Migraines sure get in the way of life and blogging!!!!

Hi friends....anyone out there suffer from migraines????.....I'm hopefully finally coming out of one of my longest stretches...started Monday night and I'm just starting to feel better...(almost afraid to say it out loud).....I've tried so many things to stop these darn things.......seems like in the end,  time is the only thing that works...waiting it out...while taking over the counter, prescription drugs etc..(although a live in massage therapist would be fabulous!!!)...lol.....so hard when you have children and tons of projects you want to work on and blog about......I'm truly blessed that this is my only health problem...every time I have one and am down for the count, I think and pray for all of those moms out there that are suffering some serious illness and are never feeling good....It is sooo true that we take our health for granted.....hopefully able to get out on my bike and hit some tag sales this morning......

WISHING YOU ALL A HEALTHY & HAPPY FUN FILLED WEEKEND!!!

XOXO, Mariaelena......:)

Old house elements in a new home...

Happy Monday friends....as you may or may not know, I LOVE old homes...I mean really old..and, as much as I love both of our homes, neither one of them is very old.....our burbs house was built in 1963 (old, but not old enough).. and our beach house was rebuilt last year.  When building the beach house, we tried to incorporate some old elements to give the new house character and comfort....here are some photos of us trying to do just that.....

A cane headboard in the master bedroom....

wide baseboard moldings.....woops!!...is that sand on the floor??

a Shaw original apron - farmhouse sink..did you know that they have been making them since 1897?

pocket doors.....

4 inch wood floors stained with a dark stain...they look much lighter in this photo for some reason...

antique style light fixtures....I especially LOVE this one...it's in the master bathroom....boy oh boy, was that a bear to put together.....

balusters incorporated into the cabinetry...

glass knob hardware on cabinets....

thick crown molding...

vintage style crystal chandelier.....

and one of my favorite elements in the house....the glass doorknobs.....LOVE THEM!!

as the saying goes....."It's all in the details".......
Thanks so much for stopping by!!!
xoxo, Mariaelena


linking up to:
http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/
http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/

DO OVER!!!...spa colored accents...replacement post...lol

Hi friends!!!....I'm actually doing a do-over post mostly because I LOVE this photo and I can finally put it up with a good quality pic...so, this replaces that awful pic I used with my phone last week.....Happy Summer!!!!....:)

These are some of the spa colored accents I have been collecting to use in decorating the beach house....the quality of this pic is much better than the pic I posted from my phone last week.....The blue jar is filled with sea glass we've collected over the years...the jar itself was found under the sea by my husband with the glass lid...the table was a fabulous tag sale find I picked up at home before heading to the shore for the summer...$5.00...perfect!!...since this pic, I have filled the bottom with some great beach reads....enjoy your day!!...:)
xo, Mariaelena


linking up to:
http://creatingahouseofgrace.blogspot.com/
http://athomewithk.blogspot.com/
http://pinkpostcard.blogspot.com
/http://boogieboardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://firefliesandjellybeans.blogspot.com/
http ://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/
http://whilehewasnapping.blogspot.com/#axzz1SpLaTSgj
http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/
http://junkernewbie.blogspot.com/
http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/
http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/
http://lbratina.blogspot.com/

Subway tile love....

Happy Tuesday....I am finally up and running on my new laptop...still so much to learn...I'm hoping this first post using this format works.....wish me luck...here it goes.....

This is our master bath vanity area in the beach house....I LOVE subway tile and the character it has....I'm a lover of old homes and I thought using subway tile throughout this new house would give it a touch of old charm....

I found this beaded strip to accent the subway tile...one of my favorite things..

more beading

we carried it into the mb shower

we chose this beautiful subway border surrounded in more beading...

kitchen backsplash...simple and timeless...

I even used it as the tile on the fireplace surround...as you can see, we didn't need much so I thought being that the family room is open to the kitchen, it was the logical choice...(even though the tile installer disagreed)   I love how it turned out!!

ok, so I'm obsessed with this tile, but here is the girls bathroom....when I like something,  I stick with it...haha

closeup of the border in the girls bath...

girls vanity

isn't it pretty???

xoxo, Mariaelena


linking up to:
http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/
http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/
http://www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com/
http://verymerryvintagestyle.blogspot.com/

Aqua/Spa colored accents....

Ok, so I lied...one more post from my phone....(hubby ordered my computer yesterday)....here are a few spa colored accents I've been collecting to use as my accent color on the main living floor of the beach house....love this color...so serene and lovely, just like the beach.....once my laptop is up and running, I'll have these items in more pics....want you all to be able to see them in a better photo quality....boy, this little droid is getting a workout!!!...haha



That jar that has sea glass in it, was found by husband under the sand in the bay about 25 years ago...It's aqua blue glass with a glass lid that was still on there...can you believe it???...it's one of my all time favorite gifts he gave me....the little white table was a fabulous tag sale find before we left the "burb" house....I got it for $5.00....already painted white!!!!!...LOVE it....



Yay!!!...tag sale finds...

Happy Friday friends!!!......Look what I found today at one of my favorite annual tag sales at the beach.....all of this for $7.00.....that's 2 yards of toile fabric!!!!

great little mirror...don't know if you can see the detail, but it has a beaded trim....love that...I think I may paint it...I can always use some more crystal candle sticks....a good summer beach paperback and my favorite purchase of the day....black toile fabric....I think I'll be making pillows for the "burb" house in our master bedroom, although I am loving how it looks draped over that chair here at the beach house too......
ps: hopefully this will be the end of the phone pic posts....ordering a laptop this weekend and then on to some serious blogging!!!!!
enjoy your weekend...
xoxo, Mariaelena

linking up to:
http://athomewithk.blogspot.com/
http://creatingahouseofgrace.blogspot.com/

Adding a bit of beach flair..

Happy 4th of July!!!!

I picked up this sofa table to use under our tv....it was looking a bit plain to me so I added some glass knobs and a bit of color and texture with seashells etc., collected by my kids....simple and lovely....it looks so much better....

xo, Mariaelena

sorry for the poor pic quality...still running the blog on my phone....:)

linking up to:
http://creatingahouseofgrace.blogspot.com/
http://athomewithk.blogspot.com/
http://lbratina.blogspot.com/
/http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/