Beach Chic Decor
I love this time of year. It's the one time that almost everyone embraces the coastal vibe. I was recently doing some research for an upcoming project and stumbled upon Munger Interiors. I perused their portfolio for what felt like an eternity. Here are a few of my favorite rooms.
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| All images courtesy of Munger Interiors |
If you like these spaces by Munger Interiors you can see more of their work here.
Are you feeling coastal?
My Master Bath
I thought it would be fun to share some other areas of my home with you. I love my master bath and will miss it. It may be the only room that I would still design exactly the same way.
The floor is a porcelain tile made to look like Carrera marble. There are sea glass square tiles accented throughout the floor. The apron to the tub is Carrera marble cut into subway tiles. The top of the tub is white marble with a green sea glass color running through it.
The tub is a deep soaking tub. You can see that the Carrera tiles are mixed for an interesting pattern in the shower, yet it does not command your attention.
Looking back the other way shows the perfect view of the television from the tub. Go ahead, judge away....every night I soak in the tub while watching some sort of reality tv show. Oh, and I usually have a glass of wine. We definitely lived well in this home.
Custom built-ins were added whenever possible.
Double vanities are definitely helpful for a long and happy marriage :). All the glass and mirrors have a green cast to them that plays off the green in the marble. I wanted the largest mirrors possible to help bounce the natural light around. I designed the three sections and had the sconces cut into the glass to break up the large square and keep it interesting.
This chandelier will move with me.
It will probably be a while before I have a bathroom like this one, again. Do you have a favorite spot in your home where you go to relax?
Win $500 to One Kings Lane
Happy Daylight Savings Time Monday! I don't know about you, but I am already feeling the positive effects of the longer days....I hope I don't jinx it, but it is going to be 60 here, tomorrow, and we won't talk about the possibilities of snow on Thursday (say what?).
Today, is the beginning of my Polyvore feature for Project Decorate. You may have already seen it around... Polyvore features a blogger in front of their 20 million subscribers and everyone has a chance to win a $500 gift card to One Kings Lane. There will be 2 lucky winners. This contest ends next Sunday.
$500
Here is my Tropical Coastal look. I have been telling you about this look for quite some time. Remember when Chinoiserie Chic wrote about it? I want it....everywhere!
Real Estate Photography
I have been pouring over real estate images all over the web. Like most of you, after an overload of image upon image, interesting photography stands out. I really like this company called Jump Visual. They specialize in Real Estate Photography.
One of the photographic angles that caught my eye was the elevated shots.
These views really convey the sense of space each property has to offer.
Now if you want to see something really amazing, watch this aerial video tour.
Coastal Living, Take Me Away
Raise your hand if you have A-N-O-T-H-E-R snow day!
Yes, the call came in the wee hours of the morning. Two teenagers and a dog. Although our driveway gets plowed, or walkway does not. I actually enjoy shoveling it with my son. Since I don't play video games, and know nothing about NASCAR, it is one of the few things that we can do together....and laugh.
Other than the walkway, I am sure there will be a whole lot of laziness going on.
I subscribe to Coastal Living, and because of that I can read it on my iPad too. Magazines on iPads are great for taking screen shots and blogging about them :-).
I am looking forward to reading it end to end.
All images via Coastal Living
I know I will miss these days, so I am going to enjoy the time and remind myself that life really is short.
How are you spending the day?
Coastal Tropical Chinoiserie Chic
There is one Blogger that makes me laugh more than anyone else. Fact. She is high maintenance, high style, and highly opinionated. And it works for her. I think Beth, from Chinoiserie Chic, and I are distantly related because we definitely laugh and fight like family.
The truth is, she will always give me her honest opinion. As you will see in her guest post below, she held nothing back. Any woman that has the moxie to write this post about a National Company, will always have a seat by me. I once asked her to write a post about Nantucket Chinoiserie, and to this day....people still love that post.
Please see what my on again/off again/Sister-Friend has to say about Tropical Coastal Chinoiserie:
Linda and her family will be relocating from New Jersey to Florida sometime this summer. With her upcoming move, Linda has announced that her new look and style is going to be "Coastal Tropical."
Linda's current home is what I would call Nantucket style, but she is excited about her blog and her new home having a more tropical and Floridian vibe. Will her blog, formerly known as "My Crafty Home Life," now named "Calling It Home," soon become "Calling It My Crafty Coastal Tropical Home?" We will have to wait and see.
As we know, Linda loves Chinoiserie, so she has turned to me for guidance on infusing her new lifestyle with Coastal Tropical Chinoiserie.
First, I think a new wardrobe is in order. This Greg Norman collection is called "Coastal Tropic" - what could be more perfect? These mix and match pieces will allow Linda to look like a complete dork whether she is playing golf, blogging, running errands, hanging with her kids, or wielding a circular saw - with safety goggles on, of course. Perfect for that casual, coastal, nerdy look, right?
Doesn't Linda look great in one of her new outfits from the Greg Norman Coastal Tropic Collection?
Now on to decorating her home. Linda loves driftwood furniture, but never felt it was quite right in her Northeast Nantucket style home. Not so in Florida - she can go completely adrift! And if she ever gets sick of her decor, she is one bonfire on the beach away from a fresh start.
Here are some rooms with driftwood that Linda posted about that she loves. She said that the first one below stopped her in her tracks.
Well Linda, I have found more driftwood for every room of your new home -
And Linda's Florida home at the holidays could look like this -
Oh my my my. I have the feeling I need to stage an intervention immediately or Linda's new home might become Restoration Hardware at the Beach also known as Coastal Dumpster Chic. I think we might be seeing this driftwood decor in the next Restoration Hardware catalog. Call me Gary and we can chat.
Or the next One Room Challenge could become the semi-annual One Hundred Rooms With Driftwood Challenge. Linda, just say no to driftwood. That's why I'm here. Friends don't let friends decorate with driftwood.
Now we will look at the correct way to do Coastal Tropical interior design. Did Linda call someone opinionated? I envision less of the navy and white preppy of Nantucket and less of the bright colors of Palm Beach. Instead -
*Tropical print wallpaper and fabrics like banana leaf, especially Martinique and Brazilliance.
*Rattan and unpainted wicker furniture
*Faux and real bamboo
*Potted palms
*Palm fronds in blue and white Chinese porcelain vases
*Oversized blue and white Chinese ginger jars
*The good news is that you can keep your brown wood furniture
*Ebonized wood is also perfect
*The color palette is that of nature - lots of greens and browns and blues
*Think British Colonial
I love this style myself and I can't wait to see what Linda does with her new home in Florida.
The Pink Pagoda created these graphic botanicals for Linda's One Room Challenge family room and they will be perfect!
Thanks so much Beth, can you email me a link to those clothes?
I wonder how she really feels?