Styling for Summer with Thrift Shop Finds

WITH TWO AS-YET SEMI-FURNISHED BEACH HOUSES to rent this summer, I’m back to my old shoestring-decorating tricks. Nothing I love more than visiting thrift shops and yard sales with a purpose.

On my way out to Springs (East Hampton, N.Y.), where I’ve been staying in my cedar-shingled cottage again for the first time in a year-and-a-half — that’s the one on the market for sale — I made five stops en route from Brooklyn: the Southampton Hospital Thrift Shop, the Southampton Animal Shelter Thrift Shop, and the Retreat Thrift Shop in the Bridgehampton Mall, from which I came away empty-handed (mostly clothes and/or overpriced, though I’ll keep trying).

Then, heading further east, I stopped at the always-promising ARF (Animal Rescue Fund) Thrift Shop in Wainscot and the rarely-disappointing LVIS (“Elvis”) (Ladies Village Improvement Society) Thrift Shop in East Hampton, from which I emphatically did not.

At ARF, I scored a never-used, just a teeny tad shopworn wicker sofa and armchair, plus ottoman, made by the Lane Furniture Co., with Hamptons-standard white cushions, for $325. (Fridays are 50% off days, but the manager gave me half-price even though it was a Wednesday.) Abracadabra, the living room is pulled together. That they are super-comfortable is a bonus.

Nor did LVIS, whose furniture barn is a go-to whenever I’m doing errands in the village of East Hampton, let me down. There I found two framed posters, below, of art I love for $20 apiece, and a white ginger-jar lamp for $15.

Then, at an estate sale in Amagansett last Friday, I picked up a square Moroccan-style pouf, below, for $50. I’ve been wanting a pouf in the worst way. It’s pretty stunning with my thrift-shop sofa, on the tan-and-white striped rug donated by my friend Stephanie (who is also the source of some mismatched dining chairs, a very chic look).

Thanks to thrift shops and good friends, one of my chief middle-of-the-night worries — how am I going to furnish two houses by Memorial Day? — is on the way to being solved.

The Insider: Apartment for One in Cobble Hill

MY NEW EVERY-THURSDAY SERIES for Brownstoner.com continues today in a new, easier-to-read format, with a garden floor-through in the heart of Cobble Hill by interior designer Julia Mack.

These are rented digs, colorful and cost-conscious, with lots of Brooklyn-based sources and interesting ideas.

Hie on over here to see many more photos and read all about it.

Of Sunsets and Street Finds

…which have nothing to do with each other, of course, except that both begin with S.

See above for last night’s beaut over Montauk’s Fort Pond Bay, where I ate what will probably be the season’s last lobster dinner. I’m back in my Springs (East Hampton, N.Y.) cottage following a successful August rental. All went without a hitch (for me as the landlady, anyway — the tenants decamped a bit early because of impending Irene).

I’m glad to be back, even though my garden looks somewhat bedraggled and blah, lacking the sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ and other things that would be adding color this time of year. I spent most of yesterday chasing deer out of my backyard — need I say more?

As for the fortuitous street find, I’d been looking for a coffee table for my Springs living room at yard sales and in thrift shops, but I got away even cheaper. As I was packing my car in Brooklyn for the trip out here last Monday evening, I saw on the sidewalk, not two feet from where I was parked, the wrought iron and glass coffee table in the photos above and below.We sure have some great garbage in NYC!

This table is not exactly “me” — I might have passed it up at a yard sale, even for $20, as it’s of indeterminate age (could even be vintage Pottery Barn) and I had been thinking “rattan.” But it’s the perfect size and shape, and in tip-top condition, so I walked two steps, bent down, and lifted it into the hatchback of my trusty Honda Fit. I think it totally works on the sisal rug.

I’d also like to call your attention to the sculptural object on the high ledge, above. It’s the contorted remains of a Harry Lauder Walking Stick (Corylus contorta), an unusual deciduous shrub I like to call simply ‘the Harry.’ Planted a couple of years back, it didn’t survive in the ground — not sure why. Conveniently, however, this is a plant that looks better dead (or bare of leaves in winter).

Look Book: White Wood Floors

GET READY to be blinded by the white…

The photos in this post were among my inspirations in deciding to give my own worn tongue-in-groove floors, left, a whitewash.

They may look OK here, but trust me, they’re bad in spots, and I just couldn’t get excited about the idea of sanding and refinishing them when I can go all screaming white.

You’ll forgive me if I don’t properly credit the rest of the photos, lifted from other websites. Most of those sites didn’t give proper credit, so I don’t know the original sources. I did note that many of them seem to be of homes in London, though white-painted wood floors are very popular here in the Hamptons, too.

I’ve rented out my cottage for the last two weeks of August, and no sooner do I anticipate some extra income, I make plans to spend it.

Of the three main items remaining on my wish list (painting the floors, a new kitchen counter, and glassing in the screened porch to create a year-round room with fireplace), the last is too major to contemplate immediately, and of the first two, it’s the floors that bother me most.

So next Monday, a painter is coming to move all my furniture out to the back deck (weather permitting) or onto the screened porch (weather not), sand the sad floors down, and give them two coats of white paint for that clean, beachy look I covet.

To see more pictures of white floors, go here, here, and here.

I’m lovin’ it already. What do you think?

AUGUST RENTAL: COTTAGE NEAR BAY, SPRINGS (EAST HAMPTON), N.Y.

WANT TO RENT my bright and comfortable 1940s cedar-shingled cottage in Springs, N.Y. (5 miles north of East Hampton village) August 1-31? It’s on a landscaped half-acre with a view into peaceful woods from the back deck.

The house is half a mile – a 10 minute walk, 5 minute bike ride, or 2 minute drive –from the beautiful, unspoiled, never-crowded Maidstone Beach on Gardiner’s Bay.

– 2BR (one full bed, two twins), 1 bath

– High ceilings, skylights, screened porch, huge deck, best outdoor shower ever

– ½ mile to Maidstone Beach, 1 mile to Louse Point (another spectacular beach on Accabonac Harbor). Superb swimming, kayaking, paddleboarding, etc.

– 5 miles to ocean beaches at East Hampton and Amagansett

-Under 1 mile to Springs Historic District, including Jackson Pollock-Lee Krasner House and Springs General Store

– 10 minutes East Hampton Village, 10 minutes Amagansett, 20 minutes Sag Harbor, 25 minutes Montauk (restaurants, bars, stores, art galleries, historic houses, movies, etc.)

– 2-1/4 hours from NYC, barring traffic

– Washer-dryer in basement

– Flat-screen TV, DVD player, Wi-Fi, printer, iPod dock

– A/C in living room, ceiling fans in LR and MBR

– $7,000 August 1-31

To see more photos, go here. Email caramia447@gmail.com if interested in renting, or for more information. Thanks!