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Our household is spending the final couple weeks of summer season at Zuma Seaside Home, and we’re sincerely hoping that it’s one of many final occasions we’ll have the ability to sleep right here earlier than development begins. As a result of that would indicate that development is beginning someday within the close to future. However regardless that nails aren’t being hammered but, issues are positively occurring behind-the-scenes on this venture. Permits are filed, and we’ve been assembly with our builders to hammer out inside elevations as we make choices just like the kitchen cupboard and drawer configurations, or the location of the bathtub fillers and sink taps in every rest room. Our aim is to get forward, so that when we’ve obtained these accepted plans in hand, we are able to hit the bottom working on development.
To date, I’ve shared the backstory and our general inspiration for this venture. We’re making a serene, minimalist seashore bungalow, whereas retaining the Nineteen Fifties ranch parts that give the home its character. Now, I’m excited to begin diving into the nitty-gritty particulars of the design and renovation itself, and there’s no higher place to begin than by strolling you thru the brand new seashore home flooring plan. Able to see how we’re laying all of it out, and precisely what the added sq. footage will embody? Come on in…
Let’s revisit the present home flooring plan…
Right here’s the breakdown of the present home…
Sq. footage:
1421 sq. ft in the principle home
Room Format:
The present 2 bed room / 2 rest room home has an undeniably awkward flooring plan. It’s the one time I’ve ever seen folks get misplaced in a home this small, as a result of the ground plan makes completely no sense. The youngsters’ room connects immediately into the lounge (divided by a curtain, no much less), and the “main” rest room is separated from the first bed room by a small den that was added on to the home in some unspecified time in the future.
Points with the present home
No clear entrance entrance. Whereas technically there’s a entrance door, it’s been utilized by precisely zero folks since we purchased the home. Whenever you pull into the driveway, the trail leads you down a sidewalk straight to the again door. So, nobody is sort of positive whether or not to circle round to the entrance of the home, or enter straight into the door of our laundry room.
Lack of area. Other than the awkward flooring plan, we’re additionally missing area typically. It’s a comfy match for our household of 4, so when household or associates come to stick with us, we’re bursting on the seams. There’s additionally nowhere for me and Adam to work (which is an issue whenever you each make money working from home), so one in all us often finally ends up taking zoom calls from the bed room whereas the opposite sits on the kitchen desk with air pods in, praying that the youngsters gained’t get right into a combat when you’re on an essential name.
Closed-off rooms. When you’ve seen our Austin home, you understand that Adam and I are massive on an open flooring plan structure. We gravitate in direction of an open, ethereal vibe, so a home made up of small rooms which can be separated off from one another makes us really feel claustrophobic. We will’t wait to open this area up.
Low ceilings. In my view, low ceilings are some of the regarding issues a couple of home as a result of they are often actually tough to alter—and infrequently, can result in a home feeling darkish and crowded. So, after we first thought of the acquisition of this home, ensuring that we’d have the ability to increase up the ceilings was a prerequisite. Extra on that later.
Tucked-Away Kitchen. For me, the kitchen is the center and heart of a house, so having a small kitchen awkwardly tucked into the nook of the home (with dated granite and cabinetry no much less) was going to be the very first thing to go in any renovation.
GOALS for the brand new home
Clear entrance entrance.
As talked about above, the present home lacks a transparent entrance and leaves friends confused about the place they need to go. Within the reworked structure, we wish anybody who arrives on the home to know precisely the place to park, with a transparent plan for how you can enter the home. Do you know there’s an precise title for this subject? It’s wayfinding, and contains ideas like creating “well-structured paths” and avoiding “too many navigational selections.” Unsure why I’m obsessive about this subject, however I discover it endlessly fascinating.
Open flooring plan.
For the areas the place we stay, eat, and play collectively as a household, I desire a wide-open area that feels expansive and ideally, opens as much as the outside as properly. When you hold studying, you’ll learn how we’re attaining that with a 1000 sq. foot addition that’s principally one massive kitchen.
Vaulted ceilings.
Once we thought of buying this home, I knew that for the funding, we’d want to have the ability to increase the ceilings. Fortunately it wasn’t too sophisticated right here, particularly since we’re retaining it one-story. We’ll be vaulting the ceilings, which implies that we’re extending into the triangular area between the place a ceiling would usually sit and the highest of the roof. This is not going to solely assist the rooms really feel bigger than they really are—it’ll additionally let extra pure gentle into every area.
Room for friends.
Whereas we needed to maintain this a reasonably modest-sized home, we additionally knew that this was a spot we anticipated internet hosting household and associates for years to return. By including a visitor suite and a bunk room, we’d make room for an extra 4 – 5 folks to stick with our household in the principle home.
