Kristen and Paul are at it again. Winner of 2014 Hard Way Award for their fabulous aqua bathroom, built from scratch, they recently bought a winter home in Florida and redecorated with their own coloful, mix-it-up — and affordable — retro style. It’s kind of … perfect — built in 1959, just 1,000 s.f.. Let’s take a peek!
Just wondering if you’d like to take a peek at photos from our MCModest Florida vacation home as I had mentioned when you featured our 40s bathroom a while back. We just put the final touches together this winter & we’re pretty happy with how it turned out.
I have a health condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which causes a profound amount of premature joint pain. Since warm weather helps my joint pain and we have home businesses that can travel… The next logical step was to spend our winters in sunny Florida. So after scouring Zillow for about six months, we honed in on a small town in central Florida away from the beaches and tourist attractions so that it was affordable and a peaceful rural setting.
We’ve just put the final touches on our vacation home this winter after purchasing it last year. It’s a great little 1959 home with 1,000 sq ft.… Much different than our large 1899 Foursquare home in Indiana, but we are so in love with it. It has not been tampered with too much and still has great mid century features including asymmetrical roof, jalousie windows and a pink bathroom!
Honestly, the home did not need much true “renovating”. We knew with my health issues, that we weren’t up for a complete fixer-upper like before and this house was the perfect blank canvas to move in to and start decorating. I was drawn to the (faux) wood floors, location (there’s a big beautiful lake one block over), and let’s be honest… the pink bathroom pretty much sealed the deal!
We furnished the house very quickly. We purchased the house in August ’14 and took a furniture truck down that October so that the home would be furnished and ready when we came back down in January. Such a contrast from our Indiana home which took nearly a decade to carefully remodel and decorate! But I have to admit it was kind of fun to throw together instant decor all at once in a frenzy. Luckily, I already had 40–50% of the furnishings hoarded away in my attic and garage… Don’t ever pass up the perfect MCM piece while thrifting… It does pay off to be a hoarder sometimes! 🙂
Some of the minor projects we tackled were pulling out the wood sink cabinet base the previous owners had installed in the bathroom, restoring a rusty set of vintage lawn furniture, and adding lots of paint to brighten things up!
The porch area is where I spend a lot of my time relaxing. It is a peaceful little space that looks out to the beautiful tropical foliage that was planted by the previous owners. There is also a beautiful Tabebuia tree out front that blooms bright yellow blossoms every March.
There are still a few projects I would like to tackle. We need to change the kitchen cabinet handles over to vintage chrome ones, replace the front door with a mid century modern style, and make the exterior of the house look more atomic rather than folksy. But we are not in a big hurry and know that when the time comes… Your site will be there to guide us to the right resources!
Thanks again for letting us share our little home away from home on your site! We are so happy with how the Florida house turned out and are no longer dreading Indiana winters 😉
List of resources for the Florida house:
- Aqua blue kitchen walls: Valspar High Tide 283–3 (Lowe’s)
- Gray living room walls: Valspar Hazy Stratus 4004-1c (Lowe’s)
- Master bedroom walls: Teal Zeal B58-5 Olympic (Lowe’s)
- Kitchen Tulip table: Flea market find
- Kitchen chairs: 2 from Lexmod and 2 were purchase from our local Bargain Hunt closeout store on clearance
- Sunbeam reproduction colorblock clock: Jetsetretro Design on Etsy
- Charcoal gray sofa: Kroehler sectional from Value City… (Had my heart set on a Joybird, but maybe next time 😉
- Bamboo Roman shades: Home Depot
- Living room drapes: Target.com
- Master BR Duvet Cover: Dot&Bo
- Everything else was either thrifted or found on Craigslist, Ebay or Etsy
Link love:
- Take a peek in the couple’s Indiana home
- Their amazing aqua-and-black bathroom, built from scratch, chosen by readers as winner of our 2014 The Hard Way Award – Bathrooms
- Want to make a collage wall like Kristen’s? See Kristen’s 7 step-by-step tips to make a pleasing gallery wall.
- Shop Kristen and Paul’s Etsy store: The Robot Parade.
Debbie in Portland says
This house just has “happy” written all over it! I love the vibrant colors and all the dots, and that bathroom is fabulous. 🙂
Trudi says
Even in photos you can tell this is a house made a home with joy and love! Thank you for sharing.
Mark says
How happy you guys must be to wake up in this place! I love the fish & bubbles wall plaques in the bathroom!
Carolyn says
Love how you’ve meshed old with new (K appliances, LR & kids’ room furniture). Thanks for featuring the stereo console – when I was a teen, I thought I’d finally be swanky when we could afford one. And thank you for also loving jalousies – they are just so much more practical, you can have them open when it rains, the sightline is less interrupted (I’m kinda short so am either ducking down or on tiptoe!), the wind can’t catch them like side-winders.
The only thing I see that you’re missing is a slap-slap screen door.
Amber says
There are so many mid century houses here in FL. I want them all!
Andi says
Happy! That’s how I feel looking at your house! You’ve done an incredible job coordinating so many unique pieces, creating a cohesive, interesting, balanced—and happy!—whole. I LOVE THIS!!
Cynthia says
Kristen, you created a perfect snowbird getaway! I love it so much. Enjoy it for many winters to come. What county is it in, would you mind saying? I’m on the east coast in South Florida, thinking of retiring to the center of the state.
Kristen says
Hi Cynthia, It’s in Highlands County. We love it here… it’s very quiet & not such a severe hurricane threat 😉
Cynthia says
Thank you Kristen! I will start looking – wonder if it will remind of what it was like 20 + years ago down here…it was a great place to live. And you are so right about hurricanes – although, if you winter in Florida, you are not in hurricane season (which is June 1 through November 30).
Jeneta says
LOVEEEEEEEE!!! Great job!
Natalie says
So beautiful! I’m originally from Florida, and so wish I could do this too! It’s perfect–besides your great ideas for future projects, I don’t think I’d change a thing. And your fish in the bathroom are adorable 🙂
Chris says
This is just glorious! You started my day with a smile!
Do you guys rent it? You certainly could! (To me!!!!!)
Thanks for sharing this with us — what a great place!
Kristen says
Hi Chris,
As of now, it’s not for rent. But that is certainly something we may consider in the future… thanks for the kind words 😉