#i love smaller more local thrift places. they are so kind and the prices are so good

[daftpatience]

i lov planning outfits the same way i love drawing diagrams for rearranging furniture. its plotting and scheming

[nowimhaunted]

do you have any tips for vintage shopping in general but especially as a bigger size? i really want to start collecting but i feel like i only ever see things with super small sizes

I love that you want to start collecting!!

First of all I just want to express how vintage clothing is made for people of all sizes and anyone who says people were just smaller back then is lying because this is a photo of my Great Aunt back in the 1960s!!! I wish I could find this dress because it’s sooo beautiful

I think one way to start with location. If you live in a city, I would recommend going to a more rural area with an older population. I live in the city in California and I’ve had a hard time finding good vintage pieces in the city. I usually have to go out to the suburbs/rural areas. I’m from Missouri and I had sooo much luck at suburban Midwest thrift stores. Idk where you live but I think it’s a good idea go to out into an area that’s not as populated and have older people who are more likely to donate vintage clothes.

In terms of places to shop, I usually will do thrift stores or antique malls, don’t sleep on antique malls because a lot of them have clothing!!! I usually avoid chain thrift stores and prefer to find the small locally owned ones because they have better prices and are less likely to be picked through. So I would research on what kinds of thrift places you have in your area!! You can try vintage shops but a lot of them are more expensive, especially ones in the city. But in more suburban or rural areas you can sometimes find vintage shops that sell pieces for more reasonable prices. The less populated of an area you go to, the more likely you’ll find stuff that isn’t picked over (I went to college in the middle of nowhere Missouri and my fave vintage place had dresses for 10-15$). I also recommend estate sales because they usually have a ton of vintage!!! You can download apps or look at website to see where they are in your area. Same thing with garage sales but estate sales usually have more vintage since it’s usually old people. You can also look to see if there are any vintage markets in your area. Where I live they have one about once a month!!

When looking at clothes I would keep and eye on things with an elastic waist because those will stretch and fit a lot more sizes. I would also not solely rely on numbers when shopping for vintage clothing because the sizing was different. So something might be bigger or smaller than your size in modern clothes. If you have any doubts then I would try it on, which is why I always buy my vintage in person. Even if there isn’t a fitting room I’ll usually slip it on over my clothes or hold it up to myself to get an idea on if it will fit me.

Sorry this is really long but I hope it helps 💕😭

[bunbunpawz]

How to dress Jirai Kei on a budget

Looking for ways to dress Jirai Kei, but afraid to commit or just cannot afford the luxurious items? Came to the right place! Here are some tips based on my own experience!  Hope it helps someone :)  When I first started my journey, it was mid a lockdown so it was impossible to get anything shipped, not to mention that I am broke and can’t really afford much to begin with, let alone a whole wardrobe from scratch. Not sure yet if I wanted to commit, here is what I did and maybe you can too! 1.-.Find the right colors and silhouette.  so when you go out budget shopping, you have to make sure the silhouette is correct. If its too puffy, girly and impactful it’s going to mess with the vibe, try to stick to more mature cuts like pencils skirts and button-downs. once you find the correct silhouettes, find the right colors. Black and light pink, dusky pinks, or beiges tend to work the best. When you will first put on the garments together you’ll feel yourself transform into a true Jirai Kei girl (or person) right away!

-Shop in familiar stores.  My first black skirt looked kind of like the skirt in the picture above, I got it at H&M on a big sale and there were only 2 skirts, an xxs and one that’s a tad too big but I can at least fit into it.  Checking out your regular stores for basics makes sure that what you’re buying is going to be of a quality you can appreciate and last longer, besides you’d probably want to wear it outside of Jirai Kei too.   

-Support local boutiques. I sometimes pass by local smaller no-brand boutiques just to see what they might have. One time they had a sale on left over “holiday” clothes, and among the clothes were women's button down fancy shirts. So I snatched myself a very Jirai kei shirt in the color dusky pink (last one too). It was so Jirai Kei that later my friend send me a picture of a Jirai Kei illustration and it featured an *Identical* blouse to mine! Wow! This shirt was on the pricier side for me, even though it’s still VERY cheap, and the fabric is a bit weird to the touch since it sticks to anything it touches. It still looks perfect for the style. And I supported a small business, which is always a win. -Thrifting~! Thrifting and second hand shops are always great places to find basics for lower prices. I personally haven’t found anything Jirai Kei in thrift stores yet, but I have found very nice black and basic shoes and bags that could definitely work for on a budget Jirai kei outfit. -Online Now this one I’m not the biggest fan of, but many of us cannot afford brands and even local shops tend to be too pricey. In this case, places like SHEIN and fast fashion tend to comfort our needs for new clothes and self expression.  I don’t really like the color black or pink so throughout my journey I tend to grab things that I would definitely wear outside of Jirai Kei. That being said I still want some of the basic items so that I could feel that I properly fit into the style. I would never buy an item like this skirt for myself before Jirai Kei, and although I love it and how it looks I wouldn’t dare spend a lot of money for what I would consider a basic like this.

But isn’t she cute? except for the two buttons on the front, the lacey suspenders are so cute and the whole vibe is so very Jirai Kei. It also comes in various sizes, which is always welcomed and much needed! Sadly, my friend who helped me order this, decided I was a size smaller than I am, so although it fits me quite fine, it’s a bit on the shorter side and doesn’t look like I would want it to...Still it’s very cute and I love it! I will be adding the link to it here https://fr.shein.com/Paper-Bag-Waist-Pinafore-Skirt-p-950707-cat-1732.html  (these are the straight sizes, for petite or plus please check out their options)  -DIY So some of the items I really want I cannot get, even if I could order it or buy it, I just cannot afford it. Heck, even if I could afford it, I would probably still not spend that much money on items like hair ribbons. So I resulted in just making them myself. Yep, I just bought some decorative ribbon and made my own two hair bows. Later I stole a thicker ribbon from a blanket that had a ribbon holding it packaged to be presented as a gift, and made thicker ribbons out of it! They really do look legit, like the store bought ones. The only down side is that people recognize the logo, oops. To conclude,  You really don’t need all those brands or to spend to wear Jirai Kei. There are always options out there and you just have to look around and search for them. It won’t always be perfect, or looks perfect but as long as you capture the vibe and you don’t go for just “anything”, you can definitely achieve the look you want. Don’t aim for perfection but aim to be just good enough. My Collection is slowly growing, and I do have more pricier items I splurged on, knowing I will wear them for many years to come, even outside of Jirai Kei. I’ve said it before but you should always aim for items you’d like regardless of trends or styles you’re into at the time. You don’t want to spend a lot of money on something you’ll get over really fast. If you are hesitant to try this fashion because of people, don’t let anyone stop you, or bring you down. People are going to hate on anything and anyone. Wearing a fashion style is not supporting anything harmful. The negative stigma around Jirai Kei can be changed by people wearing it, and it doesn’t matter if you’re in japan or not. Wear what makes you feel happy.   Good Luck On Your Journeys!

[demonmoonsupreme]

Some gifts that you can give over the holiday season and any other time of the year that are more sustainable.

FOOD GIFTS are the greatest thing, whether it’s a special treat, or meals, or a bag of onions and potatoes—someone always needs this, it will be used, and given how many people have had serious cuts made to their income this year these kinds of gifts may be more important than ever

Food gifts could also be gift certificates to a local farm where the person receiving the certificate can pick out exactly what kind of local food they would like. You’re giving this gift certificate to an especially carnivorous person? See if you can get a certificate for a meat box or meat CSA

Food gifts might also be a gift certificate to a restaurant; you’re helping a small business AND getting someone you love a delicious meal

Enough about food, how about CLOTHES!! There are a few online consignment places (like ThreadUp) that can help you find the perfect garment for someone at an affordable price—and another great thing about it is you’re extending this garment’s life and keeping it from ending up in the landfill prematurely.

Since ThreadUp isn’t available in a lot of places in the world (unless you like paying customs), and IF it is SAFE for you to go to a consignment/thrift/used clothes shop that is also another way to get lovely gifts and support the local economy

Looking for not second-hand clothes? Plenty of brands are manufacturing clothing from recycled garments to water bottles. (I bought my mom a new fleece sweater made from water bottles and it only set me back $38).

Make a wish list, and ask people in return what’s on their wish list. Nope, it’s not picky, it’s not being ungracious: you’re working to eliminate a lot of unneeded and unwanted gifts. Also, it’s not sustainable to spend your money on stuff people don’t want.

A friend or family member is setting up house for the first time? They might enjoy any of the gifts above, or something to put in the new place: let’s talk about used furniture. No, I’m not talking couches or upholstered stuff (unless you are); maybe it’s a shelf, or a nice mirror you found at furniture thrift store, or that coffee table you have up in the attic and simply no room for. Or it could be a much smaller item: beeswax wraps or jars for food storage

Toothbrush and toothpaste. Okay, hear me out on this one: these were the go to stocking stuffers (along with chocolate) in my house, but this year I’m making sure that everyone in my house is getting a bamboo (or any other of the less plastic waste toothbrushes on the market) toothbrush and some toothpaste tablets. All the packaging was plastic free on these items and they will 100% be useful

While we’re talking about personal care products as gifts: want to make up someone a self care basket? Include items like toothpaste tablets, and a luxurious hand cream that comes in a tin (got mine at the farmers’ market ), a loofah made from real gourds, and a shampoo and conditioner bar.

Reader in your life? Used books make great gifts: it extends the life of a book before it gets tossed in the garbage or recycling, it educates or at least entertains the person reading, AND it supports a local small business. Also most used books only cost $3-$8 (some are as low as 25 cents each), which means you might be able to give someone hours and hours of entertainment with a small stack of books without breaking your bank.

Gift cards. Unfortunately, a lot of gift cards are made of plastic, but even that may be more sustainable than buying someone items they don’t need or want. It’s not an impersonal gift: you are letting the receiver have the ultimate choice of purchasing whatever they want or need. This can even include more private items that they may not want to specifically ask for on their wish list. Just don’t get an Amazon gift card, and why not make sure they can also use this gift card to buy groceries if they need to

Pay a bill for someone. This doesn’t need a long-winded reason of why it’s sustainable and probably so needed by so many people right now

Give a gift certificate from a local business. Pick a local business; restaurant, farm, garden centre, whatever floats your boat. Obviously make sure that the receiver could and would use this gift certificate. Extra points if the certificate is printed on paper or electronic, etc.

This isn’t a gift but stop ripping wrapping paper and treat it kindly and reuse it. We’ve had wrapping paper in circulation for years in my family—the same pieces of paper used over and over again. Gently opened, folded up and stored until it’s needed again. If you want to go off of wrapping paper entirely; of course you can always use newspaper, cloth, boxes, or reusable bags to make amazing, more sustainable gift coverings.

[writeyourownname]

Tips and Tricks to Make Your Life Easier

1. You want to read a book, but you don't have time, right? Wrong. Put that mf in the bathroom and read it when you’re poopin. 

2. You’re running out of space for your shoes. Shoe Rack. Put it on the back of your (closet) door. Trust me on this. 

3. Can’t get up in the morning on time or as early as you’d like? Bitch, say no more. We’ve all been there. What you need to do is A. Set your alarm for 5-10 mins earlier than usual, and set your snooze for 5 min increments. B. You wake up, you hit snooze, but you lay on your back. Don’t get super comfy again. Keep your eyes shut or try to open them into the dark after C. You start listing and imagining what you have to do when you get out of bed. This helps you wake up and start thinking instead of being lulled back into sleep. Do NOT explicitly think, “When I get up,” It makes you anxious and puts you in a mood where you don’t want to get up. D. Your alarm goes off again, and this time you’re more awake so it should be easier to actually scootch outta bed. If you start arguing with yourself to stay in, turn your conversational brain off. Move your body. Sheer force of will, my man.

4. Don’t drink coffee right after you brush your teeth. Just don’t. 

5. You’re a little hungry but not really? Drink a tall glass of water. 

6. You sit down to do your assignment and you’re halfway through, so you think you might as well take a break. Force yourself to do another quarter of the assignment. That should make you feel more accomplished and push you to finish it because you’re almost done anyways. 

7. You keep getting razor bumps? Before you get out of the shower turn that water to chilly. Keep your parts you shaved under it for at least 20-30 seconds. Afterwards slather yourself in baby oil.

8. You have anxiety but need to make a phone call. We’ve all been there babe. Just pretend that you’re a warrior on a quest, and to make it to the end you have to make this call. When it’s ringing try to turn your inner dialogue down a bit and replace it with your warrior/quest thoughts. 

9. Want to work on a talent you have but you don’t have time? Get off your phone and you will. That is, unless it requires going out of your way somewhere.

10. Want to start getting into fitness but you can’t afford a gym membership? There are tons of exercises to do at home, and you can buy a set of 5/8 lb weights to get started. I have a routine at home, so even when I go to the gym I always finish off with some of those things. 

11. I finally got myself some Tea Tree oil and BITCH THAT SHIT’S GOOD. Get some for yourself. 

12. Stop thinking the world owes you something. It doesn’t. Not if you haven’t done something to deserve it. 

13. Start living with love. You need to open yourself up to it. Compliment others, help others, even if it’s just to hold the door open. Show your family small gestures to tell them you appreciate them. Listen to your partner’s needs. Spoil them in affection if that is wanted/would be appreciated. 

14. Try to live. Like actually do things you want to do without getting distracted by your phone. Read that book. Follow through with plans you made. Go to that job interview. Apply for that college. Try out for that part in a movie or that voice over. Save that money so you can finally go on that trip. Fall in love with your friendships, and be realistic with a positive flair. It makes your life so much easier if you actually live it. Why are you living if you aren’t going to be able to look back and see all that you did that made you happy, feel that it was worth it? 

Saving Money: Alternatively; How Not to Die Because You Spent Too Much

- You’re broke. Bitch, Me too. 

