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Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Beach House Gets Its Colors!

I'm back.
Back from 5 days at our family beach house,
on the eastern end of Long Island, where a most amazing
painting crew covered nearly every square inch of the
house's interior with wonderful summery color.
All paint colors by Benjamin Moore.

Howard and I arrived on Saturday, to very high winds and heavy rain.
I had trouble getting out of my car; the wind kept slamming the door shut on me!

But by the next morning, we had this:

From the upstairs deck.

 Watching professional painters is humbling, as I recall my own Slap-Happy Homeowner painting projects of the past.
The pros do real prep.  They even wrap the furniture and contents in plastic.  And they are so fast!
That's Kevin, the boss man, putting a first coat of Lemon Ice, in the twin bedroom upstairs.
At 7 on Sunday morning, the painters arrived, and by the time they left they had repaired
issues with the walls and ceilings, painted most of the ceilings, and
we had 3 freshly painted bedrooms upstairs, and two power washed decks.
And that was with only 2 guys working that day.
This pale blue is dreamy, wonderful to wake up to in the morning, especially with sparkling water right outside.
Colors are so hard to capture accurately; this one is slightly greener than in these shots.  Like the palest turquoise.
This room will need a 3rd coat; that goes on next week's work list.  Turns out Lemon Ice is a painter's nightmare color.  But it sure is purty.
 On Monday, it was a crew of 4.  More wall fixes, more ceilings, and the challenge of painting
the second and third floors, with their double-height ceilings.
I don't watch guys doing dangerous stuff on ladders, so there's no pictures of the work in action.  Just the results!
Come upstairs and take a look . . . .
On the second floor there's a big family room, and a hallway to the bedrooms and bath.
Our girls and their cousins used to take their sleeping bags up here, and wake to watch the sun rise over the water.  And then go back to sleep.
Also on Monday, the master bedroom and bath on the first floor were done
in Harbor Fog, a color that I thought would be more gray than it turned out to be.
Lesson:  Don't pick colors for a beach house when you
are in the hills of New Jersey; the light is so totally different.

 But it's a good color.  More blue than I'd planned.
The master bath IS the same Harbor Fog color, but with the light on it washes out a bit; looks pearl-y and lovely.
The oak vanity was painted in China White, and looks fab.  Old hardware will be replaced.
 On Tuesday, I woke to one of those breathless, calm mornings when
the air holds the very lightest veil of mist, and the water is still as a looking glass.

The painters took pictures with their phones to send to their wives.

I took this shot; the house looks so dark inside, because there is so much light outside.

Then it was time to work; Tuesday morning they began at six o'clock.
  Peggy and I chose Rich Cream for these walls;
it's a slightly lighter cream than Philadelphia Cream, but it actually looks about the same -- even a bit darker! --
because there is SO much light upstairs as compared to the first floor,
where an overhanging deck blocks full light.
 Whew!  If you are still with me, I salute you.
One more painting picture, the little powder room near the back entry.
My Mom called it her "frog room," because it was full of goofy frogs she had collected
or been gifted with, so we decided to go with green in their honor.
 Well now you know I'm a class act; I took these shots without even putting down the potty lid.
Again -- So hard to photograph colors!  And the light keeps changing each part of the wall to a different shade.  My sister is going to have to take my word for it that Pale Vista was indeed the right color for this room, until she can see for herself.
Oy.  Another potty shot.  Too much sharing?

I don't know why, but I seem to have missed taking a picture of the upstairs hall bath,
which is too bad as it's my favorite color of all of them!  It's called Icing On The Cake, and it's dreamy.
Although I'm not sure I'd eat cake with pale aqua icing . . . .

And one last transformation: the decks after powerwashing:
 I was astounded.  They need sanding and sealing, which we hope can be done next week.
 But Holy Smokes. . . what a change from the dark and mildewed state they were in.
Can't wait to park my carcass out here on a warm breezy summer afternoon, with some good
friends (or relatives!) and a tall cold beverage, and just feel any stress or tension ease away.

