Instant Beach House Style

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5 Ways to Get Instant Beach House Style

You can live miles from the beach but still get the look 
with just a few essential ingredients… 




Get au naturel Not yourself, obviously, but the materials in your home. Textures, decorations, colours and scents inspired by nature and the sea are the easiest way to make you think you were there. Think sea grass mats, starfish and shells dotted around your bookshelves, a piece of driftwood on the coffee table, a frangipani-scented candle, bamboo blinds or unbleached linen curtains. Even a glass hurricane lamp filled with sand and with a candle popped in the middle with scream ‘the beach‘!




Let there be light One thing beach houses have in common is an abundance of light to give that airy, breezy feel. If you don’t have enough yourself, paint the walls white and try to leave the windows as minimal as possible - think thin flowy see-through curtains or shutters that can be opened entirely during the day. Lighter furniture is also one way to create the illusion of light - a white couch cover will give the oldest, darkest couch a beachy feel.





Fall in love with stripes Nothing says nautical and therefore beachy quite like stripes - especially in blue! It’s a simple addition that won’t cost much either - cushions of all kinds, striped upholstery furniture, napkins or a hammock all look great in stripes.





Colour your world Choose your colour palette with references to the sea - blues, turquoise, aqua, soft sands, white and whitewashed woods. Dark woods also work well as a contrast and are better than black which is more suited to sleeker homes. Pair crisp white walls with a display shelf of range of glass vases in various shades of blues and greens, give your foyer a lick of turquoise paint, pop a whitewashed dresser up against it and hang a pearl or shell mirror above it for a calming, holiday feel the moment you walk through the door, or add dashes of ocean colour through paintings or photographs of the sea.




Head outdoors Give your outdoor a room a Hamptons makeover - deck chairs, sun umbrellas, adirondack chairs, outdoor cushions, hurricane lamps and sea grass mats. Make it like a real living room but exposed to the elements. It doesn’t get much beachy than that!





Melissah xox

Source : Homes, images via Coastal Style Pinterest

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a Bobby's Burger Break

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It's been a pretty hard past few weeks. In a perfect world we'd be trimming the tree and hanging garlands and lights. But instead we are on the phone with contractors that never call back, Insurance guys, Home Depot, etc... The house is reeealy cold due to no insulation underneath...the flood crept up under the house and pulled it all down...and due to all the gross water that soaked everything it's pretty stinky. With all of this going on we really were in need of a little break and some fun so Aaron and I went out with my little brother Walt & his girl Val this weekend. It's one of our fave places and we haven't been there is so so long. Bobby's Burger Palace. Bobby being Bobby Flay. 


 I just love how not formal it is there. At Bobby's you order at the counter when you walk in...they hand you your soda cups and a little number plaque. Then you pick a seat and they bring your burgers out to you. The menu is so simple. Just a handful of burgers, a couple kinds of fries, onion rings, and milk shakes. Bobby Flay's favorite food is the hamburger...so they're all his own very personal creations. When ever we go out to eat I'm always last to order. I have trouble with decisions. At Bobby's I falter between the Crunch Burger and the Bobby Blue. But I ended up going with my go-to : the crunch burger, which is topped with double cheese and potato chips.



BBP serves up some pretty outrageous milkshakes which Aaron can never pass up. As much of a foodie as I am I just can't get myself to do it. I think I'd need to be rolled out the door. Not to say I don't steal a few sips! Super rich and thick... Aar got vanilla bean. And for those who like to really party they serve up spiked milkshakes as well! yowza!


 I love love french fries, but if onion rings are an option...and big crazy amazing ones at that...well then sign me up! These things are just insane! Just one is as big as a burger!


We joked that this would be crazy blurry. Walt took the pic, and we have flash backs to a past visit with the entire family where my Dad took the pic and we are all just blurred faces.


Walt & Val. I love these guys. Best little brother ever!


And here is the very start to a huge nightmare...ha! This is the kitchen floor... right below what was once our "coffee station". All of it will be coming up, including the subfloor. Repairs straight through to under the house where we will be doing some intense cleaning, stabilizing and, insulating. What holiday FUN! ;)

But as I said before...we got off easy. So many people lost absolutely everything. I hope to be able to justly chronicle the repairs here on the blog. And we'll definitely make sure that this won't just be about repairing...but Improving! 

Thanks so much again for reading! xo, Jenny



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Smell This Contest Winner!

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It was a BIG day at Smell This! Aromatherapy headquarters when Biggie and his mom, Kerry Schoncite, visited on Saturday to pick up the Scratch'n'Sniff Smell This! Aromatherapy Dog Products Prize package. It was the grand prize of the Smell This! contest we ran back in the autumn.

Special thanks to Arline and Smell This! for their generous donation and to Jodi over at Kol's Notes who joined forces with us at Love on a Leash Trusted Dog Care to spread the word and encourage our dog loving followers to enter our giveaway.

More fun contests and giveaways to follow. Happy holidays!

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