1. Your friends ask you to go out to eat with them. You want to go, so go, (or really don’t) but here are some tips on it. 

a. Don’t buy a soda or anything that actually costs anything to drink. Get a water. If you want flavor, add a lemon.

b. Don’t “treat yourself”. You’re already out, that was the treat yourself bit. You need to be realistic. 

c. Have a bite to eat Before you go with them if you can. That way you will be satisfied with getting something smaller and cheaper. 

d. See if you can convince your friends to take a cheaper restaurant route. 

2. Need snacks? Need a card? Need a new book? Need a new plate? Need batteries? Go to your local dollar tree/store. 

3. Try to avoid credit. Please, for your own sake. Credit debt piles up SO easily, and you don’t need to continue making payments. If you can, use debit.

4. USE CASH. I swear to the Lord, use it. It makes you really think about how much you're spending. 

5. If you are thinking of buying something, but it isn’t a necessity, even just for that moment, tell yourself you’ll buy it on your next paycheck. If you really want it, you will buy it on the next paycheck, if not, you saved yourself some money.

6. When looking to buy a car, look up the type of gas mileage it gets and how long it usually lasts. Look at the brand’s general life on vehicles and if there are recurring issues on it and the specific car. Save as much as you can for a downpayment beforehand so your monthly payments will be lower. 

7. This is really simple, but don’t by everything because of a brand name. it’s cheaper to get the off brand/store brand. Do a little research before you go out and grocery shop.

8. Thrift shop. There are so many great deals to find. 

9. Try to wait to buy things until they’re on sale or clearance if you can. This is self-explanatory.

10. Stop wasting electricity, bitch. Stop wasting water. Take reasonable showers and turn your lights off! 

11. When comparing prices, look at how much (ounces, liters, etc.) is in the item. I did this with lotion just yesterday. Paying attention to that kind of thing pays off. 

12. The easiest one. When you have extra cash, stick it in a savings account or another checking account so you are less likely to touch it unless it’s an emergency. 

13. Want to eat healthier, but healthy stuff is too expensive? Don’t try to go all out at first. Start with cutting out unhealthy things you don't need in your diet like chips, dark sodas (or sodas in general), ice cream, candies, etc. With the money you save from that, you can start buying more veggies and stuff. (frozen veggies are also better than no veggies and so are canned ones). Places like Aldi have very reasonable prices for fresh goods. 

14. 2018 is a year where “treat yourself” doesn’t mean “Go spend money on things you don’t need but want” it means spend money on things you need and saving the rest. It means that you are being responsible with your money. You want to retire someday. You don’t want to work forever. You want something to give to your kids or to charity or whatever when you pass.  

A reminder that some people do all of these things, but are still super strapped for cash. That does not make them any less of a hardworking or moral person. A lot of people just don’t make enough to actually save money. 

[artdjgblog]

Innerview: Cathy Fishel / Print Magazine August 2005 Image:​ Print Magazine​ Note: Interview for the Print Regional Design Annual.

Introduction: Cathy…Sorry you missed me. Sorry to miss you. Thanks for the message (sorry it cut you off in the middle of your phone number). Things are a bit intense as summer brings a new definition of BUSY. Work. Work. Work. Many thanks for the kind words about my work and I. It means so much. Yeah, I am sure it is chore to sift through all of the junk I’ve been dumping on the PRINT headquarters every March for the past three years or so…(I feel like a true failure if I send less than fifty entries). It is funny because just last week I was thinking about the upcoming PRINT Regional Annual and how I had not heard back on if I was selected…and I guess I have been…how many? And what? I am very curious. I had pretty much written it off. Thanks for informing me…I suppose I was supposed to receive notice upon that a while back…what happened there? Same thing happened to me last year. Out of curiosity I called somebody at PRINT last year and sure enough they had contacted me at the wrong address or something like that…I hope that wasn’t the case again. We need to get that straightened out…indeed. Certainly, I am thrilled to participate in this little questionaire. Wow, i’ve always wanted to. You don’t have to worry about smearing my name from anything said. I don’t care. Here we go… ​​01) How has the pace of business/number of jobs been in the past year as compared to the previous year? The pace is as thick as I want it and when I have sleep to deprive. I’ve always held other jobs and currently work a massive sixty-two hour weekly schedule as a groundskeeper and a janitorial supervisor…thus, cramming design into my pockets…and whenever I can squeeze it in my free time or find it under the pillow in the wee morning. I never actively seek my work due to time constraints and exhaustion…not yet, at least…and besides, the majority is word of mouth. Most of the time I just make stuff. Some of the time I get a nice little call or email and then just make more stuff. 0​2) Why is it up or down? The numbers (ups/downs) are slim if you stack them to my three previous so-called “professional” years…of course it’s due to my lack of time…fatigue…getting older…and mostly because I don’t really have a definite connection with my clients like I used to…and I don’t live with bands, attend concerts or am around my clients as much as I used to…(in case you’re wondering, my primary source of work is in the local independent music industry). Also, I am not as twenty-four-seven-gung-holike I was when I first started. I’ve accomplished most everything I set out to do at this point…(perhapsI’m just settling and need to mark a new planner?). 0​3) Has there been any surprises in the past year? Good or bad? Surprises in my work and thoughts come quite often. Sometimes it’s mush. Sometimes they come as sneakeries. The only real surprises come when I get random calls/emails from kind Print editors, designers requesting copies of posters, people wanting to put me in their books, seeing my work in books/magazines next to my inspirations/peers…and recent college graduates persuing job opportunities with my bedroom design operation. It’s all good…never bad…well, the only bad thing would be that I have to shell out good money for the good books that I’m in. 0​4) Has there been an influx of a new sort of work or client in your office? In the design community as a whole? Honestly, the only new things I approach are the things that come with each new day and in thought. I try to treat each design day new. Nothing I do is new to the worlds, other than in my own. I do thumb magazines a bit and I am a bit of a junky with design/culture and such…and I do keep my eyes open at all times…though, sometimes too much of it can make me not like design or anything. It’s getting to be way over-impacted with the idea that everyone thinks themselves to be a designer. Most of the only new sort of work that really kicks me (or I even consider new) comes from scraps of paper I find and hand painted ghetto signage. Though, if we’re talking professional work, I guess there is some good stuff coming out of the local climate. And of course I guess there is always good stuff coming out of the woods everywhere. Others might lump me in there somewhere. I don’t really know or care. 0​5) What is the economic climate like there in general? I was bummed when Quik Trip ended their “Cheap Drink Summer” so soonly…however, I’ve always got the Hostess thrift store two blocks away. I always find free junk in the streets and at work in the trash…and I always find great deals on paper and “whatevers” at thrift stores. No matter if I don’t cash in on design…I’ve always got cheap fuel to burn…and I will always barter for goods and services…if the price is right/not right. 0​6) Have any large clients closed or left the area? Who? Most of the rock ‘n’ rollers are skinny little dudes and I’m the one that’s gaining the weight around my belt and portfolio pit. There have been a few bands that have broken apart and some that have decided to play musician-designer to save money. And combined roles like that don’t always produce wickedly pretty offspring. 0​7) Has there been any changes in the ways that clients do business with designers (good or bad)? Not really any changes in clients. People still owe me money. Most people still don’t want to pay much or even pay at all for design…though, they are eager to push the products I slap myself onto and I give them free press in books/magazines. Oh well, that’s part of the deal and I knew that from the get go. It’s more than thant anyway. And I still love them…I am sure they still love me…I just don’t make enough from it to eat. But, I do have some wonderful clients that I hope to cradle and/or have them cradle me for a long time…we’ll see. 0​8) Is the design community tight-knit? Competitive? Friendly? What? I don’t really associate with other designers due to a lack of time and sometimes, simply want. I do have a few I check in on…but mostly I stick to my own guns. Therefore, I constantly hope my cats and girlfriend understand what the heck I’m talking about. It’s mostly mumbles I’m trying to say though…at least I’m entertained. In terms of the local design community…well, I guess the art/design here in Kansas City is looking pretty good. Even though i’m only in my fourth year, through the visual clutter I can see a few improvements. From what I understand, there is a tight-knit community that I’m not really associated with physically. From the outside, the knit appears to be extremely tight though. These days I like to sit at home and hunch my shoulders…and I like to think and be around people/places/things that aren’t necessarily directly connected to the design world, but they are in my personal one (whatever that means). In competitive terms I guess I fell victim to that last December. One of the best things I’ve ever done was stolen at an exhibition. Poor Mortimer was an only child and I’ve nothing to document him. Either I’m getting somewhat popular or I have a backlash. I’m also getting tired of most of the announcement boards to post posters being smaller than one of my posters (time to break out my little hands). ​0​9) What exciting things are going on in the design community? Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. Well, I’m kind of excited to see where this city is headed to as a whole. There are a lot of expensive things being built…new downtown developments/arena…and a ridiculous addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art that looks like a giant trash bin and/or trailer home. 10) What are you looking forward to in the next year? Any big changes? Anything that you hope will happen? Well, I am getting married this Fall and thus must condense my apartment. I must lovingly adapt to sharing my artifacts, junk, libraries, wall space and work space with a woman. I also plan to start sleeping on a real bed again…and to quit my night job. She is a good one though. 11.) Why is where you are a great place/lousy place to be a designer? Since I’m a one man show, I can take my design anywhere. Though, it helps to have an outlet to a music community…I guess…if I want to continue with that. I guess with this question, it’s mostly all behind the controller. You’ve really got to chop some trees down to be heard…or just put your head down, barrel through them and not really pay attention. And my real dream is to live in the woods outside of a small town near a big city and have the requests come to my porch via arrows…and to make things for myself. I’ve never been one to worry myself about if I’m in the right place or not. As long as my brain is not too sloshy and polluted, I will be fine. 12) What advantages does the midwest hold as a design source for clients? I was born and fed here. It is ok (at times a bit too honky and wonky). I’m happy with the way things have gone so far. I’ve got a meager following here that I suppose “gets it”…and the norm that says, “That’s different.” Though I haven’t really ventured off much in my design life, or simply, life in general. I hear it’s a mighty treat to get out. And I also hear good things about the midwest’s hospitality and friendliness from outsiders and/or people who get out. Perhaps I’ll pack it up one of these days and try some new turf to ooze between my toes. 13) What is the level of student/job applicant talent? Is young talent staying in the area or leaving? It’s really flattering, funny and somewhat depressing to me that I’ve received many offers from recent design graduates who desperately want to work for me. Some are really talented too…and I must paint my sad tale of no funds or time for me to even consider full-time employment with myself. Maybe I’ll just have them move in for therapy…or start my own school with fire poles to slide through the floors of my apartment building and heaping pile of posters to burn for warmth. -djg

[interiorstarweb]

Making A Light & Airy Living Room (That’s Still Livable!)

Just when you thought the duplex was getting all the action, we snuck in some beach house updates. The backyard is slowly starting to come together (shed! patio! fence! I CAN’T WAIT to show it to you once it gets a little further along!!) but today we’re diving into our lightener & brighter (and much beachier) living room.

Now this place actually looks like it’s a few blocks from the beach! And the bonus is that everything is sand and popsicle friendly – which is a must for us (we pack this place with family and friends and all the kids). So our goal was never to make it too precious. In other words, we were going for a light and airy look… but it had to be durable, wipeable, and as close to worry-free as we could get it!

sofa | side table | coffee table | rug | bookcase | lamps | wall: SW White Heron | trim: SW Stone Isle

We wanted to use some of the furniture we designed, including one of our new sofas (performance fabric = all the yesses). So we started with our Mellow sofa. It’s sold out right now, but our other two sofas – the Pivot and the Spiffy – are discounted just for the next few days thanks to a Joss & Main’s flash sale (they’ve got different names on J&M for some reason). A lot of things are at the lowest prices they’ve ever been ($699 for the sofas!) so if you’ve had your eye on one of our designs, it’s a pretty great time to check it out.

sofa | side table | coffee table | rug | lamp | chandelier| wall: SW White Heron | trim: SW Stone Isle

Sadly, our trusty old Ikea sectional (Karl the Karlstad, remember?) was ready for retirement (aka: donation). The problem with moving a sectional from house to house to house (we moved it from our second house, to our current house, and then to the beach house over the last eight years) is that sometimes the space would be better suited for a sofa… but you have a sectional… so you just sort of keep moving it around and trying to make the best of it.

We could kind of make sense of it it photos, but in real life there were awkward things like the chaise cutting into the doorway. We tried putting the chaise on the other end of the living room (it’s reversible), but it wasn’t any better because it meant we couldn’t have the extra seating over there, which really comes in handy and gets used a lot.

So as we mentioned a few weeks ago on the podcast, after eight awesome years with Karl, we donated him to a local charity that we love, and he’s living it up with a sweet new family. His legacy lives on. (*cue that Celine Dion song from Titanic*).

Another way that we tried to make this room feel lighter and airier was the patterned gray rug that we bought to replace the vintage one below (which happily lives in a bedroom at the duplex now). OMG that was meant to be in there, guys.

Along with our rug switch, the new sofa is a HUGE step forward in lightening things up. Plus its smaller footprint meant there was room for a few more functional furnishings. Like, momma finally gets a side table on her end of the couch. Hello reading lamp! Hello spot for my tea!

sofa | side table | coffee table | rug | lamp | baskets | bookcase | chandelier

Also, a word about white wood furniture: it’s a GREAT WAY to achieve a lighter look that’s still livable (it’s all wipeable, but it looks so nice and bright). So if you’re staring at a space you’d love to lighten up, sometimes it’s as simple as a $15 quart of white paint with primer built in (we recently tried Behr Marquee and it had great coverage) and you can redo your coffee table and your end tables – or even a bookcase or a shelving unit in an afternoon. Light walls and white (gloriously washable) curtains help too!

The three tiers on our side table = all the spots for magazines, a basket full of legos, or whatever else you like to keep at arm’s length. We actually ordered two more of the same side tables for the duplex because we love it so much. It also comes in a smaller version (which is super marked down right now) and you know I want to make a coffee table version, so stay tuned!

side table | top art | bottom art | vase | lamp | baskets | pink pillow | blue pillow

I also hung some new art that I bought through an artist I found on Instagram. Her name is Sarah Madeira Day and her stuff is just beautiful and so well priced. These two 8 x 8″ canvas prints were $25 each! Printed on canvas with gorgeous vibrant colors! I just love them – and I framed them in simple Ribba frames from Ikea that I already had (with linen-like fabric behind them, which adds some really pretty texture and a double-mat effect).

