Beach House Update

Here are a couple before pix of our beach house as it looked when we bought it in June. In the living/dining area we found: beat-up, possibly asbestos-laced linoleum tile. Cheesey ’60s panelling below equally cheesey chair-rail. Concrete block walls covered with what looked like contact paper. Fast forward to this past weekend, five months later. Linoleum is outta there. Contact paper and panelling outta there. Drafty windows so outta there. Now showing: gorgeous reclaimed heart pine floors. New energy efficient hurricane-rated windows. Blown-in insulation. Currently nearly installed: horizontal spruce planking. The stuff you don’t see is the unsexy but very necessary expensive stuff: all new plumbing, electrical, heat and air.

Here’s how the kitchen looked when we bought it: dropped ceiling tiles, cruddy cheap-o cabinets, Nixon-era yellow vinyl wallpaper, skanky formica countertops, and more linoleum. The fridge pictured here is but one of the three that were left in the house when we bought it. The other two were out on the screened porch.

Picture the same space–in the soon-to-be Obama era. Dropped ceiling dropped in dumpster, revealing high, board and batten ceiling, which are found throughout the house. Scads of new white cabinets with deep pull-out drawers and roll-out canned good cabinets and under-cabinet lighting. Built-in space for stainless steel fridge. New slot for gas stainless steel stove between windows on the right. More gorgeous reclaimed heart pine floors.

Coming soon to a kitchen right here: black granite countertops, vintage porcelain double sink, white subway tile backsplash, pair of adorable schoolhouse ceiling fixtures, a splash of jadeite green paint, window treatments made from vintage linen dishtowelling.

Stay tuned for more updates as they happen!