Hey there ‘shabbilicious’ friends… and welcome to any new friends who have popped in for the bHome ‘Summer Open House’ Tour today.
I can’t tell you how excited I am to be participating in this tour. There’s even a surprise giveaway from Painted Fox Treasures at the end of this post.
I live at the beach, so kick off your shoes and let’s take a wander and get some sand between your toes.
(beautiful Shelly Beach with an early morning sea mist this week)
If you are new here, you may not know that I live in Australia… so umm yeah, it’s not actually summer here… in fact, we are in our third week of winter!
But I’m hoping you’ll let me off, as I live in a coastal town on the east coast that is renown for having Australia’s most temperate climate. Our year round temperature ranges between 20c – 30c (68f – 86f), so we don’t really have seasons as such. It is mostly just warm, warmer or less warm…. and our ‘winter’ is very mild.
I’ve just unlocked the door and turned the sign, so come on in… we’re open!
Hmm, perhaps your first clue that our home is not your typical home.
We have a holiday resort business, so for the past 2 years, my husband and I, and our youngest daughter have lived here on the grounds.
Lots of people seem intrigued by this and want to know what it is like. It’s basically like anyone else’s home… except we have 80+ people hanging out in our back yard. Some people even think it must be very relaxing to live in a resort… (trust me, I’m not the one on holidays!!), but it is lovely living in the rainforest.
(down through the rainforest to the beach)
I’ve never shared the Resort on my blog before, so let me show you around our home.We live in a two story townhouse. It’s not my dream home… it’s not my forever home either… it’s simply the home that came with our business. It’s a basic beach house!
We live and work here every day… so we need it to be comfortable and above all, it has to function. Over the past 12 months we’ve given the whole place a budget make-over to update the look and make it more our style. I think white works so well in a hot climate.
This home is much smaller than anywhere we’ve lived before, so we have a lot of our things in storage. Living and working in a small space means you can’t afford to have clutter, so we keep it pretty simple.
There is definitely a bonus in having a storage unit – I can change the look of our home in a jiffy by sourcing all new décor from storage…
…and let’s be honest here, I’m known to do that with some frequency!
Our main living area has a shabby vintage theme, where it is all kept fairly neutral. The painted brick wall adds texture, without being too commanding. Ordinarily, we don’t have our fairy lights on during the day, but I wanted to share them with you today. Our ceilings are all timber lined with exposed beams, so attaching fairy lights is really easy. These look amazing at night!
And then there’s the elephant in the room… do we really want to discuss the modern black table. Hmm… I think not. If you are intrigued to know why that ‘thing’ is in my shabby room, you can read about it here.
The kitchen, or as I like to call it the ‘walk in pantry’ leads off of the eating nook. It’s my least favourite room in the house, but it has a little more character now, thanks to a recent make-over.
I was so totally spoilt in my last home, which had a large kitchen. Funny, I always dreamed of having a home with a scullery or extra large walk in pantry… you know, kind of beside, but separate to the kitchen.
Now-a-days, I just refer to this mini kitchen as the walk in pantry and leave people wondering where the main kitchen is [wink].
We’ve adjusted to it and as long as all 3 of us don’t try to be in there at the same time, it works just fine. If nothing else, it made me appreciate the living simple philosophy. Most of my many platters, serving bowls and a hundred or so other entertaining items are in storage… and we don’t actually miss them after all.
The black counter tops are so NOT me but when we were repainting everything in here, it seemed the perfect solution to help make that black table fit in with our décor. I do, however, love my chalkboard wall. Black and white are still a neutral background and I change out the accessories on an almost weekly basis.
I love shopping my own home… or the storage unit. When I’m feeling all neutral I stick to vintage pieces and ironstone… then other times I want a pop of cottage colour and go with GreenGate pretties.
Living opposite the beach means it is a big part of our life… so a coastal theme just seems to happen without much planning. I’m a shabby, vintage girl at heart, but we have that unavoidable coastal accent you get living opposite the beach – sand… everywhere! Plus there’s the shells, driftwood, sea glass and other ocean treasures that just seem to find their way into our home.
Currently in the lounge area I’ve got one of my shabby, vintage beach babe paintings above the seating. It sets the theme for the current look in our home and was the catalyst for my new cushion designs. These cushions are from my Beach Vintage collection.
I like the little accents of aqua amongst all the neutrals. It’s an easy to live with colour and suited to a coastal look.