And as much as we liked the coffee table we DIYed last summer, the dark wood legs started to feel pretty busy – especially as the room got lighter. So we carried over one of these coffee tables that we ordered for the duplex. I’m liking how visually airy it is and the size is better for the space, so I may end up ordering another one to make up for the one I yoinked from the duplex.

Also, John and I burst out laughing when we realized that we basically recreated this photoshoot set-up in our beach house. Even the rugs are similar!

It kind of makes sense that it would happen that way, because we chose some of our favorite stuff for that photo… so I love seeing it living together at the beach house now. Especially mixed with other stuff that we love (that CB2 ladder shelf is so glossy and gorgeous in person, and I feel a deep and meaningful connection to our pretty pink lamp from Target).

Funny story about this coffee table. A couple weeks after that photoshoot, John shot up in bed nervous that the scallops around the outside were a terrible idea. His concern was that it was going to prevent people from kicking their feet up on it (to which I said: “but not everyone puts their feet on the coffee table, right?”).

So imagine his palpable relief when he realized that his legs easily fit between the shallow rounded scallops, and he actually proclaimed it to be more comfortable than our coffee table at home (which also has a small lip on top, but it’s sharper and not rounded/smoothed out).

We’re also happy to report that the edge doesn’t get in the way of other tabletop activities like board games (you know we LOVE OUR BOARD GAMES). Actually the border does a nice job of corralling things. You know, if one of your crazy bear creations gets out of hand or you’re rolling dice and don’t want them flying all over the place. So if you DMed me about that, here’s your answer: works great for family board games – the scallops aren’t nearly tall enough to block your arms or anything like that.

I also had someone message me to say “be sure to put a shallow little remote drawer in your next coffee table design!” and the good news is that this one already has one! I love a little hidden drawer to keep that stuff contained.

Also a note on living room layouts, because I FEEL YOU OUT THERE. THEY ARE HARD. This room has been evolving for over a year and a half now (I know, it feels like just yesterday that we furnished the beach house!), and we still have plans to mount the TV on the wall, possibly paint the walls, and change out those diamond backed chairs that are living by the windows, but more on that in a second.

sofa | side table | coffee table | rug | lamps | media cabinet

One of the reasons that living room layouts are tough is because we make assumptions about the way we live or the things we want and then we’re too nervous to try something else. So it’s hard to unlock a fresh solution if we’re stuck in the same thought patterns. Like for example, it sounds counterintuitive to say getting a smaller sofa can create more seating, but we learned last summer that trying to cram all of our guests onto a sectional wasn’t always the most comfortable or the most conducive to conversation.

So we decided to try to “break up” the seating options a little more. With the chaise gone, we could also tuck a chair into the corner by the TV. So the sofa seats about three adults (the four of us fit on it just fine since the kids are smaller), and there are three other chairs in the room now, too. So even though your brain wants to believe that a sectional = the most seating, it’s not always true.

We’re still on the hunt to find some bigger / more relaxed feeling chairs for the window wall, but these thrifted ones (which you may remember from wayyyyy back in our old home office) are doing the trick for now. I spray painted them and recovered the seats to make them a little more neutral – and I always picture them ending up at the duplex because they have that diamond shape like the diamond windows over there.

Oh and the rug. Let’s talk about that for a second. We recently had a slime incident. Not just a “slime got on the rug” issue, but a “slime sat on the rug for months under the chaise and I only discovered it when we switched the sofa out and it left a huge grease stain that everyone could see thanks to no longer having a chaise” issue. ARGH!

But…. I got it out! After a lot of googling and some tips from people on InstaStories, the winning removal method was pouring white vinegar on the grease spot, letting it sit, scraping it with a spoon (to remove some leftover slime – it was actually “Thinking Putty”) and after it dried I dabbed it with nail polish remover. That was key in lifting the grease stain and you can’t even see where it was! Plus it gives me a new appreciation that this rug has such a variety of gray tones! Those lighter and darker areas make it much more forgiving.

Between that AND getting an immediate chocolate stain on the new sofa (which came right out dabbing it with water – thanks again, performance fabric!) – we feel like this room can take anything that these kids throw at it – both literally and figuratively. I mean�� they might prove us wrong, but they’re gonna have to try harder than slime and chocolate��

The last thing I’ll mention while we’re on the topic of updates at the beach house is our dining room chandeliers. A few months ago in our email newsletter, we showed how we swapped out the old capiz chandeliers for these from our lighting line, but I’m not sure we ever shared a picture on the blog. We love that they’re a little more substantial and the polished nickel details tie into the other light fixtures throughout the living room and the kitchen.

capiz chandeliers | benches | chairs | marble vase

The previous chandeliers are now hanging in the master bedrooms at the duplex because it’s basically in the Sherry Petersik Decorating Handbook that every house we fix up must have a capiz fixture somewhere. And you know I love playing musical furniture & light fixtures! (p.s. this is a TV concept, I just don’t want to actually be on tv – but someone please make a series about switching things you already have around like that old show on HGTV called Freestyle and I’d be SO INTO IT! It goes back to my love of staging houses and being scrappy with things you already have on hand).

So there are our latest beach house updates – and I hope it’s comforting to hear that sometimes rooms take a little while to figure out, and it’s totally not a failure to move things around and keep experimenting and trying new things. Even in our very first home I used to rearrange stuff all the time! There truly is no better way to get a quick makeover.

If you want to catch some of our furniture while it’s on flash sale, it’s only on Joss & Main this week (actually, like only 3 more days). And if you want to learn more about the whole furniture designing process, here’s a post we wrote all about that. And for more on our (well, mostly John’s) idea of painting the living room walls a new color, that’s on this week’s podcast. We tried out some trendy online paint companies to see if they really would make picking paint colors easier…

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Making A Light & Airy Living Room (That’s Still Livable!) appeared first on Young House Love.

Making A Light & Airy Living Room (That’s Still Livable!) published first on https://novaformmattressreview.tumblr.com/

[additionallysad]

Making A Light & Airy Living Room (That’s Still Livable!) https://ift.tt/2T6InCe

Just when you thought the duplex was getting all the action, we snuck in some beach house updates. The backyard is slowly starting to come together (shed! patio! fence! I CAN’T WAIT to show it to you once it gets a little further along!!) but today we’re diving into our lightener & brighter (and much beachier) living room.

Now this place actually looks like it’s a few blocks from the beach! And the bonus is that everything is sand and popsicle friendly – which is a must for us (we pack this place with family and friends and all the kids). So our goal was never to make it too precious. In other words, we were going for a light and airy look… but it had to be durable, wipeable, and as close to worry-free as we could get it!

sofa | side table | coffee table | rug | bookcase | lamps | wall: SW White Heron | trim: SW Stone Isle

We wanted to use some of the furniture we designed, including one of our new sofas (performance fabric = all the yesses). So we started with our Mellow sofa. It’s sold out right now, but our other two sofas – the Pivot and the Spiffy – are discounted just for the next few days thanks to a Joss & Main’s flash sale (they’ve got different names on J&M for some reason). A lot of things are at the lowest prices they’ve ever been ($699 for the sofas!) so if you’ve had your eye on one of our designs, it’s a pretty great time to check it out.

sofa | side table | coffee table | rug | lamp | chandelier| wall: SW White Heron | trim: SW Stone Isle

Sadly, our trusty old Ikea sectional (Karl the Karlstad, remember?) was ready for retirement (aka: donation). The problem with moving a sectional from house to house to house (we moved it from our second house, to our current house, and then to the beach house over the last eight years) is that sometimes the space would be better suited for a sofa… but you have a sectional… so you just sort of keep moving it around and trying to make the best of it.

We could kind of make sense of it it photos, but in real life there were awkward things like the chaise cutting into the doorway. We tried putting the chaise on the other end of the living room (it’s reversible), but it wasn’t any better because it meant we couldn’t have the extra seating over there, which really comes in handy and gets used a lot.

So as we mentioned a few weeks ago on the podcast, after eight awesome years with Karl, we donated him to a local charity that we love, and he’s living it up with a sweet new family. His legacy lives on. (*cue that Celine Dion song from Titanic*).

Another way that we tried to make this room feel lighter and airier was the patterned gray rug that we bought to replace the vintage one below (which happily lives in a bedroom at the duplex now). OMG that was meant to be in there, guys.

Along with our rug switch, the new sofa is a HUGE step forward in lightening things up. Plus its smaller footprint meant there was room for a few more functional furnishings. Like, momma finally gets a side table on her end of the couch. Hello reading lamp! Hello spot for my tea!

sofa | side table | coffee table | rug | lamp | baskets | bookcase | chandelier

Also, a word about white wood furniture: it’s a GREAT WAY to achieve a lighter look that’s still livable (it’s all wipeable, but it looks so nice and bright). So if you’re staring at a space you’d love to lighten up, sometimes it’s as simple as a $15 quart of white paint with primer built in (we recently tried Behr Marquee and it had great coverage) and you can redo your coffee table and your end tables – or even a bookcase or a shelving unit in an afternoon. Light walls and white (gloriously washable) curtains help too!

The three tiers on our side table = all the spots for magazines, a basket full of legos, or whatever else you like to keep at arm’s length. We actually ordered two more of the same side tables for the duplex because we love it so much. It also comes in a smaller version (which is super marked down right now) and you know I want to make a coffee table version, so stay tuned!

side table | top art | bottom art | vase | lamp | baskets | pink pillow | blue pillow

I also hung some new art that I bought through an artist I found on Instagram. Her name is Sarah Madeira Day and her stuff is just beautiful and so well priced. These two 8 x 8″ canvas prints were $25 each! Printed on canvas with gorgeous vibrant colors! I just love them – and I framed them in simple Ribba frames from Ikea that I already had (with linen-like fabric behind them, which adds some really pretty texture and a double-mat effect).

And as much as we liked the coffee table we DIYed last summer, the dark wood legs started to feel pretty busy – especially as the room got lighter. So we carried over one of these coffee tables that we ordered for the duplex. I’m liking how visually airy it is and the size is better for the space, so I may end up ordering another one to make up for the one I yoinked from the duplex.

Also, John and I burst out laughing when we realized that we basically recreated this photoshoot set-up in our beach house. Even the rugs are similar!

It kind of makes sense that it would happen that way, because we chose some of our favorite stuff for that photo… so I love seeing it living together at the beach house now. Especially mixed with other stuff that we love (that CB2 ladder shelf is so glossy and gorgeous in person, and I feel a deep and meaningful connection to our pretty pink lamp from Target).

Funny story about this coffee table. A couple weeks after that photoshoot, John shot up in bed nervous that the scallops around the outside were a terrible idea. His concern was that it was going to prevent people from kicking their feet up on it (to which I said: “but not everyone puts their feet on the coffee table, right?”).

So imagine his palpable relief when he realized that his legs easily fit between the shallow rounded scallops, and he actually proclaimed it to be more comfortable than our coffee table at home (which also has a small lip on top, but it’s sharper and not rounded/smoothed out).

We’re also happy to report that the edge doesn’t get in the way of other tabletop activities like board games (you know we LOVE OUR BOARD GAMES). Actually the border does a nice job of corralling things. You know, if one of your crazy bear creations gets out of hand or you’re rolling dice and don’t want them flying all over the place. So if you DMed me about that, here’s your answer: works great for family board games – the scallops aren’t nearly tall enough to block your arms or anything like that.

I also had someone message me to say “be sure to put a shallow little remote drawer in your next coffee table design!” and the good news is that this one already has one! I love a little hidden drawer to keep that stuff contained.

Also a note on living room layouts, because I FEEL YOU OUT THERE. THEY ARE HARD. This room has been evolving for over a year and a half now (I know, it feels like just yesterday that we furnished the beach house!), and we still have plans to mount the TV on the wall, possibly paint the walls, and change out those diamond backed chairs that are living by the windows, but more on that in a second.

sofa | side table | coffee table | rug | lamps | media cabinet

One of the reasons that living room layouts are tough is because we make assumptions about the way we live or the things we want and then we’re too nervous to try something else. So it’s hard to unlock a fresh solution if we’re stuck in the same thought patterns. Like for example, it sounds counterintuitive to say getting a smaller sofa can create more seating, but we learned last summer that trying to cram all of our guests onto a sectional wasn’t always the most comfortable or the most conducive to conversation.

So we decided to try to “break up” the seating options a little more. With the chaise gone, we could also tuck a chair into the corner by the TV. So the sofa seats about three adults (the four of us fit on it just fine since the kids are smaller), and there are three other chairs in the room now, too. So even though your brain wants to believe that a sectional = the most seating, it’s not always true.

We’re still on the hunt to find some bigger / more relaxed feeling chairs for the window wall, but these thrifted ones (which you may remember from wayyyyy back in our old home office) are doing the trick for now. I spray painted them and recovered the seats to make them a little more neutral – and I always picture them ending up at the duplex because they have that diamond shape like the diamond windows over there.

Oh and the rug. Let’s talk about that for a second. We recently had a slime incident. Not just a “slime got on the rug” issue, but a “slime sat on the rug for months under the chaise and I only discovered it when we switched the sofa out and it left a huge grease stain that everyone could see thanks to no longer having a chaise” issue. ARGH!

But…. I got it out! After a lot of googling and some tips from people on InstaStories, the winning removal method was pouring white vinegar on the grease spot, letting it sit, scraping it with a spoon (to remove some leftover slime – it was actually “Thinking Putty”) and after it dried I dabbed it with nail polish remover. That was key in lifting the grease stain and you can’t even see where it was! Plus it gives me a new appreciation that this rug has such a variety of gray tones! Those lighter and darker areas make it much more forgiving.

