Friday, June 26, 2015

10 Ideas for Coastal Decorating with Oars and Paddles!

Decorating your home with painted vintage (or not so vintage) oars and paddles is one of my FAVORITE ideas for coastal and nautical themed rooms. Have to show you 10 innovative room ideas that I have been collecting for inspiration!

1. An adorable lake cottage entry featured on the Lily Pad Cottage - complete with paddles used as wall decor to create a real lake shore feel and welcome guests to Kelly's home.  (very cute blog - LillyPadCottage.com)

2.  Colorful oars coordinate well with nautical style bedding and pillows. Fun, bright look for a kids' room. (sorry - not sure of the original source!)  ...super cute life ring pillow!


3. An innovative handrail - this is such an awesome idea!  Discovered at "This Old House", homeowners Sue and Burr McKeehan unearthed "found" vintage oars underneath new beach bungalow in Newport Beach, California and simply gave them an extra polish.  Voila' - amazing new stair hand rail with a piece of their home's history preserved!

4. Create an unique way to display treasured family framed memories using two oars and hooks.  Too cute!  (so sorry - not sure of the original image source!)


5.  How adorable is this kids' bathroom idea?  So cute, and absolutely practical!  Add a few hooks and pretty stripes to coordinate and you can create a kid-friendly place to hang towels, bathrobes and other fun bath time essentials (super whale in this pic!) Idea created by Pawleys Island Posh - click to see the rest of her adorable blog! 


6. More hooks and paddles - this beach cottage entrance idea from Sarah at Abeachcottage.com.  Welcome guests with a place to hang coats, bags, and beach towels too!  Simple add of larger, sturdy steel hooks to hold heavier items.  If you want to avoid rust, a constant coastal issue, I would use stainless steel.  If you don't mind creating an even more "rustic" paddle look then any heavy duty hook ought to work.


7.  Super cute idea for displaying your cottage house street address!  Paint a vintage paddle (or a new one)  in colors to coordinate with your front porch and add fun house numbers. Maybe even your beach home's name? This idea created at TheHappyHousie.com


8. Another great idea for oars from The Shabby Shak - painted oars with the year that you "moved in", and your name or your "house" name.   (P.S. She has super fun beachy stuff on her etsy site!)


9. Outside Art! Sorry not sure of the source, but thought this was an innovative way to display rustic oars - just build a rack and hang them up.  Think about a constant changing art display by trading the paddles around for different occasions or grouping colors together.  Hmmm.... possibilities are endless for summer fun!


9.  As "wall art" to highlight more beach art and bring an art wall gallery some cohesiveness.  Pretty aqua room and oar from Breezy Designs, as featured on BeachBlissLiving.com.  Her home is beach cottage pretty!


10.  How about creating a one of a kind idea with just a part of the paddle?  Such a fun idea at Coastal Living Magazine in their 2011 Ultimate Beach House Tour home in Norfolk, Virginia.  "Fanned-out paddles are a sculptural, cheeky take on the classic round mirror."  Not sure that I am that crafty, but it's a neat idea.  Polished mirror idea and fits perfectly into this gorgeous East Beach home.


Would love to know what you think!  For more decorating with oar ideas - pop over to Pinterest Board: Coastal Decorating with Oars

Have a wonderful weekend!






P.S.  If you need an oar or paddle, we have added a ton of new options on our site!  Come see our new re-vamped Painted Coastal Oars and Paddles




Saturday, June 20, 2015

Smoked Salmon Dip - A Father's Day Treat!

Mount Rainier from the Vashon Ferry on a very warm June night!

Last week, I flew into Seattle to see my Northwest peeps and to hang out with my family.  Had a
fabulous time catching up. Long walks on the beach (I might have filled up my pockets with sea glass!) and celebrating some family milestones; my nephew Justin's graduation and Alex's graduation from "A: school at Great Lakes.  
 

Did I mention that we had GORGEOUS weather?

Oh yeah.... I did have to work still too.  View is not too bad though?

