If you’ve followed Spaces And Places for a while, you know we love a good renovation project. There is just something so satisfying about seeing the potential in a place- loving a location- and slowly watching it become everything you imagined.
So today we’re excited to kick off a new series: Building at the Beach.
We closed on this “beach” house in Orange Beach, Alabama in June. It’s exactly where we want to be- across the street from the bay and boat launch and two blocks from the elementary school and recreation center. A golf cart or boat ride away from great food and shopping.
It has great bones but is something straight out of 1990s coastal. Dark wood kitchen cabinets, old bathrooms, outdated fixtures and windows and rooms that just didn’t flow the way we wanted them to. It feels more dated than coastal, and definitely didn’t reflect the way our family loves to spend time together- in open floor plan spaces and outdoor living that flows seamlessly with the indoors.
We hired our favorite architect- Bill Nauck. We have worked with Bill on other projects, and we love Bill for his combination of creativity and budget practicality.
The Inspiration
We’ve been keeping inspo photos on Instragram for a while now and Bill always loves to see our vision in photos.
The “Program”
Bill always asks us to build a “program” around our must haves. Here is what we have asked him to design for:
- A modern coastal updated exterior, nixing the prominent steps up the middle. Updating the the color of the exterior and the outdated doors and windows.
- More livable indoor shared space. The kitchen, dining and living areas are all very small now.
- Seamless outdoor and indoor living. Bill designed a porch addition for us, so he knows what we want here.
- A space that can be an office/guest room for hosting lots of guests.
- A bunk room- again- for hosting lots of guests- kids.
- The kitchen we built in Decatur– dropped into the coast, with a few minor changes.
- Inside steps being minimized. They split the space up now and are too prominent a design feature.
- A downstairs master suite that includes luxurious bathroom, closet, laundry and screened porch.
Stay Tuned…
Our next step are schematic drawings from Bill. We are thrilled with the direction he is moving in, so you’ll definitely want to see them!
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