If my shutters were hair they would be sideburns.

It's true. My house had sideburns.

 

Brian insisted that he never noticed them, but they drove me crazy. I mean...not only are sideburns uncool on a house...but they are so four decades ago.

I finally put my foot down and insisted on a trim. Well obviously we couldn't trim them, but we did do a total shave and transplant. Thanks to Architectural Depot we were able to get new shutters for the whole house that actually fit the windows.

Here's the new do...

If I'm going to continue with the annoying hair metaphors I must tell you that now that we replaced the shutters the house needs a new dye job. Yep. Those places that were once hidden by sideburns are now a different color than the surrounding paint.

Isn't that the way it goes. One project leads to another in a never ending cycle.

Splish, Splash...Pool Makeover by Bright Blue Pools

I think everyone who grows up in the deep south has fond summer memories that include high temps and cool waters. When I was 4 or 5 I took swimming lessons from Mrs. Platt (?). From that day forward I spent most of my summers begging for pool time. My cousins Lyndra and Gene and I logged many hours of Marco Polo in the pool at Fernside. If you ever swam there you might shiver thinking of the spring water that filled the pool. My earliest memory of a scent/smell is of the strong smell of pine needles around that pool. Years later my friend Sherri, and I pedaled our bikes up to the Barwick pool more times than I can count. Because my birthday is in August, many of my birthday parties were pool parties.

All my life I begged for a pool. Guess when my mama broke down and got one? You got it...not until the thought of grandchildren came along!  ha

Because we move around so much we have purchased seven homes in the 18 years that we have been married. No matter how hard I searched and no matter how much I wanted one, I was never able to find the right house with a pool until we got to number seven. You can imagine how excited I was to  move here last year and have my very own pool...finally!

But our pool had problems. Black algae flourished on the walls, and we spent a small fortune on algaecide which really just made the problem a little less disgusting. Then a crazy storm came along in March and separated the deck and our coping. We did lots of searching for someone to repair our pool and finally settled on Curtis Nelson of Bright Blue Pools (Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Navarre, Mary Esther...basically Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Bay, and Walton Counties).

Our pool was a MESS, but this is what it looks like now:

(Restoring our deck is next so ignore the ugliness of the boards around the pool.)

Curtis and his crew did such a wonderful job. I really can't brag on them enough. They arrived promptly each morning, were professional and worked HARD. Curtis was either working along with them or checking in frequently. They worked hard to be sure we were happy with the results. They truly went above and beyond what we expected.

This is what our steps looked like before...ick.

This is what the coping looked like after the storm...

After they cleaned the pool, they went to work removing the coping...

Then they put new tiles in...

Next they made a "mold" for the new coping...

Pouring the new coping...

This is what it looked like before they coated it with cool decking (I don't think cool decking is exactly what they used, but something like that.)

Check out those clean, new steps and the coping!

Steps before the pool was refilled...

And finally...filling the pool!

Thanks so much Curtis and crew. We appreciate all of your hard work and love our sparkly, new pool!

The Salty Sailfish

I'm terrible at naming things. If I had a dog I would probably just name him Spot.

Confession: We had to ask our facebook friends to help us name our child. (Thanks, Ariel.)  :)

So when I needed to name my house I turned to my mama. She calls me when she needs left-brained help. I call her when I need right-brained help because I'm not even sure I have any gray matter over there.

If you've seen my house you  might be wondering why I wanted to name it since it's no mansion. And if you live here  you're probably wondering as well because people don't name their beach houses here. (I guess because we are not allowed to rent them on this sweet, little, crazy island.) But whatever. I think every beach house should have a name.

With that said let me introduce you to...

This photo is just a picture that the artist snapped and sent to me. I'm going to have it made into a sign and put it up somewhere. Project #547 for a rainy day.

If you were going to name your house, what would it be?

Bathroom: Before & After

One of the best things about Pinterest is finding projects for you husband to do. Because every guy needs a few more things on his to do list, right?

