Before: A 1980's Beach House & Busy

Friends, it has been nine months since I've written anything for this blog! 

The past three years have really done a number on me and I have often wondered if anyone even cares about little things like making a home comfortable and pretty. It seems so trivial to me at times to even consider it in light of the problems of the world so I have allowed it all to keep me quiet... at least through this medium. I've talked to you about these things before here. 

God, however has given me other avenues to express myself. More about that later. Today I will just talk about one of those avenues. 

I took on a big project last fall.  A friend of mine purchased a beautiful, albeit dated (think 1980's) home on the ocean . The home is entered from the side. Upon opening the door the visitor was met with a long hall that spanned more than half the width of the house before being forced to turn left of right. A right turn would then reveal the ocean view. This is noting short of tragic in my opinion! 

The kitchen had only one entrance and was a U-shaped layout. If someone had the fridge, oven or dishwasher open you're trapped. There was a cutout on the left so that you could at least see the view. 

These photos were pulled from the original listing:

                                                                                                                  this is the hall way ^^^

                                                                                           behind those doors was the washer & dryer

Not bad, right? But it was dated and other than the view doesn't really feel beachy to me. 

The winter allowed for much planning time while we waited for work to begin. Contractors have their hands full as the force ages out and not many young ones are wanting to do this type of work. Thankfully, timing and scheduling worked well together on this project. The lag time before beginning allowed for many items to be ordered and stored so they were on sight when the project got underway.

Work to be done:

My main problem with the layout was that if I am at a beach house I want to see the beach! I don't want to be greeted by a long, dark hallway, like a ships hull-I WANT OCEAN! 

Solution: Cut an entrance into the kitchen right next to the main door so you walk in the door and see the sea. 

The next problem is that they are a family of seven and that kitchen was not going to cut it. They needed options. You can't trap people nor leave it that only one person at a time can comfortably work in there. 

Solution: Take down walls and reconfigure the kitchen. 

Full disclosure here-I am not a trained designer, I have no schooling, and no CAD software. I use graph paper and cutouts for furniture and cabinets! It's kind of like paper-dolls but more fun.

And demolition began! Immediately I could see opening up a door in the hallway was the right decision. What a blessing to find that there was a large support beam running the width of the house! That meant the two other walls enclosing the kitchen could come down! Drywall went up quick and it was looking good! 

Well, as it turned out, that beam was not spanning the entire width of the house, it was cut in two, supported by a post in the corner of the wall. A little configuring with the cabinet maker, the contractor, the owner and myself and we ended up incorporating it into what will be an unconventionally shaped  island. 

The sliders all had to be replaced as the seals were broken. We thought we wanted the ones with the blinds inside but that took up several inches of the view! That was NOT the effect we wanted!  

^^^ new slider(bad!)                 ^^^old slider                        ^^^old slider       

Can you see what we were loosing of the view? Plus they were smaller than the original and fixing the wood walls would have been a nightmare. The size we needed to fill the existing openings wasn't available, smaller wouldn't work. The husband took one look at the new slider and said we could go bigger! Whew! 

So, we went bigger! But you don't get to see that yet!

The downstairs, main floor, has two bedrooms with bunkbeds, a full bath, kitchen, living room, and dining room with a large deck facing the ocean. Upstairs in the master bath and bedroom. For this project we are focusing on the downstairs. 

The bathroom is getting a facelift...

So this was the beginning. The next post  will show you how it turned out. From the start of demo to the last photos took about three and a half months. 

I  did tell you I have other things going on that have been keeping me busy, right? So here's what's been going on...  

I got to speak at a women's conference in May about our steadfast God. We were expecting thirty-five women but prepared for fifty. "Who knows what God will do", my optimistic side quipped! Well, He shut my mouth when we had to scramble to find seating for another ten! It is so encouraging to see that so many women find encouragement and rest in the teaching of God's Word, especially in times like these.

But that's not all that is going on...

My youngest daughter got engaged to a sweet young man the day after Christmas! She completed an intense one year nursing program last month and is getting married next month and moving south, as he is in the military. There has been much joy intermingled with reflection, tears, new friends, old friends and new family members.

In a nutshell I haven't been writing much because we have found it essential to do life face to face, intentional, and practicing the "one anothers". 

I promise all the after photos in the next post! Stayed tuned, this is just the beginning! 

Traditional Home Makeover-Family Room (Part 8)

We have finally reached the end of this makeover! Yes, it has been a month since I showed the items that I was going to put into the family room (the final room) in this makeover. I have no excuse for the delay other than Summer happened and that means I was at the beach. You've been so patient with me... thanks for waiting.

