Our Beach House

Beach House Patio Table Decor

August 1, 2021Coastal Interiors, Our Beach House, PatioAnneke McConnell

When we moved out of our beach house in the middle of March, we had a general plan and timeline for the project, but thought we’d be back in our home to enjoy the last half Summer here in the Pacific Northwest. Fast forward through unexpected renovation surprises (all those fun things you find behind the walls) ;-), and we’re just barely getting back to putting it all together! A Fall return home is now the reality.

Our home may be in an upheaval, but I knew I had to pull our patio together to enjoy the rest of the Summer. Unfortunately everything except our furniture is packed and stacked away in storage boxes!

I ordered home items on Walmart, looking specifically for items with two day shipping. With all of the running around of kids this Summer and renovation work I’m responsible for, having Walmart ship everything to our front door so quickly was such a time saver for me! I wanted to create a look that was inviting and classic, yet bright and fun, and everything arrived just in time for this weekend’s guests.

Since Summers are THE BEST time in the Pacific Northwest, I didn’t want to waste another weekend not getting to enjoy the beautiful weather. Walmart Home has a large selection of items and something for everyone. I was able to find the perfect reversible navy and white striped pillows, beautiful brass and glass candle holders, and a water hyacinth tray, plus so much more.

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*Thanks to Walmart for sponsoring this post.

Girls' Shared Bedroom Progress - The Rug is HERE!

November 13, 2019Bedroom, Coastal Interiors, Home Decor, Kid's Bedroom, Our Beach HouseAnneke McConnell

Girl's Beach House Bedroom Before and After

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Changing up your rug can have a pretty BIG impact on a space. It typically grounds the room and can be a jumping off point for the color palette in your design. I recently updated our girl’s shared bedroom as a partner in design with Serena & Lily, brightening the bedroom with their beautiful blue and cream Amelia Rug.

It’s been fun to talk with our girls who are getting older now (hello teen years!) about what they like in design, so they definitely had a hand in picking out a rug for their bedroom. That can be tricky too because they both have different tastes!

A lot of items in their room have been a mishmash as we’ve been playing “musical rooms” since we moved in, trying to make the most of the awkward design and layout.

Now that no one is changing rooms until we officially renovate (hopefully sooner than later!), we’re ready to add some more personal touches and incorporate some big girl design.

We started with a rug in their room that was way too small at just a 5’ x 8’. It was originally purchased for our entryway and then ended up being a bit too thick for the door clearance.

This new rug is an 8’ x 10’ and now fills up most of the bedroom, and drastically brightens it up.

I knew that the rug would be beautiful, but I was actually shocked at the difference. Take a look at the before and after!

Girl's Bedroom Makeover Before and After

Blue & Cream Hand Knotted Wool Rug / White Cavallo Linen Duvet Cover (multiple colors and sizes) / Avery Alpaca Throw Blanket (more colors) / Light Blue Topanga Pillow Cover (more colors and lumbar size) / Whitley Embroidered Pillow Cover (blue available) / Suede Ava Pillow Color (more colors and sizes and dual sided)

From the moment the Amelia Rug arrived you could immediately see and feel the different in the quality which Serena and Lily is well known for. We had the same experience when we received the Tulum Rug for our Master Bedroom (that rug is PERFECT alone or for layering and made of hemp and cotton).

Our maltipoo Copper approves! Most days he keeps watch staring out the window from our oldest bed. :-)

Girl's Beach House Bedroom with Light Blue and Cream Rug

Since most of Serena & Lily’s decor coordinates, we were able to pull other items from around our house like the Avery Alpaca Throw, their light blue Topanga Pillow Cover, the Suede Eva Pillow Cover, and Cavallo Linen Duvet Cover. Here you can see a close up of the rug and the beautiful blues, cream, and gray pattern which is made from hand-knotted wool.

If you’ve ever wondered how you can breathe new life into any room of your home, our girl’s bedroom progress proves that switching out your rug can make a HUGE impact. We still need to add some shiplap to the walls, a wall sconce, and a few more items, but overall we’re all really happy with how it’s coming together!

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SERENA & LILY RUGS

From the Beach,

Anneke

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Beach House Patio

August 28, 2018Coastal Interiors, Edesign, Home Blog Posts, Our Beach House, Our Home, SummerAnneke McConnell

We have one more week until our kids go back to school, and while summer vacation is winding down, I realized I've shared our patio quite a bit on Instagram, but not on the blog. Better late than never!

I didn't get around to completing the entire plan I blogged about here, BUT it has been an amazing Summer here in the Pacific Northwest none the less and I have no complaints (well....other than we really need a better kayak storage solution!). The kids are healthy and happy and we've had a lot of great fun as a family.

We recently had a progressive dinner on our street with all of our neighbors (walking beach side from patio to patio), which made for the perfect opportunity to photograph our progress on the space. Here's what we ended up with for now!

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The good news for you is that we've had a season to be using all of these items (some more than a few years), so I have some pros and cons we've discovered with daily use. :-)

It's a little tough to capture this space since we are so close to our neighbor's (that we love) and I try to respect their privacy!

