If you are one of the seven to twelve people who follow this blog regularly, you’ll know what’s going on. If not, click back one post and you’ll be all caught up with the rest of us. Take your time, we will wait. 

And now on with the next installment of my attempt to revive a little thirty year old cottage by the bay….without killing myself or my husband along the way! 

 

Several years ago we spent Fourth of July with some very dear friends from Georgia. They drove down to stay with us at the beach and we all had the BEST time imaginable.

During their visit they christened our former home as the “Linger Long-er Inn and Spa” which, of course, was a complete joke as we didn’t have much room there at all and it was nothing close to a spa. The name stuck however and we have now carried it over with us to our new little homestead on the bay. The Linger Long-er Cottage is up and running and I can’t wait to welcome our friends for a second visit!

Due to a little health scare and hospital stay for my Daddy (who is perfectly fine now) my grand plan for a week long packing session followed by a two day move was quickly transformed to a 48 hour pack AND move which was simply tons of fun!

Once I managed to get everything transferred it looked like bomb exploded……

….after a tornado blew through.

I wanted everything in a proper place immediately–which was not even a remote possibility so I decided to start on the outside and work my way in. The yard needed to be cleaned up and fenced in and the house needed to be spruced up so the first chore I decided to tackle was putting a fresh coat of paint on the exterior.

 

 

I have always wanted to live in a white house with black shutters  but sadly I knew that color scheme wouldn’t suit this particular house.

 

Since I had to go in an unknown direction, and since my husband was allowed no say whatsoever in the matter, I worked my way through saved photos and chose a picture of a very pretty blue house on the water to mimic.

 

I made him drive me all over town until I found a local house that was very much like the special picture I had chosen. I really need to see things in person and he knows this about me. He couldn’t have cared less what color I was going to paint the house but he did care about me being in a happy mood so he was a great sport during the entire house stalking adventure. He even pretended to be excited about the whole process.

 

 

 

 

 

The greatest painter in the world (Clayton–who I can’t live without) helped me through every step. We had a long-distance-paint-relationship for about a month and he was amazing! He diligently sent photos all along the way during the decision making process and kept it up until the project was complete. He was very good to put up with me (which is no easy task by any stretch of the imagination) and he kept me fully informed at every turn.

In the end, we went with Benjamin Moore Santorini Blue on the exterior walls, Dragon’s Breath on the porch floor, steps and doors, Glass Slipper on the porch ceiling and Sherwin Williams Pure White on the trim.

 

Just in time for Fourth of July to roll around again, the outside was finally starting to take shape! The fence is up, the yard is somewhat on the way to being a yard again and Mr. is getting so excited he even bought himself a lawnmower and a weed eater! That man hasn’t hit a lick at a snake in 25 years but he’s now suddenly decided he wants to do yard work. I love it!

 

When I arrived for the first time to see the new look in person I couldn’t have been happier and I wanted to give Clayton an award. He’s coming back for some inside projects soon and I can not wait! In the meantime, here are some shots of the exterior and it is finally starting to take shape.

BEFORE   and  AFTER