Between that AND getting an immediate chocolate stain on the new sofa (which came right out dabbing it with water – thanks again, performance fabric!) – we feel like this room can take anything that these kids throw at it – both literally and figuratively. I mean… they might prove us wrong, but they’re gonna have to try harder than slime and chocolate…

The last thing I’ll mention while we’re on the topic of updates at the beach house is our dining room chandeliers. A few months ago in our email newsletter, we showed how we swapped out the old capiz chandeliers for these from our lighting line, but I’m not sure we ever shared a picture on the blog. We love that they’re a little more substantial and the polished nickel details tie into the other light fixtures throughout the living room and the kitchen.

capiz chandeliers | benches | chairs | marble vase

The previous chandeliers are now hanging in the master bedrooms at the duplex because it’s basically in the Sherry Petersik Decorating Handbook that every house we fix up must have a capiz fixture somewhere. And you know I love playing musical furniture & light fixtures! (p.s. this is a TV concept, I just don’t want to actually be on tv – but someone please make a series about switching things you already have around like that old show on HGTV called Freestyle and I’d be SO INTO IT! It goes back to my love of staging houses and being scrappy with things you already have on hand).

So there are our latest beach house updates – and I hope it’s comforting to hear that sometimes rooms take a little while to figure out, and it’s totally not a failure to move things around and keep experimenting and trying new things. Even in our very first home I used to rearrange stuff all the time! There truly is no better way to get a quick makeover.

If you want to catch some of our furniture while it’s on flash sale, it’s only on Joss & Main this week (actually, like only 3 more days). And if you want to learn more about the whole furniture designing process, here’s a post we wrote all about that. And for more on our (well, mostly John’s) idea of painting the living room walls a new color, that’s on this week’s podcast. We tried out some trendy online paint companies to see if they really would make picking paint colors easier…

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Making A Light & Airy Living Room (That’s Still Livable!) appeared first on Young House Love.

[refashionkiller-blog]

Ways to Second-Hand Shop

Traditional Thrift Stores 

Traditional thrift stores are the most abundant and most accessible form of second hand shopping. Thrift stores are everywhere and often times there are multiple thrift stores in the same city, both chain stores and independently owned ones. Thrift stores are also usually the least expensive option as all of the inventory they receive is primarily donations. Just because the items are donated, does not mean their quality suffers as you can still find some amazing pieces at different thrift stores. Thrift stores are a great way to try out pieces that may be experimental or that that you normally wouldn’t buy at full price.  

Estate Tag Sales

Estate tag sales are a specific type of sale which are usually open to the general public, while some do require registering for the sale beforehand. Estate sales are essentially sales in which the entirety of an individual’s (usually deceased) possessions within their home go up for sale. Each and every item inside of the estate is up for grabs. Items which are not to be sold are removed beforehand and often times the estate is opened up so that you can check out the items before the actual sale. That way you can get an idea of what is inside and you can keep your eye on certain items that catch your attention. A lot of times these individuals are people of “importance” and have many valuable possessions, some of which may even be priceless, but they’re completely up for sale and ready for you to purchase.

Auctions

Auctions are similar to estate sales although they are a bit different. There are also many different kinds of auctions ranging from big ticket items to smaller items such as clothes and accessories. At auctions it can be easy to secure items, especially garments, which are rare or even vintage. Often times you will find items at auction that you cannot find anywhere else and these finds are usually of much higher quality. You can also often obtain items in bulk from auctions, and may even receive a discounted price for buying multiple items, or bundled items. There are even many “surprise” auctions which sell clothing and other items in a large box, but the only catch is that you have no idea what the contents are beforehand. and these can be quite exciting as well.

Consignment Stores

Consignment stores are another great way to find some of the best garments. Consignment stores are much like thrift stores, except that they sift through the donations they receive as they often times pay the customers for the clothes they “donate.” On average, you will find much higher quality merchandise inside consignment stores, and these pieces are usually more on trend and from more recent collections as the clothes must be in good or lightly used condition. Consignment stores are my favorite stores to shop at because you can find all of the best brands under one roof, but the thing is you never know what you will find, which adds to the excitement of it all. Consignment stores tend to be a little more on the higher side of pricing for a second hand store, although the price is completely worth it to me as you can find many great brands, all of which are lightly worn, and some are even brand new with tags still attached.

Flea Markets

Flea markets are another great place to look for clothing, whether it be second hand or not. The great thing about flea markets is that almost anyone can set up shop and sell to the public which can make room for many creative individuals. There are those who simply collect pieces from other sources and resell them, families who simply sell their old clothes, as well as DIY enthusiasts who collect garments and reconstruct them to turn them into something new. Flea markets often give me much inspiration and there are many people there who do make their own products which can make for amazing one of a kind finds.

Garage Sales

Garage sales are one of the most classic forms of second hand shopping. Not only can you find many different household items, but many garage sales also have a decent selection of clothes. Similarly with flea markets, there are people who collect garments from other sources specifically to sell them at their garage sales, so sometimes it may be worth pulling over and taking a look at the items a garage sale has to offer. Garage sales also have many one of a kind items, and you also have a good chance of finding great vintage items that have been dug out of storage for the sale.

Outlet Sales

Outlet sales are not necessarily a form of second hand shopping, however I felt that they fit here as they are still a budget conscious form of shopping. Outlet sales are held by the brand themselves, and often times they are a traveling sale which move between different retail spaces, markets, and even local events such as street fairs. When a brand hosts an outlet sale, they bring a huge portion of their stock which has been left over from previous seasons. This merchandise is often heavily discounted from the suggested retail price and you can usually receive an even bigger discount by buying more items. The downside of these outlet sales is that the pieces are not from the current season, however if you already are a regular thrifter/second hand shopper, that may not necessarily be a big deal to you. The garments all still come straight from the brand that you know and love, except they are deeply discounted and you can always find some great pieces.

(all pictures were obtained from various blogs from tumblr.com)

[billydmacklin]

Updated Beach House Tour!

Although we’ve been sharing lots of little peeks of our beach house progress on social media, John and I realized it has been nearly THREE WHOLE MONTHS since we gave you a full tour of everything (since this video tour from back in December!). And not only have there been some big projects since then, like building in a pantry and constructing the bunk beds, there have also been a flurry of smaller updates that we haven’t posted about at all – some that we completed as recently as this past weekend. And thus, this post was born.

similar chandeliers / dining chairs (ours are “gray”) / marble “vase” / range hood / glass pendants

As usual, I’ll kick off the post with the video tour because it’s the easiest way to get the full update on everything (if you scroll past it and check out the pics, you’ll get a general gist… but no amount of photos + words can compare to a moving video through a space – and I dive into a lot of bonus stuff in the video just because I like to flap my gums). Oh but we realized afterward that, most likely due to my aforementioned propensity to jabber, I forgot to walk into the mudroom and the downstairs bathroom – but the mudroom is basically just a holding room for our tools and scrap wood right now, and the downstairs bathroom looks the same as the last time we shared video footage, so you’re not missing much. Anyway, the rest of the house is covered, so you can get a detailed wak-through of the progress we’ve made (and the areas that are still, shall we say, lacking) right here in the video. Note: if you are viewing this in a feed reader you may need to click through to the post to see the video. You can also watch it here on YouTube.

If you can’t dive into the video quite yet, I’ll give you some highlights via photos (the video has a lot more POVs though). First is the project that John was surprisingly enthusiastic about since it has been a long time coming: finally putting a top on the secondhand coffee table that I found for $5 on a local buy/sell/trade group. Up until now, you’ve probably stared curiously at that strange octagonal cage that floats around aimlessly in the middle of the living room, just begging to no longer live her life topless and alone. You can see it below in this photo from way back in October when we first moved in furniture (before we switched out the light fixture for something larger with more light, added a rug, and hung curtains).

art (it moved to the front bedroom) / similar chandeliers / ceiling medallion 

We’ve been attempting to get a top for it for MONTHS now. First I got a few quotes for having an octagon-shaped marble or quartz top cut for it, but they were staggeringly expensive (as in more than $500 and sometimes more than $800 – even for remnant slab pieces) so that was out. But we were set on the idea of a light colored stone look, just because the rug and the couch are dark and we want to break things up with something nice and light in the middle. Then we realized we could create a white concrete top that would do just that if we built a wood top and used Ardex feather finish to skim coat it for that solid white concrete look – sort of like we did to our old kitchen counters. We love that it’ll end up being lighter & easier to move since it’s just a veneer of concrete, and we’ve never used the white concrete feather finish yet, so we’ll definitely keep you posted when we get to that step. So far we’ve just constructed the wood top:

light fixture / sofa (no longer sold as a sectional) / similar rug / similar coffee table

Also in the living room, you may have heard us debating several pink chairs on our podcast (and previewing them as they came in and immediately left on InstaStories – ha!). We kept coming back to the fact that this cane chair that we’ve had for years was a better fit than anything else we could find. And I swear it’s much more comfortable than it looks (let me tell you, John “Practical” Petersik does not tolerate uncomfortable chairs for purely decorative purposes) so that’s a legit endorsement to give cane chairs a chance and just sit in them to see if they’re really bad or really good.

curtains (we cut the tabs off) / rods / lamp / similar side table / similar chair

I just added a seat cushion that I found at Pier 1 (the flamingo pillow is from HomeGoods years ago) and it’s starting to look right at home. I only wish we could find another identical chair so we could have a matching pair in there. We found this one at a thrift store ages ago, so maybe someday one will pop up on Etsy or something? This weekend we also got to hang some big art to anchor a large empty wall in our kitchen. It’s from Urban Outfitters of all places, and it was perfect in just about every respect: the theme (it’s an aerial photo of the sea meeting a sandy beach), the color scheme (pink + blue), and the price ($199 for a giant 30 x 40″ print that comes framed!). The fact that the natural wood frame is so similar to our 100-year-old pine floors was a pretty exciting revelation for me when it arrived. It also comes in other sizes and other frames and it’s 20% off right now if you’re in the market for some art.

similar rug / similar stools / art / glass pendant lights / sconce / hardware

You’ve may have also noticed that we finished hanging curtains downstairs (extra long curtains + 9′ ceilings are great for bringing the eye up and emphasizing the added height) and I finally got around to hemming them all this weekend. We have been buying Lenda curtains from Ikea, washing them to pre-shrink them, and then cutting off the tabs before clipping them up. Some still need more steaming but we finally found a steamer that does the trick (after returning another one that did not do a thing). This Mac daddy upright one from Target was the winner. But even if some of our curtains are a little creased, they make the house feel so much more complete and oh so beachy. Long breezy white curtains FTW!

similar stools / curtains (we cut the tabs off) / curtain rods / art / pink letter board / sconce 

We also got our new cabinet installed where the mini-fridge used to be (over the last few months we realized we never used it and decided more cabinetry and counter space there is so much better than a secondary fridge) and we also finished adding the cabinets along the right wall of the walk-in pantry. They’re shallow 15″ cabinets, just like the ones flanking the back door in the kitchen, so it’s really nice to have them continue in there.

hardware / shelves / sconces / faux eucalyptus / marble board / pink bowls

Assembling and hanging the cabinets wasn’t hard (we built them one Friday night and installed them the next Saturday morning) but we always forget all the little dangling to-do list items after that, like adding the hardware, cutting new counters, and reinstalling the baseboards and toe-kicks. We finally got that done this past weekend. They just need some paint touch ups and they’ll be 100% completed. Have I mentioned the pantry is one of my favorite rooms in the entire beach house and I wish so badly I had one in our kitchen at home? That pendant is original and we had it rewired so it’s all safe and updated. (*Insert dreamy lovestruck sigh here*). Note: you can see how we built the shelves along the left wall of the pantry here. 

fridge / white pantry bins / similar blue mixing bowl / microwave / similar baskets

We’re still assuming that not all of this room will be dedicated to food storage since it’s just a weekly vacation rental (but we do hear that people bring lots of those large boxes of cereal and chips and even things like beach coolers, so it’s nice to have a spot where those things can all live). We also think it may become useful for overflow kitchenware (extra dishes, cooking gadgets, etc) and even some extra towels or linens, since the house doesn’t really have a proper linen closet anywhere. Time will tell! We’re just grateful to have concealed storage space to spare.

cabinets / hardware / counter / plant basket / blinds  

As for upstairs, if you caught our podcast show notes a few weeks ago, you’ve already seen most of the bedroom progress. We got more of those breezy white curtains up everywhere (these still badly need to be steamed) and they really help anchor the rooms and make them feel softer.

striped blanket / headboard / side table / lamp / rug / curtains (we cut off the tabs) / curtain rods 

That picture above is the front bedroom, and before when there was just a wide headboard sitting in front of that skinnier-than-the-bed window it felt kind of odd and unfinished. But once we hung the curtains it was immediately so much more balanced and finished looking. So if you have a room that necessitates that bed-in-front-of-the-window placement (the only other free wall in here has two windows, so the bed needed to be in front of a window any way we sliced it), consider adding some curtains hung high and wide on a nice substantial rod. Really makes a huge difference.

The middle bedroom has sort of a warm/brass thing going on. It started with the lamps, then I added some of my favorite gold frames with handmade prints that I picked up at a local craft fair last year, and we even hung a mobile in one corner. I can’t explain how simple this room was to put together (matching side tables, matching lamps, two pictures, simple curtains, neutral headboard and bedding, etc) but it feels so serene and beachy. The breezy gold mobile is like the icing on the cake.

duvet / throw blanket / similar side table / lamps / frames / similar mobile / similar headboard

The back bedroom, which is where we sleep when we stay there, also got curtains and otherwise has just seen some small tweaks: we lowered the sconces and simplified all the stuff on/under the night stands (there were baskets under them, and some leaning frames and books and stuff on top). I keep saying this, but the beach house is SO SIMPLE and such a nice breath of fresh air to us – so I didn’t want to lose that feeling by piling in too much stuff.

striped duvet / side table / sconces / blue pillow / headboard / art

All of those less covered surfaces at the beach house are inspiring me to pare down at home, too! You know that simple, uncluttered, uncomplicated feeling you get in a nice hotel room? We have that at the beach! And now I’m greedy and want it at home. Why not?! If less works out there, can’t it work at home too? Of course we have backpacks and schoolwork and a home office here at home, so it won’t quite be the same, but needless to say, there are a lot of things getting donated or put in some large plastic bins labeled “duplex decor” at home, just to thin things out around here too.

