The Teacher Teaching The Teacher !

School has started and Anna and I are together working on a project! Anna has just introduced a new lesson to her 5th graders looking at Georgia artists. She will be teaching them about Beverly Buchanan's and Jane Coslick's Cottages/Shacks. They will create their own rendering out of card board and be inspired by the Jane Coslick's colors, "her" passion, exteriors, and charm. Students will get a chance to name their own cottage (ex. Luscious little cottage). Can't wait to see how they turn out! I will post pictures when the students finish!

More images by Richard Johnson ................

Here are more images of the project taken by Richard for Coastal Living Magazine (I have finally learned to load more that one photo on to the blog). The Master Bed Room image is also featured on http://www.mydesign.com/.

I love this outdoor shower shot. I LOVE outdoor showers and try to include one in every project even if they are not at the beach. Something fun and different.

Hanging porch beds!!! They are so popular now......If you are thinking of one, be certain the framing of the porch ceiling will accommodate and support the weight of the bed and the method of hanging is adequate. They are only as comfortable as the mattress and support pillows. I normally use a standard twin and build the bed to fit. This is a nice thick futon mattress but it can not stay out in the damp weather. The fabrics are outdoor fabrics but consideration needs to be given to the material inside the bed. Custom size mattresses are more expensive but if space is an issue,that is the way to go. A great place to take a nap....a good thing to do on Labor Day!!

I had the table made and Chris Walker (the On line store) finished it to look old. It has the 'rusty Crusty' feel but NO wobbling... .

Anna's oyster shell and driftwood chandelier makes this room. See the old sink , it came from the old beach house that sat here and was moved to the left and "re-Muddled". They didn't want anything old from the house...Lucky me and lucky several clients.!!!!

Painted concrete floors by a friend of the clients. this is actually the mud/sand room where everything gets dropped off.

Hope you have a great Labor Day!!!!

The Perfect Beach House Kitchen

This is one of my favorite projects because the goal was to have FUN...It is a summer house with amazing views. The family is wonderful and wanted this home to be light airy and kid proof!! Coastal living ran this story in June of 09. It now is featured on their great design site in the section called 50 favorite kitchens. When we were designing the kitchen we "pondered" long and hard about doing this wonderful turquoise color in such a bold manner. We were looking for major "Happiness Factor" and we got it!!!!! The old style vent and the chrome(which is an upcharge when you purchase the stove) almost make we want to cook something.

The site is called www.myhomeideas.com.

Magazines are wonderful!!!! Maybe Cottage Living will come back one day.....{ Some of the photos are actualy from Cottage Living}

Ps.. This is another photograph taken by Richard Leo Johnson of Alantic Archives.com. The man is amazing....

Good Morning

 

Hurricane Earl has missed us.The view from my bedroom this morning...Calm and Sunny... Thanks goodness!!!!

A Janelle Mcculloch Photograph

Remember when Anna and I were frantically preparing for a photo shoot in early summer? Hurrying and scurrying around from cottage to cottage ..madly "Fluffing" and adding a finishing touch here and there. The photographer,Janelle Mccullough, was from Australia and came to Tybee to shoot some of my work for an upcoming book she is writing. She was delightful and so much fun. She stayed at "99 steps" and rode my old beach bike around the island with camera in hand. Here is an example of her talent.She captured the essence of this wonderful "new but feels old" bathroom.

I LOVE Color and I LOVE my job!!!!

Happy Birthday to Me !!!!

As a gift for my birthday, my son Bauer scanned the old 1870 prints for me to share with you. Notice the photo of the children and the woman down by the water's edge in her hat and long dress. When the movie "Glory" was filmed here,they created this very photo in living color as the movie set. It was if the photo had come to life! My son, Winn, and his friends were extras in the movie and I sometimes wonder if that was the reason he himself ended up in film. He is actually making a movie in Memphis Tenn. called "Losers Take All". He loves writing screen plays and making movies.

Once I finished the project and had moved into the house, the location scouts and the producers of the movie ,"The Big Chill" came to visit Isle of Hope in search of the perfect spot for the film. They fell in love with all of it.... the trees, the river, the house and the colors that I had painted all the rooms. They were swinging on the giant rope swing and loving all the things that we had lovingly RE-created. They teasingly told Winn he could be the corpse ( remember all they showed were his hands)( Kevin Costner did actually play the corpse).They would have had to move us out and they would all have move in and lived for 3 months while the movie was being filmed. I had not even finished unpacking all my boxes and I worried about my newly refinished floors. They ended up shooting the movie in Beaufort South Carolina in a beautiful empty house..That movie was the BEST...I should have run out the door... and said .." See you in three months"..

THANKS BAUER!

My BEST Lesson !!!

This wonderful project took 1 1/2 years to complete. I was the General Contractor (in name only). Actually, I was the "GO -FOR", and the clean up crew of one, and the question asker ... 1,000,000 questions would be a good round number ! I learned where the money had to be spent and why. I made design decisions with all my pictures and my dreams foremost in my mind. I spent hours sitting under the giant oak tree in the front yard pondering and listening to this beautiful old place come back to life. We save everything we took off, bought a few new/old things and rebuilt it in the spirit of the original house. I fell in love with the process of restoring an old house. I had amazing craftsmen and subcontractors who were willing to work on an old building and be patient with me as I learned the many steps that it took to do this type of major project. Years later it still stands as a reminder of WHY one doesn't tear down a wonderful old house full of history in a wonderful historic area on the coast of Georgia..... or anywhere for that matter!!!!