Peace & Quiet. Priceless.
Coastal Cottage Kitchen Inspiration February 28, 2008
Jean Allsopp (Coastal Living online)
I was doing a little design research and found some pretty “coastal cottage” kitchen pictures for my files. I thought I’d share them with you all! Even those these would be dream kitchens for many people, I believe you can often take bits and pieces of a dream and reinvent it in your own home. In your own little way. Yep, using your creative genius! We can’t always recreate things exactly, but you can simulate the feel, the colors, the ambience, the displays. So, soak in a little kitchen inspiration!
Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn (Coastal Living online) Tracey Rapisardi
Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn (Coastal Living online)
Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn (Coastal Living Online) Andrea Irvine/Rosselle Johnson designers
Tria Glovan (Southern Accents Online)
Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn (Coastal Living online) Louise & Carrie Hurlbutt designers
Tria Glovan (Southern Accents Online)
Jean Allsopp (Coastal Living Online)
Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn (Coastal Living online)
The Beach House: The Endless Remodel February 26, 2008
As promised, here are the latest photos showing the progress on the beach house! As you can see, it is not done yet (it’s been under remodel for over a year now!). Darn, I need a vacation! But things are coming along. The house is just outside of Cannon Beach in Arch Cape on the Oregon Coast. This has been our family’s (my parents, sister’s family and ours) vacation home for around 12 years. It started out as a 1970’s style box completely void of character, but some remodeling was done back when we first got the house. Now it is basically a whole new place from the wiring on out.
The right side of the house has a whole new wing with a new bedroom, sunroom, bedroom and a heated garage (for parties and ping pong!).
The porch was added 12 years ago, but the front door and lights are new.
Part of this deck is new, including the hot tub overlooking the ocean! Can’t wait for that!
Above you can see the front door. This hall on the first level leads to three of the bedrooms, a bathroom and the laundry room.
As you turn to the right upon entering, you can go up the stairs to the main living areas. Through the archway is a bedroom/office and garage.
This is the laundry room with an outside entrance to the porch.
This (above and below) is our bedroom with alcoves for our girls to sleep in behind those partial walls. Our family has grown so much since we bought the house we needed to remodel to accommodate everyone! There is also a bunk room next to this room for my son and my nephew and another bedroom for my sister and her husband and little girl. We can walk out of our room to the deck with the hot tub.
Our room will have a Murphy bed on that long wall on the right, so we can put the bed up for more floor space when the whole crew is vacationing together.
Now we are on the upper/main floor. Chaos! It is a large open space for living with the kitchen in one corner. The photo is taken from the new sunroom which will have built in bookcases and a window seat.
Above you can kind of make out where the kitchen is. The kitchen was already there and had been remodeled previously.
Above and below you can see the views out the windows from the living room on the main/upper level.
Above and below are closets and my parent’s bedroom. They will now be living at the house most of the time since they have sold their other home. Lucky them!
Above is one of the bathrooms on the main floor.
Lastly, you can see the hot tub from up above!
Next time, hopefully we will have some completed rooms to show!
Around the house February 24, 2008
Rooster plate on left, lower shelf was a prize from Pat @ Back Porch Musings!
Greetings dear blogging friends! I thought I’d share a few random photos I captured around my house to show you all how I was enjoying just “BEING” while disconnected this weekend! Funny how when you disconnect from the internet you start to see your real life more clearly! I turned off the computer around 9 or 10 on Saturday morning (I had to catch up on a few things before disconnecting, but no blog surfing!) and I didn’t turn the computer back on until Sunday. Can you say LIBERATING?! Just knowing the computer was not an option opened up a world of possibilities to me! I’m definitely enjoying the whole disconnect idea.
photos taken in my kitchen (you must be sick of seeing my kitchen by now, sorry)
While I intended to spend my first “disconnected day” in more creative ways, having the flu actually forced me to stay in my jammies curled up in bed all day Saturday! Yet, I must say, with the exception of feeling lousy, it was great to shut out the world and stay cozy in my bed. I even read part of a book I’ve been meaning to start and dozed off now and then. There was something quite peaceful about knowing that I was fully immersed in relaxation and not rushing about catching up with the world or with my self-imposed schedule.
photos of one of our bathrooms
On Sunday I felt a wee bit better so I wandered about doing a little fluffing. I put away some of the more wintery things laying about. I rearranged a few things on table tops. Basically just fluffed my way through the day. I had plenty of time to think and dream and interact with my daughter who had returned home from college in the afternoon. I roamed around my house appreciating the way the light came through a window or lingering on some of the simple things I pass by each day. I read books and drank tasty coffee with whipped cream. I sat in my new office and enjoyed the silence (yes, I’ll share pictures soon of how things are coming along with that project!).
Oh, ok, well, here is a sneak peek of part of my office, I finally have a memory board up to put all of my sweet notes and blogging mementos! I did a beautiful horrific job with the cork, I made this myself. I need to redo it, as it didn’t occur to me that the cork needed to be thicker than 1/8″ thick in order to use push pins. I’m so crafty (not!).
So, friends, if (or when) any of you tried an unplugged hour or day or morning, do tell your experience for the rest of us! I would love to hear your thoughts!
Stay tuned, this week I’ll share photos of our BEACH HOUSE (still under construction after one year) and hopefully this week I’ll have some photos of my home office!
Somebody Stop Us: Dogs Who Blog February 22, 2008
Dogs Who Blog
In a bit of randomness…
Our little furry friends used to have their “sniff n’ greets” at the corner fire hydrant. Now? Well, while their mommas are off on a bloggy break (balanced women that they are), dogs have been spotted catching up with their fuzzy faced pals on the blogs.
Meet Hamish and Winston.
Two Westies, oceans apart.
Best Doggie Blog Friends Forever (BDBFF).
The pups have agreed to take doggie bloggy breaks four times a week for chasing squirrels and romps on the beach.
Good boys. Such good doggies.
Hamish of The Bowerbird’s Nest and Winston of The Inspired Room
Photos: Copyright The Bowerbird’s Nest, used by permission
And the bark goes on…SOMEBODY STOP US: DOGS WHO BLOG
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Sweet comments from inspiring friends….