Back to moving the sconces for a second, because we get questions about them every time we show them. Thankfully, moving them was super easy since we designed them with Shades of Light to just be plug-in (so it doesn’t require an electrician to move them and they only make a few small screw holes in the wall that can be speckled if you change their location). There isn’t a junction box behind them or anything – they literally just need to be plugged into the wall to turn on, and then they’re just hung on the wall like you’d hang a mirror or a picture. That’s it, and they’re all “installed” – so easy.

The only other big accomplishment this past weekend was locking in a plan for the backyard, including the size and placement of a shed, choosing a material for a patio, and nailing down a strategy for a nice but not too expensive pathway from the street to the back (it’s like 100 feet long!). But that, my friends, is a conversation for another day and another post…

P.S. To see other beach house posts as we’ve pulled this vacation rental together over the last year, click here. And for all of the paint colors and sources for every last room in the beach house, here’s a page full of that info. 

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Updated Beach House Tour! appeared first on Young House Love.

Updated Beach House Tour! published first on https://carpetgurus.tumblr.com/

[yesterdaysdreams]

Updated Beach House Tour!

Although we’ve been sharing lots of little peeks of our beach house progress on social media, John and I realized it has been nearly THREE WHOLE MONTHS since we gave you a full tour of everything (since this video tour from back in December!). And not only have there been some big projects since then, like building in a pantry and constructing the bunk beds, there have also been a flurry of smaller updates that we haven’t posted about at all – some that we completed as recently as this past weekend. And thus, this post was born.

similar chandeliers / dining chairs (ours are “gray”) / marble “vase” / range hood / glass pendants

As usual, I’ll kick off the post with the video tour because it’s the easiest way to get the full update on everything (if you scroll past it and check out the pics, you’ll get a general gist… but no amount of photos + words can compare to a moving video through a space – and I dive into a lot of bonus stuff in the video just because I like to flap my gums). Oh but we realized afterward that, most likely due to my aforementioned propensity to jabber, I forgot to walk into the mudroom and the downstairs bathroom – but the mudroom is basically just a holding room for our tools and scrap wood right now, and the downstairs bathroom looks the same as the last time we shared video footage, so you’re not missing much. Anyway, the rest of the house is covered, so you can get a detailed wak-through of the progress we’ve made (and the areas that are still, shall we say, lacking) right here in the video. Note: if you are viewing this in a feed reader you may need to click through to the post to see the video. You can also watch it here on YouTube.

If you can’t dive into the video quite yet, I’ll give you some highlights via photos (the video has a lot more POVs though). First is the project that John was surprisingly enthusiastic about since it has been a long time coming: finally putting a top on the secondhand coffee table that I found for $5 on a local buy/sell/trade group. Up until now, you’ve probably stared curiously at that strange octagonal cage that floats around aimlessly in the middle of the living room, just begging to no longer live her life topless and alone. You can see it below in this photo from way back in October when we first moved in furniture (before we switched out the light fixture for something larger with more light, added a rug, and hung curtains).

art (it moved to the front bedroom) / similar chandeliers / ceiling medallion 

We’ve been attempting to get a top for it for MONTHS now. First I got a few quotes for having an octagon-shaped marble or quartz top cut for it, but they were staggeringly expensive (as in more than $500 and sometimes more than $800 – even for remnant slab pieces) so that was out. But we were set on the idea of a light colored stone look, just because the rug and the couch are dark and we want to break things up with something nice and light in the middle. Then we realized we could create a white concrete top that would do just that if we built a wood top and used Ardex feather finish to skim coat it for that solid white concrete look – sort of like we did to our old kitchen counters. We love that it’ll end up being lighter & easier to move since it’s just a veneer of concrete, and we’ve never used the white concrete feather finish yet, so we’ll definitely keep you posted when we get to that step. So far we’ve just constructed the wood top:

light fixture / sofa (no longer sold as a sectional) / similar rug / similar coffee table

Also in the living room, you may have heard us debating several pink chairs on our podcast (and previewing them as they came in and immediately left on InstaStories – ha!). We kept coming back to the fact that this cane chair that we’ve had for years was a better fit than anything else we could find. And I swear it’s much more comfortable than it looks (let me tell you, John “Practical” Petersik does not tolerate uncomfortable chairs for purely decorative purposes) so that’s a legit endorsement to give cane chairs a chance and just sit in them to see if they’re really bad or really good.

curtains (we cut the tabs off) / rods / lamp / similar side table / similar chair

I just added a seat cushion that I found at Pier 1 (the flamingo pillow is from HomeGoods years ago) and it’s starting to look right at home. I only wish we could find another identical chair so we could have a matching pair in there. We found this one at a thrift store ages ago, so maybe someday one will pop up on Etsy or something? This weekend we also got to hang some big art to anchor a large empty wall in our kitchen. It’s from Urban Outfitters of all places, and it was perfect in just about every respect: the theme (it’s an aerial photo of the sea meeting a sandy beach), the color scheme (pink + blue), and the price ($199 for a giant 30 x 40″ print that comes framed!). The fact that the natural wood frame is so similar to our 100-year-old pine floors was a pretty exciting revelation for me when it arrived. It also comes in other sizes and other frames and it’s 20% off right now if you’re in the market for some art.

similar rug / similar stools / art / glass pendant lights / sconce / hardware

You’ve may have also noticed that we finished hanging curtains downstairs (extra long curtains + 9′ ceilings are great for bringing the eye up and emphasizing the added height) and I finally got around to hemming them all this weekend. We have been buying Lenda curtains from Ikea, washing them to pre-shrink them, and then cutting off the tabs before clipping them up. Some still need more steaming but we finally found a steamer that does the trick (after returning another one that did not do a thing). This Mac daddy upright one from Target was the winner. But even if some of our curtains are a little creased, they make the house feel so much more complete and oh so beachy. Long breezy white curtains FTW!

similar stools / curtains (we cut the tabs off) / curtain rods / art / pink letter board / sconce 

We also got our new cabinet installed where the mini-fridge used to be (over the last few months we realized we never used it and decided more cabinetry and counter space there is so much better than a secondary fridge) and we also finished adding the cabinets along the right wall of the walk-in pantry. They’re shallow 15″ cabinets, just like the ones flanking the back door in the kitchen, so it’s really nice to have them continue in there.

hardware / shelves / sconces / faux eucalyptus / marble board / pink bowls

Assembling and hanging the cabinets wasn’t hard (we built them one Friday night and installed them the next Saturday morning) but we always forget all the little dangling to-do list items after that, like adding the hardware, cutting new counters, and reinstalling the baseboards and toe-kicks. We finally got that done this past weekend. They just need some paint touch ups and they’ll be 100% completed. Have I mentioned the pantry is one of my favorite rooms in the entire beach house and I wish so badly I had one in our kitchen at home? That pendant is original and we had it rewired so it’s all safe and updated. (*Insert dreamy lovestruck sigh here*). Note: you can see how we built the shelves along the left wall of the pantry here. 

fridge / white pantry bins / similar blue mixing bowl / microwave / similar baskets

We’re still assuming that not all of this room will be dedicated to food storage since it’s just a weekly vacation rental (but we do hear that people bring lots of those large boxes of cereal and chips and even things like beach coolers, so it’s nice to have a spot where those things can all live). We also think it may become useful for overflow kitchenware (extra dishes, cooking gadgets, etc) and even some extra towels or linens, since the house doesn’t really have a proper linen closet anywhere. Time will tell! We’re just grateful to have concealed storage space to spare.

cabinets / hardware / counter / plant basket / blinds  

As for upstairs, if you caught our podcast show notes a few weeks ago, you’ve already seen most of the bedroom progress. We got more of those breezy white curtains up everywhere (these still badly need to be steamed) and they really help anchor the rooms and make them feel softer.

striped blanket / headboard / side table / lamp / rug / curtains (we cut off the tabs) / curtain rods 

That picture above is the front bedroom, and before when there was just a wide headboard sitting in front of that skinnier-than-the-bed window it felt kind of odd and unfinished. But once we hung the curtains it was immediately so much more balanced and finished looking. So if you have a room that necessitates that bed-in-front-of-the-window placement (the only other free wall in here has two windows, so the bed needed to be in front of a window any way we sliced it), consider adding some curtains hung high and wide on a nice substantial rod. Really makes a huge difference.

The middle bedroom has sort of a warm/brass thing going on. It started with the lamps, then I added some of my favorite gold frames with handmade prints that I picked up at a local craft fair last year, and we even hung a mobile in one corner. I can’t explain how simple this room was to put together (matching side tables, matching lamps, two pictures, simple curtains, neutral headboard and bedding, etc) but it feels so serene and beachy. The breezy gold mobile is like the icing on the cake.

duvet / throw blanket / similar side table / lamps / frames / similar mobile / similar headboard

The back bedroom, which is where we sleep when we stay there, also got curtains and otherwise has just seen some small tweaks: we lowered the sconces and simplified all the stuff on/under the night stands (there were baskets under them, and some leaning frames and books and stuff on top). I keep saying this, but the beach house is SO SIMPLE and such a nice breath of fresh air to us – so I didn’t want to lose that feeling by piling in too much stuff.

striped duvet / side table / sconces / blue pillow / headboard / art

All of those less covered surfaces at the beach house are inspiring me to pare down at home, too! You know that simple, uncluttered, uncomplicated feeling you get in a nice hotel room? We have that at the beach! And now I’m greedy and want it at home. Why not?! If less works out there, can’t it work at home too? Of course we have backpacks and schoolwork and a home office here at home, so it won’t quite be the same, but needless to say, there are a lot of things getting donated or put in some large plastic bins labeled “duplex decor” at home, just to thin things out around here too.

Back to moving the sconces for a second, because we get questions about them every time we show them. Thankfully, moving them was super easy since we designed them with Shades of Light to just be plug-in (so it doesn’t require an electrician to move them and they only make a few small screw holes in the wall that can be speckled if you change their location). There isn’t a junction box behind them or anything – they literally just need to be plugged into the wall to turn on, and then they’re just hung on the wall like you’d hang a mirror or a picture. That’s it, and they’re all “installed” – so easy.

The only other big accomplishment this past weekend was locking in a plan for the backyard, including the size and placement of a shed, choosing a material for a patio, and nailing down a strategy for a nice but not too expensive pathway from the street to the back (it’s like 100 feet long!). But that, my friends, is a conversation for another day and another post…

P.S. To see other beach house posts as we’ve pulled this vacation rental together over the last year, click here. And for all of the paint colors and sources for every last room in the beach house, here’s a page full of that info. 

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Updated Beach House Tour! appeared first on Young House Love.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8265713 http://ift.tt/2DrqCBC via IFTTT

[lukerhill]

Updated Beach House Tour!

Although we’ve been sharing lots of little peeks of our beach house progress on social media, John and I realized it has been nearly THREE WHOLE MONTHS since we gave you a full tour of everything (since this video tour from back in December!). And not only have there been some big projects since then, like building in a pantry and constructing the bunk beds, there have also been a flurry of smaller updates that we haven’t posted about at all – some that we completed as recently as this past weekend. And thus, this post was born.

similar chandeliers / dining chairs (ours are “gray”) / marble “vase” / range hood / glass pendants

As usual, I’ll kick off the post with the video tour because it’s the easiest way to get the full update on everything (if you scroll past it and check out the pics, you’ll get a general gist… but no amount of photos + words can compare to a moving video through a space – and I dive into a lot of bonus stuff in the video just because I like to flap my gums). Oh but we realized afterward that, most likely due to my aforementioned propensity to jabber, I forgot to walk into the mudroom and the downstairs bathroom – but the mudroom is basically just a holding room for our tools and scrap wood right now, and the downstairs bathroom looks the same as the last time we shared video footage, so you’re not missing much. Anyway, the rest of the house is covered, so you can get a detailed wak-through of the progress we’ve made (and the areas that are still, shall we say, lacking) right here in the video. Note: if you are viewing this in a feed reader you may need to click through to the post to see the video. You can also watch it here on YouTube.

