboard (reclaimed from his parents kitchen) using paint he found in the basement! This holds all my ribbon and other floral tools

Looking in from the front


Looking from the door that connects to the main house



Another angle