Kitchen Elements

I'm starting to pull together the main pieces of the kitchen remodel.

Granite for the counter tops has been selected:

I had the kitchen sink (I'll have to tell you the story of this sink one time...suffice to say I've had it for something approaching 20 years!). It's hard to photograph this guy--sometimes it looks blue, sometimes it looks green, and sometimes it looks really grey--it's looking very blue in this pic:

And this is the yummy glass tile for the back splash:

What do you think? Is it all going to work together? I sure hope so!

~ Betsy xoxo

You Done Good, Cupid

Well, hellooo gorgeous...

 

Machine washable. 100% cotton. Under $8 a yard!

 

I do believe I'm in love, y'all.

 

What's your verdict? Do we have your blessing?



Desperately Seeking Slipcovers

So, yeah.

My little rough and tumble slipcover sample I told you about here?

 

She's pretty much out of the running. Again.

(Seriously, are any of my human relationships this rocky? No.)

I did what I should have done in the first place: Gone right to the source.

I called Waverly Fabrics and asked them how "Dry Clean Only" they meant when they said, "Dry Clean Only."

Turns out they really mean it.

In fact, the fabric I picked shouldn't even be used for indoor applications, according to the rep I spoke with. They've had numerous complaints about it fading inside. It's an "occasional outdoor use" fabric.

Which is....you know.....kind of different than "indoor/outdoor."

And truly makes me wonder why such a delicate fabric is in the marketplace trying to hang with the big boys (read: Sunbrella).

I appreciate their honesty. I don't appreciate that I'm back to the drawing board.

I do have a new candidate coming soon.

A clearly marked, "Machine Washable" candidate.

I hope it doesn't smell my desperation.

That's always such a turn-off.

And I really, really, really need it to work out this time!!

What I mean to say is, "It's cool."

"Either way."

"Plenty of fish in the sea."

And now if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to go check the mailbox.

Three hours early.


~Betsy xoxo

Slipcover Sample Update

As I mentioned in my last post, Design Choices, I took a chance on putting a piece of "dry clean only" fabric through the washer to see if it was still in the running for chair slipcover material.

It threw it in with a heavy load of darks and washed it on cold.

It came through perfectly!

Before I washed it, I traced it on a piece of paper so I could measure any shrinkage. It was not one bit smaller.

Then, I decided that I'd put it through the dryer.

On high.

(I mean, if it's gonna get washed, it's probably gonna get dried. And we might as well see what she's made of, right?)

Want to see what happened?

Here's the before and after:

What do you know? No wrinkles, no shrinking, no scrunching, no nothing!

You can see a bit of fraying on the unfinished edges, but that's to be expected.

I kind of felt like the color faded a bit. But I couldn't tell if I was just looking at it too hard. The Before pic is a little darker overall, so who can tell.

Even if it did fade, I don't care.

And provided it gets the stamp of approval from my slipcover guy....I think we have a winner!

I'll stay out of those fancy stores, yet!

~Betsy xoxo

Design Choices

News flash: I am not an interior decorator.

I love design magazines.

I spend hours on Pinterest and Houzz.

I've read about a gajillion "Top 10 Decor Tips" articles over the years.

I can mostly tell when a room doesn't work....and sometimes even come up with ideas that would make it work better.

But when push comes to shove?

When I'm standing in the store and my whole family is shrugging their shoulders as I ask, "Well, what do you think? This shade of aqua or this one?"

I get a little panicky over my design choices.

Maybe if I were in those fancy stores with interior decorators on stand-by to help you choose between $10,000 Sofa A and $10,000 Sofa B, it'd be easier.

But I'm not. (I'm too scared to even go into those places!)

I'm fretting in the aisles of TJ Maxx, Target, and Home Depot.

I'm nervously making offers on Craigslist and hoping the pictures live up to the item.

I'm rooting around in my attic thinking, "Hmm...this could work!"

It's not that I'm cheap, per se. I'll be buying top of the line mattresses (comfort matters!), but throw pillows that cost as much as my first car?

No.

I just can't.

Frugality + A very specific vision for this beach house = Sometimes feeling like it's never going to happen.

But it also forces me to get creative. And pull together a look that is less "polished" and more "collected and eclectic."

Currently I'm hand-wringing over slipcover fabric.

There is some very beautiful fabric out there. Some patterns and colors that I just drool over.

But at $150 a yard?

Or in a delicate linen?

These are not the choices for me. I mean, who wants to come back from a wonderful morning at the beach only to have heart failure when the kids plop their sandy, wet, sunscreened selves on the chairs?

After much searching, I finally found a really cute, very hardy, and great-priced fabric. Here's the sample on some of the aqua things I've already purchased:

 

I really like it the way it looks. Do you?

 

It's Waverly Chippendale Sun N Shade Fretwork in Mineral.

 

Not only do I need to make sure the color works, but I need to see if the pattern works with my other patterns and textures.

