All year round my home always has a touch of Seaside décor but in the summer it's "game-on" with my beachy vibe. My friends know me well and often bestow me with gifts that have something to do with a shell or anything that you might say, "this is nautical or from the beach". For example this rattan covered bottle in a beautiful shade of blue that holds some brightly colored sunflowers. It adds a bit of color on the mantel. I'm loving my Homegoods' Lanterns and I think they look right at home on the Fireplace mantel with the driftwood color and galvanized tin.
The square jar with the jute wrapped around it has my Sea Glass collection from Kaua'i.
The mantel is a lot more simple than it is in the winter, I use less sparkle and more wood and metal. I got these galvanized letters from Michaels and plopped a small bouquet of drying hydrangeas from my garden and leaned a seastar candle against it. You can look at the H I as in the greeting or the abbreviation of the Aloha State.
The mantel looks very pretty with the lanterns lit up in the evening but only when it's chilly because that's all I need is a HOT house in summer. We have had a few hot days but we have had our share of JUNE GLOOM, I expect it to get hotter in the coming months. The boat painting was done by our old elderly neighbor, she was a wonderful painter and holds a special spot in my heart. The galvanized bucket was from a friend of mine, it belonged to her Mother. It's a great spot to hold the birch logs next to the fireplace.
On the otherside of the room not a whole lot has changed from spring to summer. I still have my robin eggs in their nests with another seastar candle keeping it company.
The conch shell candles comes out of it's hiding place for the season along with my mini knobby seastar candles.
I know I'm a little weird because sometimes I like an empty frame just resting against a wall, people will often ask why I don't have anything in it, I just sort of like it that way sometimes. I have plans for this space, up above the sideboard, {this was a hand me down from my Mom that was in my aunts' house in Newport Beach}, we repainted it and got new knobs for it. One of my favorite pieces in my home. I would like to hand paint or put some kind of tree there and hang silhouetted pictures of our family.
Leaving the family room and going into the dining/living room you see my built-in. This built-in like I've said before was one of many reasons I wanted to buy this particular home. The brick patio, the brick fireplace, the brick porch in this home spoke to me. In the built in there are many family pictures that take residence up on the shelves, mostly of my girls.
I added the little Sea, Sun, Sand saying to the picture frame and another conch shell candle for the summer season. The verdigris frame I've had forever. The Japanese float my husband found on the beach on Kaua'i along with a replica one in cobalt blue. The shell is from my Father-in-Law, from Alabama.
The middle shelf holds my Aqua Ball jars from yard sales and antique stores and the little candy box in the shape of Kaua'i. The modal boat is from my friend, her father made it, it holds a special place in my heart. Always fresh flowers in my home, I sacrifice not getting manicures or pedicures so I can have fresh bouquets of flowers in my home, they make me happy to look at them. Everybody has their "thang" I guess.
The far right side we have some pencil stars all in a row, shells from Alabama along with a ball jar filled with white sand from the beaches of Alabama. A few pieces of white pottery, the biggest is an Ironstone Pitcher I got from the Rose Bowl flea market for $5.00....I was happy about that getting it for that low price. The brownish green frame is new from Michaels, always using those 40% coupons. The shell mirror to the right is from Ensenada that I got when I was in my 20's, I used to have a few other pieces but they have not survived. The scentsy light illuminates the dark room in the night and I wish you could smell how great it is in there now. The wax melts are called Beach, fitting huh?
Turning back around we have the dining room, we see my farmhouse table with a tureen of blue French Hydrangeas from Trader Joes. I love my World Market Rattan chairs, they are so comfortable and go perfect with my beach vibe. I added some pops of blue in the hutch with the plates along with my collection of ironstone mini pitchers and cake stands. This hutch I bought off a friend and is another one of my favorite pieces in the cottage.
Turning to the right and looking from the pocket door in the kitchen we see the living room. On the big open space to the left of the family room opening I'd like to put in a barn door, haven't quite convinced Mr. Incredible yet...but I'm wearing him down.
I've been playing musical pillows in the cottage to see what composition I'll settle on, since it's Independence Day this week, I've got the RED, WHITE and BLUE thing going on. The vibrant BEACH and the blue-striped pillow are new from TJMaxx. The red velvet one is from World Market and the linen pillows are from Ikea. The faded BEACH pillow is from a Cottage Store in Laguna Beach. One can never have too many pillows, right?
I put a few of the white and yellow mums in the enamel pitcher, added some lavender, red and white geraniums from my garden and stuck an American Flag in it and there ya go!
I've had this white side table forever, I think it was my Moms but I can't remember. It has a place for magazines on each end. Yes, I still love to read a good magazine, especially in the summer with so many beach days and down time. The crystal lamp was also my Mother's, I'm thinking about updating the shade, but I really love the little bit of sparkle it adds to this space.
Yes I love to browse Better, Homes and Garden's, HGTV and Country Living. I really miss Country Home and Cottage Living ...I wish they would come back. The tray is a thrift store find that I painted with Chalk Paint. The glass cloche has a succulent planted in a conch shell surrounded by moss with an armored seastar too. The mercury glass candle holders are from Kohl's along time ago after Christmas sale marked 70% off and the blue rimmed candles were on clearance from PB. I hardly ever pay full price for any of my Knick Knacks...has my darling Mr. Incredible calls them. He is not a fan of clutter let's just say but he must love me very much because he puts up with it.
I've also been working on this succulent-seashell wreath for a few days. My girls have collected lots of shells from our excursions to the shore and I've been wanting to make one since last summer. Finally got around to doing it and I'm very happy how it turned out.
It's hanging out on my Dutch door for now, we put in this Dutch door last year that I got off Craig's List for a great steal. I love opening it up while I'm in the kitchen cooking or on the computer. The breeze feels really nice on those hot, hot days.
I used a variety of succulents for texture and interest in putting together this wreath. I had a few seastars and sand dollars here and there so I put them in too! Next week I'm going to do a tutorial on how you can make your own Succulent-Shell Wreath. I have more images of my home all gussied up for the Fourth of July on the front and back porch areas, I'll share those in my next post, it's already picture overload with this post. I also have a tasty and cool Independence day tart to share with you too, so check back on Thursday for that post.
On another note...so very HAPPY that the United States Women's National Team in Soccer beat Germany today!! It was a great game, did you watch it? We are soccer people over here!!! #goteamUSA!! Excited to see the final match and who will be this year's FIFA World Cup Champions. See you on Thursday!