Our home is rarely quiet or private. We have lots of activity going on here with happy holiday makers (vacationers for my US friends) enjoying themselves in the pool, spa, games room and on the tennis court. Excited children’s voices fill the air most days and the office attached to our home is constantly filled with guests coming and going, so I have a special place to go to (hide in) when I need some down time… it’s my craft room. While I do miss my large studio space I had before moving here, realistically, this room meets all my creative needs for now.
This is my happy place.
When I’m in here and I have my music on, I could be anywhere in the world… it’s just me and all my creative pretties.
The resort is surrounded by rainforest… we walk through it to access the beach at the front and there’s more at the rear of our property. In between we have an acre of tropical gardens, which keeps us pretty busy.
We share our home with lots of fauna… koalas, resident lizards (mostly water dragons and blue tongues), two barn owls and what sounds like a thousand kookaburras.
Night time is pretty peaceful here, with just the sound of rolling ocean waves to break the silence, but just before dawn the birds awaken and it sounds like the Amazon jungle… on crack! Boy those birds are loud.
Our home is far from perfect…. but it has a very relaxed, informal feel about it, which suits our layback Australian, outdoors and ‘beachy’ lifestyle.
Thanks for taking a wander with me today, now, dust off the sand, pop your shoes back on and head on over to visit the other delightful ladies on today’s tour.
Shabby Art Boutique
In thanks for being part of the bHome family already…or to welcome you today, we are giving away a $200 gift certificate to Painted Fox Treasures. PFt has all the summer time and any time home decor we all love. It is simple to enter. Just download bHome (the app) for free and leave me a comment with your bHome username. If you are already a bHome user, just comment and include your user name. Winner will be chosen at random on June 20th and notified with a message on bHome. Android users: don’t worry! We will offer this again when you can download too! Download bHome HERE.
What an amazing bHome tour
Monday: My Soulful Home Home Made by Carmona AKA Design On Sutton Place
Tuesday: Cedar Hill Farmhouse Garden Therapy At The Picket Fence Unskinny Boppy Miss Mustard Seed French Country Cottage Shabbyfufu
Wednesday: StoneGable Housepitality Designs Craftberry Bush Cupcakes and Crinoline Shabby Art Boutique Setting For Four A Healthy Life For Me
Thursday: Southern Hospitality Top This Top That Rooms FOR Rent Savvy Southern Style Lilacs & Longhorns Eclectically Vintage Cynthia Weber Design
Friday: Maison de Pax Buckets of Burlap Love of Home Debbiedoo’s Edith & Evelyn Inspired By Charm
Shabbilicious hugs ~ Kerryanne
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You truly live in paradise all year long….can’t imagine how wonderful the walk through the rainforest to beach would be. Paradise!…You have made such a beautiful and functional home!…Crushing over the ceiling!!…and must say that my favorite is your “happy place” ….. Great to be partying with you and have a most wonderful day in paradise!!!
Thank you Shirley. The beach and the path through the rainforest are my 2nd favourite ‘happy place’. It’s hard not to feel peaceful in such a beautiful place. Thanks for visiting my summer tour today. xx
Hey Kerryanne! WOW! Thanks for showing us around your playground. I’d love to come down & see it in person one day but for now I loved your gorgeous pics. Also very envious of your temps -cold & drizzly here the last week … SIGH! Counting down to spring. :0) Bear Hugs! KRIS xx
You know of course that you and GB are welcome here anytime Kris. We are a bit drizzly here too today… I need some winter sun 🙂
Hugs xxx
How beautiful. I could almost smell a blend of ocean air and sweet pink roses! I love your style ! And enjoyed my visit to your lovely home. Today is my birthday….Hint!HInt!
Well, happy birthday Granmommy!! I’ll let you in on a secret, when you live at the beach you get so used to the ocean smell that you no longer smell it. I have to go away for awhile to appreciate the ocean air when I come back. 🙂
Paradise! I looove the beach, just look at your spectacular view! There’s something so charming to me about beach cottages (I even have a board on Pinterest) and yours is lovely! So beautiful nestled among the trees of the rainforest! I can definitely see why your craft room is you happy place, it is gorgeous!
I think once you live at the beach the sea gets in your soul. I can’t ever imagine living anywhere else but on the coast now and like you, I love the simplicity and relaxed lifestyle of a beach cottage. Thanks for visiting 🙂
Hi Kerryanne,
Your home is lovely…you’ve added so much of your own personal charm and style. As Shirley said above, you truly live in a spectacular paradise with the beach and rain forest!! So enjoyed your tour!
