Beach Condo Living Room Decor – Before and Afters
Hey, sorry for the long break! I promise I have not been lying on the couch eating bon-bons, watching Housewives of someplace or another. I’ve been crazy busy working on two separate huge makeovers and much to the Mr.’s delight, not at our house! I’ve pretty much been up to my elbows in paint for the last 3 weeks, and I finally have time to actually blog about it. My Dad recently retired and my parents bought a cute little fixer upper condo down in Delray Beach.
They bought the condo turn key, so it came with all the furniture. The previous owner was a single guy, who recently got married, and this was his bachelor pad. The furniture wasn’t my mom’s style and the scale was wrong for the space. Also, it was covered in palm trees – palm tree lamps, palm tree couches, palm tree shower curtains, you name it, the guy liked his palm trees! The walls were also painted a very warm beige, which made it feel dark. Here is a before pic –
And after!
My parents closed on the condo the week we were all down there for spring break, so we played on the beach with the kids during the day and my mom and I power shopped at night. I mean power shopped! It was basically super market sweep, but instead of groceries, we had our carts piled with clearance sale throw pillows! In 3 evenings we managed to buy all new living room furniture, accessories, bedding, light fixtures, tile backsplash and counter tops. I had never set foot in the condo, but my mom showed me pics and we went from there.
There is not a room that went untouched. So, I will be breaking things down over several posts, but today I thought I would show you the living room. My mom and I were down there last week painting and putting the finishing touches on everything; while my Dad and the Mr. were on kid duty back in Michigan, and I should probably apologize to anyone who stood downwind from my children last week. The Mr. sent me a photo of little man on Thursday and he was wearing the same clothes as he was when I left on Monday…apparently hygiene is not a priority when mom’s not home. It was basically Lord of the Flies over here.
Unfortunately, it stormed the entire time we were in Florida, which was good because we weren’t tempted to lounge on the beach, but bad because I had a hard time shooting the space – the before and afters are still pretty amazing.
We wanted to lighten things up a bit, so we painted all the walls Top Sail by Sherwin Williams. My folks also have awesome friends, who drove from the other side of the state to help take down all the old ceiling fans and the weird electrical cords that were running down all the walls from them.
We found the couches at a local furniture store called Furniture City and my mom scored all the tables at consignment shops when she was dropping off all the old palm tree furniture.
I sanded down the tops of all the tables and used grey paint to color wash them to give them more of a beach vibe. Then I painted the coffee table legs Peacock Plume by Sherwin Williams and the end table in the gray paint (which I can’t remember the name of unfortunately). Here’s a before of the coffee table –
And after
Ok, lets talk TV’s – what bachelor pad is complete without a 70 inch flatscreen right? It was love at first sight for my dad and the TV, naturally, so there was no way we were talking him into a smaller one, but we could balance it out better. Here’s the before –
And after –
We found this console table at that same City Furniture and the oar at HomeGoods, which was originally orange. I painted it with the same Peacock Plume paint and now the tv looks like it fits the room versus taking it over.
We repurposed this odd palm tree bamboo shelf situation into a cute storage/display area by painting it grey and moving it to the other side of the room. Before –
And after –
It also serves to break up the dining area (which I will be sharing next week!) from the living room since the condo’s main living space is a long rectangle.
Isn’t it crazy what a difference paint can make? I can’t wait to show you the rest of the condo as soon as I manage to scrape some of the paint off myself :)
Sources:
Lamps – Birch Lane
Glass Bottles – Birch Lane
Glass bowl – HomeGoods
Tables – Consignment shop
Couches – City Furniture
Mirror – City Furniture
Rug – City Furniture
Pillows – Pier One
Baskets – Pier One
Paint color – Top Sail by Sherwin Williams
We wanted to make some adjustments to my brother’s beach house before we moved in for vacation. I loved how you made the couches and other furniture matches with the paint of the walls because having the room all in one hue of color really makes things comfortable for me and my family. I’ll be sure to show this article to my brother so we can make any furniture customizations and have them brought in before we settle in. Thank you so much!
Oh good luck, thanks Afton!
Paint certainly does make a difference! And I see no clutter of cords hanging every which way like at my house. I’m physically handicapped and have several electronic devices and like to keep them handy. But the cords clutter up the living area. I would appreciate any suggestions. Katy
We did the same thing here on the west coast of FL. Bought a little 1/1 beach condo, fully furnished but SO tired. We gave absolutely everything to Habitat for Humanity, then we repainted the (ugly) dark pink walls a sunny yellow, put in new flooring, bright white furniture, cute and kitschy beach decor, modern amenities (like a blue-ray player, smart TV, ceiling fans), and everyone LOVES IT!!
Yay for beautifying Florida one condo at a time lol :)
From bachelor pad to beach paradise, you have truly transformed this space, including the furniture! I’m sure your parents will love this along with the rest of their condo. Thanks for sharing, there’s a lot of great design ideas in here!
Thanks Rachel, yes they are down there right now enjoying every minute!
Wow what a transformation! I always hate the “Tommy Bahama” style beach house style. Palm leaves are very rarely attractive interior decor! You did an INCREDIBLE job on this in such a short amount of time. Sounds like it would be fun though! Thanks for sharing.
Great transformation! I started following you because I live on a lake as well, and love your design sense. I bought an oar to hang on a wall, but can’t figure out how to hang it. How did you do it?
I’ve hung them a few different ways depending on the oar – I’ve screwed brackets on the back to hang them and I’ve also used a nail gun to nail right thru the oar in a few spots. The nail gun I resorted to in our entry way because my kids kept slamming the front door and one of the oars would fall off!
Awesome Sauce! Looks fabulous, I agree with Amy Riddle’s comment about auditioning for the HGTV beach house makeover show. You and your Mom did a fabulous job! Wanna come to California and work your magic at my house?!!
