Life Before Pinterest

The room...

The inspiration?

Lately I have been visiting Pinterest and thinking about my inspiration pre- Pinterest.

I have always been a "tearer".

As I looked through my favorite magazines, I would tear out pages of things I loved, decorating ideas, recipes (for Steve to try), places we should visit, quotes...

You name it, I tore it out and had files of tear outs.

About 20 years ago, I began putting all the torn pages into books I spiral bound.

I created 39 books before I found Pinterest.

a few of the books on a shelf in the attic

I know the exact number for two reasons.  

I recently moved them to the attic and it was a pain to carry them up our pull-down attic stairs.

And, I numbered them to help a little for organization -it only helped a little.

I should have created a different book for each different interest  - like Pinterest boards.

Since I have been using Pinterest and reading magazines on my iPad, I rarely buy magazines anymore.

And with fewer magazines, I don't tear pages out.

So, no more books.

All 39 books take up a lot of space and I debated tossing the books.

Something told me to just keep them in the attic for now.

I am glad I did because yesterday I remembered an article I had torn out titled "What Makes It Cottage?"

When I got home from work, I pulled down the stairs and went in search of the article.

I remembered that it was before we moved to our present home so it would have to be in one of the lower numbers.

#7 to be exact.

they had to have titles

I used craft scissors so I didn't have to make straight lines

It was fun to flip through the books although I didn't make it through all 39 books.

What I noticed was:

my style has changed from book #1 to present day 

and 

I actually followed through and copied looks I liked.

I bought or made things, decorated rooms and  visited places I pasted into the books.

For instance,

I found this photo of a sofa I liked 

and, until last summer, this was my sofa.

 I obviously was thinking about white slipcovers

long before I decided to make new slipcovers last summer.

I pasted these beach buckets into book #7

and here are two of my favorite pails. 

I wonder if this picture was torn out before or after we moved to the beach

because it seems that I got my inspiration from the picture above.

This picture must have sparked my interest in benches

because this is my coffee table bench today.

Who knew that when I tore this picture out

that I would one day have a dining room with mullioned windows.

Metal baskets filled with books?

Oh, yes.

Vintage linens?

Definitely.

And, these were just things I noticed in book #7.

What amazed me most was that I don't recall looking at the books before I bought things or decorated.

The images must have been burned into my brain.

How many ideas from the other 38 books made it into the house?

In 10 years, if I look back at Pinterest I hope I have copied a lot of my pins because I have a lot of great ideas there.

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I am linked up at

No Minimalist Here - Open House Party

Common Ground - Be Inspired

Homespun Happenings - Rustic Restorations Weekend

It's A Hodgepodge Life - Hodgepodge Friday

My Romantic Home - Show and Tell Friday

Life in a (different) little cottage by the sea

When KC graduated from college, she worked a season in the mountains to get her fill of skiing/snowboarding, before beginning her climb up the corporate ladder.

As a waitress in a ski resort, she had to work on Christmas and I was not happy about her being alone and not having her with us.

Thus began a new family tradition.

Every year, since 2003, we have taken a family ski vacation instead of buying lots of presents. 

The planning of our Christmas vacation begins in August so we can find a house that fits our purposes - not too big or too expensive!

Things went along great for several years, but our luck ran out.

Two years ago we rented a house in Santa Fe where Christmas Eve is magical with thousands of luminarias lighting up Canyon Road.

But, we only got in one day of skiing due to lack of snow.

Last Christmas we rented a wonderful house in Tahoe City with a gorgeous lake view and several ski resorts just a short drive away, but alas, there was so little snow that we got in only one very lackluster day of skiing.

In August, we decided that we did not want to risk planning a ski trip again this year.

We set our trusty travel agent (KC) on the trail of a tropical Christmas.

She found us a "little cottage by the sea" in Kauai.

Not this cottage on Hanalei Bay

or this Hanalei Bay house either - definitely not in our price range.

And not this house overlooking Hanalei Bay.

The photo is actually the view from the deck of "The House of Birds" as it is called by the owners.

It is a fun little house with one great room upstairs

and 2 bedrooms downstairs.

Although I live at the beach, I don't live in a 'beach' house so 'beach' themed furniture doesn't fit in.

It is just right for "The House of Birds".

The owners have decorated the house perfectly for its setting and purpose.

 Hawaiian flowers in my favorite palette of red, yellow and green.

I love wicker furniture, but it doesn't fit in my little Tudor cottage.

In this beach house, it is just the ticket.

Tapa cloth is hung as art

and native gourds and shells serve as decoration.

This little cottage by the sea is just what we needed.

No ski equipment, no heavy jackets - just bathing suits and flip flops.

Instead of skiing, it is kayaking, stand up paddling, hiking and swimming.

We love to ski, but as we sat out on the lanai last night eating dinner, JP's toast was,

"Here's to a new family tradition - Christmas in the tropics."

Steve's only suggestion was that next year the kids pay.

I won't hold my breath!

Mele kalikimaka

A Red Letter Day

Yesterday, in my pursuit of blue plates, I went to one of my favorite local shops - B on Main.

I have NEVER entered B on Main without leaving with a brown bag in my hand.

I saw plenty of things to buy, but I held my purchases to a minimum since I am still looking for blue plates.

I love to stroll through the store and look at all the themes.

BEACH

The beach theme is always a favorite of mine to look at, but I rarely buy any beach items.

Most of my 'beach' decor is shells which I pick up free on our morning walks.

I love the rustic wood bench, but I have 4 benches already.

LETTERS & NUMBERS

I ALWAYS leave the shop with at least one number or letter item.

Yesterday was literally a RED LETTER day because I bought a red O for my Expedit.

I love the rusty letters,

I think I might go back a buy the 11 - I was born in November.

The numbered hand will fit into either my hand and my number collection, but it was more than I wanted to spend.

I have one of these number napkin rings in yellow and thought about buying another, but I couldn't remember which numbers I still need for my collection.

When I got home I realized that I need a 1.

STRIPES

I love the blue and white striped duvet cover, but it was the wrong size.

I am thinking about calling to see if they can special order it for me.

I special ordered a duvet and pillows from them years ago.

The yellow polka dot quilt on my bed is fading and I like the idea of replacing it with stripes.

I couldn't decide which of the primary color stripe towels I should buy.

I settled on the thick stripes.

Now that I look at the photo I think I need to go back and buy the thin stripes.

ART SUPPLIES

I bought the larger of the little chalk boards.

I'm not sure what I will do with it, but tonight I have set aside time to actually do some art projects.

I couldn't pass up the little black wooden tags.

Again, not sure how I will use them, but I am sure I can find a use.

I just have to stop at the hardware store for some heavy magnets today so I can copy this idea.

The display was a cake plate with utensil magnets.

I have the forks sitting in a bucket in my workspace just waiting for a creative idea.

So, I need to get busy, make the magnets, create some cards and

stop thinking about blue plates.