Thursday, July 11, 2013

Theme Thursday: Rooms or Wanna See the Beach House Part I

Wanna See the Beach House Part II found here.

Tree House found here.

It's Theme Thursday with Cari and this week is Rooms, which I thought would be a great opportunity to start the Beach House tour. These photos are gwine be non-spectacular on the photography side, emphasis on content. Disclaimer, phone pics. So come on in!



When we decided to rent this rather small 1930's cottage, we realized it was going to take some downsizing, simplifying, creative thought and hard work. This is the front entry area, along with an oblong living space that spans the front. Originally, this entire space was an undoubtedly beautiful porch which was later enclosed to create more space. Our main obstacle with the house was the three bedroomness of it. With six kids, spanning all the age groups, this just wouldn't work. So Obi decided to put up a wall in the far corner of this space to create a very tiny but truly awesome teen bedroom.

He decided to put up a wall. In a rental house. That we will probably be in for a year. Dear Web Log, please don't inform the rental agency of this.

So here's what we got:



This is the tiny little doorway leading to le chambre de Peter e Jude. I would have given you a farther view of the wall from the outside, but I am ungenerously willing to give you a peak at that yet. But it looks nice. He framed the doorway nicely, put molding and base boards to match the original, and even textured the wall. Honestly, you would never know it wasn't there before.



View from the doorway. Very tiny. 


But come on. That be the Gulf of Mexico out there. (Not the puddle. That's from the rain.)



Ignore the unmatched bedding, the wrinkles, the inability to tuck around the guardrail. Ignore.  That is the Ikea bed we bought that was low enough and narrow enough not to feel claustrophobic. 
The window you see behind the door would have been the original window that would have looked onto the porch. If we felt like investing more time, energy and money into a one year rental for our teens who could care less, we could come up with some creative ideas of covering it. But we don't feel like it.



View from the bottom bunk. Happened to be an overcast, unattractive day. But the view is pretty spectacular. Sea oats, white sand, Gulf, sky.



There was also no closet, obviously, so we bought these stackable Ikea dressers and also some underbed storage that is still unboxed. 



This is nowhere near the storage they had in their old room, so lots of things had to go. Honestly, lots of stuff is  still unpacked, and they each have a separate trunk of goods that is being kept in the basement. But it was truly necessary for the comfort of the room to organize and just plain get rid of stuff. And a good feeling, to tell you the truth. The boys love the simple living and it means that they have to keep everything neat in order to make the space livable.



Jude made these Pinterest worthy labels all by heeself. He's almost as good an artist as Peter! Yes, they share clothes. All of them. 



But they do each have their own drawer to keep things that are their's alone. Above is Peter's...



...and Jude's. That kid is a genius.



And Ziggy will see you out. Thanks for stopping by, please come back for Part II of Wanna See the Beach House!

15 comments:

  1. I'm so glad your sharing photos of the beach house, it looks like a charming little bungalow! I love the tiny room for the boys and with those amazing windows it doesn't look so tiny!
    Ziggy, be still my heart, I have not seen him in years and always loved Ziggy!

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  2. My son's room doesn't have a closet either and he also has Ikea storage. But right now he's one so it's pretty easy. It helps us though, 12-18 month clothes were the first we had to really procure (as the baby gifts ran out.) and we coordinated ev.ery.thing so that we wouldn't over buy when space is a premium.

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  3. Gorgeous!! Who cares about the physical size of the room when it has windows and a view like that? Lucky teens. When I was a teen, I had a room almost that size. It had formerly been my parents small walk-in closet. And there certainly were no windows! :-)

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  4. More! Jude's labels managed to be the highlight of the tour, hanging on EVEN in light of the (rabbit? squirrel?) pelt neatly tacked to the cork board.

    Oh wait. I lied. The view from the bottom bunk is the highlight of the tour, but Jude's work was a close second.

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  5. The view with the guitar... when are you guys moving out? We may have to relocate.

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  6. He built a wall!!
    What a wonderful room, but yes must help that they share clothes.
    A-mazing view!!

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  7. Wow, awesome house...can't wait to see more. Also, I can not wait until my four boys are fully grown and can share clothes! I never even thought of that perk!

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  8. Wrinkles? Wrinkles?! All I saw was beauty and beach and sand...spectacular!

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  9. This is an amazing house! The view is unreal. And it must be a great feeling to have to figure out how to get rid of the things you really don't need and live more simply. This post gets me motivated to finally go through all the junk in my attic and do a major purge.

    It looks like your boys have gotten into the spirit, too, and they've put their own stamp on the room. :)

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  10. That drawer labels are awesome..love them! As is your whole house...who cares about the size when you have THE BEACH as your backyard! Awesome! If we still lived in Naples, I would totally be on your doorstep.

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  11. Dying of house envy. Dying. The only thing that will help me get over it is lots and lots of peach wine. Get crackin', lady. I'm comin' for a vay-cay-shun.

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  12. Beautiful use of space! Super cute labels. :) I have to peek around here more to see what happens at the end of the rental year.

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  13. Oh swoon!! That view. I'm speechless. And your hubby is so handy!

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  14. Small teenager room is definitely worth the view! Awesome idea to put up a wall!

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  15. Making a bunk bed is a bitch. I covet your ceilings.

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