Mary Alice
I’m so pleased you came for a visit Mary Alice. You know of course how much I adore your beautiful home… I’m afraid mine is more of a beach shack in comparison, but definitely suited to our climate and lifestyle. I sometimes take it for granted, but we really do live in paradise. Hugs xx
You live in a beautiful place Kerryanne! Love the resort and your home is just lovely ♥ Alexandra
Thanks for popping over and taking my home tour Alexandra. Hugs xx
Thank you for the tour Kerryanne. It was lovely to see more of the area where you live.
Today was forecast to be the warmest day of the year (so far) but of course the weather folk got it wrong…don’t know why I should be surprised LOL
We have had some lovely days but also a lot of overcast days with some high winds & drizzle – at least today was warm enough to go to work without a jacket.
Thank you for sharing your lovely home with us.
Toni xx
Poor you Toni…. you really do get some miserable weather there. I suspect my winter is warmer and sunnier than your late spring. I hope you’ve enjoyed your warmer day today at least. Thanks for visiting my tour. Hugs xx
What a wonderful, peaceful way to start my morning. You certainly have a way with decorating, creativity and words; a very talented lady with a generous heart. Living in Port Macquarie is great and even more so when I can spend time and share like minded interests with you. 🙂 Congratulations on being selected for the home tour-most deserved. I know it will make many hearts happy. xoxo
Aww… thanks Mary. How sweet of you!! I am blessed to have such a wonderful friend who totally ‘gets’ me and shares my interests. Hugs xxx
Kerryanne you live in such beauty. Your foggy seashore reminds me of the beaches around here in northern california. What an exciting way to live at this time in your lives. The forest is amazing and the garden and grounds of your resort so so pretty. Looks like a movie location. lol. Your shabby style beach home seems perfect for three. I am thinking that all you need to add is a white ruffled table cloth over your dark elephant that drapes down to the floor. We have a similar dark table and chairs in our kitchen nook from Ikea. Our table is round. I wanted white but all the men in my family wanted dark wood. Thank you for the walk through your resort home.
Thank you Kerrie. Yes, that black table does cause me some angst, but we swap it around a lot. It quite often has several layers of vintage tablecloths draped over it and I disguise it as a ladies tea table – lol. Thanks for taking a wander with me around my home xx
Kerryanne, your home is so beautiful and I think it is just the perfect size!
I miss living near the sea every day and love your ocean photos!
Your decorating is perfect for a seaside retreat and I could move right in and not change a thing! 😉
Thank you for the give-away…I signed up for bHome and my user name is seasideave I didn’t even know about this app, it looks pretty neet and I’m off to figure it out now!
Have a wonderful day! Hugs, Kimberley
You will love bHome app Kimberley. I use it every day… make sure you tap the yellow star to follow Shabby Art Boutique and come over and chat on my Chat section.
Beach living is different to living in suburbia or the city. I’ve had both and can’t ever imagine not living by the coast ever again. I love the beach and the relaxed outdoor lifestyle and those sunrises and sunsets are pretty magical. Hugs xxx
Well Kerryanne – I beg to differ – when you say ” far from perfect ” it pretty much seem s like perfection to live in Paradise year round –
Your home is lovely – really lovely and that you get to call the rain forest your backyard is simply magical !
Thanks for sharing !
xxx
I know we are truly blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the world. I love the beach, the rainforest and the animals we share it with. I don’t believe my home is anything particularly special… it is certainly not grand or opulent, but then neither am I. It is perfect for us and I’m thrilled that others have enjoyed seeing it in the bHome Summer Tour. Hugs xxx
I loved your home so much! I think most of us have things in our home that doesn’t quite jive with our style but because of budget constraints or circumstance we just have to live with them. Your post shows that you are a real person with the same sort of decorating challenges that most of us have to decorate around. I love you blog and I love the things you sell in your shop! Believe me, if I had the money, I would have tons of your goods in my home!! You are so artistic! I absolutely loved your craft room. I have to fight for kitchen table space with my husband everytime I want to work on a project so your space is a dream of mine! I loved the decorated drawers. They were so pretty!
Thank you Sheryl for your lovely comments and for visiting the bHome tour. After 25 years of marriage you just have to compromise on some things… mine is a black table 😉 Trust me, I’m very real and my home is never perfect or magazine worthy. Considering the company I’m in with the home tour, it’s not really home tour worthy either. There’s nothing grand or particularly impressive about a small beach house that doubles as a workplace, but it is what it is and I hope I’ve shown that even small spaces can still have a decorating style. I sympathise with your creative space woes. Tehre really is no greater gift for a creative person than to have a dedicated work space. 🙂
WOW What a tour. Talk about cozy! You have amazing style and taste Kerryanne! I know where to come visit now. Thanks for showing us around.