If you can’t dive into the video quite yet, I’ll give you some highlights via photos (the video has a lot more POVs though). First is the project that John was surprisingly enthusiastic about since it has been a long time coming: finally putting a top on the secondhand coffee table that I found for $5 on a local buy/sell/trade group. Up until now, you’ve probably stared curiously at that strange octagonal cage that floats around aimlessly in the middle of the living room, just begging to no longer live her life topless and alone. You can see it below in this photo from way back in October when we first moved in furniture (before we switched out the light fixture for something larger with more light, added a rug, and hung curtains).

art (it moved to the front bedroom) / similar chandeliers / ceiling medallion 

We’ve been attempting to get a top for it for MONTHS now. First I got a few quotes for having an octagon-shaped marble or quartz top cut for it, but they were staggeringly expensive (as in more than $500 and sometimes more than $800 – even for remnant slab pieces) so that was out. But we were set on the idea of a light colored stone look, just because the rug and the couch are dark and we want to break things up with something nice and light in the middle. Then we realized we could create a white concrete top that would do just that if we built a wood top and used Ardex feather finish to skim coat it for that solid white concrete look – sort of like we did to our old kitchen counters. We love that it’ll end up being lighter & easier to move since it’s just a veneer of concrete, and we’ve never used the white concrete feather finish yet, so we’ll definitely keep you posted when we get to that step. So far we’ve just constructed the wood top:

light fixture / sofa (no longer sold as a sectional) / similar rug / similar coffee table

Also in the living room, you may have heard us debating several pink chairs on our podcast (and previewing them as they came in and immediately left on InstaStories – ha!). We kept coming back to the fact that this cane chair that we’ve had for years was a better fit than anything else we could find. And I swear it’s much more comfortable than it looks (let me tell you, John “Practical” Petersik does not tolerate uncomfortable chairs for purely decorative purposes) so that’s a legit endorsement to give cane chairs a chance and just sit in them to see if they’re really bad or really good.

curtains (we cut the tabs off) / rods / lamp / similar side table / similar chair

I just added a seat cushion that I found at Pier 1 (the flamingo pillow is from HomeGoods years ago) and it’s starting to look right at home. I only wish we could find another identical chair so we could have a matching pair in there. We found this one at a thrift store ages ago, so maybe someday one will pop up on Etsy or something? This weekend we also got to hang some big art to anchor a large empty wall in our kitchen. It’s from Urban Outfitters of all places, and it was perfect in just about every respect: the theme (it’s an aerial photo of the sea meeting a sandy beach), the color scheme (pink + blue), and the price ($199 for a giant 30 x 40″ print that comes framed!). The fact that the natural wood frame is so similar to our 100-year-old pine floors was a pretty exciting revelation for me when it arrived. It also comes in other sizes and other frames and it’s 20% off right now if you’re in the market for some art.

similar rug / similar stools / art / glass pendant lights / sconce / hardware

You’ve may have also noticed that we finished hanging curtains downstairs (extra long curtains + 9′ ceilings are great for bringing the eye up and emphasizing the added height) and I finally got around to hemming them all this weekend. We have been buying Lenda curtains from Ikea, washing them to pre-shrink them, and then cutting off the tabs before clipping them up. Some still need more steaming but we finally found a steamer that does the trick (after returning another one that did not do a thing). This Mac daddy upright one from Target was the winner. But even if some of our curtains are a little creased, they make the house feel so much more complete and oh so beachy. Long breezy white curtains FTW!

similar stools / curtains (we cut the tabs off) / curtain rods / art / pink letter board / sconce 

We also got our new cabinet installed where the mini-fridge used to be (over the last few months we realized we never used it and decided more cabinetry and counter space there is so much better than a secondary fridge) and we also finished adding the cabinets along the right wall of the walk-in pantry. They’re shallow 15″ cabinets, just like the ones flanking the back door in the kitchen, so it’s really nice to have them continue in there.

hardware / shelves / sconces / faux eucalyptus / marble board / pink bowls

Assembling and hanging the cabinets wasn’t hard (we built them one Friday night and installed them the next Saturday morning) but we always forget all the little dangling to-do list items after that, like adding the hardware, cutting new counters, and reinstalling the baseboards and toe-kicks. We finally got that done this past weekend. They just need some paint touch ups and they’ll be 100% completed. Have I mentioned the pantry is one of my favorite rooms in the entire beach house and I wish so badly I had one in our kitchen at home? That pendant is original and we had it rewired so it’s all safe and updated. (*Insert dreamy lovestruck sigh here*). Note: you can see how we built the shelves along the left wall of the pantry here. 

fridge / white pantry bins / similar blue mixing bowl / microwave / similar baskets

We’re still assuming that not all of this room will be dedicated to food storage since it’s just a weekly vacation rental (but we do hear that people bring lots of those large boxes of cereal and chips and even things like beach coolers, so it’s nice to have a spot where those things can all live). We also think it may become useful for overflow kitchenware (extra dishes, cooking gadgets, etc) and even some extra towels or linens, since the house doesn’t really have a proper linen closet anywhere. Time will tell! We’re just grateful to have concealed storage space to spare.

cabinets / hardware / counter / plant basket / blinds  

As for upstairs, if you caught our podcast show notes a few weeks ago, you’ve already seen most of the bedroom progress. We got more of those breezy white curtains up everywhere (these still badly need to be steamed) and they really help anchor the rooms and make them feel softer.

striped blanket / headboard / side table / lamp / rug / curtains (we cut off the tabs) / curtain rods 

That picture above is the front bedroom, and before when there was just a wide headboard sitting in front of that skinnier-than-the-bed window it felt kind of odd and unfinished. But once we hung the curtains it was immediately so much more balanced and finished looking. So if you have a room that necessitates that bed-in-front-of-the-window placement (the only other free wall in here has two windows, so the bed needed to be in front of a window any way we sliced it), consider adding some curtains hung high and wide on a nice substantial rod. Really makes a huge difference.

The middle bedroom has sort of a warm/brass thing going on. It started with the lamps, then I added some of my favorite gold frames with handmade prints that I picked up at a local craft fair last year, and we even hung a mobile in one corner. I can’t explain how simple this room was to put together (matching side tables, matching lamps, two pictures, simple curtains, neutral headboard and bedding, etc) but it feels so serene and beachy. The breezy gold mobile is like the icing on the cake.

duvet / throw blanket / similar side table / lamps / frames / similar mobile / similar headboard

The back bedroom, which is where we sleep when we stay there, also got curtains and otherwise has just seen some small tweaks: we lowered the sconces and simplified all the stuff on/under the night stands (there were baskets under them, and some leaning frames and books and stuff on top). I keep saying this, but the beach house is SO SIMPLE and such a nice breath of fresh air to us – so I didn’t want to lose that feeling by piling in too much stuff.

striped duvet / side table / sconces / blue pillow / headboard / art

All of those less covered surfaces at the beach house are inspiring me to pare down at home, too! You know that simple, uncluttered, uncomplicated feeling you get in a nice hotel room? We have that at the beach! And now I’m greedy and want it at home. Why not?! If less works out there, can’t it work at home too? Of course we have backpacks and schoolwork and a home office here at home, so it won’t quite be the same, but needless to say, there are a lot of things getting donated or put in some large plastic bins labeled “duplex decor” at home, just to thin things out around here too.

Back to moving the sconces for a second, because we get questions about them every time we show them. Thankfully, moving them was super easy since we designed them with Shades of Light to just be plug-in (so it doesn’t require an electrician to move them and they only make a few small screw holes in the wall that can be speckled if you change their location). There isn’t a junction box behind them or anything – they literally just need to be plugged into the wall to turn on, and then they’re just hung on the wall like you’d hang a mirror or a picture. That’s it, and they’re all “installed” – so easy.

The only other big accomplishment this past weekend was locking in a plan for the backyard, including the size and placement of a shed, choosing a material for a patio, and nailing down a strategy for a nice but not too expensive pathway from the street to the back (it’s like 100 feet long!). But that, my friends, is a conversation for another day and another post…

P.S. To see other beach house posts as we’ve pulled this vacation rental together over the last year, click here. And for all of the paint colors and sources for every last room in the beach house, here’s a page full of that info. 

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Updated Beach House Tour! appeared first on Young House Love.

[lowmaticnews]

Updated Beach House Tour!

Although we’ve been sharing lots of little peeks of our beach house progress on social media, John and I realized it has been nearly THREE WHOLE MONTHS since we gave you a full tour of everything (since this video tour from back in December!). And not only have there been some big projects since then, like building in a pantry and constructing the bunk beds, there have also been a flurry of smaller updates that we haven’t posted about at all – some that we completed as recently as this past weekend. And thus, this post was born.

similar chandeliers / dining chairs (ours are “gray”) / marble “vase” / range hood / glass pendants

As usual, I’ll kick off the post with the video tour because it’s the easiest way to get the full update on everything (if you scroll past it and check out the pics, you’ll get a general gist… but no amount of photos + words can compare to a moving video through a space – and I dive into a lot of bonus stuff in the video just because I like to flap my gums). Oh but we realized afterward that, most likely due to my aforementioned propensity to jabber, I forgot to walk into the mudroom and the downstairs bathroom – but the mudroom is basically just a holding room for our tools and scrap wood right now, and the downstairs bathroom looks the same as the last time we shared video footage, so you’re not missing much.

Anyway, the rest of the house is covered, so you can get a detailed wak-through of the progress we’ve made (and the areas that are still, shall we say, lacking) right here in the video. Note: if you are viewing this in a feed reader you may need to click through to the post to see the video. You can also watch it here on YouTube.

If you can’t dive into the video quite yet, I’ll give you some highlights via photos (the video has a lot more POVs though). First is the project that John was surprisingly enthusiastic about since it has been a long time coming: finally putting a top on the secondhand coffee table that I found it for $5 on a local buy/sell/trade group. Up until now, you’ve probably stared curiously at that strange octagonal wood cage that floats around aimlessly in the middle of the living room, just begging to no longer live her life topless and alone. You can see it below in this photo from way back in October when we first moved in furniture (before we switched out the light fixture for something larger with more light, added a rug, and hung curtains).

art (it moved to the front bedroom) / similar chandeliers / ceiling medallion 

We’ve been attempting to get a top for it for MONTHS now. First I got a few quotes for having an octagon-shaped marble or quartz top cut for it, but they were staggeringly expensive (as in more than $500 and sometimes more than $800 – even for remnant slab pieces) so that was out. But we were set on the idea of a light colored stone look, just because the rug and the couch are dark and we want to break things up with something nice and light in the middle.

Then we realized we could create a white concrete top that would do just that if we built a wood top and used Ardex feather finish to skim coat it for that solid white concrete look – sort of like we did to our old kitchen counters. We love that it’ll end up being lighter & easier to move since it’s just a veneer of concrete, and we’ve never used the white concrete feather finish yet, so we’ll definitely keep you posted when we get to that step. So far we’ve just constructed the wood top:

light fixture / sofa (no longer sold as a sectional) / similar rug / similar coffee table

Also in the living room, you may have heard us debating several pink chairs on our podcast (and previewing them as they came in and immediately left on InstaStories – ha!). We kept coming back to the fact that this cane chair that we’ve had for years was a better fit than anything else we could find. And I swear it’s much more comfortable than it looks (let me tell you, John “Practical” Petersik does not tolerate uncomfortable chairs for purely decorative purposes) so that’s a legit endorsement to give cane chairs a chance and just sit in them to see if they’re really bad or really good.

curtains (we cut the tabs off) / rods / lamp / similar side table / similar chair

I just added a seat cushion that I found at Pier 1 (the flamingo pillow is from HomeGoods years ago) and it’s starting to look right at home. I only wish we could find another identical chair so we could have a matching pair in there. We found this one at a thrift store ages ago, so maybe someday one will pop up on Etsy or something?

This weekend we also got to hang some big art to anchor a large empty wall in our kitchen. It’s from Urban Outfitters of all places, and it was perfect in just about every respect: the theme (it’s an aerial photo of the sea meeting a sandy beach), the color scheme (pink + blue), and the price ($199 for a giant 30 x 40″ print that comes framed!). The fact that the natural wood frame is so similar to our 100-year-old pine floors was a pretty exciting revelation for me when it arrived. It also comes in other sizes and other frames and it’s 20% off right now if you’re in the market for some art.

similar rug / similar stools / art / glass pendant lights / sconce / hardware

You’ve may have also noticed that we finished hanging curtains downstairs (extra long curtains + 9′ ceilings are great for bringing the eye up and emphasizing the added height) and I finally got around to hemming them all this weekend. We have been buying Lenda curtains from Ikea, washing them to pre-shrink them, and then cutting off the tabs before clipping them up. Some still need more more steaming. We finally found a steamer that does the trick after returning another one that did not do a thing (this Mac daddy upright one from Target was the winner) but even if they’re a little creased, they’re already helping the house feel more complete and oh so beachy. Long breezy white curtains FTW!

similar stools / curtains (we cut the tabs off) / curtain rods / art / pink letter board / sconce 

We also got the new cabinet all installed where the mini-fridge used to be (over the last few months we realized we never used it and decided more cabinetry and counter space there is so much better than a secondary fridge) and added cabinets along the right wall of the walk-in pantry. They’re shallow 15″ cabinets, just like those flanking the back door in the kitchen, so it’s really nice to have them continue in there.

hardware / shelves / sconces / faux eucalyptus / marble board / pink bowls

Assembling and hanging the cabinets wasn’t hard (we built them one Friday night and installed them the next Saturday morning) but we always forget all the little dangling to-do list items after that, like adding the hardware, cutting new counters, and reinstalling the baseboards and toe-kicks. We finally got that done this past weekend. They just need some paint touch ups and they’ll be 100% completed. Have I mentioned the pantry is one of my favorite rooms in the entire beach house and I wish so badly I had one in our kitchen at home? That pendant is original and we had it rewired so it’s all safe and updated. (*Insert dreamy lovestruck sigh here*). Note: you can see how we built the shelves along the left wall of the pantry here. 

fridge / white pantry bins / similar blue mixing bowl / microwave / similar baskets

We’re still assuming that not all of this room will be dedicated to food storage since it’s just a weekly vacation rental (but we do hear that people bring lots of those large boxes of cereal and chips and even things like beach coolers, so it’s nice to have a spot where those things can all live). We also think it may become useful for overflow kitchenware (extra dishes, cooking gadgets, etc) and even some extra towels or linens, since the house doesn’t really have a proper linen closet anywhere. Time will tell! We’re just grateful to have concealed storage space to spare.

cabinets / hardware / counter / plant basket / blinds  

As for upstairs, if you caught our podcast show notes a few weeks ago, you’ve already seen most of the bedroom progress. We got more of those breezy white curtains up everywhere (these still badly need to be steamed) and they really help anchor the rooms and make them feel softer.

striped blanket / headboard / side table / lamp / rug / curtains (we cut off the tabs) / curtain rods 

That picture above is the front bedroom, and before when there was just a wide headboard sitting in front of that skinnier-than-the-bed window it felt kind of odd and unfinished. But once we hung the curtains it was immediately so much more balanced and finished looking. So if you have a room that necessitates that bed-in-front-of-the-window placement (the only other free wall in here has two windows, so the bed needed to be in front of a window any way we sliced it), consider adding some curtains hung high and wide on a nice substantial rod. Really makes a huge difference.

The middle bedroom has sort of a warm/brass thing going on. It started with the lamps, then I added some of my favorite gold frames with handmade prints that I picked up at a local craft fair last year, and we even hung a mobile in one corner. I can’t explain how simple this room was to put together (matching side tables, matching lamps, two pictures, simple curtains, neutral headboard and bedding, etc) but it feels so serene and beachy. The breezy gold mobile is like the icing on the cake.

duvet / throw blanket / similar side table / lamps / frames / similar mobile / similar headboard

The back bedroom, which is where we sleep when we stay there, also got curtains and otherwise has just seen some small tweaks: we lowered the sconces and simplified all the stuff on/under the night stands (there were baskets under them, and some leaning frames and books and stuff on top). I keep saying this, but the beach house is SO SIMPLE and such a nice breath of fresh air to us – so I didn’t want to lose that feeling by piling in too much stuff.

striped duvet / side table / sconces / blue pillow / headboard / art

All of those less covered surfaces at the beach house are inspiring me to pare down at home, too! You know that simple and uncluttered and uncomplicated feeling you get in a nice hotel room? We have that at the beach! And now I’m greedy and want it at home. Why not?! If less works out there, can’t it work at home too? Of course we have backpacks and schoolwork and a home office here at home, so it won’t quite be the same, but needless to say, there are a lot of things getting donated or put in some large plastic bins labeled “duplex decor” at home, just to thin things out around here too.

