Old Chair gets a Beachy Lift

  I had this old chair that I purchased around 1995 that was desperate for a re-do.It started out in my bedroom at home as a little escape for reading. Then it got pushed out of there for a exercise bike and relegated to the basement to withstand some character building abuse from the kiddos.
  So in mercy, I drug it down the shore and stuffed into my tiny serene bedroom, where it hardly got any use till recently, when we had the back deck renovated and made it into a sunroom right off my bedroom which now houses all kinds of comfy furniture for taking in the view.
  So here is the before.... hardly fitting in with the beach vibe we were going for....right?

I really wanted to find a fabric similar to the one in this Coastal Living magazine picture below.

With a bit of a nautical vibe. (This was in my vision file since 2002) 

My vision file is just a file of stuff I love.

So I finally found the fabric I would use!

But I am such a procrastinator some times.

This was one of those times. I'd made a slipcover once before for my sofa and I sewed for 12 hours straight, just stopping for nourishment! It's not something I am great at and didn't really look forward to.

Finally though this job was going to get done!

And here is the end result:

It fits in the room much better now in it's new skin. And it's still one of my most comfy little chairs!

A privilege to watch the sun rise and set.

The other day while riding back to North Wildwood from dinner in Stone Harbor with my sis, as we crossed the inlet bridge the sun was setting. This area is one of the few places where you are privileged to be able to see the sun rise over the ocean and set over the bay. I snapped the picture below with my phone and from a moving car. The view was incredible. The sky blue pink was reflected in the water. It is one of my favorites.

A fun little party at a Southerndaydreamer.blogspot called Outdoor Wednesday

The Fabric of Our Lives

I was perusing through my pictures to try to decide what I would post about today,

 and then I came across this.

 I awoke to this gorgeous site one morning, the sun rises just out my back door, down the shore. 

This is the view from the second floor in our sunroom just off the bedroom of my little Cottage.

This is what it is all about.

This is why I bought it.

A ramshackle little Cottage by the Sea.

 A small boat peacefully takes in the spectacle.

So this post is all about gratitude.

About enjoying life as it unfolds, slowly, yet so very quickly.

 It's different colors.

It's perfect hues.

Savoring the fleeting moments of peace and beauty.

Appreciating the canvas of our universe.

And it's imperfections are really only our perspective.

Taking comfort in the fabric of our lives.

My Backyard Escape

I never liked those plastic tables that are available for outside so I came up with an idea to make a table from a large slab of slate we had laying around. I have used slate for lots of stuff, including making a set of steps down from one area of my pool to a garden.
 I actually did this a few years ago with an old clay pot with this slate as the table top and this year I changed it up with a new pot I purchased at Home Goods. I liked the Mexican style of the pot and wanted to use that instead of the old clay that was looking a little too rustic.

 I added a little statue purchased many years ago in San Diego as a momento of a trip to see my Dad. Then I went on a search of my garage for old home decor items from way back when my kitchen had a southwestern flair. I founds lots of stuff to use.
I also made a coffee table from another big slab of flagstone and two upside down white flowerpots.

This little project became the "siesta spot" for relaxing and reading a good book, or having a cup of joe.

Can't you just see me with my feet up?

My plants, who persevered all winter in the house with us, were thrilled to move to this new locale!

It's a joy to water them now.

And all the family members liked my new design.

Little did I know, the new theme gave my kids something to consider when shopping for momma's birthday.

 My son bought me a great fountain piece for the wall.  :)

My daughter, the little sun that sits on the coffee table :)

I love my Backyard Escape and I've entered it in a contest.

 I'd love it if my peeps would vote for me!

I've named it Siesta Time and entered it into Backyard X-Scapes

Backyard of the month.

You can vote for me here. 

I've linked up with

Big things come in small packages in My Office

 I'm such a pushover, I get inspired at the drop of a hat.This image from a place called Cushions Unlimited inspired me.

It's simple and clean, and I was looking for something like this to make my office more inviting to me.
Just a small spot to sort through family photos and ...stuff. ( Im not saying that 4 letter word BILL)

Now I have a tiny little spot in my home that I call an office. It's 8 x 10. Honestly, it's not much more than a closet. Matter of fact my hubbo wants to steal it and make it a closet. Yes he is more of a diva than I when it comes to clothing!
I'm fighting to keep it.  I keep telling him, "Happy wife, Happy life"!
I love my closet...er ..office. It serves it's purpose of hiding all those papers and unsorted pictures from 20 yrs. ago or more, and those things we pay each month. All the papers are in pretty little boxes. Yep I have a bit of a box fetish. If the kids are ever stumped as to what to get me for my birthday. A box always does the trick.
He can't take my window seat. This is mine.

