BEACH ELEGANCE!!

In the summer my mind will inevitably go to the beach. Not just the surf and sand but the possibility of living at the beach. Most of us can only dream of such a wonderful possibility, but dreams are a necessary part of life, don’t you think?

In dreaming of living at the beach we can envision a small cottage……..

Or maybe something larger like a gorgeous home in the Hamptons….

Okay, maybe this is too far of a stretch for my dream home at the beach.

How about something in-between like this………….

Now this is just right!!!!!

How would I go about decorating this lovely beach cottage? I wouldn’t want to get to kitschy or thematic, like this……….

As cute as this is, and as fun as the color combination is, it just takes it one step too far for my own personal taste.

I started thinking of what beach elements would I like to have in my home. I decided that I wanted what I will call, “Beach Elegance!”

I needed to define what that meant to me, and what elements I would need to achieve this look.

Colors:

 

Navy and Cream

Any shade of blue from navy’s to aqua's mixed with white, cream or sand.

Other than the view outside the only nautical or beach themed item is the nautical instrument on the tripod. That is just enough to give this room its beach feel and still remain understated and elegant at the same time.

Although there is not a seashell in sight this room still has an elegant beachy vibe to it. I think it is the turquoise bottles and the great rattan coffee table. I would probably use a seascape piece of art in place of the blue and white porcelain artwork.

Turquoise and Cream

I am not completely sure if the art pieces are intaglios or shells, but for the sake of this discussion let’s view them as shells. This vignette is completely elegant and yet with the shell artwork it could be in an elegant beach house, don’t you think?

By having some artwork displayed of ocean scenes this would fit perfectly in an elegant beach home.

In my own personal master bath I have chosen ocean colors to decorate with. By adding just one shell it takes on the elegant beach style that I love.

On the top of my armoire I have ocean colored glass bottles with seashells.

 

I chose the color scheme of blue for the water, soft linen for the sand and white for the shells. I love the look and the feeling my bedroom gives me each time I step inside the door. I take a deep breath and relax. That is exactly what going to the beach does for me too!!!

This room by Meg Braff is elegant and simple. Notice the beach feel not only comes from the color, and the beautiful sea coral prints, but notice the texture of the chairs and the wallpaper. They remind me of the rope used to tie up  boats to the dock. You see, there are ways of having a beach styled room without getting too thematic or kitschy.

Now that I know the color direction I need  to stop and think about what type of ocean inspired elements are appealing to me.

 ELEMENTS:

I love shells, but not placed everywhere in a room. I like them to make a bigger statement. I find that big is better and less is more for me. I also love baskets, rattan and a beautiful seascape for artwork, a well made model sail boat is also appealing to me. If the room has just one or two of the elements it will be just enough to give me the elegant beach house I am looking for.

SHELLS

This mirror makes a wonderful statement because of the abundance of the shells and the size of the mirror. If there were more shells in this area such as in the dish on the console it would be one step too far.

Shells and Baskets

I like the large white coral and the sea fan on the mantel. I would have to eliminate the two elements by the pitcher of hydrangea’s. It is one step too far for me. I like the big statement piece on the mantel.

Having this magnificent sea shell chandelier would be plenty of beachiness in any room. Can you imagine having this view to  look at with breakfast every morning?  Perfection!!

Baskets

It looks as if the bags are all packed up to head down to the beach for the day. The glamour in the mirrored table is a wonderful contrast to the casual shell chandelier and the beach baskets. This is one of my favorite  images that represents my look of,  “Beach Elegance!”

Seascapes

Simple, Elegant and still gives me a seaside feeling.

All the elements in one room. I probably would not had the coral beneath the piece of art. The large coral on the coffee table would have been enough for me.

Sail Boat

One large scaled mode of a sale boat with the addition of the turquoise and cream color scheme gives me the quality of  Beach elegance!!

 Subtle Elegant Beach Style

Sometimes I see a room that is not overtly done in a beach style, and yet I can tell it is by the seaside.

Sea grass rug, beach colors, baskets, it all says a beach-side home to me!!

Not a shell in sight nor a seascape and yet this just says,

“Elegant Beach style.”

So there you have it!! My take on what I like to call, “Beach Elegance.”

If you were to have your own beach house, would it be casual or elegant or maybe somewhere in-between? What colors do you think you would use? Would you do a thematic style of decor or would you go more subtle with your beach elements?

“Enjoy the Process” Of:

Dreaming about decorating your very own  summer beach house.

Kathysue

All of the above images are from Pinterest

The Round-up!!

I had so much fun reading everyone’s comments on Fridays Question of the Day. Apparently the majority of us are very lacking in our organization skills when it comes to family photos. I guess we are more normal than we thought.

