Cottage by the Bay

BEFORE

We began this project back in the spring.  We were excited to hear the house was on the water, a sweet cottage by the sea!  The majority of our clients are traditional in decor, but every once in a while we get to do French Country or Shabby Chic.  It was funny how we ended up with this client because a gal who designs kitchens called us and said a doctor friend of her husband's (whom we did his entire orthodontist office) asked who designed his office and he gave him our name and it ended up being MY orthodontist!  Small, funny world.  The project has a few finishing touches left that the carpenter is completing.

These are the before pictures of the space.  The outside kitchen wall moved out 6 feet and the rest of the kitchen/dining/sitting area was gutted.  Because it is an older house, the contractors ran into several architectural issues that took the better part of the hot, hot summer to complete.

Ceiling beams, beadboard on the ceiling and walls, wallpaper borders, tile flooring...all go bye-bye!

 The new kitchen was lavished with marble countertops with all the trimmings.  A 5 foot window sits above the sink letting in lots of sunshine.  The island and hood range were in a painted celadon.
Our color scheme was white, tan, and gray.  We texturized the space with woven baskets, rattan stools, and a banana chair.  Everything was light and airy...motto:  Less is more.
The wood's floor stain was done in Oyster, my most favorite thing in this project!  The client wanted a cork board behind his computer to use as a communication center in the kitchen.

 

A little nook in the kitchen.  I love the burlap-wrapped bottle.

 

 We custom designed the slip covers for the chairs.  This paisley fabric captured all of the colors in these rooms.

 We made these cool lamps with sand, pebbles, and seashells.  You have to be careful NOT to go overboard with a theme.  Too many seashells and it looks overdone and uninteresting.  It would be like repeating the same line over and over and over again, who likes that??  Little touches here and there keeps continuity in the space.

 The drapes were a neat soft burlap texture with a little header framed in tiny shells.

The banana chair donned the paisley fabric and the comfy rocker/swivel chair matched the sofa in stripes and piped in cocoa.  It is hard to see the rug but it has a woven look to it in a soft grayish-green palette. 

NEXT:

BEFORE

BEFORE

We also tackled the bookshelves in his living room, but nothing else in this space.  Most people run into problems with bookshelves feeling like they never quite look right.  Adding texture and different sizes of accessories balances out the whole look. One of our goals was to hide all the electronic equipment.  Our painter came in and changed the dark tan bookshelves to a soft white that matched the rest of the trim.  It brighten up that living area.  Empty shelves waiting for new life to take residence.















Keeping 'like-things' together brings continuity and interest to the bookshelves.  Greenery is great for hiding cords or plugs or speakers.  We are extremely anti-cords!  Now they make these neat battery operated candles that have timers and fragrance which is optimal for a bookshelf where fire from a candle is a no-no!  Again, light colors on most of the accessories and just a splash of color to add some depth like the antique camera.

 The left bookshelf is wider than the right so it required even more accessories.  Because this house is on the water we added a touch of nautical to our accessories.  The picture isn't big enough but we have a large picnic type basket on the fireplace hearth that holds the electronic equipment.  The ivy pot hides a bunch of cords and the picture frame hides a speaker.

We decorated a few tables in the living room too.  We wanted some texture on the dark furniture, so we place a tweedy runner, some old books, and a rock lamp.

This is a fall arrangement we did on his sofa table.

The owner had one end table that was too big and dark for the space.  We found these awesome chests and made in new table (it still has the ticket on it-opps).

So sad this project has come to an end, it has been a joy to work with this client and such a fun project to work on!

Faithfully Yours,

E.W.