Someday Beach House Update ONE, Living And Dining Room Plus The Swim Caps

If you missed the post where I announced that we bought a beach house it is here.  We have had the beach house just over three weeks and we have been BUSY.  The beach house is about an hour and a half drive, so I have either gone down for the day or have spent the night at least once a week since we got it.  Tom and I have been busy.  Amy (Into Vintage) came down with me overnight and sewed her little heart out.  Progress has been made, but there is a long way to go.  I will update periodically. 

3 weeks in.  Here is an update.

The living room and dining room are coming together.  

Those two rooms are the rooms you see when you walk in the front door, so it is nice to have those to welcome me when I go back and forth.  Most of the vintage goodies that I have in the living room are those that I had tucked away for my #somedaybeachhouse.  I got the rug the other day and it fits perfectly (at overstock.com).  The chairs are a work in progress.  I got them from my Auntie Kathy who passed away last year.  Amy is making me new chair cushions for them.  I have been collecting vintage bark cloth for this project and Amy is rocking them with her amazing sewing.  She sewed 30 yards of piping for this project.  I owe her big time.

I had this pink table waiting in my garage for my #somedaybeachhouse. The lamp shade was also waiting and found at an estate sale a couple of years ago.  Most of the shells came from my Auntie Kathy.

Note the vintage fish themed waste paper baskets.

I have had this printer's tray stashed away the entire time we have lived in this house, unused.  (19 years)  It will be fun to fill with beach treasures.

I got this vintage shower door the other day from the estate of my sister in laws grandparents.  It was free and features fish and seaweed.  It is really hard to photograph into the window.  I had no idea what I was going to do when I got it.  I decided to use it as a window privacy screen in our living room window.  Tom and I hung it on our last visit and I could not be happier. Here is it looking in from the driveway.  (The house will be painted a fun color this summer)

My aquarium cabinet just makes me happy. I bought the cabinet from a girlfriend and painted the inside blue. I wanted it to look like an aquarium. I added my collection of ceramic fish and some shells and coral that were my Auntie Kathy's. My aunt passed away last year and had lived overseas in the Marshall Islands. She had collected and crafted with shells and had some wonderful things.

I found the inflatable sea horse Sandy, last year at Farm Chicks.  How perfect is it here at the beach house?

I got this display cabinet a couple of months ago at a local antique mall. It was locked when I bought it and Tom ended up taking the back off and removing the lock to open it.  It will display the oddball vintage sea themed treasures.  My favorite so far is the inflatable sea gulls that I found at a local estate sale. They are in the original packaging.

I have never had a spot for my $5 estate sale lamp at my house.  I covered a new shade with some vintage fabric from my stash and it will shine brightly at the beach.  The end table it is sitting on will probably get a coat of paint.  It was a free at the curb table (along with a matching coffee table).

I really love the bleached wood wall in the living room. It is a focal point and I have made the most of it.  The built in bookcases on the side are a bonus.  This pink piece was a twin headboard.  I got it after we bought the house hoping it would work on this wall. It did.  I like how the S design looks like waves.  The paper mache anchor I have had FOREVER and I found it in estate sale land.
This wall is just the perfect place for all the vintage beach eye candy that I have collected.

The dining room and the living room are one big room.  I painted the dining room white.  The table and chairs I found in Seattle after I saw them on an Instagram account (Rusticmint...thanks Jeanette).  We will be installing a new light fixture once I find one I like.

This cabinet I found locally and I love the unusual lines.  It has a floral decal on each of the sliding doors.  I have never seen another like it.
The crazy big coral pieces are from my Auntie Kathy.  It was fun to finally get my seahorses out of the bin they have been stored in.

There is still lots of tweaking in these two rooms.  I'm off to a good start though and the rooms make me happy.  Speaking of happy, I FINALLY got my swim caps displayed.  They are living in the family room.  That room still has a ways to go, but Tom and I hung the shelves for them on our last visit and I got them displayed. (We are sleeping in this room too until we get the carpet out of our bedroom, so that is my bed in the foreground of the photo)

It really is fun to see the house come together.  So many ideas going around in my head and so many treasures to display.  We are working on pulling up the carpet in the bedrooms and hall.  That is a chore in itself since the foam pad was GLUED to the floor in one room. In the other room INDOOR OUTDOOR CARPET was GLUED to the floor.  Progress is being made though.  I'll update periodically.  Fun to share!

Happy Day!  

p.s. the swim caps are displayed on new wig stands that I found at a local wig shop.  Aren't they cool?  I love that they came in pink and white!








 

Comments

[vivian]

OMG!! I do not know what else to say! Simply freaken fINtastic! seriously.. Omgoodness! your collections make me drool.
keep posting!
xoxo
vivian

[Doreen]

Love this little tour of your new beach house! So happy for you that your dream came true! 💖 Your collections are just jaw dropping! My faves are those swim caps and that cabinet full of fish! Glad we can all come along and watch the transformation😊💕

[rosemary]

Everything is so fabulous! I have your pink stork flower frog all boxed up. Once we get moved this weekend, i'll get it in the mail :)

[Michelle]

Everything is turning out fantastic! Do you ever visit Rag and Bone, just south of the outlet stores in Seaside? They get some pretty unique things in, my husband and I love it. Actually, our kids do, too. I look forward to seeing more of your beautiful beach house!

[janet]

Wow! You have been busy. Love the bark cloth chairs, plastic fish in bowls, etc. (The tin of lamb's livers is a little gross)
Did your collection of swim caps fill out your display space perfectly or did one or two not make the cut? They do look fantastic. Great job.
I'll bet the neighbors are peeking in your windows to see what is going on in there.
Enjoy your someday beach house, you deserve it.

[Kipper]

I LOVE it! Have you thought of using AirBNb for times you won't be in residence? We had to deal with staples every three inches on the foam pad when we took out the wall to wall carpet here in the city. It was a miserable task. Getting glued down carpet and padding sounds even nastier. Time to get college boy and his friends to come help you!

[Musings from Kim K.]

Taking a break from yardwork to stalk your IG feed. A bonus to see a blog update too! It's all coming together perfectly. I couldn't be happier for you. Magazine worthy!!!

[Kathy]

Amazing how far you have come in just three short weeks! I really like the colors you are using. That little pink table is adorable.
Sorry to hear about the glue on the floors but at least there are hardwoods under.

[Melissa's Antiques]

Oh Laurie! This post really makes me want to have a #somedaybeachhouse now, even though I live nowhere near a beach... ;)

[Marci]

Wow, what an absolute blast you must be having!!! I am so going to enjoy following along on this adventure!!

[Sheryl Remy]

You have done a wonderful job. I bet it feels wonderful to bring out everything you have put away for a future someday. I love it all.

[Erica]

So fun to see all your progress here and on IG! And as for the fun color your are going to paint the outside? The suspense is KILLING me!!

[Elizabeth]

It's all just adorable! You are doing a fabulous job. I'm trying to look and take in every single detail I can find in the pictures! How fun! Are all your swim caps out or do you have some that aren't displayed? The stands are perfect, I thought you might have painted them! Enjoy your sweet beach house and congrats!

[Erica H]

Wow! You already have enough collections to FILL the house! It's looking fun!

[Trish]

Hi hello,
I'd love to interview you about your swimming cap collection for www.thevintagepost.com
If you could get in touch with me at [email protected] and we can chat! Exciting!
Trish