I wish we could do a complete overhaul on our room and bathroom to create more closet space, but that is not really in the cards right now. We did take the carpet and vinyl out of the bathroom and put in tile. This is the before pic...

Brian also replaced the faucets, made some shelves and put a pretty border around the mirror to break it up some. After all, I can only handle so much refection at 6:00 a.m.  We are not really sure what to do with the lights since they are now not spaced evenly, but I guess we will figure that out one of these days.

You can't really see it well in the photo, but on the left wall under the picture we put up a piece of wood with pegs all along it for hanging towels, swimsuits, etc.  I'm loving that!

Now if I'm keeping it real...this mess of a closet is what you would see if you were to turn around. Whoever invented sliding closet doors should be locked up in a tiny jail cell with other people who invent awful things...like that hard, sealed plastic packaging that is impossible to open without coming close to losing a finger. Or the person who invented those stickers that make it impossible to open a DVD.

So anyway, these doors just won't stay on track, so they have been leaning up against the wall for about  10 months.

I was all excited when I found this solution on Pinterest (below) and thought I would do (or have Brian do) something similar minus the barn-like hinges. But apparently we can't do this because we don't have the right kind of door jambs or something.

So...what to do. What to do? I'm tired of these leaning doors in my way people so please give me some ideas.   :)

No Pain, No Gain!

We spend a good bit of time in our front yard fighting pirates, kicking balls, and making our way to the hammock. Being that our front yard consists entirely of sand - this translates into at least 547 pounds of sand being carried inside each week. Since sweeping is not my favorite activity I thought I should make a walkway to go around the yard. My neighbor has a walkway that she made with a mold, and she was sweet enough to let me borrow it.

I was up bright and early Saturday morning and determined to use every last bag of concrete that Brian was able to load into his truck. I had hired someone to mix batches of concrete while I filled the mold/rinsed/repeated. If you know me, you know that once I make up my mind to do something I want it done yesterday. I worked hard. Although I did wear gloves, the tips would break and concrete got under my nails. Because I didn't want to stop working, by the end of the day I had dried concrete solidly embedded under my nails and in my nail beds. And if you have worked with concrete (I had not) then you know that concrete burns your skin if left on there. Painful.

After five hours of work we had made 38 2'x2' molds.

My neighbor has tons of fun things embedded in her stones, so I decided to do that also. She gave me some things to get started with - I told you she's sweet. I also found a metal "4" that I decided to use since Cole just turned four. I added other things like an old measuring spoon from a set that my mama used forever and then gave to me, a lens cap, a fish hook, etc.

I also wrote our names and the name of the woman who owned the house and lived in it for almost all of the years since it was built in the 70s.

The bad news is that I still need more work done, and the guy who was helping me yesterday did not show up today. No surprise there because his fingers were at least as bad as mine. Maybe he will come back eventually!

If you decide you would like a cute, little walkway - here is a link to the mold. And be sure to get some heavy duty gloves and wash your hands OFTEN! 

And most importantly - if you need help with it - please don't call me. I'm pretty sure I will be busy washing my hair that day.

Girl Power

Back in March we had a bad storm one morning. After hearing a lot of crashing noises I looked out our back window and saw some outdoor shelves lift up and fly down our stairs into the pool gate. The meteorologists called what happened a microburst. I would have sworn we had some kind of small tornado. When it was over our pool deck was separated from the pool in many areas. Some frames (from bee hives) that Brian had on the ground were up on our second story deck. We also had major roof damage with shingles littering our yard and street.

Which leads us to...a new roof. I woke up this morning and sent Brian a message that said, "Call Africa and tell them to come get the herd of elephants off our roof." The roofers were up and at it before 7:00. When I walked outside I have to admit I was a little shocked to see a girl on the roof. I know, I know...girls can do these jobs. I once had a tough job myself when I owned a decorative concrete business. But I still smiled and thought: Girl Power!  :)
 
So here's superwoman up on the highest part of our roof gettin' it done...

