Renovation Day 3...

Day 3 started with a trip to the local donut shop for some yummies...and then yet another trip to the hardware, today it was Home Depot. You might ask...why don't you get all this stuff at once? Good question, and here is the answer....We have a tiny, tiny place with no space to put any extra stuff that we are not using right at this moment...and the stores are just right down the street, THANK YOU LORD!

Today we scored a great looking door, just like what I was hoping for in our budget. The budget we allowed for the door was $299.00 or under. We scored this 12-lite door for the low price of $199.00. But wait it gets even better, there was only 1 door in stock and when we went to load it in our van we noticed a dent in the bottom of the door. The man helping us load called for a manager, so we waited and out came this very helpful lady right to our van....unbelievable! She asked me to come in and she would take care of us. When we got inside, it was just like I had thought, it was the last door. She could order us a new one but it wouldn't be here for us to install today, or she could give us a discount to take the door with the dent. OH YEAH, I took the discount. Much to my surprise the discount was way more than I thought it was going to be...she knocked of $75.00 bucks! So for this project we came in way under budget and that is always nice!

Bye Bye Grandma Trailer Door!

It's OUT!

Here is the new door...just a few pieces of trim to finish it up!

As we roamed the aisle of the store Ellen spied this bathroom vanity, a furniture style piece on the floor already put together, it had a small scratch on the leg and it was marked down from $199.00 to $99.00. Pretty good we thought. But on closer inspection the drawer to the unit wouldn't close properly. We asked one of the employees if they would consider reducing the price further and we got the piece for $89.00! The scratch on the leg was nothing and the drawer I think we can make it work....it won't be a bathroom piece so stay tuned to what we do with this little number....


We loaded up the rest of our supplies and headed back to the shack...and the guys proceeded to tear off the ol' grandma trailer front door and install our new one...


We ended the day a little earlier to have a nice steak from our grill at a reasonable hour...


More to come!

Renovation Day 2...

Day two started with with breakfast out (since our kitchen is just a shell) and a lengthy trip to Lowe's for supplies.

We purchased supplies and did some research for the finishes for the kitchen.

What we decided on was something called T-111 to cover the walls in our kitchen and dining room. It is a heavy gauge plywood product in 4x8 sheets, usually for exterior siding applications. We chose this for a few reasons, one for the budget (Approx. $27.00 per sheet) and the other for the aesthetics. We put one coat of bright white paint on the rough surface. We thought it would really soak up the paint but after one coat we liked the way it looked with a little of the wood grain showing through and it had a great white washed coastal look to it. We hung it on the horizontally in the kitchen, instead of it's normal vertical and it really looked fantastic!

Since our trip to Lowes took much longer than we anticipated, we only got two sheets hung today.





On our second trip back to Lowes for some backup supplies we picked up the accent color for the hallway & our focal wall in the dining room. It is a Valspar color called Coffee & Cream. It is a driftwood/putty color and it really looks awesome!

BYE BYE PINK!

In our ol' grandma house...this grandma used a ton of wallpaper which we ALL disliked very much. We had neither the patience or the will to strip all of this wallpaper...so we picked and choose the walls that we could just paint over and the hallway was one of them. This grandma was obsessed with wallpaper and she even cut out parts of the wallpaper and papered them over the wallpaper for accents....and we did have to soak those little cut-outs with warm soapy water and scrapped them off with a metal hamburger flipper....nice!


Stay tuned for more to come...

Renovation Day 1...

On Saturday, we jumped right in and started the DEMO...that is Jerry's favorite part! We got a ton accomplished!

Here is a photo of the Tiny Kitchen Before.

Lovely Avocado Green Cabinets & Strawberry Wallpaper!

Here is the shot of the adjoining Dining Room full of wallpaper & PINK!

After the days end....here is a list of all the things that we could mark off the list:

• Carpet removed
• Tack strips removed
• Kitchen cabinets removed
• Sink removed
• Wall that separated kitchen from dining room
• Wall & baseboard trim removed
• More ol' Grandma items taken to the local Charity

A shot looking from the Kitchen into the dining room.

