My lovely mobile home
We live on Long Island, New York.. where every thing is expensive. We are about 10 minutes outside of the Hamptons and about one mile away from the North Fork, where there is dozens of beautiful farms and scenic roads. Though our home was in great condition when we bought it, it is just perfect now. My husband and I have spent the past year making the entire house reflect our personalities and preferences.. not the last people who lived here. We have done so many projects that I can’t even count. Prior to this move, we had no skills as far as painting, woodworking & home renovations go. Now, you mine as well call us pro’s! To name a few things that we’ve done: we’ve painted every room in the house, converted the playroom closet into a book nook, renovated the storage pantry room into a small guest bedroom w/ a built in day bed, refinished all of our hand-me-down furniture, painted the kitchen cabinetry white and so on and so on. There hasn’t been a single day where we weren’t working on something. Almost everything we own is either handmade or refinished by us. We believe in repurposing and up cycling old treasures. Our fence in the backyard is made of antique shutters. We collect used shipping pallets so that we don’t have to buy wood. We make so much furniture and home decor items for our house. Only a select few things that we own are actually brand new.. namely, our Joss & Main area rug, our Hunter Douglas blinds and our generic brand bed frame. My hubby and I sleep in the living room. We gave our daughter the largest bedroom and devoted the smaller bedroom to being a playroom. It would’ve never fit anything but a twin-sized bed, anyhow. The guest bedroom sleeps one, so we are forever camping out in the living room. I’m okay with that. Our home isn’t traditional, and I don’t want it to be. We are very happy with our home and how we live. We are very lucky to be so young, but so fortunate. My husband does most of the DIY work himself, while I am the designer. I design and assist and he creates. We are a fantastic team!
If I had to say what my favorite decorating styles are, I’d have to say a combination of shabby chic, French farmhouse and beach cottage. My two favorite designers are Rachel Ashwell and Maria of DreamyWhites.com. My favorite part about my home is how inviting and comfortable it is. Anyone who visits feels an almost instant sense of calm when walking inside. The combination of the soothing color palette and the general design aesthetics are more than enough to instill serenity and comfortability upon anyone who enters. There is a beautiful simplicity about everything, nothing you’d consider ostentatious. I believe in minimalism, and enjoying the small things in life. I love our living room. I love our mudroom and the guest room. I love it all. I can’t pick a favorite part or a favorite room. I love our little back yard. We have plenty of garden space. I grow lots of perennials, herbs and fruits and veggies. This year we had giant mammoth sunflowers and luffah plants that we grew from seed. We have a beautiful brick driveway and pathway that leads to the backyard. We bought cottage-y blue shutters for the front window this past month and we made a DIY window box to give the front of our home some instant curb appeal. We also have vinyl lettering on two of our front steps to give our entryway some style. I love everything.. I am so happy that I can give my family a beautiful place to live. We have worked very hard to make this house a home and I would say that we have, without a doubt, been successful. :)
Our oak floors have finally been whitewashed! In front of the TV is a small Rachel Ashwell area rug, a basket of flowers and a vintage French Enamel pitcher. The small table to the left of the TV is an antique that we refinished. It has three milk glass vases (filled with dried beach grass from my gardens) on top and a bird house handmade with twigs and moss.
Part of our back yard. Bird bath, gnome and lovely overgrown herbs.
One of many autumn vignettes in our living room. All of this is handmade and gives a beach cottage feel.
An antique French bistro chair that we found in the garbage at a home in the Hamptons. We repaired and painted it.
Our daughters book nook. We converted the playroom closet into this little piece of heaven for her.
Antique French bistro chair. We found in the garbage at a rich home in the Hamptons. We took it home, repaired and painted it.
One of many Halloween vignettes. All decorations here are handmade by us.
Part of our 4 year old daughters playroom. Handmade chalk board, Trunki suitcase and closet (book nook) doors.
Part of our 4 year old daughters play room. It tends to be messy from her playing, but I try to keep it as neat as possible!
Part of our 4 year old daughters playroom.
Our mud room. First room in house upon entering. We keep shoes, jackets and some gardening tools in here.
Our mudroom. First room in house upon entering. We keep shoes, jackets and some gardening tools in here.
Mini guest bedroom. This was a bare storage room, we built the built-in day bed and converted it into a guest room that sleeps one.
A "farm house" sign that we made. Made with salvaged wood from the 1800's, chalk paint and a burlap flower.
A little spot on my dresser. Dried hydrangeas from my garden, DIY linen pumpkin & more.
A part of the living room. We refinished this Broyhill dresser with milk paint and new knobs. It was once solid knotty pine.
A little spot on my dresser. A handmade birdhouse that I found in someone's garbage. Made of bark, sticks and tree parts. We painted it white and sanded it to give it a worn, weathered look.
Fall decor in my living room.
Part of my entryway outside my home. Dried hydrangea from my garden, pumpkins, hay stacks and more.
A grain sack pumpkin sits atop our whitewashed bench in front of a faded floral throw pillow. Pumpkin is made with vintage European grain sack and antique buttons. Purchased from artist on Etsy.
Seashells and distressed wooden storage cubes. My mother collected the shells in North Carolina and gave to me as a souvenir!
These sit on top of my dresser. A white-washed picture frame w/ a Simply Shabby Chic floral post card inside, a white distressed metal pumpkin w/ dried hydrangeas inside from my garden and a "Faith" fairy that my mother gave to me for my 16th birthday.
My new Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture weekender bag with faded floral canvas fabric.. next to a handmade white-washed box, starfish and a pink fairy. All sit on top of a white-washed bench that I refinished. It once belonged to my grandmother, who sadly passed away a few months a go.
Mini guest bedroom w/ built-in day bed that my hubby & I created. This was once a bare storage room.. we renovated it into this! There's a day bed that sleeps one, a shabby chic night stand, small and large shelves, a medium-sized closet and a few other fun features! :)
Layered, feminine throw blankets on top of bed.
Layered, feminine throw pillows & blankets on top of bed. White-washed pine dresser & nightstand sit beside it. This is where my hubby & I sleep.
Layered, feminine throw pillows & blankets on top of bed. Refinished, distressed pine dresser sits beside it. This is where my hubby & I sleep.
A new antique piece of furniture that I bought from a local artist. The woodwork is just beautiful. It is white and charcoal.. heavily distressed. It is now being used to display one of my many rustic, fall vignettes.
My revised window box. We made it ourselves from salvaged shipping pallets and white chalk paint. After deciding it needed more "oomph", we stenciled the word "PARIS" in with black spray paint and gave it a moderate sand job for a vintage, weathered look.
Two heart-shaped lavender sachets (left is antique European homespun linen and right is vintage French ticking fabric) sit atop my antique French Bistro chair. They are rested against a grain sack throw pillow.
Our oak floors have finally been whitewashed! We had the flooring company come in and bleach them twice, stain and apply 3 coats of water based poly. They're beautiful!
Our holiday cards are being displayed nicely on a strand of battery operated Christmas lights.. they're hanging on our floral, antique window.
My mudroom.. the one place that I allow clutter :)
I love lazy days in bed with my laptop & a warm cup of hot cocoa
My bed, Simply Shabby Chic throw pillows, a Belle Notte Linens quilt & my refinished white-washed pine dresser
My extremely comforable bed.. I love collapsing onto it after a long day of cleaning, cooking and parenting. I sink right into it and it's like heaven
My vintage French bistro chair and lovely little nightstand
Q