Bungalow . 1291 Main Street . Chatham . MA

I write about this little gem of a home furnishings, staging, and consignment store, located at 1291 Main Street, Chatham, MA – every year.  Why?  It’s like a brand new store each time I visit it.  They keep it fresh, and the pieces moving with their brilliantly complimentary services.  Need to stage your home for sale?  Need to sell it?  Need to de-clutter before you do all that – this is just the place to help you find your way to the next best thing.

Custom Made Chandelier:  Driftwood – Nauset Beach $6500.

These ladies have a great eye.  Not only are they purveyors of beautiful art, but they have a knack for selecting just the right Robshaw pillow, Brahms Mount herringbone throw, baby blue sheep skin rugs – and at only $50. each – at a good price, with one of a kind items like a driftwood chandelier – sourced from Nauset Beach no less.

Oil on Canvas . Artist:  Joyce $4500.

What they do with an old sideboard, painted with rope details around the drawers, and a tag sale chest of drawers, cover the top with an inexpensive sisal rug, and tack brass nail heads to the perimeter, making it hip all over again.

It’s this last bit of cleverness for which I am particularly fond.  That’s what separates an artist from a brilliant copycat.  They see things differently, and its so surprisingly simple, I often wonder why I didn’t think of it first.

Finally, they have a real talent for staging.  The space is segregated into tiny home vigneetes, placing uncommon objects that somehow set the scene perfectly.  This is the perfect place to get inspiration for your next design refresh.  You can even adhere to my one in, one out policy by consigning with them!

Happy Shopping.

Nature – it will never fail you.

Or shower as the case may be.  For those of you that hail from non-costal parts, you are missing out on one of life’s true pleasures – showering under the deep blue sky, with trees overhead and the birds chirping happily – is heaven.  When I take my ten minute walk back from the beach, I am typically covered in sweat, sunscreen, salt, and sand.  If suddenly you find yourself wrinkling up your nose at this – hear me out.  This is the most perfect and deliciously sublime state one could be in, right before you turn that faucet and the water cascades down upon your head ridding you of all remnants of your afternoons activities and ensuring your bedsheets won’t look like part of the beach has found its way between them.  You must be dirty in order to fully appreciate the clean.

No beach today – the weather can’t seem to make up its mind about what it wants to be.  No worries – we need to reassemble the old outdoor shower in its new location, in the back of the Surf Shack.  Now building an outdoor shower isn’t super challenging – particularly if you have your Father, or someone that know how to build it, do it for you. Which is really what I do best – manual labor.  For those that want to give it a go on their own, there are a number of simple ways in which to approach it.

The assembly team hard at work.

First locate a good spot for it.  What constitutes a good spot?  It needs to be near a water source so the simple piping can be run from the interior to the exterior of the house.  You want it to be out of the way and erected at a height that prohibits accidental sitings from taking place.  A little privacy please.  Al fresco doesn’t mean free for all.

Well loved and still in working condition.

Second you need to determine the level of customization.  You can make it really simple on yourself and use pre-fabricated fencing to assemble the walls, forgoing any seats or shelving on the interior.  The fewer your requirements the quicker you can be in an outdoor shower.  You’ll need 4 x 4 posts to support your walls, which should either be set in concrete or crushed stone which fills and surrounds the 12 – 14″ holes you’ve dug to hold your posts.  Add a couple of hinges and a simple lock and voila – you have your piece of paradise.