I'll leave you with this...sorry.

Did you hear the joke about the roof?
Awww, never mind... It's over your head!

Welcome to the Jungle...

When we first moved into our house our side yard was a hot mess. Literally. The house had been rented for two years before we bought it, so they renters had just let everything grow and grow and grow some more. If you are a child of the 80s, Guns N' Roses would definitely have come to mind as you walked down the steps to brave the jungle.

Brian worked some serious overtime to get the yard cleared and weeded. Unfortunately he had to take down an oak tree because it was so badly damaged. But now he has a place to plant the gazillions of seeds that he buys/digs up/scavenges from whatever plant he passes by. (Some people bring home cats. Brian brings home seeds.)

This is what it looks like now. Brian has planted quite a few fruit trees which are small and bare right now, so you can't really tell. There is also a tiny garden tucked away in the top, left of the picture that you can't see that is home to carrots, basil, green beans, parsley, and more. So here's to a work in progress.

 And if you feel like you need a little Guns N' Roses in your life after reading this post, here you go...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1tj2zJ2Wvg

New Art Over Mantle...

I finally got art work to go over my mantle, and I just love it! This artist does lots of fun beach cottages, and I got to decide on the cottage name and the other things that would be included in the painting. It's relaxing just to look at it.
Ahhh....

WiFi Password Printable

I saw this cute wifi password printable on pinterest recently and finally got around to printing one for our guest room today. I just switched up the colors a bit to match our room.

I don't think I ever posted a picture of the watercolor I had done (a map of our favorite places on the island). Someone gave me the great idea to have little replicas made as postcards. I also used the graphics from the free printable to make a little card letting our guests know they can help themselves to those postcards.

In other news, I finally figured out (thanks, mama) how to get my images on here to be the size I want them to be. Woohoo.

So does anyone know exactly how many pinterest projects one actually has to complete to get a degree? I'm pretty sure I must be close to having an associate of pinterest crafts or something.

A Little Bit of Paradise: Hammock

I don't have a bucket list, but if I did...having a Pawleys Island hammock at the beach would definitely be on it.

Much to my surprise Brian got me one for Christmas, and we finally got around to hanging it the other day. I never knew hanging a hammock required so much calculating. I envisioned it hanging between two palm trees, but (1) apparently palm trees are really too soft for such and (2) out of all the palm trees in our yard - there were not two that were even remotely the right distance apart.

I had to dig down really deep since we were placing the post in sand. Once I had dug halfway to China, we filled the hole with cement mix, poured in some water, and VOILA...paradise.

While I was hanging the hammock two different people walked by and said, "Nice ham-ock!"

To a southerner like myself, it sounded almost like they were saying, "Nice ham hock!"

So how do YOU pronounce it?

The Jungle

I wish I had before and after photos of our back yard because seriously...it was a jungle. Supposedly there are coyotes running around the island, and I'm pretty sure they could have found safe refuge in our over-growth for years if it were not fenced in. Now that Brian has that area cleared, he has planted more fruit trees that I can name.

Finally, we have moved to the front. When I say "we" I don't mean "me." I'm allergic to working in the yard. It's not my thing, but thankfully it IS Brian's thing.

You wouldn't believe the hours that have been put into clearing the yard and digging up palms. I never in a million years would have guessed it would have turned into such a project.

But now we have a sandy yard, more trees than we need, and no design plan. We want to keep it as beachy looking as possible because...well... because we are at the beach. With that said, we are just now sure how to work with all the sand, what trees/shrubs to take away, and what to plant.

After much research and digging around, I hope I have found someone who can create a master plan for us. Fingers crossed.

(As always, click on the photo to see a larger version.)

