Signs You Love Beach Style

I love the Country Living website -- have you visited it recently? It really is very fresh and on trend -- not at all like the old version of country living from the past.

 I came across this article there entitled, "23 Signs You Need a Beach House" and I thought it would be fun to put a little twist on this since we already have a coastal vacation home. Do I qualify as a certified coastal lover according to the quiz? Turns out I do, indeed!  Using pictures I've taken in and around Sea Glass Cottage, I'm a card-carrying member of the beach lovers club.

Are you? Take the quiz and find out! (Of course, it's all in good fun.)

1. Practically every room in your home is decorated with a blue and white color palette:

The walls in my home are painted a soft gray-blue and there are many soft blue accents throughout the cottage -- lamps, pillows, florals, candles, rugs, and other decorative accents.

 2. And a few pops of turquoise:

Throughout the cottage, I display collections of vases, bottles, and decor that reflect the beautiful colors of seaglass....  You will also see vintage stained glass windows which act as sun catchers to reflect beautiful colored glass. It's a simple DIY project -- old windows are hung on chains inside the window -- use small hooks drilled into the window frame to hang.

3. You decorate with shells:

You will find shells scattered all around the cottage in lanterns.......

and on shelves with pieces of art and decor.....

I even have a shell basket!

I took this plain, dark driftwood mirror and transformed it to fit my decorating style at Sea Glass with shells and seaglass. You can read about my DIY project here.

.........and I  definitely have a love of urns and bowls of shells in every room.




4. Starfish and Coral decorate your home.

I scatter pretty starfish and coral pieces all around the house.....here are a few starfish in my bedroom sitting area with some of my magazines.

I've tucked a starfish in my loofah sponge and soaps to make a pretty vignette in my bath area.

I love jute and have this burlap table runner and candle set out as my year 'round neutral look. 

Another quick DIY project -- A coat or two of chalk paint on a terra cotta pot, a little burlap ribbon, and hot glue the starfish (or shell).  

And, of course,  there are plenty of pretty pillows with shells, starfish, and coral.




5. You have white, slipcovered furniture.

Ummmmmm, yes! See All of the Above photos! :)

6. Flowing curtains are a must.

I love the romantic look of these sheers around the master bedroom -- they hang around the bed and over the french doors, and it's so pretty when they are blowing in the breeze!



7. Even your dishes are blue.

Yep.

My everyday dish set is white, but my coffee mugs are seaglass blue, of course!

8. You use a nautical theme in your home.

My son's vintage nautical bedroom and en-suite bath are my favorite -- so colorful and fun. A nice break from all the white and soft blue.

Another DIY project - use wood and pegs to hang nautical decor.

I enjoy adding a touch of whimsy to my decor -- in this case, wooden figurines.
9. You spell out your love of the beach with signs and decor.

This fun vintage sign on wood hangs in the family room.

...and this weathered beach sign hangs in the powder room.


10. You dream of lazy afternoons on the porch or sipping wine watching sunsets.


Oh, yes! We were given Sea Glass Wine as a gift, and now we have to have a bottle
 on hand all the time.

And here is a typical sunrise and sunset at Sea Glass Cottage:

Watching the sun rise in the east from my bedroom balcony....

And beautiful, breathtaking, colorful sunsets on the back porch.....

11. You dream of long walks on the beach.



Yes, yes, YES!

How did you do? Are you a beach loving, certified fan of all things coastal? 

I sure am! 

Thanks for playing along with me, and may all your coastal dreams come true!

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Driftwood Mirror Makeover

I have many driftwood items throughout my house, but one of the first projects I wanted to tackle was my entrance hall mirror.

BEFORE:

It was beautiful, but the entryway table was white and I wanted a lighter look than the dark tones of the driftwood to match the vintage table. 

I recruited a few friends for a DIY project and in just a few hours we had a beautiful change.

Here's how we changed the look of the mirror:

l. First, we protected the mirror by taping newspaper on the surface.

2. After using a bristle brush to roughen up the surface, we gave it a light dusting to remove any residue.

3. A spray can of white paint was all it took to cover the wood. I didn't need it to be coated with many coats of paint as I liked the darker shadows inside the mirror to add texture and contrast. Just a few light layers of spray paint, allowing time to dry between coats.

4. The fun part was going through our stash of shells and sea glass; using a hot glue gun, we arranged clusters of sea treasures in each corner.  We also added a few individual pieces of sea glass in random places around the frame for a little sparkle and pop of color.

5.  When all was dried, I sprayed the entire frame and sea shell clusters with a clear coat of polyurethane to seal it. (Note: This was an outdoor project and I highly recommend spray paint and polyurethane spray projects to be in well-ventilated areas or outdoors.)

AFTER:

I think it's a beautiful way to welcome guests to Sea Glass Cottage!

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The Turquoise Home:Work it Wednesday

Painting Furniture

Even though I purchased my beach house fully furnished, there were so many style choices of the previous owner that I wanted to change.

First, my vision of a cottage-style home was light, bright, white, and open. I wanted soft fabrics on the windows, seagrass rugs on the hardwood floors, and as many white slipcovered pieces as possible.

The owner had a very dark, earth-toned style throughout the house. It was rustic and comfortable, but I didn't share her love of heavy fabrics and the tans, browns, and black furniture pieces she had in the large family den. I loved the style of the furniture, just not the color.

I did a little research and discovered that chalk paint (or a similar-type paint that leaves a chalky finish) would be the perfect solution to keeping the furniture.  The pieces were in perfectly good condition; they just needed sprucing up. It's so easy to use chalk-type paints -- there's no sanding or prepping! Just a quick dusting with a cloth and then the piece is ready to be painted.

Here is a television hutch and sofa table that were custom pieces for the home. They were beautifully made and I loved the style -- but black in a beach house?  I just didn't get it. I couldn't wait to apply a coat of paint to make them lighter and fresher. Chalk paint is not meant to be perfect, so if I messed up, it wouldn't be a big deal.

BEFORE:

  AFTER:

I used Martha Stewart vintage decor paint in Antique Sky for sofa table to change it to a soft, pastel color. It's actually more mint green than blue, but I love the transformation.

I just experimented at first to see how a light coat would look; I also experimented with wiping some of it off with a cloth. I eventually decided one thicker coat would give me the look I wanted. The wood was very textured so the paint didn't grab in all the spots, and that was okay with me. I just let the paint glide on and didn't try to completely cover the distressed look.

The finished look -- I love the contrast of the dark wood top and the painted bottom. I'm also perfectly okay that some of the pieces of wood absorbed more of the paint than others, and I'm also fine that the whole piece appears distressed without even having to apply sandpaper.

I used Martha Stewart vintage decor paint in ivory for the television hutch. 

I'm very happy with the results as they look very shabby chic. I left the tops of the furniture the dark wood for a nice contrast.  Since I only did one coat on each, I finished both projects in only two days.

There are also several dark picture frames around the house that will definitely be changed using chalk paint.