Particularly proud of my son Alex' accomplishments - he LOVES the Navy and is on his way to "C" school in San Diego. He was voted class leader for his group and graduated 3rd in the class with a 98 percent.  Way to go Alex! 

My dad loves to make smoked salmon - it's one of his specialties.  He was pretty sweet and waited for Alex to get home so that they could make a batch of it together. 

Oh my... my dad's salmon treat was incredibly good!  A lot of it disappeared quickly, but I managed to reserve some to make a delish smoked salmon dip for Justin's graduation party.  So easy - and you can use "store bought" smoked salmon too.  Great idea for Father's Day!

 Smoked Salmon Dip Recipe
  • 8 oz. cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
  • 1 Tablespoon squeezed fresh lemon juice
  • fresh dill (or dried)
  • 4-8 ounces smoked salmon (adjust to your taste- we added more!)
  • kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
1. Cream the cheese with the electric mixer until smooth.  Add in sour cream, lemon juice, dill, garlic and salt and pepper.  Mix well.

2. Mix in Smoked Salmon until well blended.

3. Garnish with fresh dill and smoked salmon pieces.

4. Serve with your favorite crackers or sliced baguette


Needless to say, there wasn't any left after the party....

- The dip bowl and tray were some of my favorite summer serving pieces from my store in Poulsbo 
-vintage tablecloth courtesy of my grandmother









Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Walk the Line...Decorating with Summer Stripes!

We thought this was such a cool idea from Country Living Magazine!  Lindsey Ellis Beatty (stylist extraordinaire!) created three rooms; each new room look created was based on an idea from a country song. Our Preppy Orange Striped Rug was featured in the "Walk The Line" (a true classic!) by Johnny Cash room.

"The straight and narrow never looked so good!  (Country Living Magazine, June 2015 Issue)

We could not agree more!  To decorate effectively with stripes, and to not overwhelm your room, choose a color palette that coordinates and then go wild with your imagination.  Remember - decorating is FUN, and it's all about you and what makes you happy. Try pulling pillows and accessories from other rooms in your home to mix together to create a look that is updated and fresh.  I think you might be surprised at how easily you can pull a "summer stripe" look together!

Stripes have always symbolized to me a beside the sea lifestyle, and we DO NOT have a shortage of enchanting rooms and style ideas to share. We'd love to help in creating your next fun beach house space using stripes.  Here are a few of my favorites!  

Always a classic beach house look, but note that the blue stripes coordinate, but they don't have to be too "matchy-matchy". Makes a room a whole lot more interesting!

Patriotic Stripes with a Dash of Nautical are always a popular idea for summer!  From Savvy Southern Style - lots of  bright red, white and blue vintage stripes all combine to create a summer styled room.  Note the stripes on the pillows, the furniture, the accessory bowls and on that adorable ottoman!


I love this pretty house featured on Hooked on Houses!   So inviting with stripes in driftwood, red and black....

Totally beachy, warm and colorful without using blue - great ideas!

Check out this beach bedroom decorating project from Perfectly Imperfect!
See how easy this "beach stripe" decorating can be?  Notice the soft lime green stripe in the throws, those fun squared pillows and then the coordinating lamp - pulls the whole room together without being overly striped. 

And from Oprah - check out this orange, aqua, and turquoise stripe combo! Note the mix of floral patterns with the stripes; it's all okay because the colors flow perfectly. Just a happy room - 

Coordinate different shades of blue and aqua,  like this fun room found at House of Turquoise. Note that the stripes are all different too, but they still go together.  Have to admit that I really like the idea of the vertical striped drapes.. and am more than a little partial to the Jonathan Adler Seahorse lamp!

You just can't go wrong for summer with lightening up and brightening up with white!  Always love Sarah's style at abeachcottage.com
Wonderful subtle stripes in white and soft driftwood... 

Now it's your turn. Try our Pinterest Board; Stripes and More Stripes for even more inspiration!



P.S.  Don't forget to also check out our new Coastal Inspiration category at Caron's Beach House - Stripes!


Captiva Striped Rug - One of our faves! 





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