Beach Week: Nantucket Cottage: Kaleidoscope of Happy

Yesterday we posted about small and minimal..

today we explore small with brilliant excess!

This cottage was featured in Country Living

and I never forgot it..

want to see why?!!

a hint of what lies within..

Anyone who paints their floor daffodil yellow is all right in my books :)
What's the trick to getting this huge range of color to live in harmony?
 Using colors with the same intensity - in this case, super-saturated hues.
Choose colors with the same amount of black and/or white
 in them and you can mix to your hearts content!

Clearly the cottage doesn't take itself to seriously,
which is lovely - I prefer relaxed decor at the beach..
but I'm curious - could you live with all that color?

til next time..

Beach week: Mod Beach House- Studiomama's UK Retreat

Beach week continues.. a rather late post, but better than no post at all :)

summer+kiddies and the madness ensues at my house..

 this one is super-cool! I'd love to hang here.

Nina Tolstrup of Studiamama

packed this 388 square foot waterfront chalet 

with a kitchen, bath, living dining space, sleeping loft and bunks for her children.

with this facade you know you are in for a treat..

simplicity reigns.. and the atmosphere is chill.

the perfect place for dreams of pirate adventure and slaying sea serpents..

one of Nina's pallet chairs snugs up to a wood stove.. 

what a setting for

lazy afternoons with a great read...

marathon board game tourneys..

wine and a laugh on a friday evening.

Love, love, love it.

A fantastic wee getaway by the sea..

who wants one?!!

til next time..

Beach Week Continues.. Modern Beach House: The Gold Coast

Beach week rolls on..

yesterday was the Surf shack.. and today something a bit more plush:

a Beach House in paradise.. 

Broadbeach, Australia - just down the way from Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast.

it's for hire, if any of you have a small fortune to spend on your vacation - LOL!

this view will do..

Seagrass, coir and linen in sandy tones, can you feel your pulse slowing..

the light! loving all that glass..

I like the simplicity of this space - zero clutter allows the outdoors to remain the focus.

The old timber floor does a fantastic job of warming up the white and stainless.

Do you see the space allotted for wine storage?!

They've got their priorities straight around here!

If you need to inject a little excitement into your evening -

head out to Surfers paradise and the famous Jupiters Casino.

or invite friends over to drink some of that wine in the garden..

another beachy adventure tomorrow ;)

til next time..

Beach Week! Surf Shack: Cabo

Everyone has a favourite spot.

For some it's the city, where the energetic pulse is almost tangible.

The mountains, where solitude and strength reign.

Mine is the beach.

Any beach.

The hypnotic sound of waves rolling in, the wide open vistas.. heaven.

I love it in the summer. spring. fall. winter.

Most spare moments find me at the beach, and the rest I'm wishing I could be there.

So I'm having beach week on the blog.

Last post was about how to incorperate beachy finds into your decor..

the next few will be about abodes found shoreside.

Todays locale: Cabo.

Check out the vibe from this place - a true surf shack!

It's all about location...

I'd love to know who sleeps here.. there has to be an interesting story behind this place..

this is where you come when you decide to chuck it all.

What do you think is tucked safely inside that armoire?

the view from behind isn't bad either - ah, a friend close by -  with running water? Perfect!

As someone who once travelled through Canada and the US camping in a old VW van,

 I can appreciate this place...

 but for those of you who require a bit more fluffing, come by tomorrow..

til next time..

Home and Happy...

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Has it only been two weeks?

It feels like so long since I've been posting.

A huge thanks to all the Crushing on Colors ladies

 for their wonderful posts that kept the blog hopping 

while I was soaking up some vitamin d.

Want to see what we were up to?

We travel to florida almost every spring, 

but don't always hit the parks.

This was a theme park year.

Day 1 and the kids were beelining for Harry Potter at Universal Studios!

Apparently several thousand other people were doing the same thing,

and it was a wee bit crowded :)

But we persisted and what an astonishing place.

If you have read the series 

(you must read them, the books are far richer than the movies)

you would have been amazed to see the main street of Hogsmeade brought to life, 

a scaled down Hogwarts towering off at the top of the cobblestone streets.

"Mum, another picture?!!"

They were so patient with me,

 taking pics and endlessly examining all the design elements they used in the castle :)

The Hogwarts tour is spectacular,

entering straight into Dumbledore's office 

(complete with a hologram of the headmaster himself),

then through the passageways, where paintings come to life,
ceilings glow, and stairs lead off into hidden passages..

