Our new beach house bedroom
We did it! We spent Thanksgiving at our new beach house. The experience had its ups and downs. Pluses and minuses, if you will, but what cannot be denied is that both Blue Eyes and I were blown away by our new house… and actually there was a huge storm at the coast the night before Thanksgiving and we thought perhaps the windows might also be blown away. I have never seen so much movement in a piece of glass before. This is a discussion we will be having with the architect because the west coast can get quite stormy. We’ll be discussing that and the fact that noise from the rain and wind that came through the big hollow opening that houses the mechanics and venting system for the two gas fireplaces made it sound like we were out on a rickety old boat in the middle of the ocean during a Nor’easter. Okay, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration. And of course the house itself didn’t move one tiny little bit because the foundation is made of solid concrete drilled many feet below ground and reinforced with a dozen or so monstrous five foot square pillars below the actual floor. It is SOLID! But still, Lily the golden retriever was beside herself as she paced the floor and whined, ALL.NIGHT.LONG!
After the stormy night, this is what our big golden girl did all Thanksgiving day while we prepared dinner. I really do wish I had been the one lying there with her.
There was also the case that the building foreman wasn’t thrilled we were staying at the house before it is really complete, even though they have gone over schedule a half dozen times already. He wasn’t terribly accommodating when we arrived to only about half the electrical fixtures having been installed. There were also a couple sinks not quite in working order… one fixture in our shower is hooked up wrong, and the wrong refrigerator was delivered. There is no glass on the guest room showers, nor a single mirror in the entire place, and numerous cabinet faces yet to be installed. Also, the flimsy make shift front door that is in place has about a 2 inch gap on the bottom, and flew open in the wind about a half dozen times. But guess what??? We made do. And we made do in an absolutely gorgeous home in the most amazing setting and we are truly thankful.
I arrived last Tuesday afternoon and met up with our interior designer and her partner, the architect. They are a magnificently talented pair and we are lucky to have them both on this project. I am not a modern home kind of gal. I like traditional, and french country, and a little shabby chic thrown in. At least that is what I gravitate towards when given a choice. This time though, the lot size and the dozens of building restrictions and requirements dictated a much more contemporary design than I am used to. Because of that, I let the architect have his way with this house. I stood back and watched and barely made a peep because I didn’t want to get in his way. What a spectacular result!
By the time I arrived at the house last week, I was on day eight, I think, of a horrible head cold/flu. I had planned to unload the car in daylight. The car was filled to the brim with everything we would need to have our family stay at this completely empty house for three days, plus make a big Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately there were so many people still working on the house and some of the furniture was being delivered and some strange little local guy was supposedly “cleaning” up after the workers but mostly he followed me and the interior designer around like a puppy, just talking and getting nothing done. I decided to wait to unload my car until after everyone had left. Except the turkey. The turkey was loaded immediately into the temporary fridge. Unfortunately by the time everyone left, it was dark and stormy, basically pouring down rain. There is very little light on the front of the house and no street lamps at our end of the street. I decided to just wait until morning.
Another one of those things that has not been installed yet, is window coverings. So, I woke up with the sunrise to the neighbor standing on the berm between his house and ours supposedly staring out at the ocean. I have never seen him stand there before and I had no idea how long he had been there, but if I had a full view of him, he also had a full view of me. Thank goodness I was sensible enough to actually wear my clothes to bed. I started unloading my car and was done by 8:00am. The fence guys showed up at 7:45am, so I was pretty glad I was up early. The plumbers showed up at 9:00am, which helped a lot because before they showed we only had one working sink in the house.
I proceeded to work around the workers and prepare a couple of my Thanksgiving dishes in advance. The rest of the family was due to arrive between 3-4 that afternoon and I knew once they arrived I would get nothing done. In the end, me, my boys, and the Pragmatist’s girlfriend managed to make a 17 lb. turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, (2) pear tarts, a pumpkin pie, braised cabbage, and four loaves of fresh homemade brioche in one 30″ oven. Miraculous, I know!!! To give Blue Eyes some credit, he cleaned up after all of us. Dinner was a pretty simple affair. My mom brought sweet potatoes and my sister brought green beans. We had a rather large charcuterie, cheese, fruit and cracker board as an appetizer.
The Pragmatist’s brioche loaves. He is really into making bread right now but this was his first stab at brioche.
The girlfriend’s pear tarts.
The gorgeous white oak and brass detailed custom made dining room table was set simply with my mom’s old fiesta ware, paper napkins and plastic cups.
