Beach Glass -- Take Me Home

As we're coming to the end of the house renovations I'm left to the task of choosing art.  I love this part... I really do.  To be honest, I had no idea things were going to go this far with the house, but often with the case with renovations, once one update is finished you find yourself paying attention to that which is not done.  By contrast, what you 'thought' was okay... is sometimes not.  Months down the road you find yourself looking at a mostly new home. lol  It's okay.  What had to be done had to be done, and things are coming together nicely.  It's really turning out quite beautiful.  In the midst of health issues, creating beauty is very therapeutic.

Boy was I surprised.  I honestly approached things with a neutrality that I thought would work rather globally over the entire project, though parts of me knew what I needed long-term.  My spirit reaches  for peace, tranquility, beauty, balance, happiness, joy, light, color, sound, scents.  Where this was going to take me was back, way back, to my childhood.  At first I was surprised, but then that feeling quickly turned to excitement.  I knew I was on the right track when I found myself suddenly looking for beach glass.  Not an easy thing to do in Alabama.  So... like any self-respecting woman I took to window shopping---the internet way.  I was not disappointed.

To make a rather long story as short as possible, let's just say I was very successful in finding my beach glass..taking care that it wasn't man-made, in a matter of speaking.  Meaning...someone didn't break colorful glass and run the pieces through a rock tumbler.  Oh yeah, I know what people are capable of.  Not to say the faux beach glass isn't beautiful.. I just wanted the real deal.  But as I was to discover, sometimes you can relax a bit and just let what comes to you... well, come to you.

I ended up purchasing a sterling silver and beach glass necklace.  Though I've yet to have anywhere to where it, I treasure it and know I won't be sick for long and will be able to wear this gorgeous piece of jewelry....

Am I boring you yet?

I also purchased a couple of very small bags of beach glass, which are beautiful btw, and I found a couple of small, prettily-shaped clear bottles at a local store to put them in.  I love the results.  But my treasure hunt didn't stop there.

I was in a local T.J. Mass store and found myself on a row of nautical goodies.  For anyone NOT familiar with this store---they never have the same stuff all of the time.  This store buys, at a great discount, from other retail sources.  In other words, you never know what you'll find there.  It's really quite awesome.  So anyway, here I was on this isle and feeling that excitement... I knew I'd stumbled onto something cool.  And that's putting it lightly.

As I stood there looking at the sea (no pun intended) of 'beach' items.. I spotted a couple of clear containers filled with small bits of blue, green, and white... and a scattering of tiny shells.  But MY focus and attention went straight to those smooth, irregularly-shaped bits of color.  Beach glass!!

I couldn't believe my eyes and felt this IMMEDIATE rush.  I had spent several days scouring the internet for beach glass, trying to find the right balance of.. price, authenticity, color, sizes.  And just a few days later I find fairly good-sized containers filled with this beautiful sea art.  I was ecstatic.

So what the heck does this have to do with house renovations?  Everything.  You see, I knew instinctively what to choose, what colors to paint the walls, knowing that in the kitchen, breakfast nook, and the dining room... that I had to have bright floors, color, and so forth.  Everything, beginning with the master bathroom (where this whole thing began), became brighter.  And something was taking shape, though I didn't recognize it right away.  However, a designer our contractor knows was brought in to get advice on something (which I didn't go with, actually) recognized what was developing within that house.  She told him, "Oh!  She's going for the beach cottage look!"  The contractor passed this on to me and... it opened my eyes.

All the colors, all of the textures, etc... were right there.  I'd been doing this the entire time, and it began with beach glass.  The paint on the walls of the dining room, in fact, is called... "Beach Glass," and it's made by Benjamin Moore.

Today, the framed photographic art was purchased for the walls between the windows in the formal dining room, and I ran across them while looking for... dining room chair cushions.  So, I may not be exactly proficient in LOA... but I'm successful these days. :)

Next step... the sun room...

I know this looks terribly impersonal.  But I assure you.. it's not.  "I" haven't changed, but my taste in my surroundings has.  Significantly.  I surrounded myself with something I really need, and it feels really good when I'm left alone to be happy.  That's another talk show I can't explain right now, but I'm allowing myself the freedom to feel happy and good when I'm alone, like now.  And I need all this alone time more than I can say.  So I continue to submerge myself in the happy feelings that come with memories so very far away, from a childhood of intense restriction.  To live only 2-3 blocks from the beach and never be allowed to go there.  Damn, if I get into that story this entry will never end.  Being able to visit the beach only under certain circumstances, well, it sucked, especially when I could hear the waves 24/7.  So close.  So very close.

I will always be a California girl, though I can't really say I would want to live there again.  Many reasons, and yet another talk show.  And while I never really spoke about it...I long to see the central California coast, and that longing is an ever-present current in my life.

Wow... getting off track here a bit.

Anyway, I guess I'm just baring a part of my soul here, a part that oftentimes clashes with the greater part of me (my inner Wednesday Addams).  Can I just choose to say I'm 'multi-faceted' and leave it at that? lol

Okay, this is yet another post that reads a bit like 'War & Peace.'  I'll leave it here and move on to the next thing... in a bit.

**waves** (no pun intended).