The Painted Apron

Home Decor, Beach House tour part 3

Posted by the Painted Apron on May 26, 2013 · 11 Comments 

After last weeks devasting storms, I can’t help thinking about one of our storm experiences and how the possibilities the future holds can arrive in unexpected ways~

Hurricane Ivan forced us to make some changes in our coastal home.  We have owned this little beachside bungalow since 1986.  Our children grew up vacationing here year round.  Our daughter was married on the beach here 2 years ago.  This is our little haven and when Hurricane Ivan blew through back in 2004 and it was a gut wrenching experience.  Our boat was 1/2 mile away in a neighbors yard.  Piles of unrecognizable debris were everywhere.  But we were lucky, this is a second home and we did not loose everything like so many in the storms last week. I pray that they can find some ray of hope to cling to as they try to rebuild their lives.

Our story was “A door closed but a window opened” type thing,  except in our case the roof  blew off and the ceilings caved in.  That’s one way to get rid of the old popcorn ceilings!

Brace yourself though, some of these photos aren’t pretty!

Let me emphasize that some of these photos are OLD…since we have owned our little house for 27 years,  things have changed and been redone time and again.  I don’t have photos of all the different decor stages but, these are bad enough!  Don’t judge me, I’m sure you have some “decorating don’ts” in your past too!  Apparently this was my “pink” phase…check out the pink plastic coffee table, wow.

The kitchen was equally “charming!”

and then Ivan did a little redecorating

By this time we had at least re-tiled the fireplace and painted the pink walls

View from the kitchen into the great room

It looked like a bad snow storm…

The good news is that we decided to get rid of the fireplace, which was rarely used.

and we opened up the room with  a wall of glass looking out to the Gulf of Mexico

We were able to raise the ceiling in the kitchen and square off the awkward bay window

We were able to raise the ceiling over the great room also to make the space feel 3 times bigger

The kitchen went from looking like this…

to looking like this!

On this side is the electric glass cook top which is a dream to keep clean

the sink and dishwasher are now in the squared off part that was formally an angled alcove, and a large island floats in the center.  We designed this kitchen so multiple cooks can work at the same time, there is four feet of space around the island so there is ample room for someone to be prepping on the island, someone using the cooktop,  and someone loading the dishwasher.  With a family that all loves to cook, this can be a busy place~

Across from the refrigerator, on the other side of  the island is an ice maker and a beverage refrigerator.  These two appliances really come in handy for keeping thirsty guests happy!  People can help themselves to beverages without even getting near the busy prep and cooking areas.

The end of the island features a raised bar top which is a great table for two or for buffet serving.  It also serves as a visual divider between the living and kitchen areas.

We were able to keep the existing tile floor in the great room and married it to the new kitchen tile with a transitional border

Here’s the area where the fireplace was removed, that now matches the floor in the kitchen

The furniture is simple and beachy, rattan chairs and counter stools,

Creamy soft leather couches that are very forgiving about damp bathing suits and sandy feet

Cotton pillow covers are easily washed or replaced.

A round weathered table sits in a corner by the porch, and can sit 6.  The bar height sofa table behind the couch has 2 rattan chairs also, so we have lots of seating options for dining and relaxing.

There are ottomans that can be pulled up to any seat and a indoor outdoor rug on the tile floor

One side of the living/great room is a built in cabinet that has been modified over the years.  The shiny wood finish was sanded off and left raw to look weathered.  The center upper cabinets were taken out and the wall was finished with a thick stripe of the same small tiles used in the floor borders.  A large flat screen TV is hung in the center and can be viewed from anywhere in the kitchen and living room.

The large palm leaf fan is the conversation piece of the house

Time to go outside and enjoy this beautiful day,

It’s hard to believe there used to be a fireplace here!

There’s still more to see, next week I’ll show you how we transformed the awkward guest bath into a spa retreat~on a budget!

Thanks for touring with me today, sometimes opportunities arrive in very strange ways indeed.

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I’m joining some of these great parties this week:

the Tablescaper for SEASONAL SUNDAY and OH, THE PLACES I’VE BEEN!

Between Naps on the Porch for METAMORPHIS MONDAY & TABLESCAPE THURSDAY

Stone Gable for ON THE MENU MONDAY and TUTORIALS, TIPS & TIDBITS THURSDAY

A Stroll Thru Life for INSPIRE ME TUESDAY

The Gunny Sack for TIME TO SPARKLE

Memories by the Mile for TUESDAY TRIVIA

Savvy Southern Style for WOW US WEDNESDAY

Cuisine Kathleen for LET’S DISH

Rattlebridge Farms for FOODIE FRIDAY

Alderberry Hill for MAKE THE SCENE MONDAY

The Dedicated House for MAKE IT PRETTY MONDAY and ANYTHING BLUE FRIDAY

No Minimalist Here for OPEN HOUSE THURSDAY

the Answer is Chocolate for BFF OPEN HOUSE

The Busy Bee’s for THURSDAY BLOG HOP

Crafts ala mode for WHAT TO DO WEEKENDS

The Country Cook for WEEKEND POTLUCK

check out these amazing blogs!