A hologram Harry, Ron and Hermione visit you in potions class,

and then it's on to a hair-raising ride.

To celebrate, the darlings (and some friends) had butterbeer!

Then they watched Hogwarts and other students perform on the streets,

visited Ollivanders and chose wands,

had their fingers attacked by a caged Book of Monsters at Dirvish and Banges..

rested in the Owlry, dined in The Three Broomsticks...

checked out the pranks and toys at Zonkos...

 and brought home chocolate frogs and Bernie Bot's every flavoured beans from Honeydukes.

Crazy, no?!

Two days of that required some serious down time at the beach and pool

and then back to fun at Sea World..

and Aquatica, Sea World's water park -
 by far the best theme park I have been to!

So relaxing, two huge wave pools surrounding an enormous sandy "beach",

and heaps of exhilarating rides with no or very small lines.
The darlings have inherited D's and my love of speed :)

That face says it all, doesn't it?!!
Plenty of good food, time with friends, and shopping (!!) completed a wonderful trip.

I didn't take any color or design books, determined to have a break from"work".

By day six I had bought three design magazines and was
"popping in" to Z Gallerie and Ballard designs at  the mall :)

can't stay away!!!
And glad to be back!

I have found the coolest blog dedicated to provided free vintage images for general use.
There's some really gorgeous bits..
I will post all about it tomorrow - x

Finally Back!

After a whirlwind week of travel with my fam, I'm finally reconnected with the world, both school and everything else! It was such a fun trip and seeing my family was great. I hadn't seen my mom and my sister in over 2 months and my dad in over 1 since he visited me at school. We had such an awesome time sitting on the beach and enjoying the warm weather. Since returning, the weather seems to have warmed up and the "Strom" pool has opened here at school. You know the weather's beginning to get nice when they open up an olympic-sized resort pool! 

This was the view from "our spot" on the beach! At the resort we were staying at, there are permanent little tiki umbrellas with chairs, but they were claimed everyday by 9:00am! Who knew!!

 

My sister and I had a great time sunning and catching up! This was the second night we were there, and both of us show some color. I really DO NOT get tan at all, so my family was kinda shocked. Grace always gets very tan like my mom!

My mom took a bunch of photos of us in front of these flowers! They always matched either my outfit or my sister's. This night we went to an Irish restaurant for dinner which was pretty funny. You don't expect to find Irish places in the islands. 

My mom got my sister and I little treats while we were on vacation. My sister got some tank tops and I picked out Flowerbomb perfume which I love and it was a smidge less in a duty-free shop. I had to be super careful though because I didn't have any checked luggage. I was quite a good packer compared to the usual and only had 2 small bags that could qualify as "carry-ons"! I am in love with the scent and I highly recommend it if you're in the market for a new perfume yourself! I now rotate between Wink, Beachy, Vera Wang Princess Special Edition, and now Flowerbomb! 

My mom snapped a few photos of my sister and I in our Lilly dresses and we called it our LP photoshoot! I'll post those photos when she emails them to me. I can't wait to see what she's got on her camera too!! I'll be sure to catch up on my commenting and reading and I am excited to see what everyone has been up to since more than a week ago!

xxKatie

Happy Friday! Let the Fun Begin.

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Six very talented design bloggers have very generously agreed to guest post

 on 10 Rooms while I'm off to the beach.

The Crushing on Color series
features six of your favourite bloggers dishing on their favourite color.

Of course, there will be fantastic pics and interesting reads,
because these ladies are all uber-talented!

I was going to introduce them today, but it may be a little more fun

 to pop by Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday 

the next two weeks and be delighted by who you find here, yes?

Have fun, everyone,

I'll bring you back some shells - x

Bon Voyage!

I've never done an all photo post, but I hardly have words to explain how excited I am to go on vacation!! This commercial must be over 7 or 8 years old, but my family ALWAYS quotes it when we're about to leave for any type of vacation. The little boy perfectly personifies how we all feel today and tomorrow!!

Even when we get up at...4:30 am to leave, we'll all still be running with adrenaline!! I most likely won't be posting until I get back from my trip, so I hope everyone has great, wonderful, fabulous spring breaks!! I can't wait to catch up on all my reading and commenting when I get back!!

Any last minute packing advice...? Much appreciated!!

xxKatie