 Our goal was to incorporate much of the old furniture into a new, fresher color scheme. Lighten and brighten and keep it liveable-that was the desire when we started. Starting at the entryway and taking you through the entire first floor space in previous posts has left us with the family room. In the last post I showed the products we used in this space and provided links to find the items we used. So, without further adieu, here is the finished product.

A reminder of what the room looked like when we began:

And without further ado, the finished product:

So, there it is-all done. The family has been enjoying this space all summer while I ran off to the beach.

If you've been following along during this whole process-bless your heart! You are a patient person and I am glad you hung in there with me. If you're new here I am so glad you stopped by and spent some time with me today. Please consider following along on Facebook or Instagram or by signing up for notifications of new posts in the column to the right.

Just because I have been slow in posting doesn't mean I've not been busy around the house so come back soon to see what I've been up to.

                                                                   Blessings, 
                                                                       Jolena 
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Traditional Home Makeover-Kitchen (Part 6)

My goodness! You must be thinking that this job is never getting done. In truth it is done. It is just taking me a lifetime to finish writing about it!  So I've already walked you through the front door (which has changed since starting this whole thing), into the office and powder room, and then on to the not-so-formal living room and dining room. Next up is the kitchen.

When we started this was the room that felt most dated and underwhelming to me. In spite of the natural light this room has it felt dark. The cabinets are a red birch and that next to the deep red/burgundy wall color made the room feel brooding and somber-not at all my homeowner's personality. The lighting was a scroll-y, heavy, wrought iron piece with amber shades that only emphasized the darkness. All this was complemented by heavy black and gold curtains over the slider to the deck.

My friend was as eager to get started as I was and when I came to meet the painters she had already taken down the lights and curtains so "before" pictures are actually "in-the-process" pictures.

The folded fabric was the old curtains.

Tiles on the backsplash were in desperate need of updating but we are keeping the black granite countertops.

This is the tile we settled on. I. Love. It.

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The room will get a much lighter coat of paint, new curtains and new lighting over the table and island.

Here are some products we used in the room. You can click on the word "source" next to each picture to go to the website where we purchased the products:


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The first set of glass shades had a very coastal feel but the homeowners didn't like seeing the bulbs through the glass, feeling it was harsh.

 (Source)

Based on that "fail" we chose this light for the over the kitchen table table. There are white shade inserts that hide the bulb but keep the light from being yellowed.

(Source)

We settled on these shades for the pendant lights over the island. They have a sense of movement to them that reminds me of water but they are a true white so we don't get an amber cast from the light.

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Can you see that it looks like water? 

The walls were painted in Sterling by Benjamin Moore and I feel like I can take a deep breath walking into the space, as if filling my lungs with salt air. Remember the idea in this whole project is to lighten and brighten and bring a touch of that coastal feel into the main floor.

                                          
                                                     

The tile for the backsplash was installed. *Just a brief note here. I hired a guy who ended up leaving us after taking the old tile off. Perhaps he was overwhelmed by the amount of cuts the new tile would need-not sure but it was disheartening. Integrity matters in every aspect of life. I contacted Home Advisor (a first for me) and was connected with a tile guy that not only could start the work that same day but he honored the price the previous guy gave us. If you're looking for a tile guy in Massachusetts, contact me and I will give you his info. You can also find it on my instagram account. Just look for picture of the tile.

This was his day 1: Gorgeous, right?!

We opted to install the tile giving us a horizontal pattern rather than vertical. I imagine on the diagonal would be beautiful, also.

And the finished product:

When ordering the the curtains for the slider to the deck we purchased an extra panel. My homeowner used that extra panel to make a faux roman shade for the window above the sink. I love this fabric! It is soft, almost like a velour but not. It has a beautiful weight to it. We used four panels for the slider, stitching two panels together, flanking either side of the slider.

See that runner! You will see that pattern again...

And, the kitchen table... with a slight peek into what is next...

Getting a full shot of this kitchen in perfectly clean order is nearly impossible in a home that consistently welcomes overnight guests, adding to the already busy home of a seven person family.

My homeowner loves color. The blues and grays give an airy feeling with a nice addition of color but she wanted just a smidge more. This is the artwork we used on the wall to the right when you enter the kitchen from the foyer:


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I'm kinda obsessed with this piece! Having said that I didn't get even one picture of it up on the wall! It brings in a lot of different blues which is perfect for what we have been doing on the main floor of this traditional home.

And with the kitchen done it brings us to the final room in this project which is the family room. I will take you in there in the next installment of this traditional home makeover.

Thanks for spending time with me and following along. 

Jolena

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