Infused with a coastal vibe
Being the Mum of three wonderful sons, I feel truly blessed to share a coastal cottage with my boys, their friends and cousins. With this experience in mind, I’ve curated this Coastal Cottage Mother’s Day Gift Guide, knowing what kind of presents I would appreciate…
While we’re all physically distancing and socially isolating, I’m getting a little antzy. Which means either something gets painted, rearranged or organized. Here are my steps for organizing the mud room, or the “boot room” for those of you who are more posh. With the…
So this sweet little chocolate brown labrador retriever, whom we’ve named River, has joined our family. While I love her to pieces, I don’t want all her utilitarian “stuff” taking over our home. Why does pet equipment have to look so ugly? Creating a dog…
Have you heard this term and aren’t quite sure what is eDesign? Simply, it’s working with an interior designer online rather than in person. Here are the typical steps of working with an e-designer step one: pick a package You’ll be asked to pick a…
I’m one of those people who decorate for just about every holiday and season. Although, I’m not a big fan of green so I tend to skip St. Patrick’s Day which is shameful given my Irish heritage. I fancy myself a crafty person, so easily…
Autumn is my very favourite time of year. Warm days, cool nights, sweaters, pumpkins, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin patches…. do you sense a theme? And then the coast is my very favourite place to be so combining them together results in me being I’m in a…
The cost of owning a vacation home is significant. Property taxes, utilities, insurance and maintenance all add up to a hefty price tag. While we love our vacation home, we can’t use it all the time so thought we could cover some of the costs…
It seems that every retailer and magazine is on the “coastal look” bandwagon. From Serena and Lily, to Pottery Barn, to Crate and Barrel, they are all featuring a coastal vibe. Of course, it is that time of year but it truly is a year…
Have you ever picked a paint colour to find that it didn’t turn out to be anything like you expected, once it was on your walls? It can be difficult just knowing where to start when choosing a colour palette for your home. It’s quite…
My first victim There’s an expression in my house: you better not sit still too long in one spot or you’ll get painted. Moving into a temporary home, we didn’t want to invest money in new furniture but our old furniture didn’t suit the beach…
The inspiration I first saw the idea for this craft project in a store and (being cheap) thought that I could easily make it. As it turns out, I was right! As it was such a simple project, I’m sharing how to craft an oyster…
Decorating away the post-Christmas blues The house feels so empty once all the Christmas decorations come down. To combat those post-Christmas blues, I decorate with winter white decor. As with New Year’s resolutions, white feels like a fresh new start to the year in anticipation…
For years and years, I’ve been hosting wreath making workshops for friends. It’s allowed me to hone my wreath making skills as I’ve taught countless others to make theirs. I’m now also hosting workshops at the local garden centre. Taking it one step further, I…
The driveway to our beach house is hard to spot in the pitch black darkness of the night. And sometimes even in daylight! I have ugly markers with red reflectors that I bought at the local hardware store. The markers do the job but I…
We are so lucky and fortunate to have two homes. One is a vacation lakefront cottage I have previously posted about and one is a dark and dreary log “chalet” on the ocean. We hope one day to remove the log home, repurpose it somewhere…
Pronounced “hoo-guh”, there is no direct English translation for the Danish word hygge but cozy comes close. The concept is about finding contentment and well-being through enjoying the simple things in life. The word may have its origins in the 1560’s word “hugge” which is…
Step One: Inspiration So while out on a bike ride near my cottage, I came across this barn with the most amazing colours in its roof. Quite the random patchwork but they seem to work together so well. I love how the blues evoke the…
I absolutely love this time of year. Words are not possible to describe that perfect autumn scent of falling leaves mixed with wisps of smoke. If only I could bottle that. Early October at the lake is always awesome. Cool nights make for early morning…