Our home renovation is done, we’ve fully occupied every last corner, and we love our home more than ever.
We’ll be the first ones to say it—living through a home addition is no joke. What started with mud and mayhem morphed into cold showers, cramped living areas, and dust.
So much dust e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.
But now that we’ve come out on the other side, we can only say that we’re in love. Step inside and see what we did!
The Kitchen
First, the kitchen. We transformed the space by breaking it up, adding a breakfast table off the island for casual family meals and an electric fireplace with two oversized armchairs for a cozy hangout spot. Why an electric fireplace? You can have it on for cozy ambiance without generating heat—a serious perk in Florida. Sweet old Annie has always loved a fireplace and has taken to dragging her bed over there regularly.
The new layout has created better spaces for family groupings and actually made the whole kitchen area feel larger but cozy at the same time. The split wall really helps with sound, which can be overwhelming in a house full of kids, friends, and dogs.
Before
After
The Dining Room
Stepping around the fireplace, you enter the old great room, which is now the dining room. The layout reflects the home’s original open design, with new square footage plus furnishings and fixtures that create thoughtful spaces for gathering. The formal dining area is capped with the beautiful chandelier from our original dining room, which has helped to blend old with new. It’s large enough to accommodate our 11-foot dining table, which is just what we need for big family gatherings. We already hosted a few dinners, and having enough space to seat everyone around the table has been a special experience.
The dining room flows into an expanded great room with a newly added wet bar. Windows galore invite in natural light and expansive views of lush green Floridian flora all year long. The bright light is definitely my favorite part of the space. I’m a plant person, so I’m thrilled to have ample room to group my plants in places where they can thrive with light coming from all directions.
Just as we wrapped up the renovation, our son graduated from high school, and his graduation party was our first big event. We were so pleased to see groups of guests mingling in multiple spaces, both inside and outside. Conversations were easy and it never felt too loud.
Before
After
Guests have already been drawn to the bar, noticing the distinct finish, veining, and sparkling gold in the Cambria Quartz countertops and back wall.
The finished design of the bar is a bit serendipitous. We originally planned for a one-sided bar, but an appliance ordering mishap meant we had an extra refrigerator we couldn’t pass up. So, the project grew! The new bar includes a full-sized fridge, plus drawers for a freezer, dishwasher, and ice machine (because we always need more ice!), all hidden behind cabinetry. It’s also got an incredible amount of storage, which beautifully accommodates our holiday collections.
Upstairs
Upstairs, we added two spaces that we’ve desperately needed over the years: a home office and guest suite. Out-of-town family members have already enjoyed the new guest room and bath, with rave reviews.
Two design trends are making a comeback in a big way in these new spaces: elegant wallpaper paired with textured features. I was already planning a biophilic bathroom design when I came across its wallpaper and ended up changing some other details to complete the look of nature meets whimsy. The marble shower floor with hints of rose and green might be the best part of the whole room.
Overall, the addition added 1,024 square feet of living space to our home—just what our family needed to jump into the next phase of life as the kids grow up. With one heading off to college, another about to graduate, and the third still in the midst of middle school, we wanted our home to fit our lives for many years to come. We didn’t want the beginning of college to feel like the end of “home” for our son, so it was important to not take over his bedroom in order to have a home office. We also do a lot of hosting and our new spaces have really amplified the possibilities (and the room for Christmas trees!).
Outdoor Living
When it comes to outdoor living, we already had some nice features (pool, firepit, and outdoor kitchen). Having lived with these for a few years, we knew exactly what to tweak to take our back yard to the next level.
The addition framed the space on the porch to create a much better dining area than we had before. Swapping a door enabled us to create a cozy seating area opposite the dining table, furthering our theme of wonderful little nooks and spaces to socialize. We also reimagined some of the landscaping to help shape the spaces. Clusters of potted and in-ground plants help create the cozy hotel vibe I love.
Before & After
The front of our home has changed a lot with the addition, and we love the new West Indies-inspired look. Although we lost some of the existing green-and-white garden, it’s an opportunity to grow new things as the season progresses
So, that’s a wrap! As much as we won’t miss living in a live construction site, we have to admit that there was something thrilling about watching our dream home upgrade come to life all around us.
We are really looking forward to hosting more events, using our new spaces, and enjoying more family time doing things we love, like watching movies, doing puzzles, and creating lots of art. I’m already obsessing over decorating for our “first” Christmas!