 

I just bought the big tan colored rug (at a great price, but I can always use it at my house if it doesn't work for the beach house). I absolutely adore the smaller rug with the blues and greens (and need it to pull all the colors together). And I could not pass up the coral lamp! I think it all works together: 

 

 

Here's the downside: While the fabric is an indoor/outdoor, and is very durable (while still feeling nice), and another website says it can be spot-cleaned with soap and water.....it also says, "dry clean only."

 

Ummm.....dry clean and beach house just do not go together!

 

For that matter, dry clean and slipcover just do not go together.

 

So, I'm going to wash my little sample and see how it fares. If it shrinks a little, or wrinkles a little...I can live with that.

 

If it twists into an unrecognizable blob?

 

Sigh...I might end up in one of those fancy stores, yet.

 

Godspeed, little sample.

 

I'll let y'all know how it goes...

 

~Betsy xoxo

 



Treasures From the Sea {Part 2}

As I showed you in Treasures From the Sea {Part 1}, there is no lack of shells, driftwood, and goodies on Ocracoke Island's beach.

My favorite shell to find is the whelk:

Something about that swirly tip just gets me! I even have it tattooed on my elbow. Or my "shellbow" as the kids call it. Shell + elbow....shellbow...get it?  Any. hoo.

There are always loads of the whelk inner swirls around. Seriously, how could you not love that?

Both my boys have started sand dollar collections. And while we have yet to find a whole one, there are always tons of pieces. These were my youngest son's finds the other day. Is that a piece of coral? I think so.

My older son relishes finding the whole scallop shells:

 

I'm pretty partial to the driftwood. I especially like pieces covered with holes or barnacles....basically, anything that looks like it's had its own exciting journey through the ocean. Look at this beauty:

 

My fantastic husband drug that monster to the car, hoisted it on top, and brought it to the house as a surprise to me. Major points! (The way to this girl's heart is definitely not diamonds!)

Can you see it peeking out from behind the stairs in my "shell garden?"

"What's a shell garden?" you ask. When you have kind of an ugly bald spot in your yard....

And when you can leave the beach with several grocery bags full of treasures in an hour.....



And you've pretty much exhausted the amount of bowls, jars, and other containers of sea treasures inside the house....

Well, you might have to move your collection to outside the house:

 

And viola! A shell garden. 

 

Or free mulch.

 

Or when-beachcombing-consumes-you-and-you-simply-can-not-pass-up-just-ONE-more-treasure-as-your-family-is-already-back-at-the-car-waiting-with-the-one-bag-quota-you-gave-them-but-you-need-an-excuse-to-come-back-again-tomorrow-and-the-next-day-maybe-even-twice....

 

(Yes......I am aware that I have a slight problem.)
 

Goodbye, ugly bald spot! Hello, gorgeous shell garden!

 

And as always, thank you, Mother Ocean, for your wonderful treasures.

 

 

~ Betsy xoxo

 

 

P.S. When you visit Stranded on Purpose, feel free to add some treasures to the shell garden. And if your little one spies something that she just can't live without?  Please let her take it home.
Us beachcombers have to stick together, don't you know.  : )

 

Treasures From the Sea {Part 1}

I have always loved the ocean.

Even as a little kid I wanted us to take family trips to the beach.

I always liked the less commercial beaches. Boardwalks, rides, and towel-to-towel sunbathers just ain't my thing.

I'll take remote, unspoiled, and unpopulated any day.

The first time I stepped out onto the beach on Ocracoke I burst into tears. The beauty simply overwhelmed me. I had never in my life seen that kind of unspoiled beach and ocean.

The beach on Ocracoke is amazing.

So amazing, it's a national park!

Meaning there are no houses, no hotels, no condos on the beach or on the dunes. Just miles and miles (10+ miles) of sand, dunes, and ocean.

It's routinely rated as one of the world's top beaches.

But the absolute best thing about it?

The shells and treasures.

Oh. My. Word.

I have spent my life going to beaches where I set the alarm clock for 6:00 a.m. so I can walk the beach (with a dozen or so other hard-core folks) and gather a handful of shells....maybe even a small bag, if I was lucky.

Beachcombing on Ocracoke's beach is like shooting fish in a barrel. Seriously, look at all the shells:

You can find starfish:

 

And jellyfish:
 

 

And even fishy fish:
 

 

In fact, there's plenty of cool dead things in various stages of....dead. Here's a horseshoe crab that washed up on the beach (it might not be dead, it might just be an old molted shell...I didn't really pursue it):

 

 

This guy, on the other hand, was definitely deceased. Some sort of ray or skate, maybe:

 

 



 And probably one of the coolest things I've ever found.....a sea turtle rib:

 

 

Pretty cool, huh?

 

I love the anticipation of heading to the beach....wondering what gifts the sea will have left. It's pretty much better than Christmas for me.

And fortunately, there's a great section of beach with a lifeguard, a bath house, and a whole lot less dead things when swimming and sunbathing are on my beach to-do list.

 

In Part 2 I'll show you some more treasures.......and what I plan to do with loads like this:

 

 

Happy Beachcombing!

 

~Betsy xo


Click here to go to Treasures From the Sear {Part 2}.