Back to moving the sconces for a second, because we get questions about them every time we show them. Thankfully, moving them was super easy since we designed them with Shades of Light to just be plug-in (so it doesn’t require an electrician to move them and they only make a few small screw holes in the wall that can be speckled if you change their location). There isn’t a junction box behind them or anything – they literally just need to be plugged into the wall to turn on, and then they’re just hung on the wall like you’d hang a mirror or a picture. That’s it, and they’re all “installed” – so easy.

The only other big accomplishment this past weekend was locking in a plan for the backyard, including the size and placement of a shed, choosing a material for a patio, and nailing down a strategy for a nice but not too expensive pathway from the street to the back (it’s like 100 feet long!). But that, my friends, is a conversation for another day and another post…

P.S. To see other beach house posts as we’ve pulled this vacation rental together over the last year, click here. And for all of the paint colors and sources for every last room in the beach house, here’s a page full of that info. 

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Updated Beach House Tour! appeared first on Young House Love.

Updated Beach House Tour! published first on https://landscapingmates.blogspot.com

[mykatesingh-blog]

This is our adorable little cottage in the city of Sacramento.  It is 860 square feet with a nice little back yard that I have converted to a playground for the kids, space for the dogs, and a small garden space for me.

Bali had a cashier job making $10 an hour and working 60 hours a week.  We originally lived in Walnut Grove on the river 30 minutes or more from the city in a large ranch style house that was 1600 plus square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 living rooms, a huge back yard, front yard, and a screened in back porch and a built on shed on the side.  Yes, it was luxurious and the rent wasn’t too bad.  However, it was an old house without insulation and poor heating vents.  We had to buy a lot of propane and wood.  The cost to heat and keep it warm was something crazy like $600 a month after all the propane and wood cost.  The upkeep on the outside lawns and yards took my husband all day once a week and he only had that one day off.  Cleaning the house and keeping it up was a constant and daily process.  Then there was the issue of getting to town.  We had to plan trips as the nearest town was 30 minutes away.  There was nowhere to walk around as it was all agriculture and river.  We also lived right on the edge with money being that a whole paycheck would go to just rent alone.

When you are bringing home $2,800 a month and rent is $1350, utilities are up to $600 in the cold season, there is not much for savings.  So, too much money and work and not enough saving and fun time.

We had a great time out there though and I made good use of the time with learning to be frugal, bake from scratch, read a lot…that is where I started really learning about frugal living and then downsizing.  I also learned to be content just being at home.  I learned that a day reading out in the yard with Arjan and Sammy playing was pretty pleasant.  I would go out there early in the morning with my coffee just to hear the birds sing and chat.

However, I finally had it with the isolation of country living and we moved into town.  We rented a much smaller and cheaper home, downsized all our belongings, and now save over $600 to $800 a month in rent and utilities.  Bali’s commute is 30 minutes shorter and the boys and I can walk everywhere in town.

We go to the library and we can walk to at least 5 different parks, the grocery store, and our chiropractor.

We still live very frugally and simply.  We could live without the two cars if we needed to.  We hardly drive the one.  Mostly, we walk places and we play and work at home a lot!  The boys spend hours outside in a huge sandbox we built them and I spend my days writing or reading. Now that we aren’t doing yard work and house cleaning all day, I have time to write books and blogs.

To save more money we drink water, cook from scratch, we don’t go out.  I have been to the movies recently twice and that was in 4 or 5 years.  I had to put my foot down as far as getting out a bit.  I have no help with the boys and no time off.  I have finally made it the law that I go to the movies by myself once in awhile.  This is thrilling to me!  It outdoes getting your hair or nails done or date night with the spouse.  I am a movie lover and the theater makes my heart pound…or maybe it’s all the milk duds and soda.

Our coffee, work lunches, and meals are all made at home.  I give in to the frozen Stouffer’s lasagna now and then when I’m just tired of cooking or really into a book I’m writing and the focus is on the laptop and not so much in the kitchen.  It happens.

I do big steps in being frugal and I do tiny things also.  It all adds up.  My dish detergent has lasted for goodness knows how long because I keep watering it down.  I use the same coffee filter for a couple days.  I just add grounds.  It truly adds up, I swear.  Our finances are great right now.

When the tax refund came this year I used it to pay off our tread climber and fill the secured credit cards (mine is not so secured anymore) and savings accounts.  I also used the remainder to stock up on toiletries and stockpile my pantry.  I was able to use some money on gifting others and some thrift store fun.  That is how it goes when you don’t have debt, car payments, or credit cards.  When you get extra money you can divide it between filling up the savings more, stocking up, and fun.

Lately, I don’t even drive much.  I do my grocery shopping once a week or every 10 days.  It’s the fresh produce we run out of fast.

With the groceries, we have been living off a lot of whole chickens, homemade bread, homemade yogurt, potatoes, rice and beans, and fruits and veggies in season.  I can make a chicken last 3 days or more.

We have no vices. Bali drinks on rare occasion.  We don’t have drug, smoking, or gambling habits and that saves a ton of money.

Actually, we do have some vices; ketchup, ranch dressing, and flavored creamer for coffee.  I have taken to making my own ranch dressing, homemade is so much better.  I love my Heinz ketchup and I love my Lucerne sugar free creamer so that will remain.

When you live a frugal lifestyle and you must be careful with your money because you are a one income household or on a fixed income or military income, you learn to really, really enjoy being at home and doing free activities.

Some of my favorite home-bound activities are rearranging my house.  It’s sort of ridiculous how often I do it.  I love brewing coffee, putting on Pandora music on my computer, and starting a project.  I love reading fiction and researching all sorts of things online.  Looking at other blogs by women keeping homes and raising families is fun.  I get all sorts of ideas.  Watching a movie with the kids.  Taking walks, going to the park and chatting with other parents.  TV is enjoyable in increments.  I actually do love cleaning and thinking, I love cooking big batches of food for the week with my Cuban-Afro music in the background.  I truly enjoy all that is domestic.

My days have a rhythm and routine.  We enjoy being home so much that I have to remind us to go out and about.  Just recently we stayed in Marin with the boy’s Godparents and spent all day playing at this huge and fantastic park in the trees.

Vacations are visiting friends that are one hour to three hours away.  We pack food and groceries to eat on the trip and share with our friends and just hang out.  We cook and clean and play with our friends and take walks, play at the local playgrounds and beaches or whatever natural resources are offered.  Our vacations cost around $100 and that includes gas.

When we are at home the boys play, play, and play inside the house and outside in the yard.  They have a lot of toys, the kind that you can really play with such as dump trucks in the sandbox, blocks and dinosaurs and puzzles in the house, train tracks and even a doll house and dolls.  We love, love toys and most of them are from the thrift store.

And this all may seem so boring but to me, it is the best my life has ever been.  It is simple and secure.  Everything in our life and home has its time and place and there is something so comforting about that.  We have our chores, our meal times, bath times, even certain shows and sitcoms we look forward to.

I don’t go out on the weekends, a Monday and a Friday night are the same thing.  We don’t go out to dine.  Are you kidding? With children, it’s a race to gulp down food and get out before you get 86’d.  I don’t buy lattes at Starbucks every day.  My husband and I don’t drink and party anymore.

Now I have a small home filled with dogs, cat, children, a husband, and my phone rings with family and friends.  Friends and family are what makes our life feel rich and full.  A day with my family, feeding them, loving them…that is true wealth.

I write my homemaking books and my fiction under a pen name and I think about what I really want from it all.  Do I want wealth, success, fame?  I don’t think I really care.  I would like to grocery shop and not care what the prices are…but sometimes I do that any way to splurge so I won’t go nuts.  I’d love to get involved with movies in some way.  I love movies.

Do I mind all of us squeezed into a tiny house?  No, I would like an extra bathroom at times….

We are in the process of buying our first home.  It is only 160 square feet more than this house and decades older.  It will need a lot of work and love.  I’m thrilled.  It’s been years of living way under out means, buying only sale items, and buying furniture and clothes from the thrift store.  Even this house was a thrift find.  By the time we were ready to buy a home, we were priced out of the market.  It looked hopeless and then I found a HUD home up for bid.  I bid on it and no one else did that night so I won the bid at midnight!

We will have to repaint, redo plumbing, fences, insulation, and other work but we have just enough left over in our savings to do it all.

There is something so satisfying about living this way, building and creating a life with hard work and being smart with the money.  I would never have it any other way.

    Downsizing and the joy of a small house and simple living. This is our adorable little cottage in the city of Sacramento.  It is 860 square feet with a nice little back yard that I have converted to a playground for the kids, space for the dogs, and a small garden space for me.

[billydmacklin]

Updated Beach House Tour!

Although we’ve been sharing lots of little peeks of our beach house progress on social media, John and I realized it has been nearly THREE WHOLE MONTHS since we gave you a full tour of everything (since this video tour from back in December!). And not only have there been some big projects since then, like building in a pantry and constructing the bunk beds, there have also been a flurry of smaller updates that we haven’t posted about at all – some that we completed as recently as this past weekend. And thus, this post was born.

similar chandeliers / dining chairs (ours are “gray”) / marble “vase” / range hood / glass pendants

As usual, I’ll kick off the post with the video tour because it’s the easiest way to get the full update on everything (if you scroll past it and check out the pics, you’ll get a general gist… but no amount of photos + words can compare to a moving video through a space – and I dive into a lot of bonus stuff in the video just because I like to flap my gums). Oh but we realized afterward that, most likely due to my aforementioned propensity to jabber, I forgot to walk into the mudroom and the downstairs bathroom – but the mudroom is basically just a holding room for our tools and scrap wood right now, and the downstairs bathroom looks the same as the last time we shared video footage, so you’re not missing much. Anyway, the rest of the house is covered, so you can get a detailed wak-through of the progress we’ve made (and the areas that are still, shall we say, lacking) right here in the video. Note: if you are viewing this in a feed reader you may need to click through to the post to see the video. You can also watch it here on YouTube.

If you can’t dive into the video quite yet, I’ll give you some highlights via photos (the video has a lot more POVs though). First is the project that John was surprisingly enthusiastic about since it has been a long time coming: finally putting a top on the secondhand coffee table that I found for $5 on a local buy/sell/trade group. Up until now, you’ve probably stared curiously at that strange octagonal cage that floats around aimlessly in the middle of the living room, just begging to no longer live her life topless and alone. You can see it below in this photo from way back in October when we first moved in furniture (before we switched out the light fixture for something larger with more light, added a rug, and hung curtains).

art (it moved to the front bedroom) / similar chandeliers / ceiling medallion 

We’ve been attempting to get a top for it for MONTHS now. First I got a few quotes for having an octagon-shaped marble or quartz top cut for it, but they were staggeringly expensive (as in more than $500 and sometimes more than $800 – even for remnant slab pieces) so that was out. But we were set on the idea of a light colored stone look, just because the rug and the couch are dark and we want to break things up with something nice and light in the middle. Then we realized we could create a white concrete top that would do just that if we built a wood top and used Ardex feather finish to skim coat it for that solid white concrete look – sort of like we did to our old kitchen counters. We love that it’ll end up being lighter & easier to move since it’s just a veneer of concrete, and we’ve never used the white concrete feather finish yet, so we’ll definitely keep you posted when we get to that step. So far we’ve just constructed the wood top:

light fixture / sofa (no longer sold as a sectional) / similar rug / similar coffee table

Also in the living room, you may have heard us debating several pink chairs on our podcast (and previewing them as they came in and immediately left on InstaStories – ha!). We kept coming back to the fact that this cane chair that we’ve had for years was a better fit than anything else we could find. And I swear it’s much more comfortable than it looks (let me tell you, John “Practical” Petersik does not tolerate uncomfortable chairs for purely decorative purposes) so that’s a legit endorsement to give cane chairs a chance and just sit in them to see if they’re really bad or really good.

curtains (we cut the tabs off) / rods / lamp / similar side table / similar chair

I just added a seat cushion that I found at Pier 1 (the flamingo pillow is from HomeGoods years ago) and it’s starting to look right at home. I only wish we could find another identical chair so we could have a matching pair in there. We found this one at a thrift store ages ago, so maybe someday one will pop up on Etsy or something? This weekend we also got to hang some big art to anchor a large empty wall in our kitchen. It’s from Urban Outfitters of all places, and it was perfect in just about every respect: the theme (it’s an aerial photo of the sea meeting a sandy beach), the color scheme (pink + blue), and the price ($199 for a giant 30 x 40″ print that comes framed!). The fact that the natural wood frame is so similar to our 100-year-old pine floors was a pretty exciting revelation for me when it arrived. It also comes in other sizes and other frames and it’s 20% off right now if you’re in the market for some art.

similar rug / similar stools / art / glass pendant lights / sconce / hardware

You’ve may have also noticed that we finished hanging curtains downstairs (extra long curtains + 9′ ceilings are great for bringing the eye up and emphasizing the added height) and I finally got around to hemming them all this weekend. We have been buying Lenda curtains from Ikea, washing them to pre-shrink them, and then cutting off the tabs before clipping them up. Some still need more steaming but we finally found a steamer that does the trick (after returning another one that did not do a thing). This Mac daddy upright one from Target was the winner. But even if some of our curtains are a little creased, they make the house feel so much more complete and oh so beachy. Long breezy white curtains FTW!

similar stools / curtains (we cut the tabs off) / curtain rods / art / pink letter board / sconce 