The Guest Room: Before & After

We love living so close to home and having friends and family come visit. Because we knew we would have lots of guests at the beach, we decided to make this long bedroom into somewhat of a bunk room. We didn't do much in this room except replace the carpet with tile. We already had a queen bed, so we bought a bunk bed that matches.

I found the diving lady above the bed at a place here in Fort Walton Beach called De France. I'm pretty sure I kept them in business my first few weeks in town.  :) If you come to visit, this has to go on the list of places you don't want to miss. One day I sent Brian and my Uncle Bart up there to pick up a mantle that I bought and much to my surprise they came back talking about things that they wanted in there. They really do have something for anyone.

I found the bucket idea on pinterest and thought that would be a great place for people to place things since there is no bedside table for the bunk beds.

You can click on the photos if you want to see a larger version.

I think I have decided to call this room the lucky room instead of the guest room. So far I have found a pair of sunglasses AND $20 in here. I checked with all of the people who have stayed here, and none of them have claimed either. I'm not quite sure if my guests are forgetful or if we have a ghost. But either way...as long as there are no scary noises in the night I'm good!

Stuck in pinterest hell... :)

I recently told a friend I feel like I'm in pinterest hell. While I love a good project to work on, working on at least one every single day is getting to be a little much.  :)

It's not really the projects that I mind, it's the MESS the projects make. And the mess my house is because I'm too busy working on projects to clean it.

Anyway, one of my latest projects was painting my stairs. You can only see a portion of the stairs here, but it gives you a general idea.

Does anyone have a "get out of pinterest free" card??

Cole's Room: Before & After

When we first moved in Cole wasn't too crazy about his room - I think he was convinced we had left his toys in South Carolina forever. Now that his shelves are packed with all of his favorite things he is starting to like it.  :)

All we had to do in his room was paint the walls and replace the carpet with tile.
 

Cole's room has a little too much store-bought theme action going on, but it is what it is! One of the problems with  moving every three years is that it makes it hard to decorate slowly and with things that are more authentic and meaningful. Since I will probably only live in this house a few years - I want it decorated now. Remember, patience is a virtue I am lacking. Plus, most of the things I use in this house will not work for my "forever" house in Georgia, so I just can't spend a lot on things.

I bought some ocean-themed clip art for $4 off etsy, changed the colors, and had 4 canvas prints made with elements I pulled. I also used the clip art to have some pillows made for his bed. You can have great pillows made really inexpensively at Cafe Press: Home.

We also got rid of Cole's toddler bed and got "big boy" beds. He thought he was big stuff trying them out at the mattress store! I found a cool tip on pinterest to use a pool noodle to keep him from falling off the bed. The trick is to use the fat pool noodle and to pull the sheets under tight.

I'm clueless about what to do with the windows at this point but hoping that will come to me or that someone will tell me.  :)

If you have any ideas for small windows in awkward places please share!

Etsy Love...My New Watercolor

I may have a bit of an etsy problem. I've had one for years, but it seems to be getting worse. There really doesn't seem to be anything that you can't have some talented person make for you.

My recent find was a collection of playful beach prints offered by Chubby Mermaid. I thought they were so much fun, but I really wanted a line from Zac Brown's song on one. So guess what? She said she would paint a custom watercolor for me in just the size that I wanted. She just sent me a scan of what she did. I can hardly wait to receive it!

Zac Brown is Cole's favorite singer right now, and he always wants to hear this song. I can hardly blame him, and I feel so blessed to be living this sweet, sweet life by the salty sea!

Wall Art Ordered: Can't Wait!

I have been tossing around the idea of having a custom map made to go above my fireplace, and that is what I finally decided on today. I found this girl on etsy who makes maps for weddings and such. She is going to make one for me that includes a few of the places that we like. It will be not only pretty, but fun and interesting.

Once I receive the map, I'll scan it and have a larger canvas version made to hang. I think I might I also have a few postcards made to keep in the guest room so visitors can send one home if they like. And yes, I did get permission from the artist to do so.  :)

Here are a couple of examples of her work. She is super sweet, so be sure to check out her etsy shop. She also does beautiful acrylic paintings.

