Coastal Living - February 2010

One of my favorite parts of Coastal Living is "Lindsay's View".
Lindsay is the editor-in-chief of Coastal Living and he has the most incredible way with words. It's always such a treat to read his stories.
There was something extra special about one of the paragraphs he wrote in this months "View".

It says,
"The evening after my interview, I wandered from my room to the water's edge, and for the first time in my adult life I felt like the person I truly wanted to be: unguarded, imperturbable, utterly content. I don't know about you, but wherever and whenever I'm gazing at the shore in the half-light, I vow to hold on to that feeling of peace and carry it with me always."

I really connected with his message because I find myself vowing to do that very same thing every time I stand before the sea and watch the waves dance with the sand.

One day, I hope to live a little closer to the ocean- in a tiny timeworn cottage that smells like summer and feels like freedom.

The February issue of Coastal Living is filled with lots of photos of beautiful, beachside abodes.

On page 36, you will find a house made of shells and stones...



There's a story about an open-air villa on page 68...



And on page 86, you'll find an article titled, "Haven on Earth"...



I thoroughly enjoyed reading about all three places, and it made me look forward to visiting Tybee Island even more!

"Just Beachy" on Tybee Island, Georgia

I'll sign off with one of my favorite sea-inspired quotes...

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Layla

Coastal Living - November 2009

We received our November issue of Coastal Living magazine in the mail yesterday and I could hardly wait to sit down and soak it all up last night.

A quick glance at the table of contents revealed that this issue would include some of my favorite things- food, travel, decorating and Heather Chadduck.

Imagine my surprise when I flipped to the article Heather produced on page 28 and saw this old photo of the two of us working together on a tablescape...



Okay, okay! So I photoshopped myself into the picture. A girl can dream right? ;-)

In all seriousness, you have to check out "Seaside Style". Heather created three different beach-inspired tablescapes that are perfect for the upcoming holidays. In one setting, she used coral bush. And because of the photo of it on page 30, I am now obsessed with the stuff.
Don't even get me started on the driftwood garland and giant recycled glass marbles on the first page of the article. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!
Thankfully, they included the web addresses and phone numbers of the stores where you can find all of the items she used. Areohome.com here I come!

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On page 37, I enjoyed reading about Coastal Livings Idea House 2009, located in the community of Seawatch in Sunset Harbor, North Carolina.



The interiors of the Idea Home were created by designer Philip Sides. He used "creative color combos and sit-down-and-stay-a-while furniture arrangements" throughout.
The house is simply stunning, but reading his name brought back some crazy memories.
Last year, before I started doing virtual design consultations full time, I must have sent out over 50 resumes to everyone and their brother. One of Kevin's tours had fallen through, so we needed to find ourselves some jobs fast. I didn't blog about any of the scary stuff that was going on in our world at that time, but let me just say that we spent many a night laying in bed, flinching every time we heard a noise because we thought the repo man was in our driveway. And keeping our utilities on became almost as hard as keeping our minds off the looming reality that we may lose our house.
Anywho...I really wanted to land a job in the interior design field, but would have been happy with anything at the time. Well, long story short- no one called me in for an interview or even responded to my letter/resume except for Philip Sides. And even though he was writing to tell me he couldn't hire anyone at that time, his courtesy was so greatly appreciated and his letter probably had something to do with the creation of my design business shortly thereafter.
It's crazy how small this world can seem sometimes!

Back to the Idea Home...
Here's a link to a video tour of it.
You may need to throw on a bib before you watch it. :-)

If you're lucky enough to live close to the house, you can purchase tickets to tour it here:

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The November issue also contains information on the 10 Best Seaside Hideaways in Mexico. Check this one out:

Photographer: Tria Giovan

Can you say paradise? This is the Palapa Room at Verana, in Costa Alegre. If you're looking for seclusion, this is definitely the place to go. To reach the resort you take a 30-minute taxi ride from Puerto Vallarta to Boca de Tomatlán. Then a 30-minute boat ride, then a walk through a village, and then up a path to a seaside cliff. Sound exhausting? No worries―a mule will haul all of your luggage. :-)

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"Family Ties" (on page 76) was an absolute delight to read as well.
Sherry Bilsing and her husband, Mark Graham, worked with designer Jackie Terrell to create a home filled with "vintage finds, a modest dose of color and kid-friendly style".

