MY BEACHY HIDEAWAY IN THE RAINFOREST

Being that I am an admitted Beach Bum and being that I prefer the white sands of the Caribbean, I have restyled my little abode from a rather dark Mexican Hacienda look to a breezy Caribbean beach cottage look.  Because I can't be in the Caribbean at a fabulous beach ALL of the time, I wanted to bring the beach to me.

There are a few projects yet to be done, and I think I will always have to live with the terracotta tile floors (unless you can lay wood floors overtop, but there are pesky accent tiles here and there that stick up above the others so I foresee an issue) but for the most part, it's all done.

Here are the before pics:

Looking towards the entrance and kitchen area.

Looking to living area from entrance/kitchen.  

Note the windows on the far wall.

The bed in the middle that hangs from the ceiling.

The curtains behind the bed have no window.

Fireplace and TV cabinet.

Yes it is a studio suite.  I love it as I feel snug as a bug here and it takes me no time at all to clean it.

Unfortunately, I never got a photo of the rest of the wall that the TV is on as it had the strangest adobe style open closet, only about three feet wide.  Also painted dark blue, same as the fireplace.

Now here it is today, with cabinets I designed and the landlord built, new windows, and a whole lot more! (Click on pictures to enlarge and see details)

Fireplace, white now with new tiled hearth - installed today.  

I used some shells and beach glass from the Caribbean in with smashed

travertine tiles to make a mosaic that looks like the beach with large

sand colored tiles in front to look like ... sand of course.

Note the nice new BIG windows.

Also note I haven't finished whitewashing the wood

of the couch - put my back out in the middle of doing it and haven't

had time to finish since my back got better. A new couch is in the future anyway.

New built-ins that I designed. On the far left is the

washer and dryer cupboard, then my closet, then a

shoe cubpoard, then a glass door nick-nack cupboard with

drawers underneath, then storage, then the TV with more

drawers.  LOVE THIS.  It has totally changed my life in this place.

The bed pre-headboard whitewash and pre BVI pic above.

Bed post-whitewash and pic.

And here are some details close up:

 

  

And yet, as beachy as indoors may be, there is NO denying it - I live in a rainforest. As you can see as soon as you step outside.

I love my little place.

I still need to take care of this though:

That's the bathroom vanity.  Ugh.  And the kitchen counters have the same tiles.  I need to change these... next year, hopefully.  I also want to hang a small crystal pendant light over the coffee table in place of the ugly iron-work chandelier that is there presently, but I haven't been able to find just the right one yet.

What do you think of my place?  Have you tried to bring the beach to your house?  If so, share how... I'd love to hear it.