The Vibe For Our San Diego house
The fun stuff! I’ve been gathering tons and tons of inspo for the new house since it’s Spanish style and I have never furnished or remodeled anything like this before. I’m honestly feeling a little intimidated by this house because it has a much more serious feel to it than our previous houses. I also have the pressure of wanting to do things the correct way so it lasts rather than quick / inexpensive fixes that don’t add value and eventually will need to be addressed later. One thing Paul and I always agree on is where to put our money when it comes to remodeling. Some things (in our opinion) are a better use of money than others so at least we have that going for us during this remodeling process. As I’m sure many people already know, remodeling can really be a point of contention in relationships when both parties aren’t on the same page.
To give you a brief update on the remodel and how we plan to approach everything, here is a breakdown:
Phase One
+ Replace the hardwood throughout the house so it’s consistent. Right now it’s a mixture of different woods and different stains.
+ Skim coat the walls to make them smooth (instead of textured) and fresh paint everywhere.
+ The railing on the staircase needs to be replaced. Right now it’s glass, which feels very 80’s to me, so I want to revert it back to black wrought irons so it’s a little cleaner / simpler.
+ Interior doors will get replaced to give the house an updated, newer feeling. Not a super expensive change that makes a big difference.
+ The kitchen – the current layout is just bad. Everything feels misplaced and NOT functional for my style of cooking / entertaining. We have already completely gutted the kitchen and have a master plan for the look. To give you a little hint: it’s a lot of white oak, vagli marble, stone, and brass.
+ The house doesn’t currently have a formal dining room (totally fine by us) so we are converting a corner in the kitchen into a built-in banquette so we can have our daily meals inside. For larger family meals we will eat outside under the pergola, which we plan to heat and add sound for music.
+ Powder rooms – so the house has 7 bathrooms. Honestly, I have no idea why. We are planning to get rid of 1, and the rest will be remodeled. I’m trying to keep the vibe cohesive but different in each.
+ In the backyard we are planning to do some cleaning up, such as moving the pool equipment to NOT obstruct the view of the beautiful greenery, heat the pool, and hardscape around the pool so there’s a nice area to put furniture. I don’t particularly love putting lounge chairs on grass.
Phase Two
+ The master suite – the master is currently very small. The closet is divided into 2 separate spaces (on opposite sides of the room) and the bathroom is long and narrow. None of this meets our criteria so we have big plans to knock down walls, shift spaces around, and expand the house so the bathroom / bathtub overlooks the beautiful backyard. Needless to say, this part of the project is in Phase 2 because I’m expecting this to be pretttttty pricey.
+ Arched windows – I’ve shown this on IG a few times, but the house has beautiful arches in it that I fully plan to convert into my dream windows! Like, it’s a need not a want.
Phase Three
+ Windows throughout the house will gradually get replaced. It can be super-pricey to do this (depending on the style / brand you go for) so we are putting this on the low priority list for now.
+ The mother-in-law suite / playroom – we haven’t fully thought through this part of the house yet so it’s in Phase Three until we know exactly what we want to do. Most likely it will remain the playroom with an attached guest room and bathroom for those who don’t want to stay in the guest house.
The Vibe
I want the new house to feel like a resort. I want it to feel peaceful, relaxing, and like an oasis away from the city. The backyard has a very European vibe so I plan to fully embrace that and make the space a livable indoor-outdoor lifestyle.
I have drawn A TON of inspiration from Amber Interiors, who is my interior aesthetic icon. I find everything she does to be so visually stunning but also cozy. While some things might not be super practical (or affordable), I am taking bits here and there from certain spaces she’s designed and applying them to the house where it makes sense.
Okay, with that said, here’s the inspo. I’m probably missing a ton of little things in this remodel, but like I mentioned, things on the low priority list will be addressed over time. Since we do plan to stay in this house for a long(er) amount of time, I think some things can wait. Plus, I can’t blow the budget all at once or else you-know-who will come for me…
all images sourced from Pinterest