That's what water does, folks; it's eternal, and it puts things in perspective.
 ****************************************************************
The painters put in a 12 hour day on Tuesday, and finished this 3-story, 4 bedroom, 3 bath house.  I salute them.  Plus they cleaned up after themselves!  I stayed until Wednesday morning, then reluctantly backed out of the driveway . . . 
 turned onto the dirt right-of-way. . .
 and headed for civilization.
 As Dion and I passed through Aquebogue, heading west toward Riverhead and the Long Island Expressway,
we passed this sign . . . which I'm pretty sure you won't see anywhere else but here:

In its 61st year, the Modern Snack Bar is a North Fork institution, and believe it or not, it is
renowned for its mashed turnips.  Turnips were a big crop out here, and people love 'em. Well, how can you not?

Howard missed out on most of this week's painting Lollapalooza, as he had to return to That Old House
on Sunday; work on Monday, after all.  Dion was my constant companion, and he did mostly this:

I was glad to get home yesterday, but I'm looking forward to getting new flooring on the first floor,
and then pulling furniture out of storage, painting pieces to suit our new colors, and
making the beach house, so full of wonderful memories from the past 42 years,
the happy and welcoming place it was born to be, and always was.

Spring is really beginning to burst out here in northern New Jersey -- how lucky!  -- Cass



Visit Gina at The Shabby Chic Cottage
for more makeovers!
She's hosting Transformation Thursday.
Be there, or be square.

 Click here!








I'm also linking to Metamorphosis Monday,
at Susan's Between Naps On The Porch blog.

Visit!  You won't be sorry.



19 comments:

  1. It was always one of my dreams to have a beach house somewhere along the East Coast (probably SC or GA or FL), but life never cooperated. Your family is fortunate to have such a big and lovely getaway. And now it has pretty colors too!

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  2. What a beautiful GET AWAY place.
    I'd be "Tickled PINK" to have it.;0)

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  3. Gosh Cass, the gallons of paint that had to have come into the beach house! What wonderful colors indeed! They look very nice here on the blog but I am sure they are fabulous in person. I'll just have to come check them out when I head that way to order my turnips. You did say that the beach house was intended to accommodate all your blog followers right? Ooops, I was dreaming. ha ha. Anyway, thanks for sharing the rooms, and the toilet lid with your readers. Now, get going on That Old House. Paint party!!!

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  4. The colors are beautiful, Cass, and they really make everything look brand new! You have a ways to go but soon you will be chilling on that peaceful deck...I'm sure!

    XO,
    Jane

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  5. What a pretty place to relax, and Dion seems to think so also. :D

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  6. Great colors! How wonderful to have everything painted at once!

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  7. Dion's got it right.

    I'd love a beach house someday too, but doubt it will happen for us. Love your color choices, so beachy!

    Di

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  8. What a great house! Love your color choices too.

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  9. I think your Mom would be so proud and happy to see the transformations. The colors you picked worked out so well, what an amazing home.

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  10. Oh, I think I'd be dangerous if I ever hired a painter! The beach house is looking great. Everybody's posting about beaches today... and so did I! Stop by and have a look if you have a chance :)

    Michelle
    New England Style

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  11. Dion has a very difficult position of "project manager" and need to rest often! LOL!!

    Love all the colors, and it should be a great place to relax all summer long! Enjoy & Happy Thursday!

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  12. It's Stunningly beautiful. I'm outstanding jealous. :)

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  13. Good color choices! I can't wait to see it all put together!

    Dion looked exhausted from all the supervision that was needed!

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  14. Forty-two years...wow. You guys are taking such good care of the beach house. I look forward to seeing all come together. ♥O

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  15. Can you imagine how long it would have taken for you to paint that yourself? We had people paint our basement once and I was amazed at how quickly it can be done. Looks like Dion loves the beach house too!

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  16. A freshly painted room is like a blank canvas that you then decorate. What a great place. Happy Easter Cass.

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  17. My goodness, how beautiful! I've got so much fixing to do around here I'm not sure painting will be much help, but I have to do that too. Uncertain yet what to start with, or what colors will end up where.

    It's appropriate that with all this primping you're doing, that I bestow the Stylish Blogger Award on you. Come on by Marie Anne's Missives to pick it up!

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  18. Hi! I just found you on MM at BNOTP! LOVE, LOVE your house! It's almost exactly what I want to do to ours. Yellow with white trim and a huge front porch! And what beautiful views from your beach house! You are blessed! I can't wait to look at more! Have a great week!

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  19. Beautiful I am stuck with dark pineboard ..renter cannot paint..Inspiring project and blog.

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