Finally! The Cottage Reveal

Some of you might be saying to yourself, "Self, what ever happened to that blogsite "Cottage By The Sea?" The one where that gal Tia writes about renovating her old cottage at the beach down San Diego way?  That gal who posted she was moving in to said cottage any day now starting around December of last year?  Then when that dream went down the proverbial tube,  it more realistically changed to (at last count) Friday the 6th of August?"  Well, she's baaaaaaaack.  I'm baaaaaack.  It's true.  It's finally and most definitely true and it even happened on Friday the 6th of August just like I said, well, after being wrong the first 372 times I said it was happening  Like the last time when I said it was happening in 13 Days!  I admit it to all of you right here in black and white.  I was wrong about that.  But, like my kids always say, "it's not my fault."  And, on top of that, "it's not fair!"

Amazing and awesome transformations and metamorphosis have happened around here since then and we're in our newly remodeled home at last.   I can finally invite you over for a tour of the cottage, such as it is now.  No landscape yet, and a porch which leads to, well, a railing, where a staircase down to the back yard will someday be but, I think I am ready to show you what is now, and tell you what will be.  Sort of.  Because this is a positive blog where I try not to let any bitterness or sadness or 'the dark side' out.  I will spare you the bad taste in my mouth regarding painters, plumbers, carpenters and general contractors whom I feel should all find different lines of work.  I will spare you the jangled nerves and the aging of 10 years due to jangled nerves.  Never mind that, lets go on a tour of my incredible, beautiful, amazing, awesome, Cottage By The Sea.

WELCOME HOME!  FINALLY.


This was our little cottage before.

This was our little cottage before.

During

And, after.

First of all there are a few extra mats in front of the door and that's because whist moving in, and ever after as contractors keep coming in to finish, redo and generally walk-wander about the cottage, these mats are there to protect my beautiful new floors until the last boxes and furniture are moved in.

Remember when we were going over and over and nauseatingly over which new floors to put in?

I even asked for your help and you were kind enough to give me lots of facts about wood floors you had experienced and share your good taste with me because I had to replace the beautiful and original oak floor which got ruined during the remodel.  I hope you like the ones we choose.  I think it was the hardest darn decision we ever made besides how many kids to have.  (I think we're happy with both.)  Decisions that is.  Furniture wise, it's all the same stuff we've always had, which will be going through  some outward transformations in the future that, I will certainly share with you.  The exception being my new white sofas. Because of what you see at the end of this post,  I never thought I would be brave, or Lucky enough, to actually own a white sofa, more less two white sofas!  Scroll down to the end of the "Lucky" post above and see clearly why I had that delusion.  Actually several reasons I had that delusion!  Or don't, and just have a look at THIS!

I have This!

Little and big boys, dogs, and dirty, sandy, feet that lie upon my sofa.  Am I lucky or what!

Well, as it turns out, I can and I do now own two white sofa's and they sit right in my Great Room which is attached to my Kitchen and my Dining Room, where the many and myriad of friends, family, kids and
Grandkids sit, wander, eat, wrestle and plop down after a day at the beach.  Excuse me, I have to do some breathing exercises - I'll be right back.

Thanks again for your patience, I'm still just barely getting through all this.  This transfiguration came about in my life because, Maria over at Dreamy Whites  told me that I COULD AND SHOULD HAVE WHITE SOFA'S.  Really.  I wrote and asked her personally.  After all, she has them, and she also, just like I do, has five children.  Two of them being boys, with a cowboy husband thrown in to boot!  She said, it would be no problem because they're slip covered and you can just slip those covers off and wash them when they get dirty.  So, as you can see here, I went crazy and went for it.   Both white sofa's are full size to accommodate the myriad of people we seat.  Although I've spent years dreaming of owning a white sofa, I thought that dream could never come true due to the "lucky" circumstances in my life.  So, so far, thanks Maria for giving me the strength and faith that white sofas could be in my future!  It took me a week to garner the courage to take the protective, plastic coverings off but, when I got my two thousand forty-second, nasty, you've got to be kidding me look, I gave in and here is how they look now.

Pretty beautiful, yes?  I love, love, love, how they look.  And besides one little mishap with some computer ink my daughter had on her fingers whilst fixing the printer and which will never happen again lest I do her bodily harm I believe the white sofa's were a great decision.  A dab of Oxi Clean on a damp cloth was all it took to make the stain disappear.  Maria was right.  Easy Peasy!  I love how beautiful the sofa's look and the idea that, when they are dirty, I can see it and clean them and not be hiding yucky dirt which I know must be lurking there somewhere everywhere.  This appeals to my neurotic, chronic, unholy sense of cleanliness.

And, so far, so good!

For what seemed like forever, my kitchen looked like this.

But now it looks like this.

All my favorite pots and pans, the ones I haven't seen for over 4 years since we moved to the beach, now hang in my kitchen, in all their newly polished glory, right over the island where I can use them every day.  I've already had two dinner parties and cooked my fool head off, so there's proof in the pudding!

Remember when  I said, Its It's Tubby Time and y'all helped me choose which tub to buy?  Then she came and was a tad to small so she got shipped back and guess what?  Here she is today in all her gloriousness!

She's a beauty.

The sinks in the Master Bedroom are awesome too.  Check out the Zen of this water spout.  I love the way the water gently pours our into your hand.  Relaxing.  Excuse me again, I have to go wash my hands.

Thanks, I feel so much better.  Lets have a quick look at a couple of other new features at the cottage and then I have to get back to unpacking and cleaning and moving things around.  Don't worry, we've barely touched upon the marvelousness of the remodel.  I have so much to show you I could burst from the wanting to.  I've missed you guys so much!

Remember Andy?  Remember all the dirt we brought out of this hole where the new staircase was to go?  Remember that there was no staircase inside because little cottages built in the 1950's only had outside stairs to get down to the rooms below?  Check out any of the first archives and you can read all about that!

But here are the new stairs.  Hand crafted by the most amazing artisans.  The part you see which begins the curve on the bannister actually had to be hand carved to make it work.  I don't have much to say (due to keeping this blog on the light and fun side) about the other contractors who worked on the cottage but, the stairs were done beautifully by a father and son who definitely know what they're doing.

Do you love the wood?  You helped me to choose it.  Thank you!

If you're ever down my way, your welcome to stop by.  I'd love to see you and show you around in person.  More than that, I'd love to sit down with a Cuppa and just enjoy your company.  I have so much more to share with you, I couldn't even touch upon it in only one post.  We have gained so much, lost so much, and changed so many things it's impossible to express.  I hope I will be able to at least touch upon it in this blog because sharing it is the best part.

Until then from me and my Cottage By The Sea...


I love you more than all the moments, glorious and frustrating, leading up to the incredible blessing which is my life.  Until next time, God richly bless all of you.   XOXOXOXO

Tia