Is it spring yet? The beach sure is lonely without you. I am counting down the days until the neighborhood is bustling again. As much as a I love a little wintertime solitude, I prefer the action that warm sunny weather brings to the sandy beaches. With that said, let’s check out a bright and cheerful beach cottage bedroom. Between starfish and vintage swimsuit art, it is just brimming with anticipation of summer!
If you are a regular around here, you probably remember that my folks bought a cute beach cottage about a year ago. We’ve been gradually making progress room by room. Each space was basically a neutral space that needed a punch of color and personality. The carpet is brand new so it wasn’t going. They also weren’t into painting as it was also recently done. The reality is that other time-consuming projects, like creating a bathroom, took priority. Basically we just pulled together a color palette and accessorized on a budget. To do that, we used a combination of salvaged pieces, vintage, second-hand finds plus new textiles and art. The color scheme is just so happy. Perfect for the beach, right?
Once upon a time, the headboard was in my bedroom. It’s a salvaged door which so happens to measure a short 60 inches – the same width as a queen bed. Years ago, I adorned it with driftwood, paint and starfish which are still fun.
Possibly my favorite part of the room are the swimsuit prints. These were very hard to find! We spotted them about a year ago at Bed, Bath & Beyond but were not ready to pull the trigger. Of course that was a mistake. Months later when we ready for art and agreed on the swimsuit prints, they were gone of course. Local stores were wiped out. Spoiler alert, after weeks of searching, I finally found them AND they were half price. Naturally, I also hoarded a set for myself because you never know when you’ll need vintage-inspired swimsuit art. These were the only two patterns available out of the original six or eight prints. Fortunately, the colors were perfect.
Those lamps are new-ish but found second-hand for mere dollars. Aren’t they perfect? The end tables are both painted in MMS milk paint, apron strings on the left & kitchen scale on the right. The kitchen scale drum table doesn’t actually belong in this room. It is one of a pair which are available for sale at West End Garage. Normally we have a coordinating chest on the right but this one looks pretty darn good there.
Let me divert your attention to the other side of the room. What was once two dusty old closets, is now a full bathroom. It is the tiniest full bathroom aptly named The Water Closet.
The closet space was the selling point on this old house but not for storing clothes. The house had all the space they were looking for in a beach cottage but just one bathroom which was a deal breaker. We stood in this very room when I had the bright idea that the side-by-side closets from adjacent bedrooms could be knocked out to make room for approximately a 30 square foot bathroom.
Now, I can’t take all of the credit. My dad is the plumber who masterminded the water closet complete with a pocket door. I will take credit for the pocket door actually. That was my idea.
To the left is the toilet and to the right is a shower stall.
Admittedly two closets were lost in the making of this full bathroom. However, we compensated with stand alone closets in each room. As it turns out an additional bathroom is strongly preferred over closet space in a beach house anyway.
Just three months until Memorial Day!
Source List
Bedroom
- Bedding – Homegoods
- Headboard – salvage
- Tin Shelf – salvage
- Night stands – vintage painted in MMSMP Apron Strings & Kitchen Scale
- Lamps – estate sale finds
- Curtains – thrifted
- Top down shades – JCPenney
- Swimsuit prints – Bed, Bath & Beyond (sold out)
- Cedar Closet – vintage painted in MMSMP Artissimo
Water Closet
- Towels – Homegoods
- Shower Curtain – Homegoods
- Tile – Home Depot ‘Noce’
- Mirror – vintage
- Rattan shelf – trash (no shame)
- Rattan baskets – Homegoods
- Plumbing – Marston Mechanical
Circa Dee 