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Here are a few things worth noting after using everything for awhile:

1. The adirondack chairs actually have self storing ottomans which we LOVE!! They recline to three different settings as well. I shared this a lot in my IG stories, but forgot to capture it in these photos! We have loved having a set of these on our back deck. They are available in 4 colors, but classic bright white was a winner for us.

2. We've really enjoyed having an expandable table wood dining set for larger gatherings with friends and family. We previously had an older metal and glass table that was a stand in until we could get something larger. Most of the time we have three of the chairs on each side and the ends have an outdoor wicker chair (ours are sold out, but for similar ones look HERE and HERE).

3. The HUGE umbrella is actually a rectangle. I love that it is large and covers the entire set, along with the solar LED lights built in, but unfortunately we deal with enough wind that it will spin and get out of alignment. With a round umbrella that's no big deal, but a rectangle is something else. If it's windy enough to spin the umbrella, it's not likely we are eating outside anyhow, so it's been okay.

4. The blue outdoor trellis rug underneath the dining table has unfortunately not been the best fit for our location. It has faded pretty quickly with the sun beating on it everyday and whenever it gets wet from watering our plants or kids running around after swimming, it takes forever to dry and is just squishy under our feet. :-( It's such a bummer because it is a really beautiful, soft rug and I'm certain it would work in other settings beautifully, like a covered dining patio or seating area, but it didn't work for us. From other experience, we will only buy rugs for our patio that are like THIS RUG because we know they dry fast and don't fade as easily.

5. The fire columns are a BIG YES!! They are so easy to use and move around. Plus, they put out just the right amount of heat and ambience with the adjustable flame. Ours were from Target, but are sold out. HERE is a similar one.

6. Last to make mention of is our patio sectional. We've had it a few summers now, and other than someone stealing one of our ottomans, it has been a great fit and held up to the elements. This is actually the first summer we had cushion storage, so I think that says a lot for holding up well to kids and bird fly-bys, snacking, sand, seaweed, and more. We love that it is modular so it has seen a few arrangements over time. It used to be where our dining set is now! :-)

I hope our little beach house patio gives you some ideas and inspiration for your own space and these reviews help answer any questions you may have!

Cheers the the last few weeks of Summer!

From the Beach,

Anneke

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Beach House Dining Room Progress

August 23, 2018Coastal Interiors, Dining Room, Home Blog Posts, Home Decor, Interiors, Our Beach House, Our HomeAnneke McConnell

*disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links and all opinions are my own.

You guys have requested to see more of the process of updating the rooms of our beach house, and after a recent poll on Instagram, the majority of you voted for an update of our dining nook first.

I have to say I'm pretty happy with the progress so far! The lighting arrived yesterday and the new rug should be here any minute. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited for today's deliveries!

The most recent addition was this white buffet cabinet (also here) and it is even BETTER in person than I though it would be! I was a little concerned at first with the white on white and all of the lines, but it works beautifully. Since the space is both small AND open, adding new white curtains, painting the door white, and adding the white buffet has created a really cohesive look, making the room feel bigger and brighter.

Our beach house is relatively small at about 1900 sq. ft. and when you walk into the house you basically have an entryway, a small living and dining space, and the kitchen and nook by the window on the water side. Minus a laundry room/bathroom and lower guest bedroom and bath, that's the entire lower floor.

Here is a BEFORE PHOTO of the home when we had it listed as a vacation rental. It's changed SO much since then, in particular, when I painted the cabinets a glossy bright white and added hardware.

Here's where we are now!

1. The table is a thrifted piece I painted and refinished. I did a tutorial on it awhile back about how to whitewash furniture. Since then, I've painted the base with white chalk style paint.

2. The gray tufted settee sits in front of the window with the water view. Even though that door leads to our garage (aka major foot traffic), and the placement of the settee isn't ideal, it's a favorite spot for everyone in our house at different times of the day and gets used a lot.....and I mean A LOT!

3. I updated that small wall to the right of the garage door with horizontal planks from, believe it or not, repurposed wood blinds. What can I say? I had an impulsive idea (not uncommon), and went for it! We had some previous wood blinds just laying around, so I cut them to various lengths and installed them with a brad nailer. Then I filled the holes and painted them Benjamin Moore's Simply White in Semi-Gloss. That's the same color as our kitchen cabinets, doors, and trim through our house.

My last post about Coastal Dining Chairs was because one of our last steps (after installing the chandelier and rug) is to choose our dining chairs. There are 5 of us in our family, the foot traffic from the garage, the settee, and to the right of it all is our living room. Needless to say, there's not a lot of space and I don't want it to look cluttered, so comfy, discreet, and low profile is essential. I'm still debating what to go with so any insight from you guys is welcome and very much appreciated!!

And yes, that is a Mitsubishi Electric ductless mini-split system and we LOVE it! Should I do a blog post on it? We've had ours for over 5 years so I can attest to long-term satisfaction!