Isla Del Sol Condo Renovation PART ONE

I have the greatest parents in the world. Why? Because they have always supported me in my hairbrained decorating pursuits. When I was in junior high, they let me spongepaint my bedroom 3 shades of mauve...YUCK. They let me paint my bedroom furniture purple. EEEWW! I hope once the girls are older I will have the patience and lose the controlling side of myself and let my kids go to town on their own rooms.

This summer they asked me if I could help them update their beach condo, and I think I fell out of my chair. I'd been waiting for this moment for almost 10 years!!!

Here's a little slice of instant gratification for your viewing pleasure (hopefully).

The guest bedroom BEFORE:

I know we all had a bit of that Southwest decor in our homes, fortunately my parents gave me permission to remove everything from this room except the mattresses. Those brass headboards were falling apart, and those 1980s dressers were incredibly HEAVY, not to mention outdated.

The guest bedroom AFTER:

I would have LOVED to cover these beds in all white chenille with gorgeous, quilted, beachy shams and adorable custom bedskirts, but I had to remind myself, "this is a rental, this is a rental, this is a rental", and remembered LARGE PRINTS=GREAT FOR RENTALS. I found these tropical bedding ensembles at JCPenney.com, and I love that the background has a sort of linen-look to it.

I scored these original Lloyd/Flanders wicker headboards off of Craigslist for $20, and they match the bedding perfectly:


Master Bedroom BEFORE:

Master Bedroom AFTER:The "retro dive girl" from http://www.suzannenicoll.com/ was my inspiration for this room, really for most of the condo, you'll be seeing more of her work throughout this renovation. The standard shams, decorative pillows and coverlet were all from Homegoods, and I bought the fabric for the euroshams, bedskirt and valance online.

Sewing really is the secret through this entire renovation, you can save $$$ and gain a custom look by picking up a basic machine and sewing accents yourself.

Another trick is to use paint. One piece or a small collection of purchased art from Homegoods, TJ Maxx, etc can really "pop" if you mount it on a block of color. This paint was free, leftover from my master bedroom, and it really makes a difference.
Master Bathroom BEFORE: Master Bathroom AFTER:
The accessories are from Kirklands and the shower curtain and valance fabric were purchased online. I ALWAYS buy my fabrics online, digital cameras have come a long way in the past 10 years and can really capture the quality and color of the fabric and have taken the scariness out of online purchasing.

Guest Bathroom BEFORE:
There really wasn't much we could do to brighten up this small bathroom, but what we did do was hang a very coastal shower curtain, which again was made out of fabric purchased online:


Okay, stay tuned for Part Deux of the condo renovation. The hubinator has convinced me that after eating a dozen chocolate chip pumpkin muffins in 2 days, we could really use a work out... PEACE.