However there were a few that seem to have a handle on it. I was amazed at their answers and at how organized they are. 

Here is what they wrote:

That was my frustration, bordering on major mother guilt, for years!!! I had boxes of pictures plus one family album (spanning several albums) for all three grown children. Dilemma: each of our children needed an album of their very own. For some very strange reason, I did not think ahead at the time and make three separate albums, as they grew up together. I was SO busy, I quite frankly thought they'd never leave home!
Now they have families of their own. I took all those pictures and spread them out in piles, categorizing as I went; I had piles covering all the kitchen counters, dining room table, coffee table and floors! I gave myself 3 days and it took 4 ten-hour days for that stage. Then, I sorted more and finally ended up with 900 pictures for each child (3 albums of 300 pictures each). The whole process took 2 weeks, 8-10 hour days. BUT it's done. Not so good pics went to the trash. And I saved any keepers that didn't make the cut for the albums for each child in one of those special boxes for pictures and put it in each grown child's memory box. I debated scanning and making a 'real' book via BookSmart online. I bought a decent scanner but that takes EONS of time. No thank you. and I debated sending a huge box of pictures away to be scanned (too much risk of loss). The three-set album for each child is different from his or her siblings with several common pictures (which I did have scanned). Twas a lot of work and a lot of joy too.
My best advice: give yourself deadlines and stick to them! Listen to music as you are sorting and don't 'dwell' on pictures and memories, until later, when you are all done.

July 22, 2011 7:41 AM

Wow!! I think this reader hit the nail on the head, we just need stick to it and do it!!!

Here is another good idea that a reader had:

Kathysue, ugh, this is difficult question. I have made 2 special albums - one is the "Family History Album" with family from grandparents through grown kids. A treasure. The second one is a Christmas album through 40 years (so far) with one page for each year. It is also a treasure - makes you pare down to essentials. I'm planning one album for each grown child and I have started plain old photo albums for each (of 6)grandchild trying to have 5 to 10 years in an album. The rest of the pics are in photo boxes waiting to be used or tossed. I treasure EVERY black and white old pic of family.....will NEVER get rid of those photos. You've inspired me to finish (at least to this point).

This last comment really seems to have a good system and one I would love to do:

We have gone totally digital on this one. Each year, I make a DVD (the Mac has easy software I use to do this) of all the really good pictures we've taken throughout the year. I organize the DVD into events/seasons like "Birthdays, Summer, Spring Break." These DVDs are kept in a binder and we can pop one in and watch it anytime (it also has music so it is a montage of sorts!). The rest I copy to a flash drive and put them in the safety deposit box. If there's one that I absolutely adore, I print it out and frame it! So, now everybody knows just how Type A I really am!!
Thanks, Kathy for this post, I really enjoyed reading all the comments! M.

Thank you all for your wonderful answers to this weeks Question of The Day!! For those of you who missed out be sure to go to the comment portion of the post and read all the honest and helpful answers!!

Don’t forget I will have a new question each Friday so we can all participate and hopefully along the way learn some new ideas and ways of handling things in our lives!!

“Enjoy the Process” Of:

Being a part of a wonderful community of helpful people in blog land!!

Kathysue

Friday’s Question of The Day!!!

via Kathy Sue on Pinterest

This is the first in what I hope to have as a weekly series. I am asking my readers to email me questions that they want to ask about things to do with our lives, homes, beauty, fashion, children etc. I will then do this weekly post. You will remain anonymous, only your question will be posted.

The answers will come from YOU, my readers, by writing a comment. I of course will also contribute to the answers if I have an answer to the question.

Shall we begin?

Our very first question is:

My question today is what do we do with all the family photographs in boxes, drawers etc. that didn't make it to the photo albums?

 via Kathy Sue on Pinterest

 My answer:

I have a friend that seems to have a really good handle on her photographs. Every year in January she takes her photos, and puts the best ones of every one in a photo album. The pictures that are good but not necessarily album worthy she goes through those and sorts out the best and puts them in a box with the year marked on it. The others are discarded. This seems to have worked quite well for her over the years.

Source: ikea.com via Kathy Sue on Pinterest

Notice I did not say what I do with mine, because it is also a problem for me.

Source: containerstore.com via Kathy Sue on Pinterest

Now it is up to you, dear readers, to give your answers in the comments.

Thank you ahead of time for participating!! This is fun!!!

“Enjoy the Process” Of:

Helping out fellow bloggers by giving them your input!!

Kathysue

Remember to send me your questions  to:

Goodlifeofdesign@yahoo.com

Subject: Friday’s Question of The Day!