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Goodbye to a House, Not to a Dream...
This time last year our family, especially our kids, were getting excited to spend our second summer at our family beach house on Cape Cod. Growing up south of Boston, summer was and still is all about spending time on the Cape with cousins and family. When you only have a solid three-four months a year of warm weather you make Every. Sunny. Warm. Day. Count. It's no joke.
When I was younger my paternal grandparents had a summer house on the Cape that myself, siblings and oh, just, twenty plus first cousins would cram in to it. Yes you read that right, over 20 first cousins on one side of the family. It was a beautiful weathered shingled cottage, nothing crazy big or overtly fancy which meant all of us kids would squish into it. Some of the most happy, fun and poignant childhood memories go back to these summers with cousins on the Cape. I can relive them in my mind as if they were yesterday. Nights catching fire flies, staying up late watching movies, acting out plays, swinging on the hammock or tree swing, slip and slides, and boating. My Grandpa had an older model boat that we would all pile in to. I guess we have a reputation for needing to squeeze a lot of people into smaller spaces. It's probably that there are just so many of us. To this day if I hear Rod Stewart "Rhythm Of My Heart" on the radio, I'm instantly transported back to my Grandfather's boat with all my cousins, pounding over waves, sea salt and wind blowing through our hair and praying that the boat would make it back to the yacht club. "When the ocean meets the sky I'll be sailing... "
Sadly my Grandpa passed on years ago but our family traditions live on. Those twenty plus cousins are now grown and have families of their own. Time for a new generation to experience summer living on Cape Cod. It's where quintessential childhood dreams are made.
Three years ago my Dad found buildable land on the Cape and it was his (and my mom's) opportunity to carve a little spot of New England heaven out for themselves. My parents decided to sell their modest house outside Boston and build their DREAM HOUSE on the Cape. Imagine my excitement, the stay at home mom with two young kids and many futures summers with them in tow, I was PUMPED!!! And also completely on board with their game plan! Obviously. Not to mention the thought of getting to help in the process of building a home and choosing all the decor, etc. I was pumped X2.
Griffin supervising.
This was our beach house being built in 2014. We spent our first summer here in 2015.
This was our house last summer... our second year. In a short time we had quite a bit of parties, laughs and crazy nights here. The kids were in their glory! Even though it's a bigger house, much bigger than that little cottage I went to as a kid, we still managed to cram so many people in here one weekend that some peeps had to sleep in the basement on blow up mattresses. The basement wasn't even finished!
As much as I love decorating and beautiful interiors there is so much more to a house than those four walls. It's about the people that coexist within those walls even if for only 3 months out of the year. The adventures, laughs, probably even arguments and compromises they make. It is those childhood moments that evolve into the memories that weave into our adult lives. Being surrounded by family under one roof is where a house turns into a home.
So all is good right, we sail off into the sunset? Well, brace yourself for an unexpected turn. My parents decided to sell this house this past winter! Cue the sad background music. We couldn't believe it either. It was a little hard to let go of this beautiful spot. Turns out my parents have a new lot of land to build on. YAY! The adventure begins again. We will start construction in the next few weeks and I'm so excited to help even more this go around.
We may not have our family beach house this summer (I know poor us, well kind of) but next year! After all it is a place to gather as a family, for our kids and someday god willing their kids... From the new lot of land, to the the walls going up, fixture choices, wall colors, furniture and more...I'm going to share it all here on the blog. I'll be sharing some sneak peeks of the new house design next, plus photos of the land all cleared. I hope you'll stay tuned, as I share with you our Dream House Part II
Thanks for stopping by!
Jordan
I've already started finding lots of coastal farmhouse inspiration. Follow me over on Pinterest to see!
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Welcome to our Joyful Summer Home Tour! If you are stopping by from Lemons To Lovelys, Meaningful Spaces or Belle Amour Blog are those ladies talented or what? I’m so inspired by all the women in our blog tour. I hope you go and check out all the different styles and homes they have.
When summer finally rolls around we are ALL about spending as much time outside as possible! Especially those of use that live in the North East. Over the past three years and with a bit of hard work, my husband and myself have created an outdoor space that feels like an extension of our home and acts as a bonus living area for us to enjoy.