Before and (sort of) After: Living Room

Most of the rooms in our house look like a tornado passed through, but the living room is starting to come along. At least we can walk through without feeling like we are competing in an obstacle course race. The first photo shows what the living room looked like when we bought the house.

We got rid of the blue carpet and put down a medium tone, distressed hardwood floor, painted the whole room (it got quite dirty when the floors were going in), and added a mantle. We also put tile up around the bottom of the fireplace because we wanted to be able to use that space for extra "seating" if needed because what was already there was not structurally sufficient for such.

I finally sat down and took the time to sew my curtain panels yesterday.  I still need something to go over the fireplace, so I'm working on that and a few more things. I think I need a rug, but I hate the idea of trying to keep it clean with all the sand that comes in our house.

~Sorry the photos are so small, but if you click on them you can see a larger version.~

If you happen to want to know how to sew lined curtain panels, I highly suggest this blog that has a great tutorial with photos. A few years ago I tried making some, and the end result involved my friend Amy sewing the curtain panels after I threw in the towel. There are always so many ways to go about sewing something, and this tutorial made it really easy!

It's All About the Aqua...

In pool related news (I don't want to jinx it...) the algae is gone for now. Brian has been swimming laps in the every night, Cole has been having some swimming lessons, and finally I made time to get in after Cole and I got home from the beach this morning.

I bought the coffee table you see below in Quitman several years ago, and we have loved having it. It has been the perfect table for playing games and just the right size for Cole to make a huge mess with his play-doh. Well...I decided it needed some color in a beach house, but Brian almost died right there on the spot when I told him.

Mama was here helping us, so I sent her out on a search mission to find a similar table that I could paint. After lots of looking she finally found one on craigslist and made a run to Destin to pick it up. My resourceful mama also managed to find some chalkpaint on a Sunday afternoon, so I got started painting it right away. If you know me, you know that patience is a virtue I don't possess.

 Three coats of aqua later it's time to move on. The new table has a scalloped border along the table top and some holes that I think I'll paint white. I'll post a photo once I get it finished. I think I also need to whitewash the table.

We have a lot done in the living room, but I still need a couple more pillows, need to sew my curtains (fabric is cut), and I need to find some art to hang over the fireplace. If you happen to stumble upon anything fun with aquas/limes and maybe a touch of coral - let me know!

Yesss! Our household goods arrived...and so did my cute pillows.

Thank goodness the movers came today and delivered our household goods. It had been one month and one day since they came to pack up our things, and I was beyond ready to see my things again.

My house is a big disaster area right now, but I did take the time to pull out my new pillows. Because I couldn't find pre-made pillows in the colors I wanted, I am lucky to have talented friends who made these for me. My friend Jill appliqued designs on a couple of pieces of fabric, and my friend Amy sewed the pillows together once I threw in the towel and decided the piping was just too much for me to do.

So, thanks friends! I love them!

Sticking to My Day Job

When it comes to sewing, I was definitely not cut out (pun intended) to be a seamstress, so I will definitely be sticking to my day job. That is, once I have some jobs rolling in.

Yesterday I made a tiny curtain (pic on right) for my kitchen, and today I worked on cutting the fabric for the panels in my living room (pic on left). No worries...I will have lots of aqua and lime throughout the house, but those fabrics won't be beside each other.

I also got the first coat of white paint on my chandelier. I picked it up at an antique store in Darien, GA, and I'm quite sure they would throw a fit if they knew I was painting it. It was originally brown/bronze with amber prisms/etc. I'm planning to make a cord cover from the same fabric that is behind it and load it down with aqua and lime prisms. These are the prisms that I ordered today. I have another idea of something to add, but I'm going to have to consult my chandelier making friend Beth first.  :)

Now let's just hope the photo jobs start coming so I can put the sewing machine away!  :)