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Happy Thursday friends.....

I have the ultimate question for all of you....How bad will my kitchen cabinets chip if I paint them????....please be truthful...I can handle it!!!...lol......Although, I have painted so many furniture pieces over the years with great success, I have a great fear of chipping cabinets....I have shown you pics of my brand new white beach house kitchen....I LOVE it....At home in the "burb" house, we remodeled our kitchen ourselves almost 11 years ago....Although at that time, I LOVED white or antique white cabinets, I wasn't sure if the trend would continue (boy was I wrong) and thought for resale purposes, I'd be safer getting solid maple cabinets with a medium stain....I have been very happy with them, but my favorite part of the kitchen was and still remains the eating area where my husband built a corner cabinet and added molding on the walls...all of that is white...I LOVE that area and like the rest......Anyway, we are still living in that house and said maybe when we go to replace the counter tops, we would consider painting the cabinets....While I have been at the beach house this summer, we had a leak in our faucet in the "burb house" that ran down the back of the counter and settled into the seem of the beveled edge laminate....AND POP!!!!.....so it looks like the counter top time has come and I'm thinking of going ahead with the painting!!!!....unfortunately, I can't show you a pic of those cabinets now since I'm not there and don't have any on this blog....I'm 95% sure I'm going to paint and glaze them when I return in September, hoping your feedback will push us the last 5%....

THANKS SO MUCH AND REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU!!!

xoxo, Mariaelena...:)

Here are a couple pics I've shared in the past of the eating area of the kitchen...even after 11 years, I still LOVE  this part!!!

comments please!!!!!

My kitchen table found at auction!!!

Happy Monday friends!!!!.....

I wanted to share one of my favorite items in the beach house....my kitchen table....after months of looking, I got just what I wanted....an old chunky pedestal base with an equally old table top!!!....they were not found together, but by swapping the top for a larger one and using paint and stain to get just the look I was going for...it turned out like this.....

I love round tables...they are great for games, conversation and you can fit so many people around them!!

Isn't this pedestal so chunky and fabulous???

I bought the 6 chairs from Ballard Designs....they actually were reasonably priced!!...sometimes you need to treat yourself....

I picked up that cute little crocheted table runner from a tag sale...been thinking that a burlap runner would be great on there instead....

OK, I paid $14 each for these fabulous counter stools that match the Ballard chairs at The Christmas Tree Shop...can you believe it???...I'm kicking myself for not getting a few extras....now they don't sell them....boohoo....

Love the distressed finish on the pedestal and apron...

OLD, CHUNKY AND FABULOUS!!!!....SO WORTH THE WAIT!!

Thanks so much for stopping by....
xo, Mariaelena


linking up to:


http://www.notjustahousewife.net/
http://adiamondinthestuff.blogspot.com/
http://verymerryvintagestyle.blogspot.com/
http://www.myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

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/

Home sweet beach home....and a question for you...

Hi friends....we are here at the beach portion of "from beach to burbs"......this is the view from our upper deck....I'm taking a few minutes to relax after a crazy but fun month of our oldest graduating from h.s., our youngest finishing kindergarten and the never ending final exams for our middle daughter....now the summer fun begins...I'm posting this from my phone, but hoping to order a laptop soon so you can all join me as I start decorating our beach house....thinking about the Apple MAC....or the Dell....does anyone blog from an iPad????.....I'd love to hear your thoughts......until I get one or the other, I'll be using this phone....ugh!!!.....happy Tuesday!!!
Xo.....Mariaelena




view from upper deck....big apology for the pic....taken from my phone....

 

ATTENTION BLOGGERS!!!...A DREAMLAND for JUNK LOVERS & REFURBISHERS!!!!

As I was driving home from a kindergarten school trip last week, I passed THIS!!!!!!....so, I put on the brakes, and turned the car around!!!...OH MY!!!!....can you believe this?????....A junk lovers dream come true!!!.....Unfortunately the shop was closed, but the owner of this fabulous place was kind enough to let me walk around outside and take some photos to share with you all!!!.....I'll be going back to shop for sure..........ENJOY the pics....:).....

The owner told me that he started collecting bottles when he was 12 years old...and hence the name of his shop!



Can you believe this????



pots, pots and more pots

Add caption

LOVE this sign!!!!!!

CAN YOU SAY SHUTTERS??????



QUEEN ANNES LACE AROUND A RUSTY POLE....
how pretty is that???




THANKS FOR VISITING....I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THESE PHOTOS AS MUCH AS I ENJOYED TAKING THEM....
Happy Tuesday!!!
xo, Mariaelena