~as promised, raggygirlvintage beachy living room summer makeover~

Hello friends,

I am happy, SO happy to report that summer has finally arrived up north in British Columbia, and what a beautiful place this is to be in the summer! Just in time as we’ve had company in town the past two weeks and it sure is more fun to be out and about in the sunshine. If you’re following me on instagram you will have seen some of my shots out and about, you can find me @ raggygirlvintage.

Well after the peeks I gave you at my gorgeous chippy aqua door and beachy mantle raggygirlvintage style, it seems I left you wanting more. I felt like I was holding out on you, that was so not my intention! It’s just that really my living room is a very ordinary room that I just like to play around with, but today I will show you the whole room, as promised!

~You may want to grab a coffee at this point, you asked for photos and that’s what you’re gonna get, aplenty!!~

My home is very open plan, which I do generally love, but it does leave me with limited options for moving furniture around and utilising wall space, most of my spaces have windows, open walls or a fireplace. So in this room I really haven’t moved the main furniture pieces around much, but I do like to play around with the accessories in different seasons, especially now that my walls are a crisp, clean white

Okay, so let’s start with an overview shot from the entryway. The front door is to the left.

Here’s a before photo. As you can see the furniture placement is pretty much the same. At Christmas time the sofas have to get moved around to accommodate our tree!

I didn’t hate my living room before, but the colours were tired and our climate is wet so much of the year, I wanted lighter and brighter. The pictures on the wall were also tired and dated, and I wanted a change from the red accents in there.

Here are a couple shots through the living room into the dining room. I really, really would like to slipcover these chairs one day….

I love how much lighter the dining room is now that the walls are white, it is a small room and it just feels bigger and brighter now. I haven’t decided yet if I will paint the furniture in there or not. 

The chandy is making it look creamy in this photo, but it’s really not, it’s true white in natural light.

This is the window wall with my chippy door, the windows are super tall in here and let in lots of light. 

{you can read my chippy aqua door post here}

The drapes are from Pottery Barn, I picked them up instore some years ago as they were on sale, and I was thrilled to find drapes almost long enough for my oversize windows. 

Now I am looking for a sheer to hang with them, I have mixed sheers and drapes in our family room and I really like the look the different textures give, particularly on windows where you don’t close the drapes.

On the opposite wall I have a couple white suitcases stacked, one more and they will be side table height! You can see them in the next photo too.

The living room is on the front of the house and looks out onto the street, you can see a peek of my rocking chair through the window on my porch. The porch gets all the morning sun so it’s a great coffee spot in the early morning. 

This is to the right of the fireplace. The vignette on this little table changes all the time, I’ve already switched it up since taking this photo! {Did I mention I really would like to slipcover these chairs…}

Here’s a closer look. The trim you see to the right is the open entryway to the dining room.

The vintage “E” is again for our last name, and I love using vintage frames in my decor.

Always a little lavender going on.

This table has a smaller version underneath, where I’ve tucked some of my favourite decor reads. Which one do you think is my favourite??

Here it is again after I changed things up a little, I wasn’t loving the birdie so popped a boxwood tree there instead.

This chest sits in the centre of my living room, I believe it is called a Quaker chest and I had it custom made many years ago. It is honestly one of the most useful pieces of furniture in our home, it is so well built and both sides lift up so it is great for storage, I keep all my scrapbook albums and photos in there. Just don’t try and move it!

 I’m not crazy about the fireplace you can see in the background, one day I’d love to replace the tile.

So here are some of the goodies that are sitting on my chest currently. A sweet wooden tray painted white and a pretty summer bouquet in a white pitcher. 

You can see a bit of wicker in there too, that one is filled with white sand and a candle, ready to use for a beach themed wedding party, which I’ll post about soon.

I don’t usually buy yellow flowers but I found this bouquet at a roadside stand and it was too pretty to pass by! 

I know some people find it cheesy to use shells and starfish in beach decor, but personally they are not all that common around here and I happen to like them! I think it can be tastefully done. 

A little bit of white pitcher, a little galvanised metal, a little bling, it all can work together.

Around the fireplace I kept it simple, you’ve seen my beachy mantle already. You can read the full post here.

Down below I have more shells and starfish, baby’s breath and a giant white pitcher on the one side…

…and a vintage kiddies chair on the other side.

Finally, here’s a view from up top of the stairway.

Well I hope you enjoyed the little tour of my raggygirlvintage beachy summer living room.

I’ll leave you with the before...

...and after

linking up to Whatever Goes Wednesday 
Primp your stuff Wednesday
White Wednesday 
Feathered Nest Friday 
Potpourri Friday 
Vintage Inspiration Friday 
It's Inspiration Friday 
Friday's Unfolded

happy sunshine days!

Tracey

you can follow me on raggygirlvintage fb here

and raggygirl pinterest here 

and on instagram @raggygirlvintage

~beachy summer mantle raggygirlvintage style~

Hello friends,

Well I have been having fun putting our living spaces back together after the white wall transformation…..

 

For those who are interested, the final colour choice was Benjamin Moore “snowfall white”. I tried several whites before settling on this one, as all the other whites I tried were reading very cream in this space. I am very happy with this white, it is neutral and does not read overly warm or cool. 

HOWEVER, I can not recommend it as a colour choice as what should have covered in 2 coats (we were using their top end Aura paint) ended up taking us 5 coats and cut-ins. Good thing I actually like it, right!

So, if you read my chippy door post here, you will know that I am going with a beachy coastal look in my living room for the summer. So I thought you might like to see my summer mantle, I wanted to keep it super simple and fresh.

This shabby little mirror is the focal point, I really love this mirror! It has been very versatile as it has moved around this raggygirlvintage home!

 I added a blue mason jar for that touch of coastal colour in an otherwise neutral mantlescape, with a white gerbera daisy. And yes, that is a real flower, it’s just this thing I have, I like fresh cut flowers! Even if they have wiggly stems!

I picked out three of my smaller white pitchers, you can never go wrong with a white pitcher. Let’s hear a cheer for the humble white pitcher!! 

Some of my pitchers are vintage, some are brand spanking new, I buy them if I love them, I’m not really concerned about their value.

I have silver candlesticks at either end of the mantle, and of course a couple white starfish to complete the beachy theme. Starfish are also very versatile in decorating and these have shown up in vignettes all over raggygirlvintage home. They are not always easy to find, so I recommend if you see them snap a couple up. 

I am doing a beach themed party next weekend and the starfish will be making an appearance there too.

Finally I have a couple vintage wooden and metal stamps, I love them for their patina and interest factor. The numbers are kinda random, the “E” is for our last name.

I have had several requests to show more of my living room and home, not just peeks of the door or mantle, and while I’m a little shy to do that {how silly am I??}, I have taken a few shots and will be putting a post together soon, so you can see the full beachy picture!

So, whatcha think? I love being greeted by the simplicity of it all when I walk down the stairs in the morning, fresh white walls, chippy aqua door, calm coastal mantel. Feels like summer:-)

Here’s a picture of my fabulous chippy door, in case you missed it. You can see more photos here.

linking up to Transformation Tuesday
 Take-a-look Tuesday 
 Ta-da Tuesday 
Anti-Procrastination Tuesday 
Inspiration Board
White Wednesday
Primp your stuff Wednesday
Feather your nest Friday 
Vintage Inspiration Friday 
Potpourri Friday

Tracey

PS. You can follow raggygirlvintage fb here

raggygirl pinterest here

and instagram @ raggygirlvintage