Please join me as I take you for a walk around the outside of our home, all of the gardening/planting you will see we’ve done ourselves. A lot of focus went into our front gardens. We purchase perennials from a local garden club plant sale. So all of these have come from other peoples gardens. Each spring we add more perennials and it’s so rewarding to see them fill in so beautifully. I love that each month a different flower/color pops to life! I have to say I think we are finally running out of room and may have to start sharing from our own gardens.
I enjoyed decorating our front door with a patriotic theme as I plan to keep this up most of the summer. It celebrates Memorial Day, Flag Day and 4th of July! I couldn’t resist adding some vintage baseballs to the top ledge, and a Target dollar spot banner always looks so cute hanging from the top ledge as well.
Around the back of the house we added a swing set for the kids. They were so excited and it will be so fun to watch them play on it all summer long. I rescued these chairs from the curb (with out any cushions) and set up a cozy little sitting area for my husband and myself to hang while we watch them play. Can you believe someone was throwing them away?
They needed a good cleaning. I used the product old English on a cloth to mousiturize the dry shocker and also sprayed them with a clear poly to help protect them. For the most part they’re in really good condition. And I have to say I LOVE them. I also love free too. I mean who doesn’t?
These cushions I bought at Target and they fit pretty well. If you look above, in the tree I hung these cute little lanterns I found on the cheap at a yard sale last year.
Moving around to the side yard, you can see the patio my husband installed a couple years back. It is right off our farmer’s porch and allows easy access into our kitchen and dining room which is perfect for outdoor entertaining. Summer evening’s on our patio include cocktails, BBQ’s, and country music pouring out of the speakers. If it gets cool at night we love having a fire in the fire pit with smores.
I purchased this “Welcome to our Patio” metal sign and I absolutely love it. The chairs are from Pier1.
Our patio is our summer hang out spot. If we’re not on Cape Cod, we are here, lounging playing with the kids and enjoying family time.
A tray with handles is perfect for bringing drinks and snacks in and out of the house. I use one out here to hold our coconut citronella candle from Flash Point Candle Co. which comes in this beautiful oversized ceramic pot and this cute little glass watering sprayer from Target.
We absolutely love our patio set and have had it for over 5 years, it has held up so well! (shop it at the end of this post)
For those of you with kids know, summer is about really all about them! This summer I’m so looking forward to spending special time with our six year old son and 3 year old daughter. They are at great ages for going on adventures and simply just enjoying crafts, games etc.. One of their favorite treats on a warm day is ice cream. Isn’t it everyone’s?! I set up this little ice cream table scape to surprise them after school. I can’t wait to let them invite some friends over to celebrate the last day of school with an ice cream party!
Thank you for stopping by! Wishing you a beautiful summer.
Be sure to check out all the other homes on the tour for some serious summer inspiration!
Wednesday, May 31st
Thursday, June 1st
Friday, June 2nd
Here are some fun accessories I pulled together for your next summer ice cream gathering! Shop them here:
Shop any of our patio set up here:
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Happy Monday Friends! Do you ever get the urge for a change in your home? I’m assuming yes. I’m sure we all get that way sometimes. Maybe me more than others ;). I think it goes with out saying that paint is the easiest and cheapest way to get a big impact change in a room. I recently painted our living room over and I thought I would share it with you!
If you follow me on instagram many of you recognize my house for it’s signature pops of teals/aquas and blues. For me that’s the most soothing color. When we first moved in I wanted bold and fun, so I painted our living room Sea Brook by Benjamin Moore. After living with this color for 4 years, I felt it was time for something a bit softer and muted.
I tested many different colors before deciding on a final one. I considered
Top sail, loveeeee top sail!! But it still was a bit too pigmented with aqua. Nantucket fog, and other’s…
in the end I chose Wickham Gray by Benjamin Moore. I liked the subtle undertones of aqua. I always search the color in pinterested to see it in other people’s rooms.
If you like colors that change in the light you’ll love this. Depending on the time of day it can be gray, or slightly green/blue. It’s very dynamic!
I can now display my vintage aqua glass bottle collection as before they would have just blended in completely. I love that they stand out. My most recent one is that seltzer bottle I purchased at Brimfield Antique Market.
I love that the decor, accents and furniture is now the focal point of the room. Instead of the wall color. As much as I loved that pop of aqua, it outshined the room.
It feels much more sophisticated and classic. I hope you agree!
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Jordan xoxo