Ha I don’t know that HGTV is ready for our craziness, but I’m definitely up for a trip to California :)
Fabulous! Love everything! Love the top of the coffee table, did you paint on gray paint them wipe it off or sand again? Awesome! I love when I go to your site and you have something new! Thanks for sharing! You have such an amazing eye!
So I should have given more info on how I did this, there was just so much info in this post! I mixed 1 part paint to maybe 2 parts water? Then I wiped it on the raw wood and wiped it off again. I kept layering and wiping until I got the look I wanted. Hope that helps!
You did an amazing job! Maybe you and your Mom should try out for HGTV’s Beach House Makeover show. I can’t remember the exact name of it.
Oh I love that show, I’m not sure HGTV is ready for our brand of crazy! Thank you though, what a huge compliment!
The condo redo looks amazing! You have such an eye for transforming something outdated and making it absolutely beautiful!
Can’t wait to see the other rooms! Love your decor!
Thanks so much, we had so much fun working on this!
Cannot believe how much we accomplished in such a short period of time!! We make a good team! So happy with all the results! Love you! – mom
Love you mom :)
This Mother/Daughter team creates magic together! Absolutely beautiful!
I love seeing how a space can completely change without knocking down walls or doing major cosrtuction – ah, the amazing power of paint!! Your decor and paint choices make the condo a very relaxing and comfy place to be – looking forward to seeing the rest of it. My MIL lives in Delray and we love visiting her and hanging out on Atlantic Ave – many excellent restauarants , galleries and great jazz.
Yes we love Atlantic Ave!! Isn’t it the cutest little beach town? I’m always so relaxed there :) I’d love you to email me your restaurant suggestions and jazz places! We are always looking for new places to try.
Looks so lovely and bright.
Your vision is amazing!!!!!! I did not see that beautiful coffee table when I looked at the before picture! and I did not see the gorgeous shelf beyond the brown and painted palm tree. It turned out absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing and can’t wait to see all the other rooms. Take care……….
Thanks Pamela, it was definitely a little daunting when we got started but I love a challenge!
You should have your own television show!!!!
ha thank you :)
Fabulous! The transformation is wonderful. You and your Mom must have a huge feeling of satisfaction. How fun…..love the colors. So talented….
Annmarie.
Thanks Annmarie, it was a great feeling to leave and see everything all done! Can’t wait to go back in the fall and just enjoy vacation time there.
Oh, just beautiful…..sigh.
I’ve always been a fan of palm tree decor, I love them (even though they’re very dated at this point in time) … but you made that space spectacular!! You erased all the palm trees inside but created a vibe that says the palm trees are *outside*.
I really love the white and brightness.
And for the record, I have not decorated with palm trees, only have one picture with them. LOL!
haha! I have nothing against palm trees, just several hundred in one room is A LOT :)
I love it, you and your mom did a beautiful job!
Thanks so much Linda!
Really really nice job! Totally agree that paint can transform a room! Must have been fun working with your mom on this project! Look forward to seeing the rest of the transformation. I love reading your blog posts. You’re a funny gal!
It was so fun, thanks Anita. We have such a good time together!
Just beautiful. Light and bright and welcoming. I absolutely love what you did with the tv. That made a huge difference. And not a palm tree in sight!
Yes having the right balance around a TV is so important so a room doesn’t become all about the big black box!
What fun – you are both amazing and have such good decor vision. Can’t wait to see the rest!
Thanks Maureen, it’s been so fun to share!
Welcome back!!! Beginning to think you gave up blogging. Good to know you didn’t!!!!!! I love what you and your mom have done to transform the condo into light and beachy. I wish I had the eye for refinishing the furniture as you do. It is gorgeous. I am pleased to say, I have the same bowl that you have on the coffee table! Can’t wait for you to reveal the rest of the condo.
Oh yay, love that bowl! Not giving up yet, just been crazy busy! I have a lot of posts still coming up, hopefully I can keep up with it better even though my kiddos are done with school this week, eek!
WOW! That is an amazing transformation!
Thanks so much!
It had just occurred to me yesterday that you had not posted in a while! (I tend to look at my favorite design blogs when I’m having a bad day at work.) Love what you did here-how fun!
hi liza, thanks so much! Hope you have a great week at work this week :) except still come visit me ha!
Fabulous as usual!
What kind of window treatments will you be doing…..if any?
Looks wonderful! Keep up the good work! You are a star!
Hi Cindy there are roll down fabric window treatments out on the sun porch. My mom has a strange aversion to drapes and most window treatments so we are keeping it simple with just white wood blinds.
Fabulous job, I want to move in!!!
Me too! Thanks Cynthia
You nailed it!! Love what you’ve done!! : )
Thanks so much Peg, we had the best time working on this together!
Beautiful results! I know your parents will love living in such a pretty space.
They are really excited to escape the winter here that’s for sure!
I was wondering where you have been! It was worth the wait. Beautiful transformation!
Thanks Beth, sorry didn’t mean to leave you hanging so long!
Great Job!! It sounds like you and your mom had paint up to your ears :-) I can’t believe you got so much done. Are your parents becoming snowbirds? I’m trying to figure out where Del Ray beach is — on the Atlantic or Gulf side? And when you got home did you have to bury your kiddos clothes? Can’t wait to see the rest of the house.
Delray is on the Atlantic side by Boca Raton/West Palm Beach. The are becoming part time snow birds, my mom isn’t sure she can leave her grand kiddos all winter ;) they will probably go down a few weeks at a time and try to come back a few times too. And I was very close to just burning their clothes, it definitely took me a good 3 days to make my house livable again!
Wonderful transformation! Night and day!