These are a few of my favorite things… (I obviously filtered the hell out of this on instagram. I love instagram)
Bath tub in guest bedroom number three taken a couple weeks ago.
The steel and brass slider between the master and the living room.
My new happy place. After unloading the car on Wednesday morning, I sat here for a bit, drank a cup of tea and read my book.
The heated concrete floors are AMAZING!!! More pictures to follow when things are more done. I would post a picture of the front, but there is garbage out front, a lot of mud, and a port-a-potty, so no. Not this time. After landscaping I will post a picture. 🙂
But it’s true, I am a lucky and thankful girl! ❤
try not to cry on my rainbow 
Oh my!! We need to talk photography, although nothing I can put on those walls will remotely compete with those views – spectacular Kat, inside and out 😍
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Artwork is technically Phase 2, but I am so impatient. 🙂
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As an impatient myself, I get it. And it doesn’t hurt to chat right – preparation is key 😜 X
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Wow, Kat. Your beach house is so beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing the photos.
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It is a beautiful place. We are still in awe.
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It looks amazing and when it’s finished I don’t know how you will convince yourself not to just live there!! Totally jealous
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I keep thinking the same thing myself! 😊
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At last!!!! This is so wonderful, I can’t imagine a better thanksgiving than to be in that beautiful new house with the people you love. To new beginnings my dear ❤️❤️❤️
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I’ll be back over next Tuesday to take a picture of your room, since your correct bed is being installed! 😉 New beginnings, indeed! xoxo
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OMG thank you so much for posting the pics. It.is.fabulous. My decorating style leans to CF and SC as well but I find as I am aging I am leaning more and more to the minimalism of contemporary. I love your home LOVE. That steel and brass slider door to your bedroom is remarkable. I think all the noise from the storm is also partly because there’s no window treatments, although noisy neighbor be damned!!!, I would hate covering those windows. And yes glass moves in big winds. Mine do all the time. Could you see the sea during the storm? I love stormy angry seas. And you are a trooper cooking Tgiving meal with contractors around. HHHMMM start holding retention on your payments and see how fast they can suddenly meet their deadlines 🙂 LOL ask me how I know, we are actually in the construction business. I am so happy for you. What a beautiful beautiful home and location. Thanks for posting
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Hey, TH. I kept my promise! 🙂 It is nice having the minimalist contemporary design and not having to fluff pillows every five minutes!
The steel door is pretty incredible, and kind of a conversation piece. Like, why would we need such a large door to “protect” our bedroom. Glad to hear maybe the glass situation isn’t as big a deal as we thought. We could definitely see the sea in the storm as it started before sundown and lasted through mid day. Plus there was an electrical storm for about six hours in the middle of the night and with every huge bolt of lightening, it lit up the ocean. Scary and exciting all at the same time. Incredibly beautiful, right outside those shaking windows. The waves were kind of a grey/green with huge white caps. The Oregon Coast is often full of stormy angry seas this time of year. We are at the end of the line now, so no final payment until everything is done. Thanks for the advice. If I had known you were in the construction business, you might have gotten a few emails from me during this two year process. 😉
The bigger deal with the Thanksgiving meal was that my oldest son decided to make brioche ON Thanksgiving Day. That took up a lot of time, space, and the oven right when I needed to heat up everything for dinner. Dinner was a little late for my liking, but we just went with the flow. I am a bit obsessive, so harder for me than everyone else. I am learning to let things go. xoxo
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Oh I can just close my eyes and picture that ocean in all it’s madness. I love it. Funny I’m not so fond of smooth serene gently lapping the shores body of waters but give me an angry ocean and I am thrilled!!
That door is NOT just a door. It is art. Form and Function. Of course no “needs” that but WOW.
It’s funny how in my old age I’m wanting to simplify things. Yes me too, tired of fluffing the damn pillows! I’d also like to think I could simplify my wardrobe. And I don’t know if it’s a function of old age or my PTSD from the trauma of my husband’s affair and all the other shit things that have happened to me since. But simplicity is certainly taking a front seat in my psyche.
Your home is lovely and thank you for sharing it with us.
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My new uniform is yoga pants and sweaters that cover my tummy. 🙂 I am all about the simplifying too. Once my mom hit her 50’s, about every five years she would “declutter” her house… meaning she would just get rid of everything non-essential. I used to think she was crazy. Not any more!
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I love minimalism. Live in a cluttered, shambolic farmhouse. A sleek holiday home was a no-brainer! Easier to keep clean and calming. Love love love!!!❤❤❤
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Your farmhouse does not look cluttered to me and I love your furniture! I hope I get to see both houses in person! xoxo
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Oh but of course 🚢
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Kat- it’s so gorgeous!! I’m so glad you were able to spend Thanksgiving there!!! I can’t wait to see more pictures once it’s all done!! Here’s to the first of many, many more happy times in your beach home!