SO many elements in this photo on page 77 made me swoon...

Photographer: Dominique Vorillon

I love the clean-lined wainscoting. So crisp and fresh!
I love their use of casual, striped slipcovers on the normally "seriously-upholstered" wingbacks.
I love the little wood-topped stools, lined up in a row, underneath the windows.
I love the shade of green on the pottery sitting on the mantle.
I love all the textures. The wood floor, the charcoal-colored tile on the fireplace, the thick, plush rug, the Ikea basket filled with logs. They're all so scrumptious!
I love the vintage school poster hanging on the wall. The matting around it matches the wall color perfectly! I wonder which came first? The mat or the paint? :-)

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I could go on and on about this issue of Coastal Living, but I don't want to spoil too much. If you don't have a subscription, you can also visit their website to read some of the stories featured this month.

Thank you to the staff at Coastal Living for putting out yet another great issue!
And congratulations to the Editor-in-Chief, Lindsay Beirman, on the purchase of his new, bouncing baby boat, "Buttercup"! The story on page 12 about it was really fun to read. :-)

Layla


To read other Coastal Living reviews, visit these great blogs:

Coastal Nest
Completely Coastal
Beach Vintage

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Coastal Living - October 2009

Hello!

Kevin and I have been invited to write a monthly review for Coastal Living magazine, and we are absolutely thrilled about the opportunity! With so many magazines going out of business lately, and because Coastal Living is one of our all-time favorites, we're going to do whatever we can to help spread the word about this amazing and informative magazine.

The first issue we have the pleasure of blogging about is their October 2009 issue.

When we received our copy in the mail, our eyes were immediately drawn to the bold orange letters across the bottom of the cover that read, "ideas to steal!". Upon further inspection, we learned that the aforementioned ideas could be found on page 35 in an article titled, "12 Rooms, Hundreds of Ideas". Now normally I read a magazine from front to back, but this article was way too intriguing- I had to start there! :-)
The article focused on Coastal Livings 2009 Idea Cottage located in I'On, South Carolina. The photography was phenomenal, (I particularly loved the photo of the kitchen on page 38) and it was such a delight to read about the eco-friendly, classic Lowcountry cottage that truly exemplifies beach-chic charm.

Photo: Tria Giovan

Another article Kevin and I really enjoyed can be found on page 84. It's called "The Boy Who Sailed Around The World". I read the whole thing aloud to Kevin one night. By the time we had reached the articles end, we were inspired to the gills by a courageous 17-year-old boy named Zac. He circumnavigated the globe, alone in his boat, in just over a years time. Can you imagine?! It was a fantastic story and, again, the photography was breathtaking. They even included some very interesting shots that Zac took himself while on his voyage.

Check out this video Zac posted on YouTube:



What an amazing kid, eh?

"A Cure for the Common Condo", on page 90, was also a great read. Writer Melissa Bigner describes how designer Phoebe Howard conquered a washed-out palette and a down-and-out vibe by performing reconstructive surgery, and injecting a heavy dose of wallpaper, fabric, and paint to create an awe-inspiring home. The condo sits seaside in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, which is near Jacksonville.

Photo: Dominique Vorillon

Coastal Living's Heather Chadduck styled the rooms in the condo for this article, and I always get excited when I discover that she played a part in creating the look. She is my absolute favorite! I would love to assist her on a shoot sometime. Heather- if you're reading...



:-)

And because my mom's husband (Randy) is a nationally-recognized home brewer- we also enjoyed reading "October Feast" on page 100. The owners of Savannah's "Moon River Brewing Company" shared their favorite Fall-inspired menu, and named which frothy companions would best suit each dish. Their crab salad recipe made my mouth water, and Kevin thought their suggestion to pair it with a Belgian Wheat Beer sounded delicious!

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Although we've only highlighted a few stories in the October issue here today, there isn't one article in this issue that we didn't enjoy reading. We look forward to receiving and reviewing the November issue of Coastal Living. From the looks of their website, we'll get to tour another awesome Idea House and peek into Martha Stewart's beach bag too! :-)

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Wanna read more Coastal Living reviews?
Check out Lisa's review at Coastal Nest, Maya's review at Completely Coastal, Simone's review at Beach Vintage

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Tales from an OC Cottage