Massive kitchen for entertaining.
Because the kitchen is my glad place, I naturally need to have the ability to spend time in it surrounded by household and associates. I want a kitchen giant sufficient to accommodate cooking tasks, recipe picture shoots, and plenty of folks, since most dinner events find yourself with everybody gathered across the island. I knew that, primarily based on the present tucked-away nook kitchen, this is able to require a whole reimagining of the area.
Plenty of pure gentle.
The present home already has nice gentle, however we knew that by elevating the ceilings and including extra home windows and doorways to the again of the home, we might create an much more light-filled area.
Ground plan model 1
Our architect, Doug Burdge, just about nailed the brand new structure on his first cross. We had thought that the addition would in all probability be comprised of a main bed room suite, nonetheless Doug completely reimagined the footprint of the present home to incorporate all of the bedrooms/bogs, whereas including a 1000 sq. foot nice room that might grow to be the house’s point of interest. He actually understood our need to make this home about entertaining and internet hosting, and created an open flooring plan that was actually all about gatherings.
For this primary cross, Doug experimented with an fascinating imaginative and prescient for a contemporary “hacienda-style” entrance, the place as soon as folks entered the principle gate from the driveway, they might roam round to the entrance of the home and enter by way of the large glass sliding doorways. Nonetheless, for us this plan was lacking a number of issues… particularly, a transparent entrance door. We appreciated the idea, however felt prefer it in the end wouldn’t be conducive to on a regular basis life.
Ground plan model 2:
Our second flooring plan introduces the brand new entrance door, and (shock!) it’s truly on what’s presently the again facet of the home. We principally flipped the doorway in order that whenever you stroll down the trail from the driveway, you enter down a protracted tree-lined path and enter proper into the brand new Nice Room.
One different concern we had from the primary set of plans was that our Main Toilet was tiny. So, in model 2 we expanded the Main Bathtub by stealing the closet from Visitor Room 2 (sorry friends!) We’ll add a built-in to that room to function the closet. It might have been cool to have an precise closet there, however a small main tub is simply not an incredible choice since I need this one to really feel ethereal and spa-like.
We additionally turned Visitor Room 3 right into a bunkroom to make room for many children to sleepover. We added a big floor-to-ceiling nook window within the Nice Room to maximise the ocean views from inside the home. And we eliminated the bar within the Nice Room and changed it with a banquette/breakfast nook.
The one factor this plan was nonetheless lacking for me was an entryway—I needed an entrance “second” when folks stroll within the entrance door, and proper now they’d be trying along with a banquette. Which brings us to…
Seaside Home Ground Plan model 3:
Listed here are the main points of Ground Plan 3 which is near the place we’ve lastly ended up…
Sq. footage:
2500 sq. ft (features a 1000 sq. foot addition)
Room Format:
The brand new home may have 3 bedrooms and 4 bogs (together with the brand new powder tub), plus a lounge and an incredible room with open kitchen and residing space. The eating room will likely be exterior beneath a coated trellis (sure—the one eating room will likely be exterior! The great thing about Southern California.)
It appears like we’re including on so many rooms and usable area, however truly, we’re solely including 1000 sq. ft to the principle home. It’s an instance of what a distinction it makes when a flooring plan is designed to be good and environment friendly, because of the brilliance of our architect, Doug Burdge. He was capable of flip the present footprint of the home into our bedrooms, bogs, and lounge. Then we might let the addition keep one massive open room that’ll make your entire home really feel extra expansive, and invite the indoor-outdoor circulation that we knew we needed for this property.
Spherical 3 adjustments included:
- Opening up the entryway to make room for a console desk and art work—we did this by eradicating the banquette and the pocket door to the laundry room.
- Extending the sq. footage within the Main Bed room. We needed to maintain the present footprint of the home as a lot as potential to save lots of on value, nonetheless we knew that including a number of ft to the Main Bed room can be a worthy funding and make that room really feel way more open and splendid.
- Vaulted ceilings all through—we determined that it might be price it to go forward and lift the ceilings within the visitor rooms as properly. It added on some value, however for me, excessive ceilings are a worthy splurge.
After which there’s the visitor home.
We haven’t even talked concerning the visitor home but! It’s a one-room residence above the storage, with a bizarre little kitchenette and fridge that share an area with the mattress. The draw back is that it’s important to climb a creepy carpeted staircase from the storage to entry it. The upside? It already has beautiful gentle, and expansive views of Zuma Seaside from each window. We’ll be retaining the present footprint, however getting very inventive to show it right into a one-bedroom suite with boutique lodge vibes. The visitor home venture deserves its personal put up, so keep tuned to see how we’re doing it.
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