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More pictures will be forthcoming. I am hoping for some professional photos as the architect/designer are talking about getting it published. They were very considerate of us and asked if we were okay with them making it public. They spent so much of their time on this house, I want them to reap the benefits, too. Not that they weren’t paid, of course, but we have been working with the designer nearly 10 years and we are friends now. Thanksgiving there was fun, but really I am looking forward to quiet mornings with a cup of tea, a stroll on the beach, and painting up in my painting studio/loft. Well, and maybe some walks with the dogs on the beach, and some nights by the fire with BE. 😉 I am really looking forward to quiet alone time though too. xo
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Love it! We are at a crossroads that will be decided very soon: either a business gets sold and we rebuild our beach house, or the deal falls thru and it gets sold. It’s been my sanctuary for 22 years and I do wake up crying at the thought of it being so close by and not mine. It’s another casualty of the affair, fallout from the crap decisions wh made. it’s only 50min drive from our home, but uninhabitable due to storm damage 18 mos ago. Yes 18 mos ago. 20 yrs of gardens, 1/2 acre, I did all the work, now it’s overgrown and another embarrassment. I cry weekly about it. Send me good juju please, not sure I can handle losing my refuge after losing so much.
Love sleek and clean and simple – your place is perfect. Congratulations and I hope it gets filled with years of giggly, silly, warm, loving memories. Enjoy every inch ❤️
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Oh my gosh, Lemondrop. I will be sending all nature of good vibes your way. You do not want to lose that beach house, your sanctuary, and so close to your home! I hope you are able to rebuild!
I have wanted a beach house for decades but my husband is very conservative and apparently lived inside a bubble of fear and brokenness. When he finally agreed that buying a beach house was a great idea, I honestly couldn’t believe it. I have these little annoying mantras… “can we buy a beach house, please, please, please… ” You know. Just for fun. I honestly never thought he would say yes. That was a HUGE turning point for him in his life. He was letting go of the paranoia and fear in order to create a retreat for just the two of us. Children grown, stable business, he wanted to be done with all his lies and bad behavior and create a sanctuary. Here we are, both of us nearly three years in recovery from addiction and betrayal and we have it. The timing couldn’t be better. We are both ready. We love our new house and yes, lots of giggly, silly, warm and loving experiences are in our future. You too, I hope, crossing my fingers out here in the Pacific Northwest. xoxo
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Lol! Whose house is it again? The foreman’s? We stayed in our lake house, with our young kids, before there were any walls! Just a concrete pad, framing and a roof. We camped there several times. They finished the downstairs bathroom and laundry first so we soon had somewhere to wash. We took an old BBQ to cook on and chilly bins to keep food cool. Our builders thought it was wonderful! They were camping in an old caravan while they built as it was a bit of a commute. And the head builder was an old friend of ours. But yeah, not quite the quality of your build! It looks absolutely magnificent xxx.
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Hahaha, I KNOW!!! You’d think he would be thrilled we want to stay in our own house, even knowing it is not done. Also, there are things we discovered by staying there that they can fix now and don’t have to drive back over for after the fact. Things they said were good and done, that aren’t. He should be grateful to us!!! LOL. Your time at the lake house sounds cozy and romantic. BE is very much not into camping type situations. 😉
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Ooooooooh. Romantic. Yeah. Just ask Roger how ‘romantic’ our lake house is! Bastard!
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Lady, I KNEW you were going to go there!!! I set you up! I ❤ you!
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Hahaha! I tried to resist! Too weak! But it is/was romantic. We are not as close to the water as you, but wake up to look out to the lake about 50m from our bed. Also have used the elevation of our sloping site so not like your stunning room where I feel I would just step out naked into those waves. Bloody neighbours!
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I said romantic, not dirty. You got romantic, she got dirty. Your house is amazing. I love how it sits up there with that gorgeous view. Also, the water in our part of the Pacific is VERY COLD. Not sure stepping out into those waves would be as lovely as the thought of it. And yeah, bloody neighbors! The other day at the beach house I got out of our huge shower and was toweling off my hair and then looked out the bedroom window to the beach (which is totally visible from our bathroom) and about 10 people were down on the beach looking up at our house. OOPS! They got a show, ha. I have never seen so many people on that part of the beach. Apparently Thanksgiving weekend is very popular. Maybe not anymore. 😉
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