Before & After: Living Room
BEAch cottage makeover--THe sweet little money pit reno continues...
Sometimes a reno is as much about what you take of a space as what you put in.
Check out the before shot of the living room:
Before Living Room...
the window seat on the back wall is like a no-man's land. And the closets on either side offer great story (in theory) but you can't get to one of them. Mostly though the area didn't do anything to help the flow in the space. It actually detracted from it.
The closets and the window seat had to go...
mid-reno, closets and window seat demo'd...
Suddenly a whole lot more space to work with--and lots more options for furniture placement and flow!
And about the the sliding glass doors...they doubled as the front door, and while they let in a lot of light, they also gobbled up valuable wall space.
After...French doors with side lights
New French doors with sidelights upgrades the entrance, still lets in lots of natural light, while also showcasing the courtyard and vintage stucco walls studded with shells.
After...Living Room
With the space opened up there is loads of room for seating...area rugs help define the seating and dining areas...a mix of natural materials and lots of color gives it a relaxed beach vibe.
Tip for storage: So when losing storage it has to be made up somewhere, right? First off, the garage was redone using some of that cool rubbermaid garage systems things.
Inside, One closet was kept and tricked out to hold all sorts of pantry items. Furniture with storage was added--like the white piece by the sofa. Another great trick? Use the space under the sofa. There is a reason there is a skirt on these sofas--holds loads of rarely used items.
Creating a dining space...The cottage didn't have a space for a dining area so one had to be created, and there was one perfect spot:
Before shot...living and dining area
The natural spot for a dining area was smack where the bookcases were....they weren't great looking and it was one more "no man's" land, not serving a purpose. Bookcases could (and were) incorporated in other places but once again, something had to go for the small space to work.
After...dining area
A groovy wood veneer Spanish pendant lamp, a 70's Italian dining table base, and a mix of stools and chairs create a dining niche connected to the rest of the open space.