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Last week, I shared my latest move to the beach with my husband. But our new home was built more as a weekend getaway rather than a full-time or second home. It was also built in the eighties, so we had many obstacles to overcome.

More Closets in the Primary

We needed more closets in the primary suite. The original design had one walk-in closet and one strip closet. The walk-in was large enough for one person, but not two. What made matters worse, the previous homeowner had converted the strip closet into a dresser niche.

Fortunately, the primary suite was large enough that I could steal three feet and convert the strip closet into a walk-in. This left us 13’-6” for the king size bed and nightstands. I was pleased with the outcome. Not only did we solve the closet dilemma, but we also made a cozier feeling in the bedroom.

Kitchen Storage

We needed more storage in the kitchen. The original, closed-off kitchen had more upper cabinets. But when the kitchen was opened to great room, two banks of 24” upper cabinets were removed. It wasn’t a large kitchen to begin with, and it had no pantry. Like many 55+ buyers, we have a lot of stuff. A walk-in pantry would solve our storage dilemma – but where to put it? Fortunately, the great room was wide enough to accommodate the sofas and the dining room table. That freed up the former dining room for the walk-in pantry with ample storage.

Coffee / Wine Bar

One of the challenges kitchens have today is counter clutter. This includes things we use daily, so they need to be convenient. In our case, we have coffee pot, a coffee grinder, and an espresso machine. That is a lot of clutter for a small kitchen, so a coffee bar was needed. This would not only declutter our countertops, but it also expanded the usability of the kitchen.

Our mini barista station lives on the countertop, but behind doors in a 15” deep cabinet.

The new five-foot-long cabinet added badly needed upper cabinets for coffee cups and wine glasses – and a small sink for convenience. Coffee in the morning, wine at night.

No Seating along the Kitchen

Guy and I prefer sitting along the kitchen island for many of our daily meals or as a great place to converse with the cook. Not only did lack an island, but the kitchen peninsula only had a 4” overhang – not enough for dining.

I really didn’t want to replace the newly installed quartz countertop. Fortunately, our contractor suggested we could add a second layer of quartz on top of the existing countertop. It could overlap 6” and be supported on one end by the waterfall end and at the other end by additional cabinets.

But when we reached out to the previous supplier of quartz, they no longer carried that material. Since I was unable to match the white veined quartz, I decided to contrast it with black quartz with white veining. While this sounds scary, there was already a black farmhouse sink and black facet.

Go big or go home!

Limited Laundry Room

The original townhome had a laundry closet with machines side by side.

This left me with no place to hang clothes to dry (yes – this is an obsession with me). I also really like the acoustic separation a laundry room vs closet gives you. We decided to create a laundry room and stack the washer and dryer to gain the hanging space.

The new laundry room backs up to the newly created pantry. Ah – but if I could create an L shaped room, we could add a 24” wide second refrigerator in our pantry since our kitchens have a drinking problem and there was no garage for the second refrigerator.

No Garage?

Well – this one was not to be solved. We park our cars outside which means they are cold in the morning and currently covered in pollen. It also means our golf clubs live in the entry coat closet, and our beach bikes live in the shed at the rear of the townhome. Hey – at least we found a home for the garage refrigerator.

It’s all about the Beach

We moved into our new digs February 1st in what turned out to be the coldest winter in almost a decade here. But since then, it has warmed up and we have had many beach walks!

A worthy tradeoff to not having a garage.

I hope you find inspiration in overcoming obstacles in housing – whether new construction or remodeled. After all, housing design truly does matter.