Our Beach House Renovation: Latest Updates!

Our Beach House front stair case painted white with lucite bannister

 

Our Beach House Renovation: Latest Updates

 

I didn’t mean to wait this long since my last update on our beach house renovation projectwhich is here (along with some before photos, if you’re curious!)

Every time I went to write this update post – a new piece of furniture arrived, or we hung my artwork. So, I’m glad I held off!

However, we’re still pretty far from finished here.

We’re waiting on some pretty major things like window treatments, carpets, a dining room table…you get the picture!

But I did want to update with a post and these photos – mostly because I’m SO proud of the progress we’ve made here and how this is all coming together.

Also because I’ve gotten a lot of questions about specific items, which I’m happy to address here as well!

 

Paint Color Questions:

First off the blue front door color.

Long story short, we color matched it to a Behr color, called Life at Sea.

To do this, we used Benjamin Moore paints.

The walls and the trim are also Benjamin Moore. The color is OC-151 White.

This post has a few more great white interior paint colors, if you’re on the hunt.

For the staircase and for the wall along the stairs, we hired a professional painter who specializes in decorative paint jobs like this.

The faux ship lap was achieved by painting light gray horizontal stripes along our already white walls.

I’d seen something similar on Pinterest (as one does…) So when we couldn’t commit to actual Shiplap, this proved to be a great compromise.

On the stairs, the painter used porch and floor enamel paint.

Then there was a coating of polyurethane over all of it.

There was also a lot of patience and painters tape involved in both projects. I really love how this came out!

 

Our Beach House Renovation: Latest Updates!lucite railing  //  lucite railing

 

Kitchen Renovation Related Questions:

One of the most popular questions is about our kitchen counters.

These are Quartz.

I’m very happy with how they look and wear so far. We had the edges mitered to give them a chunkier look.

We also added soffits to the tops of the cabinets in order to give them a more cohesive, connected to the ceiling look.

Our backsplash is made of white painted glass subway tile.

It looks like sea foam in person – just like it does in these photos.

At first we weren’t happy witb the way the glass tiles refracted light, giving it this green blue hue…but now we’ve come to really like it!

Many of the questions I got were very item specific, I’ve added links to as many as I can find online.

 

 

Our Beach House Renovation: Latest Updates!backsplash  //  faucet  //  sink  //  cabinet hardware  //  topiaries  //  flush mount light

 

 

pendant lights   //  pendant lights

 

We also got a lot of questions about our new counter stools.

These were ordered through Pimlico Interiors

Pimlico was instrumental in the overall design of the main living area on the first floor.

We’re still waiting on a few pieces but I wanted to give a shout out to Melissa Lindsay, as she has an uncanny ability of translating my interior design vision into interior design reality!

 

 

artwork  //  pillows //  coffee table //side table

 

Questions about the budget:

Another question was if we had a budget on this project, and how much?

While I’m not comfortable discussing the actual budget numbers, I can tell you we absolutely had a budget!

There were things that cost a lot of money that were VERY important to this project.

For example, we had to add steel beam reinforcements to the first floor ceiling because we removed almost all the first floor walls in order to open up the whole space.

So, we chose to save a lot of money by not replacing all of the windows, which were part of our original plan – but purely for aesthetics.

The point being, it’s important to have a budget but to also allow for a little wiggle room and find places to save in order to get to the important splurges.

 

brass anchor door knocker  //  lights  //  braided door mat 

  RING door bell  //   planters

 

So that’s it for now.

If you have more questions, leave it in the comments or shoot me an email.

Hope to have a final post with everything here soon!

 

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Leave a Comment

13 Comments

  1. Julie wrote:

    Love the lucite rail and the glass on the staircase! I have a similar beach home with the same Newell post which is now my permanent residence. We have been renovating for five years! Crazy as it sounds I saved the picture years ago and since the stairs are about the last phase I want to ask if there is anything you would have changed? Is the lucite rail strong enough, does it bow , or is there something you would change? Also, is the link on Etsy the place you shopped for your rail?

    Published on 5.27.24 · Reply
    • Sue De Chiara wrote:

      Yes this is the right link. There was nothing I would have done differently, but we don’t own this home anymore, so I can’t speak to the bowing. Good Luck!

      Published on 5.28.24 · Reply
  2. Sandra R O'Brien wrote:

    where did you get the floor pillows and chair in that strip in kids area

    Published on 3.22.20 · Reply
    • Sue De Chiara wrote:

      Sorry, not sure which area?

      Published on 3.22.20 · Reply
  3. Nancy wrote:

    In the midst of my kitchen gut job and it’s crunch time on counters. What quartz did you end up selecting?

    Published on 10.31.19 · Reply
  4. Penny wrote:

    Wow! That staircase. Love it. Will you share the paint colors of the white and gray that was used for the faux shiplap? Also the size gray stripe that was used. Your artwork is amazing as well.

    Published on 8.18.19 · Reply
  5. Kari wrote:

    Love it! Would you confirm brand/color of vinyl plank flooring? It looks much lighter than what is shown on manufacturer’s website. Thanks!

    Published on 8.6.19 · Reply
    • Sue De Chiara wrote:

      Yes, it’s Korlock. I think it was called White Texas oak?

      Published on 8.6.19 · Reply
  6. Talia wrote:

    Your transformation is stunning! I love the new flooring. Did I miss it or did you post a source?
    Thank you!

    Published on 7.27.19 · Reply
    • Sue De Chiara wrote:

      Thanks so much! It’s a vinyl flooring sourced from a local Stamford flooring store, Carpet King on Highridge Road!

      Published on 7.29.19 · Reply
  7. Susan Toye Ferguson wrote:

    The whole house is just gorgeous! My favorite thing: the lucite hand-rail – what a knock-out! And the steps…I could go on!
    What a lovely home you have created!

    Published on 7.26.19 · Reply
  8. Susan wrote:

    I can’t wrap my head around the white glass subway tile backsplash translating blue/green. Did you realize this would happen or was it a pleasant surprise?

    Published on 7.24.19 · Reply
    • Sue De Chiara wrote:

      It was absolutely a surprise. It was white when it went up, but after it was caulked, it turned the color you see now. I guess due to light refractions on the glass, apparently not uncommon. Because we didn’t intend for this, when it first happened it wasn’t a pleasant surprise, however we like it a lot now!

      Published on 7.25.19 · Reply