Thank you for your patience of late. The mantra, eat * sleep * paint * repeat has played on a permanent loop for months. How did Summer arrive with such abandon? Rationing food supplies in favour of chalky, vintage colours, we have begun the transformation of this lovely house; a little faded in her glamour but still quite beautiful.
The first space to get a makeover was the kitchen. All else was chaos, but we could eat and have a space to get our minds clear for two minutes! Like the Forth Road bridge, it is very probable that once the house is complete, this room will need re-doing as it has taken knocks already from mucky workmen and a variety of renovation dirt! The floor is also on the list for the lottery win.
A much longed for bird-watching window, waiting for it’s new Morris blind.
Ah the joy of unpacking life’s luxuries and finding them!
Roses in one of the vintage French jugs on the kitchen windowsill.
Thanks to several bird feeders outside, washing up is a pleasure.
Finally gifts from Christmas past have made their way home
An improved, bright and functional kitchen space with lots of potential. Once the other rooms downstairs are finished too, there will be a dining room leading off this space and plates in plate cupboards and not cardboard boxes!
This is the bathroom, which already had a big personality and just required a re-paint and the addition of a long sleeper shelf, with filigree brackets for storage.
Plants and old glass bottles have settled well into corners in here, and echo the green of the huge trees outside.
Finished off with a hand-painted mural of wisteria and roses around the window.
Many years ago, a very young Liz at the Beach Hut, had a Mopsie. Who had a little herb garden at the back of their cottage. In this garden were scents of wild garlic and herbs, mossy stones, exotic ferns poking out of crevices and shady corners where interesting wildflowers and fairies hid. Every visit would find a little girl also hiding there.
The first time we saw this house, it was the secret garden that did it for me. Instantly it felt like home. An old stone wall, probably an outhouse or stable in years gone by when the building was first built 300 years ago, encloses a scruffy little hotch-potch patch, perfect for alpines, a rampant rose and a variety of herbs. It is a place to plonk ourselves in the morning with coffee, and at night with something stronger. It is far from finished, but houses an old Belfast sink and a variety of bird perching- platforms and old lanterns: rich, dense greenery and pops of colour from surprise species of flowers, which suddenly reveal themselves with each new change in the weather. This space is a little sanctuary, welcome to our Mopsie Garden.
Every corner has a little bit of fairytale.
We even have our very own grape vine creeping in from next door!
A perfect spot for tea
Whatever you make it in!
Of course, at this time of year, even on the sunniest of days, our natural instinct is to make plans for Autumn days to come. And ever since we moved into this home, our biggest challenge has been how to create a cosy living space in time for this winter, complete the required damp proofing, and finish all the decorative challenges afterwards.
Living Room
One of the original features was the fireplace, with a pretty nice wood burning fire already there. The doors open out so it feels like an open fire which I prefer on cold winter nights and of course, Christmas Eve.
You will be pleased to note I haven’t zoomed in on the spiders in this window seat, choosing to appreciate it’s merits from afar!!
Frustratingly, almost as soon as painting was allowed, damp proofing began, rendering the space unusable for weeks, with various jobs slotted in as things dried and were cleaned. New dado rails, shelves, some skirting boards, painting, wallpapering, a lot of bleaching and cleaning and a room began to emerge. The floors however, took a lot longer, as the carpet store decided to cancel the order due to stock issues. …… ((((BREATHE)))))))
Cushions were made for the window from Ikea blankets
Max decided the window seat was his!
And finally after our recent travels to Greece.. the carpet fitters arrived! Ahhhh!!! that lovely smell of new carpets! Especially after standing on carpet grippers and chasing moths out with the old ones!
I can’t tell you how long I have coveted my new sofa and how long it has sat in plastic, waiting to be unwrapped!!!
Ta Dah!!
And finally, after what has felt like an absolute age, some of the furniture is starting to find it’s place at last! We actually have a living room!
Things that have been tripping us up look and seem to fit just right. Of course we will jiggle things about..
Change the odd rug or cushion, but that’s half the fun.
At least we can read a book and get a seat. (This one is a love seat for the more amorous guests)
A place to sew or listen to music.
Soooooo looking forward now to a cooler night so we can light a fire!
How long do you think this will be pet free?
A few of the textures, colours and patterns from the living room.
Maybe, one of these days, there might be time for five minutes off?
Once upon a time there was a little girl who dreamed of living in a white cottage by the sea….
(Not in the sea)
It just had to be magical .
An old boat fashioned into a hut? . A perfect childhood den..
So, fast forward forty (odd) .. actually very odd years…but that’s another story…Wigwams in the garden/ hide outs in-between sheds/ childhood bedrooms designed and redesigned for a (usually- bored parent)Â /numerous crazy junk-filled student flats/ an escaped marital castle. a temporary refuge and our hug house which help put us back together again…..but still, this little dream of a little blue and white house remained..
My small person and I kept feeding the plan, despite massive hurdles. It had to have no stairs, and be a place of sanctuary . Where flowers grew, and the kettle was on.
DCF 1.0
We imagined…..
A seasidey, comfortable little house where people would feel at home, hydraengas in the garden and shells around the edges, inspired by trips to France and Greece and a love of deep Blue from iconic paintings and seaside holidays, ( So much so that my daughter has blue as her middle name.)
I knew all our years of looking would be worth it. The ingredients were coming together and we had faith in finding our home. We knew it was here.
As you already know, we spent a long time over the last year doing the groundwork, the garden, the inside etc. Finally, this week, we managed to get the walls done and it was like coming home..
…Can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, and the mess was worth it. !
We were lucky to have the best village painter and the weather held out so we got the job done in two days. Finally the whole picture came together .
Day one.
Day two.
So.. here is our home…
And the stripey detail drainpipes..
And the funky tattoo doorstep with the fishermen donated by the other beach hut lady.
And the beach blue windows..
And the additional path colours.. Which will be a lifelong project I think. A bit like the forth road bridge…
And the fab shipwreck wood half gate which will keep our neighbour’s little dog from escaping when we pup sit… ( It is a work in progress as it needed to go up before the rain hit… )… Another masterpiece from my dustbin- cover-upper-erer…
And the beach…( which will be a long term working painting given the temperamental nature of my joints and the weather here!)
That’s Molly giving it the once over… Again, it needs another coat.. not least because of the er.. snow affect my lovely painter accidently added in a mini blizzard. But also it will have more detail in it as time goes by…
Hope you like it. Think my six year old self would be quite pleased, given how many small people have congregated here this Summer!
I can feel the weather and my body getting less adaptable already, so I am grateful for these last few months of long sunshiney days. If I have had an ounce of energy it has gone into making what we have here, chipping away until each piece is done. It has been done on a shoestring, it hurts, its frustrating, but for now the biggest things are complete. You need the patience of a saint to build something yourself, and the skin of a rhino to throw off your critics….My rhino skills are sadly lacking but the positive comments and new friends made over the fence have more than made up for that.