COTE DE TEXAS: May 27, 2012

THE HOUSE STYLE CAR

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Just a quick, fun post for a Sunday morning!  I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend.

 

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Remember this Californian beach house – featured in House Beautiful two years ago?  So pretty, with its white walls and black bannister – Swedish bench and blue and white rug – all in the foyer alone!!

 

 

 

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Designed by and the home of Carolyn Epsley-Miller – the living room overlooks the Pacific.  White slipcovers and another blue and white dhurri mix with the dark stone fireplace. 

 

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At the other side of the living room, the dining room has a thick textured rug and classic French garden furniture, along with a huge mirror that reflects the fireplace. 

 

 

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But, it was Carolyn’s white SUV, with its chintz slipcovered seats, that caught all the attention.  So many blogs showed this picture – and Pinterest is filled with this exact image.   I was so jealous when I saw this!  I immediately wanted to do this to my own white SUV.  Of course, I never got around to it.  The fabric is Country Rose in Russet by Jane Churchill.    Another good fabric to use would be a Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic one.

 

 

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I drive an old Jeep Commander.  I’m due for a new car, but Jeep quit making this model, so I’ve been holding onto it.  I wonder why Jeep always discontinues their best cars?   I’m a square car person.  The boxier the better.  But, there aren’t that many out there because boxy cars aren’t aerodynamic.  I love my car, I think it’s so cute.

 

 

 

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What I REALLY want is a Jeep Wagoneer – just like this.  But again, they don’t make these anymore.  This used to be a really popular car in Houston and it’s a much sought out vintage model.  I would love a refurbished one. 

 

We’re a Jeep family for some reason.   Elisabeth’s first car was a Jeep Compass and now she has a Jeep Cherokee.  All three of our cars are white – not sure when we started that car statement, but it looks nicer when all three cars are parked outside – all in white.  It would be nicer if we could park a car in the garage, but that's never going to happen because our garage is our biggest storage closet. 

 

So, Elisabeth is home for the summer and is working as an intern for a Personal Shopper.  Yes, she gets paid to go shopping all day which is a dream come true for my daughter.  At least she’s using someone else’s money for a change.  Her first day on the job, she came home to tell me all about the car mats in her boss’s car. 

 

 

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Car mats?  You mean those ugly plastic things you put over your car’s carpet?  Yep.  She was talking about those car mats.  Apparently, you can order this wonderful, colorful coco mats – made out of the coconut fiber.  Once, all the foreign cars had cocomats – Mercedes, Jaguar, etc.  And, now, this company www.Cocomats.com has brought these fun mats back to the market:

 

 

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For just a few hundred dollars, you can get these cocomats in colors to match your interior – whether you have a vintage sports car or not.

 

 

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So cute!

 

 

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Here is the mat in blue and white coco. 

 

 

 

 

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They even make mats for the back area of SUVS.  You just order which mat you want, online, and give them the make, model, and year of your car – and a few weeks later, the mats are delivered to your home.

 

 

 

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Here are the colors the cocomats come in.

 

 

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But look – they recently came out with SEAGRASS mats!!  Yes, SEAGRASS!!  OMG!!  Wait, I might have a heart attack.

  Actually, the mats Elisabeth’s boss has are seagrass.  That’s why she was so excited to tell me – “Mom, her car mats are made out seagrass!”  I was thinking, sure they are, haha.  Tonight we google searched them and there they were.

 

 

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Seagrass mats for your car.  There are also mats in sisal and wool that look just like the seagrass – but we all know that seagrass is cleanable and sisal isn’t.    Don’t we? 

 

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Of course, there are seagrass mats for the back of the SUV.

 

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Here’s a BMW outfitted with the custom mats.  So, do you think I ordered me a set?  Well, of course I did.  I can’t wait to get them, either.  If anyone should have seagrass car mats, it’s me.   With a white car, it’s just screaming for seagrass – right?  Talk about being consistent with my design philosophy.

 

 

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I wonder if Carolyn knows about the seagrass mats.  She surely needs them too.  Should I tell her?  And the more I think about it – if I were going to slipcover my seats – it would have to be in plain white linen, of course.  I think I’ll wait until I get a new car and then make that decision.