Disconnecting the plumbing....love that starburst Avocado counter top! :-)

Getting those built in place laminated cabinets down.

That ugly wall that separated the dining & tiny kitchen coming down!

WOW...look at all the light this lets in!


Making the opening larger in the wall to the cabana room brings that light all the way thru!

And now we have a blank canvas! We really all worked really well together and accomplished a ton I think~!

This was after we carried back in all the furniture off the lawn for the night looking straight through our now wide open kitchen & dining area!

Stay Tuned!

We Arrived...

We arrived safely to our Chic Shore Shack and had a few drinks with our friends at one of our favorite hang outs. I scarfed up 1/2 doz oysters on the half shell to welcome myself to the area and we called it a night!

Stay tuned for the upcoming post for what happens next...

Almost there....

Just crossed the State line into Florida, only about 250 miles more!

I am so excited! Been browsing my Coastal Living magazines for ideas,
to keep my mind busy!

Stay tuned!

The Circumstances Beyond My Control...

Was that I had a contract on my house in Kentucky and we had to stay behind and close on the property and move all in about 2 weeks...

To read all about it check out my other blog:

Letters From The Lake House

Laundry Room Re-do...

Last Winter, Dec 2008, when we purchased the Chic Shore Shack...one of the first things that had to be replaced was the washer & dryer. Our laundry area sets inside a double door bi-fold closet in the hall way....and here is a picture of the before.

YUCK! It was dingy and dirty and needed to be fixed ASAP...the walls where covered in this slick type paneling and it had some nasty shelves up that just wouldn't do.

We used a recommended Oil Based Primer that is specifically designed for slick surfaces....because replacing the walls just wasn't in our budget or time frame allowed that we had to work with.

I primarily wanted to go with a white theme, but laundry is depressing enough, so I thought it would be nice to open those bi-fold doors and have a little color! I chose a Valspar Color named Turquoise Sea #1843.

We hung a shelf system that came from Lowes....and we intend to organize the shelves with cute baskets to keep everything neat & tidy...We needed some extra storage space so replacing the shelves were a must. This closet is pretty tight as it also houses the water heater...so getting really good pictures of the transformation didn't work very well!

Stay tuned!

OK...I am Jealous...

My friend Ellen left this week to head to the Chic Shore Shack....

Due to circumstances beyond my control....it will be awhile until I can go :-(

BOOO HOO!

I'm MAD!

My friend Ellen is headed down to My Chic Shore Shack....for a little R&R...and I am soooo jealous! She is taking down some of our stuff that we have collected up to cute'n up the place this fall....

I bet you $100 bucks I will get a call from that girl when she has her toes in the sand sipp'n a cold one....& I'll feel like crying! :-(

Here's to wish'n I was there~!

Crabby in Kentucky!

Whats Old is New Again...

Ok....we purchased one of our first vintage pieces that we are going to re-purpose.

I was thrilled to find it...it is small but I think just the right size to fit in our current 1/2 bath which we are going to turn into a full bath. We found this on one of our latest buying/selling trips to the 50th Anniversary of Brimfield MA Antique Shows...

We are going to add a vessel type sink and a farm house style faucet....so stay tuned for the transformation to come...

It had some super paint & patina on it, green underneath and blue on top with a little bit of white. The open shelf will be great for a basket or just some rolled up towels.

The little drawer with the large vintage glass knob will work good for those bathroom smalls....

To see more about my trip to Brimfield visit my other blog The Red Door Antiques

Photo Contest Entry...

I recently entered my blog header photo in a photo contest on Coastal Living Magazines website...

I am totally thrilled of the fact that maybe, just maybe one of my photos might be published. Just the idea of it is thrilling to say the least!

Crossing my fingers!

Trying to find a way...

to go visit our beach cottage....hmmmm, let me see????

