Ok this is my final batch of pictures from the Key West vacation! I promise! I was going to post these earlier in the week, but my computer restarted itself when I was working on a draft. (Boo!)  Sorry for the delay.  

The one thing everyone told me we had to see when we went to Key West was the Hemingway House. I was sold – history and cats, where do I sign up! So let’s start shall we.

Hemingway’s house was actually the original house of a Shipwrecker. See way back in the day, many ships would end up wrecking somewhere along the keys. Now those ships were carrying lots of expensive stuff so Shipwreckers would go out (in storms and hurricanes) and retrieve this merchandise. It was a very lucrative career, which allowed the original owner to build one heck of a house.

I had to get a pic of the fantastic moulding that was in the living room.  That and I am loving this paint color.  It is so fresh and clean. 

Here is another shot of the living room.

Now, Hemingway was married to his second wife when they bought this house with her uncle’s money because he wasn’t a famous author yet. The first thing she did when she moved in? Tore out all the ceiling fans and put up chandeliers in all the rooms. (I am not sure if she was a one of the ancestors of the designers on Trading Spaces. Do you remember how many fans they ripped out?) The tour guides think of her often in the summer months! I did get lots of shots of the chandi’s she put up, which almost all of them have fantastic details in both the lights and the ceiling medallions.

Below is the dining room chandi. All blown glass from Italy.

Master Bedroom Chandi

Here is a shot of the master bedroom. You can’t forget the cats here. Hemingway’s first cat was a polydactyl cat or mittens kitten. They are the cats with one extra toe on their front claws so it looks like they are wearing mittens. All the cats on the property today are descendants of that original cat. About 50 cats live on the property and about half are polydactyl.

Here is a picture of the en suite master bath. Quite a luxury.

Of course, it also has a chandi!

I love the detail in this fireplace.

Here are some pics of the upstairs balcony. I love these windows and shutters!

From up on the balcony, I got some pics of the Key West Lighthouse that is across the street. It is said that Hemingway would use the lighthouse to mark his path home from Sloppy Joe’s Bar on Duval Street!

Oh and this is where they do weddings on the property. The gardens are beautiful.

Out back behind the main house, there is a guest cottage next to the pool where Hemingway made his office on the second floor. This is where he wrote a lot of his famous works. I love this room.  While the tour guide said this was basically his man cave, you can tell the wifey was here.  (Why?  Cause there's the chandelier!)

And this is the pool. Unbelievably beautiful. His two sons talked his wife into putting it in while he was away!

Here is one shot of a true mittens kitten before we leave.

Ah! It is hard to think that I have been back from vacay for over a week now. But I am slowly getting back into the swing of things. Hope you guys enjoyed all the pics!

P.S.  I love comments - especially ones that direct me to fantastic link parties!  I am linking this up to Unknown Mami's Sundays in My City.  Thanks to Life with Kaishon for the tip!

There are many things I thought blogging would bring to my life. A creative outlet and a community of like minded friends were things I knew I would gain. One thing I did not expect to happen was that upon entering a hotel/condo (that is tastefully decorated) that the first thing I would do would be to take a significant number of photos and notes about possible décor ideas to share with you guys! 

But that is what happened when we got into our condo at the Santa Maria Suites down in Key West. We were invited down to stay with my father-in-law and his wife as our Christmas present which was really nice. Because otherwise there is no way that we would be able to stay here.

This was the entry into the condo. We had our own lounge area in front.

The main living space was open with a TV area, a couch for reading and a kitchen to die for – seriously, I swooned when we walked in.

Here is the TV area. I love these little swivel chairs! The wicker makes them ever so slightly less modern.

 

Now this couch was cute and I loved the lamps. However, the pictures were off center, which drove me nuts!

Ah, and here is the kitchen! The island is gorgeous!

While not large by any means, it was super comfortable to get around in and provided a great place for everyone to gather.

The backsplash was painted and then covered with sheets of either glass or Plexiglas. I loved the tumbled marble on the floor.

The upper cabinets open up! I thought that was so handy!

Built in wine fridge! And a close up of the beautiful floors.

Now hear is a close up of the island. Both the fridge and the freezer were built into the island. Can you tell where?