We also got our new cabinet installed where the mini-fridge used to be (over the last few months we realized we never used it and decided more cabinetry and counter space there is so much better than a secondary fridge) and we also finished adding the cabinets along the right wall of the walk-in pantry. They’re shallow 15″ cabinets, just like the ones flanking the back door in the kitchen, so it’s really nice to have them continue in there.

hardware / shelves / sconces / faux eucalyptus / marble board / pink bowls

Assembling and hanging the cabinets wasn’t hard (we built them one Friday night and installed them the next Saturday morning) but we always forget all the little dangling to-do list items after that, like adding the hardware, cutting new counters, and reinstalling the baseboards and toe-kicks. We finally got that done this past weekend. They just need some paint touch ups and they’ll be 100% completed. Have I mentioned the pantry is one of my favorite rooms in the entire beach house and I wish so badly I had one in our kitchen at home? That pendant is original and we had it rewired so it’s all safe and updated. (*Insert dreamy lovestruck sigh here*). Note: you can see how we built the shelves along the left wall of the pantry here. 

fridge / white pantry bins / similar blue mixing bowl / microwave / similar baskets

We’re still assuming that not all of this room will be dedicated to food storage since it’s just a weekly vacation rental (but we do hear that people bring lots of those large boxes of cereal and chips and even things like beach coolers, so it’s nice to have a spot where those things can all live). We also think it may become useful for overflow kitchenware (extra dishes, cooking gadgets, etc) and even some extra towels or linens, since the house doesn’t really have a proper linen closet anywhere. Time will tell! We’re just grateful to have concealed storage space to spare.

cabinets / hardware / counter / plant basket / blinds  

As for upstairs, if you caught our podcast show notes a few weeks ago, you’ve already seen most of the bedroom progress. We got more of those breezy white curtains up everywhere (these still badly need to be steamed) and they really help anchor the rooms and make them feel softer.

striped blanket / headboard / side table / lamp / rug / curtains (we cut off the tabs) / curtain rods 

That picture above is the front bedroom, and before when there was just a wide headboard sitting in front of that skinnier-than-the-bed window it felt kind of odd and unfinished. But once we hung the curtains it was immediately so much more balanced and finished looking. So if you have a room that necessitates that bed-in-front-of-the-window placement (the only other free wall in here has two windows, so the bed needed to be in front of a window any way we sliced it), consider adding some curtains hung high and wide on a nice substantial rod. Really makes a huge difference.

The middle bedroom has sort of a warm/brass thing going on. It started with the lamps, then I added some of my favorite gold frames with handmade prints that I picked up at a local craft fair last year, and we even hung a mobile in one corner. I can’t explain how simple this room was to put together (matching side tables, matching lamps, two pictures, simple curtains, neutral headboard and bedding, etc) but it feels so serene and beachy. The breezy gold mobile is like the icing on the cake.

duvet / throw blanket / similar side table / lamps / frames / similar mobile / similar headboard

The back bedroom, which is where we sleep when we stay there, also got curtains and otherwise has just seen some small tweaks: we lowered the sconces and simplified all the stuff on/under the night stands (there were baskets under them, and some leaning frames and books and stuff on top). I keep saying this, but the beach house is SO SIMPLE and such a nice breath of fresh air to us – so I didn’t want to lose that feeling by piling in too much stuff.

striped duvet / side table / sconces / blue pillow / headboard / art

All of those less covered surfaces at the beach house are inspiring me to pare down at home, too! You know that simple, uncluttered, uncomplicated feeling you get in a nice hotel room? We have that at the beach! And now I’m greedy and want it at home. Why not?! If less works out there, can’t it work at home too? Of course we have backpacks and schoolwork and a home office here at home, so it won’t quite be the same, but needless to say, there are a lot of things getting donated or put in some large plastic bins labeled “duplex decor” at home, just to thin things out around here too.

Back to moving the sconces for a second, because we get questions about them every time we show them. Thankfully, moving them was super easy since we designed them with Shades of Light to just be plug-in (so it doesn’t require an electrician to move them and they only make a few small screw holes in the wall that can be speckled if you change their location). There isn’t a junction box behind them or anything – they literally just need to be plugged into the wall to turn on, and then they’re just hung on the wall like you’d hang a mirror or a picture. That’s it, and they’re all “installed” – so easy.

The only other big accomplishment this past weekend was locking in a plan for the backyard, including the size and placement of a shed, choosing a material for a patio, and nailing down a strategy for a nice but not too expensive pathway from the street to the back (it’s like 100 feet long!). But that, my friends, is a conversation for another day and another post…

P.S. To see other beach house posts as we’ve pulled this vacation rental together over the last year, click here. And for all of the paint colors and sources for every last room in the beach house, here’s a page full of that info. 

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Updated Beach House Tour! appeared first on Young House Love.

Updated Beach House Tour! published first on https://carpetgurus.tumblr.com/

[yesterdaysdreams]

Updated Beach House Tour!

Although we’ve been sharing lots of little peeks of our beach house progress on social media, John and I realized it has been nearly THREE WHOLE MONTHS since we gave you a full tour of everything (since this video tour from back in December!). And not only have there been some big projects since then, like building in a pantry and constructing the bunk beds, there have also been a flurry of smaller updates that we haven’t posted about at all – some that we completed as recently as this past weekend. And thus, this post was born.

similar chandeliers / dining chairs (ours are “gray”) / marble “vase” / range hood / glass pendants

As usual, I’ll kick off the post with the video tour because it’s the easiest way to get the full update on everything (if you scroll past it and check out the pics, you’ll get a general gist… but no amount of photos + words can compare to a moving video through a space – and I dive into a lot of bonus stuff in the video just because I like to flap my gums). Oh but we realized afterward that, most likely due to my aforementioned propensity to jabber, I forgot to walk into the mudroom and the downstairs bathroom – but the mudroom is basically just a holding room for our tools and scrap wood right now, and the downstairs bathroom looks the same as the last time we shared video footage, so you’re not missing much. Anyway, the rest of the house is covered, so you can get a detailed wak-through of the progress we’ve made (and the areas that are still, shall we say, lacking) right here in the video. Note: if you are viewing this in a feed reader you may need to click through to the post to see the video. You can also watch it here on YouTube.

If you can’t dive into the video quite yet, I’ll give you some highlights via photos (the video has a lot more POVs though). First is the project that John was surprisingly enthusiastic about since it has been a long time coming: finally putting a top on the secondhand coffee table that I found for $5 on a local buy/sell/trade group. Up until now, you’ve probably stared curiously at that strange octagonal cage that floats around aimlessly in the middle of the living room, just begging to no longer live her life topless and alone. You can see it below in this photo from way back in October when we first moved in furniture (before we switched out the light fixture for something larger with more light, added a rug, and hung curtains).

art (it moved to the front bedroom) / similar chandeliers / ceiling medallion 

We’ve been attempting to get a top for it for MONTHS now. First I got a few quotes for having an octagon-shaped marble or quartz top cut for it, but they were staggeringly expensive (as in more than $500 and sometimes more than $800 – even for remnant slab pieces) so that was out. But we were set on the idea of a light colored stone look, just because the rug and the couch are dark and we want to break things up with something nice and light in the middle. Then we realized we could create a white concrete top that would do just that if we built a wood top and used Ardex feather finish to skim coat it for that solid white concrete look – sort of like we did to our old kitchen counters. We love that it’ll end up being lighter & easier to move since it’s just a veneer of concrete, and we’ve never used the white concrete feather finish yet, so we’ll definitely keep you posted when we get to that step. So far we’ve just constructed the wood top:

light fixture / sofa (no longer sold as a sectional) / similar rug / similar coffee table

Also in the living room, you may have heard us debating several pink chairs on our podcast (and previewing them as they came in and immediately left on InstaStories – ha!). We kept coming back to the fact that this cane chair that we’ve had for years was a better fit than anything else we could find. And I swear it’s much more comfortable than it looks (let me tell you, John “Practical” Petersik does not tolerate uncomfortable chairs for purely decorative purposes) so that’s a legit endorsement to give cane chairs a chance and just sit in them to see if they’re really bad or really good.

curtains (we cut the tabs off) / rods / lamp / similar side table / similar chair

I just added a seat cushion that I found at Pier 1 (the flamingo pillow is from HomeGoods years ago) and it’s starting to look right at home. I only wish we could find another identical chair so we could have a matching pair in there. We found this one at a thrift store ages ago, so maybe someday one will pop up on Etsy or something? This weekend we also got to hang some big art to anchor a large empty wall in our kitchen. It’s from Urban Outfitters of all places, and it was perfect in just about every respect: the theme (it’s an aerial photo of the sea meeting a sandy beach), the color scheme (pink + blue), and the price ($199 for a giant 30 x 40″ print that comes framed!). The fact that the natural wood frame is so similar to our 100-year-old pine floors was a pretty exciting revelation for me when it arrived. It also comes in other sizes and other frames and it’s 20% off right now if you’re in the market for some art.

similar rug / similar stools / art / glass pendant lights / sconce / hardware

You’ve may have also noticed that we finished hanging curtains downstairs (extra long curtains + 9′ ceilings are great for bringing the eye up and emphasizing the added height) and I finally got around to hemming them all this weekend. We have been buying Lenda curtains from Ikea, washing them to pre-shrink them, and then cutting off the tabs before clipping them up. Some still need more steaming but we finally found a steamer that does the trick (after returning another one that did not do a thing). This Mac daddy upright one from Target was the winner. But even if some of our curtains are a little creased, they make the house feel so much more complete and oh so beachy. Long breezy white curtains FTW!

similar stools / curtains (we cut the tabs off) / curtain rods / art / pink letter board / sconce 

We also got our new cabinet installed where the mini-fridge used to be (over the last few months we realized we never used it and decided more cabinetry and counter space there is so much better than a secondary fridge) and we also finished adding the cabinets along the right wall of the walk-in pantry. They’re shallow 15″ cabinets, just like the ones flanking the back door in the kitchen, so it’s really nice to have them continue in there.

hardware / shelves / sconces / faux eucalyptus / marble board / pink bowls

Assembling and hanging the cabinets wasn’t hard (we built them one Friday night and installed them the next Saturday morning) but we always forget all the little dangling to-do list items after that, like adding the hardware, cutting new counters, and reinstalling the baseboards and toe-kicks. We finally got that done this past weekend. They just need some paint touch ups and they’ll be 100% completed. Have I mentioned the pantry is one of my favorite rooms in the entire beach house and I wish so badly I had one in our kitchen at home? That pendant is original and we had it rewired so it’s all safe and updated. (*Insert dreamy lovestruck sigh here*). Note: you can see how we built the shelves along the left wall of the pantry here. 

fridge / white pantry bins / similar blue mixing bowl / microwave / similar baskets

We’re still assuming that not all of this room will be dedicated to food storage since it’s just a weekly vacation rental (but we do hear that people bring lots of those large boxes of cereal and chips and even things like beach coolers, so it’s nice to have a spot where those things can all live). We also think it may become useful for overflow kitchenware (extra dishes, cooking gadgets, etc) and even some extra towels or linens, since the house doesn’t really have a proper linen closet anywhere. Time will tell! We’re just grateful to have concealed storage space to spare.

cabinets / hardware / counter / plant basket / blinds  

As for upstairs, if you caught our podcast show notes a few weeks ago, you’ve already seen most of the bedroom progress. We got more of those breezy white curtains up everywhere (these still badly need to be steamed) and they really help anchor the rooms and make them feel softer.

striped blanket / headboard / side table / lamp / rug / curtains (we cut off the tabs) / curtain rods 

That picture above is the front bedroom, and before when there was just a wide headboard sitting in front of that skinnier-than-the-bed window it felt kind of odd and unfinished. But once we hung the curtains it was immediately so much more balanced and finished looking. So if you have a room that necessitates that bed-in-front-of-the-window placement (the only other free wall in here has two windows, so the bed needed to be in front of a window any way we sliced it), consider adding some curtains hung high and wide on a nice substantial rod. Really makes a huge difference.

The middle bedroom has sort of a warm/brass thing going on. It started with the lamps, then I added some of my favorite gold frames with handmade prints that I picked up at a local craft fair last year, and we even hung a mobile in one corner. I can’t explain how simple this room was to put together (matching side tables, matching lamps, two pictures, simple curtains, neutral headboard and bedding, etc) but it feels so serene and beachy. The breezy gold mobile is like the icing on the cake.

duvet / throw blanket / similar side table / lamps / frames / similar mobile / similar headboard

The back bedroom, which is where we sleep when we stay there, also got curtains and otherwise has just seen some small tweaks: we lowered the sconces and simplified all the stuff on/under the night stands (there were baskets under them, and some leaning frames and books and stuff on top). I keep saying this, but the beach house is SO SIMPLE and such a nice breath of fresh air to us – so I didn’t want to lose that feeling by piling in too much stuff.

striped duvet / side table / sconces / blue pillow / headboard / art

All of those less covered surfaces at the beach house are inspiring me to pare down at home, too! You know that simple, uncluttered, uncomplicated feeling you get in a nice hotel room? We have that at the beach! And now I’m greedy and want it at home. Why not?! If less works out there, can’t it work at home too? Of course we have backpacks and schoolwork and a home office here at home, so it won’t quite be the same, but needless to say, there are a lot of things getting donated or put in some large plastic bins labeled “duplex decor” at home, just to thin things out around here too.

Back to moving the sconces for a second, because we get questions about them every time we show them. Thankfully, moving them was super easy since we designed them with Shades of Light to just be plug-in (so it doesn’t require an electrician to move them and they only make a few small screw holes in the wall that can be speckled if you change their location). There isn’t a junction box behind them or anything – they literally just need to be plugged into the wall to turn on, and then they’re just hung on the wall like you’d hang a mirror or a picture. That’s it, and they’re all “installed” – so easy.

The only other big accomplishment this past weekend was locking in a plan for the backyard, including the size and placement of a shed, choosing a material for a patio, and nailing down a strategy for a nice but not too expensive pathway from the street to the back (it’s like 100 feet long!). But that, my friends, is a conversation for another day and another post…

P.S. To see other beach house posts as we’ve pulled this vacation rental together over the last year, click here. And for all of the paint colors and sources for every last room in the beach house, here’s a page full of that info. 

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