Our renters have returned to Canada, and I am itching to go back to the beach! I feel like a need a vacation! After being on the road for over 3 weeks in Round Top Texas for the Spring Antiques Week Shows for my shop, The Red Door Antiques, it's time for a break.....don't you think! Since I have been home, it has taken me one week to put my shop back together....and now I need to start working on the paperwork from being gone...ugh! Help! I've fallen and I can't get out of this mound of paperwork.... :)

My mind is always on creative (but inexpensive) ways to update the cottage! Our original plan was to head back down to the cottage after my next show in Brimfield, Mass....paint the exterior and possibly start by tearing out the kitchen, but this time, I can't get it done....dang it!

I even thought of taking a van load of gal pals for a long weekend......but I just see time passing before my eyes....so much work, so little time!

I guess I will just keep dreaming for now!

Cheers!

Sweets for the sweeties...

Happy Valentines Day!

Before & After...

Before....there was once a nasty ol' fountain that wasn't working...



After....a beautiful pigmy triple palm.

One of many before & afters to come...

Our Palm Tree Gets A New Hair Cut...

Here is a small video clip of one of our palm trees getting a new hair-do....

Here is Jerry holding one of the seed pods weighing over 30 lbs.

Ice Storm...

Ohhhh....does the Chic Shore Shack seem oh so appealing now!

You know the weather is bad when... Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel is on location near your town.

On Monday evening, this terrible storm that you have been hearing about on the news hit our area with awesome force. We have lost all electric, land phone lines, cell phone lines. The news says it is above freezing here, but it is not. The current temperatures are 25 and doesn't look like it will go above freezing until Sunday. Our tiny town of Eddyville is completely out of electric, which means our shop is closed. The estimated time of our services being reconnected......2 WEEKS!

We have been staying in our neighbors basement, as they have a gas log fireplace so we are not freezing to death. Thanks John & Paula! Today, the guys in our neighborhood chain-sawed our way out and we drove about 100 miles to find a motel and get some hot showers, buy more supplies & get in touch with family & friends to let them know that we are still alive.
Kentucky Utilities has at this time 176,000 homes/business currently out of power and the number is still rising. They are getting assistance from other utility companies around the U.S. and some of them are saying that the damage they face here are worse than the conditions after Hurricane Ike.

The cracks & pops of the trees in our woods around the lake sounds like gun shots being fired as the trees filled with ice fall to the ground. It's hard to imagine being in the middle of one of these "situations" that you hear about on the news, until you are actually in one. It's easy to take for granted things like heat, water & the basics until you are without them. We are making the best of our situation, but it makes me think of the elderly people and the ill...it's also scary not to be able to make contact with people via phone. I have been unable to speak with any of my employees at my antique shop, as they are all in the same boat as we are. I am hoping that they are all doing well. At our neighbors, we are at least warm, eating well (anything that can be made on a BBQ Grill & Drinking (some adult beverages)....and being thankful for what we do have.

A hot shower felt fantastic........we will be heading back to our homes tomorrow A.M. so we will go back to no communications at all. If you don't hear from me, we are doing as as good as can be expected. Today, we are working on trying to find a generator....and enjoying HOT water! Cheers for now!

White...

Primarily the cottage will be done in a White palette, but what is the correct white color to use without it looking like primer? Can you use multiple shades of white? Should the ceiling be bright white? So many questions....about White.

Normally I am a color person all the way. But I am always drawn to white rooms, white displays, so I asked myself....could I live this way? I really don't know, but since the shack will not be my permanent dwelling space, I say what the heck, I'll give it a try. With one small caveat....we will also be renting the cottage, so we will have to be mindful of what renters may due to WHITE.....eeek! So that being said it has to be user friendly in every way!

I am so torn between using a monochromatic color scheme of whites or using the coastal colors accents and white basics......orrrrrr maybe nautical colors like navy blue, red & white???? Oh the possibilities are endless....and so are the choices. I think I need another beach drink...

Cheers