i'll take the beach please.....

this weekend i realized how lucky i was to be able to roll out of bed and be at the beach 10 minutes later. my husband has a sat. morning tradition of taking barron to the beach so he can run and play in the water. for some reason, i never go...that is, until this sat. me and tay joined the boys and headed to the beach. it was one of the best 2 hrs. i have ever spent on a sat. AM. taylor loves the beach and with the dogs running around (there is a leash law on our beaches- they can only be on the beach from 8-10 am), she was just thrilled. we actually spent a lot of time on sullivan's- dinner on fri and then we went to the beach both sat. and sun. what i love most about the beach is the feeling you get when you drive up to it; it's like all of your worries go away and you just become carefree....

this week, i think i am going to devote my posts to living at the beach and so here are some things i want in my "pretend beach house":

rachel ashwell's warrenton shelf, kerry cassill's cobalt swirl fabric, laurin copen's french steel baguette trolley's ....

recycling the past

this weekend i did one of my favorite things....hunting (not for animals) but for the "perfect find". i adore going to antique malls, flea markets, and salvage yards in search for some undiscovered jewel! if you are going w/ something in mind, you usually come home disappointed but if you go just to look, you come home with lots of goodies. you have to be in a mood to dig and not be scared to do this. i found a cool old military trunk and for $10 in was definitely my "perfect find".

when i got home from hunting, i was so excited about what all i saw, i wanted to look more. so i checked out some salvage yards online. i love recycling the past. it has a plethora of jewels at the click of your mouse. you don't even have to dig to find them! here are some of my favorites: these industrial carts have so many undiscovered uses- i think it would make a cool coffee table if you had a piece of glass cut for the top of it! this tudor style door is so amazing- if you were building a house, it is great to find a cool old door and have it incorporated into your home- this could make a cool side door or door to a pantry or powder room. i also love these beautiful, old tiles; this art nouveau tile is circa 1890's and would make a gorgeous backsplash in a kitchen- remember that you are not limited to just new tile when you are planning a backsplash, creating a truly unique backsplash from vintage tiles can make a kitchen or bathroom! these are just some teasers to share w/ y'all. this website is so wonderful and has so many possibilities if you are in search of a "perfect find".

my bro's airstream

my brother is definitely a drifter. as of now, his home is in the usa but we never know when that zip code might change. for the last 10 years, he has lived back and forth from thailand. you ask what he does over there...he drifts...he teaches english sometimes...he acts in commercials and movies (americans stand out there, especially a 6' light- brown haired guy)....and he owns a laundry mat/ bar (yea, weird combo but apparently it makes sense there). my fam has adjusted to the fact that my bro is a drifter.

so when he made the purchase of this 1959 airstream it just seemed to fit. he found it online...he is one of the people who can search the internet effortlessly...very unlike myself. if i have a problem w/ my computer, i immediately start cussing out geek squad (i always blame my computer problems on them...they set up my PC when i started my company (should have gotten a mac) and i think they put a curse on it that only "geeks" know how to fix). one day he called me and said, i bought an airstream and i want you to help me fix it up. and the next thing i know, it was delivered from somewhere across the country and was parked at our cabin. it lives there. the people who own airstreams are kind of like a cool cult...they all worship these vintage steel motor homes. and they rightfully should, it's definitely not your typical motor home....

i am so excited to help my bro w/ the renovations of this 1959 piece of coolness. it definitely needs a little TLC; it's taken some beating up in the last 50 years...the first purchase my brother made was carpet tiles from FLOR. we decided on a stripe pattern carpet that we are going to lay in a random pattern...i think it is going to look really cool when it's down! when i go home in a couple of weeks, i'll take pics of it and will fill you in as our renovations take place. it's a very slow process...b/c after all, my bro is a drifter.....

Kitchen Island

if you don't go to antique stores or flea markets than you are truly missing out. i fell in love with big daddy's antiques ; there is only one problem....its in LA. but if you are looking for inspiration or just something different, check out his site (i assume its a "he" since the store is big daddy). and if you fall in love with something like i just did, you can always email "big daddy" and see if they ship. the only problem is that you might pay a whopping fee to get it here from cali....but none-the-less, it shows you that great things do exists and gives you instinctive to find something locally.



but for now since i am stuck home (baby is napping) while my hubbie is at the beach w/ the dog, i will envision this industrial zinc work table as a kitchen island (and boy does it make a great one). the kitchen would have white painted cabinets, my beautiful carrera marble counter tops (honed of course), simplistic, white subway tile as the backsplash that would extend all the way up the wall, a farmhouse sink, and my lovely zinc island with pendant lights hanging above......



and you know what else if fantastic about using this found piece as an island, the bottom shelf is great for storage and an eye-catcher for displaying cool things....find some woven baskets and keep kitchen supplies in there, or put your "all-clad pots" down there, or vintage mixing bowls, or your red wine collection....


this zinc island also saves a heck of a lot of money that you would spend having an island built and nobody else will have the same one as you.....priceless :)

Pagoda Chandelier

do y'all watch "Flipping Out"?? the last show was last night, but it was about this neurotic LA guy who flipped houses and the people that worked for him. i could not have dealt with jeff as my boss but he did immaculate flips and has great taste....

one of the scenes last night inspired my blog for the day...it was at ryan's house. in the dining room he had three pagoda chandeliers hanging over his table. it looked so amazing. so i googled pagoda chandeliers and found this one on ebay...it has great potential. i would paint it chocolate brown or black or red...i would love to have three small pagoda's over a long, rectangular raw/ drift wood table. so cool.....or if you couldn't find a couple of these, you could just get this vintage one and use it over your table, or in the foyer, or in a powder room.

another take on the grouping idea that i love are the copper pendants that design w/in reach has....hanging two of those over a table would be a show stopper! or doing a group of lights/ lanterns at different heights would be neat....