Yep, in those lovely stainless steel drawers! Not highly practical for everyday living, but perfect for a vacation place where you spend a lot of your time eating out. (Or I guess if you don’t cook, it would work for you!

This is a shot of the first bedroom. First, I love the color scheme in here. The dark chocolate looks great with the woven bed frame. The little round side tables are cute too.

As a side note, there is a rug on either side of the platform and while you can see where it is slid a little away from the bed in the picture above, when it is straight it looks like it is one continuous large rug that runs on either side of the bed. I thought this was a great way to use two smaller rugs instead of one big one in a bedroom. Even if you have a bedskirt on, you could use two smaller rugs and run them just underneath the shadow of the skirt.

Now this is the large bath in the unit. It had two full baths, but this one had a gorgeous shower.

Look at this shower. Two heads up top and several nozzles on the side. The subway tile is also beautiful with the marble inset.

This is the second bedroom. I think the three pictures across the top of the bed would be pretty easy to duplicate. They were shots from the end of a pier that made a large panoramic shot when placed together.

Here is another shot of the bedroom looking into the bath. Oh, and a note about the bed linens, the blanket across the bottom of the bed is not a blanket. It is really just a runner – like a table runner. Totally decorative, but creates a great look!

This is the second full bath. It has a tub and some of the most beautiful tile work.

Here is a close up of the tile and the marble inset.

Check out this close up of the marble on the side of the tub, the wall and the floor. Ahh – so pretty.

Checkout this sink! Counterpace was at a premium, but I really like the way the faucet came out of the wall.

So what do you think? It was great for a vacay but probably a little too modern for my personal taste. However, the simple clean lines made it very easy to live in for the week and it did give me a lot of ideas to use around the house!

Stay tuned, my final wrap up on the trip are my pics of the Hemingway House!

I’m back!!! Did you guys miss me? I am so rested, relaxed and bursting with new post ideas. For starters, though, I wanted to share with you some of the great pics I have from Key West! I have a bunch so this might take a couple of posts!

First, how about we just focus on how great the city is! I loved that you could just walk everywhere! The restaurants were fantastic (I think my favorite was Fogerty’s) and I ate way too much. Cuban coffee has officially become my new favorite beverage - mmm it is so tasty! And Duval is just as much fun at night as everyone says it is. Overall, it was a great trip. But you don’t care about my rambling thoughts – let’s get to the pictures!

The majority of my city pics are from down by the Southernmost Point. It is supposedly the farthest south you can go and be in the Continental US. The majority of the buildings and homes in that part of town are eclectic and Victorian. There are lots of picket fences, intricate trim, and can we just talk about the porches and balconies? Swoon!

Check out this home! I love the detail on the trim around the top of the balcony and all the bay windows. I have quite a soft spot in my heart for bay windows!

I also loved these two homes that were next door to one another. They are little bed and breakfast hotels. They were in the middle of taking down their holiday décor – but I think the pics are still great!

One of the biggest landmarks down at that end of town is the Southernmost House. A historic building, it has hosted many a famous guest. According to local sources, there was an attempt made on Al Capone’s life there and the bullet hole has been left intact as proof. It was renovated and turned into a hotel and looks like an amazing place to stay. I have captured some of the details of the house for you guys below.

Check out the intricate tile work on the stars to the lobby.

You can stay in the tower room. It is called the Royal Suite and the tower is the sitting room!

I love this cabana!

The gate is beautiful and all the detailed work is highlighted with gold paint.

What about this entry?!?

The colored stained glass windows are too cute!

This is the entrance into the hotel lobby.

Isn’t this gorgeous! That is what is on the ceiling as you enter the lobby!

Don’t you just love it! I think the big takeaways to nailing this kind of style are these:

- Don’t be afraid of using bright colors in your trim work! However, basic white is always classic and beautiful.

- The devil is in the detail – no matter if it is trim, stained glass, or shutters make sure there is some intricate detail that makes your home unique

- Porch furniture should be comfortable and encourage someone to stay in it for a while

Perhaps these homes weren’t quite your style! No worries, I will highlight a little bit more of the modern side of things next with some pics of our fantastic condo!

P.S. Big thanks to Cougar Tales my 50th Follower!! :)