The evolution of a sandy toes beach bungalow…Or…the art of beach living…

Sandy toes, surf boards, art… family

The stuff of which a good beach home is made no?

Enter friend Julia, Artist extraordinaire, her family of 5…

…and the story of a sandy filled beach house…

The 1960’s original two bedroom home…smack on the rolling Atlantic Ocean…where Jules’ husband David grew up…

A few decades later…and with David’s influence…The beach bungalow has grown a bit…

Three children later…

The Beach home has the soul of an art studio….

note the ship porthole in the front door

The devastation of three hurricanes…destroyed much of this home…. But not it’s family or it’s soul.

And today the once tiny, once quirky beach bungalow has been renovated once again.

Still retaining the soul of an art studio…just all grown up.

Come join me in a tour of this unique and beautiful Vero Beach place…

On the very end of a lovely, quiet, once sandy, lane…

The backyard is truly wet and wild and ever-changing…

The colors and the mood of the liquid salt sea…

is reflected in… and inspires every corner of their home…

Custom made crystal drip lighting…I can taste the salt.

The kitchen…overlooking the coconut edged Atlantic…has a granite imbedded with the texture and color of the surrounding turquoise sea…and the backsplash is a seemingly color changing gray/green glass.

organic elements meld beautifully with modern shine

And the spray of sea salt enrobes everything (literally….it is the color used on the upstairs walls)

The upstairs bath has a beautiful sink made by a fellow artist and friend Glenda Taylor…as a matter of fact, Julia’s fave things to point out in her abode… are the art of her fellow artists…and her talented family. The home explodes with the color of creation!

Turtle handle for sink vanity (originally a door knocker)…and shower wall and floor made of wood grained porcelain and green glass tiles

It is always the details

…no?

Master bedroom and bath…Ocean breezes

Closets throughout the home are spacious…and…artsy…Antlers hold a bevy of jewelry

Downstairs are three children's rooms and a bar/kitchen/hangout area….and art…lot’s of art…

you can get there via elevator (the porthole door…remember the front door of the old house?…is an elevator)

OR…you can take the stairs…

Julia’s collage work of family…door to my heart… is at the bottom of the steps…welcoming…

Kids rooms are packed with color and personality…and yes. Art.

Darling pink bath in Daughter Greta's room…

Downstairs bar and hanging out area…Yes please.

…Which opens up to outdoor areas with outdoor kitchen and fireplace…pool and fire pit…and the ever beckoning sound of surf…

Upstairs again….there is another turquoise ceiling lanai… overlooking the sea

Art and home….

Visit more of Julia and her artist friends at Tiger Lilly Studio and Gallery in Vero Beach…

Hope you could taste and feel the salt…too.

In the pink on St. Paddy’s day…

Bougies all a bloomin’

Hope YOU had a happy!

A pool of zig and zag…

So the plan is to empty our pool…which will be

ever so happy to get a face lift.

and chevron…or zig zag…is where it is at!

I have always loved the talavera chevron seen throughout Mexico

and thought why not on the tiles of the pool surround?

The inspiration pic below is from the House Beautiful book: Pools.

Mind you…I am NOT talking the whole inside of the pool tiled…but just that top strip

...any one seen any other inspiration pics you wanna share with me??

Give ya a dollar.

Riddle me this….

So I come home with a chunk not a big chunk, but a chunk of some

bright, who turned up the lights! fabric.

I apparently am like a moth to light with these colors.

Maharajah meets the mod squad??

Pillows most likely

….any other fantabulous ideas?

I went on a search of the fabric…Kelly O’neill for Design Legacy

This looks like her booth at the market in Atlanta…

Anyone seen it?

Spring has sprung…

And the horrible little secret is…

My paper whites from Christmas are still doing their thing.

I mean, really. They aren’t dead….not completely growing either. Just at that place I love them.

weird.

In other news….I found me a HUGE dough bowl

so huge that son # 3 walked in and asked what a baby’s cradle was doing on the table. sigh.

Back to the drawing board.

In the market for a cottage… Maybe a Row House.... Tennis Cottage anyone??

In our little town….we have some *cottages* on the market that I thought you might like to take a peek at

any of them could be yours….If you would like.

I would like. yes indeedy, I would.

While the above home is considered a cottage this little ditty below

is called a row house…

Long and narrow. slum living at it’s best.

This next little number is listed as a tennis cottage…

Quaint, eh?

Vero Beach, Florida….come visit. Pick up a cottage

or two…

Find more here.