  ------my box fetish

I bought the little drawers from JC Pennies, and together they make a small window seat. The shabby chic fabric was a duvet cover, I just covered the cushion with it. Re-use and recycle. My fabric shop has some similar  floral fabric.

I painted those walls with my own little hands, in a venitian plaster look. All around my little room.

 ----2 more boxes

I painted the shabby little dresser I found for 1 dollar at a flee market, with a fresh coat of white paint,

Just distressed it a little and dry brushed the wall color on the top coat. 

 The wall paint is  a pale grey with beige ragged on.

The dresser is white with beige dry brushed on.

My desk is important to me how could hubbo even think of replacing it with hangers.

Even more of my box fetish showing

I like my office. My little 8x10 hideaway. And my boxes.

He can't have it.

 I should have taken those before pics!

I'm linking with

The Power of Paint Party   

One gorgeous beach day!

This was Friday at the Jersey Shore. An incredible day! The ocean was warm, the waves were fantastic, and the sky was just gorgeous. I was dumb enough to forget my camera charger and all I had was my cell phone, but it does ok in a pinch. As you can see I'm not so good at it, I got my finger in the way DAAHH

Ok so here's one that is a bit farther away but without my finger in it :)

There is a few more people than I prefer on the beach but what the heck it's a big beach and there is lots of space between us. Don't ya just hate it when you're all crammed up on a tiny beach. This is a big expansive beach, lots of room for everyone.

Then on the way home I'm lucky enough to be able to walk thru the Gardens at the Lighthouse.

Beautiful Hydrangeas.

I will take lots more pics next week of the Gardens and the Lighthouse.. you know with the real camera!

But it's a cell phone pic so bear with me, Beach Babies.. 

Not so bad heh? For a cell pic.

A French Door dilemma

I have a beautiful set of French doors down at the shore house. but I also have a problem I have been eager to solve. They are wonderful doors that both open out onto the deck.

It makes it extremely nice to open the house up to the outside and let the sea breeze in...the ocean is just on the other side of the boulders with the concrete prominade on top. Just beyond all the damn tourists cars!

 I like it better when it's empty down here. I used to be able to see some of the ocean from my kitchen till the powers that be put up that prominade!!

 Anyway... there are days when.. well let's just say that the flies like to come in too!

I tried a fancy new Anderson roll screen, and have to say that just wasn't going to work with my crew.
For 2 reasons.

1. A thousand ins and outs is not exactly what that type of screen was made to endure.
2. Sometimes it is so breezy  that the screen would blow right out the bottom and get stuck, and not roll back in when you needed it too. Yep, you guessed it.. Extremely annoying! So that screen got nixed.

Now I have found a solution that is working for us.
This is what I did:

Hung a beautiful rod. ((Excuse the pics, it's my blackberry I forgot to bring the camera battery..daahhh.))

Found a curtain that was more like netting.

And bought some large easy sliding curtain hooks.

Now I knew I would need something to weigh down the panels or these curtains would be totally useless blowing in all over the house and letting in the busy little pests.

So I used what I had. Sea glass.

Mixed with some pale green glass pebbles

I must admit it is pretty in my green depression ware!
But I need it now for more important things.







All the sea glass and pebbles get thrown into the bottom hem

And sewn into pockets so the stay where I want them- in the middle and on the ends.












Now we are ready to test drive these babies......

They actually do their job. They blow in a little with a strong breeze, but stay weighted down.

Most of the time they can remain open, but when we are preparing food or eating, they have to be closed.

And this is the view from the exterior... stopping those pesky little flies.                               

My daughter is in there right now eating fruit salad.

Telling me I am a Blogaholic.

So that is my solution to "no screen to fit my french door without destroying it's gorgeousness" at the Cottage Beach House.

Flip Flop Fun

I just had to add another little touch to my outside shower re-do from last weekend. I came across these brightly colored adorable little flip flops for only 2 bucks and the minute I saw them an idea popped into my head.
So I strung em up and hung em up! Just slid them through a piece of twine and tied them to the knob on the Beach House sign, and twisted the twine to a hook around the corner.

The neat thing is if any little squirts visiting our beach house need a pair of flip flops, they can just untwist the twine.!

I just love this cute and whimsical idea, don't you?


A big thank you to the Redhead Riter for some feedback on fixing my blogger issues. I can post again!!
She is one of my favorites!

Thank you Red!!
Visit her blog The Redhead Riter