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 instances we’ll be capable of sleep right here earlier than development begins. As a result of that would suggest that development is beginning someday within the close to future. However although nails aren’t being hammered but, issues are positively occurring behind-the-scenes on this challenge. Permits are filed, and we’ve been assembly with our builders to hammer out inside elevations as we make selections just like the kitchen cupboard and drawer configurations, or the location of the bathtub fillers and sink taps in every lavatory. Our purpose is to get forward, so that after we’ve obtained these authorized plans in hand, we will hit the bottom operating on development.
To date, I’ve shared the backstory and our general inspiration for this challenge. We’re making a serene, minimalist seaside bungalow, whereas preserving the Nineteen Fifties ranch components that give the home its character. Now, I’m excited to start out diving into the nitty-gritty particulars of the design and renovation itself, and there’s no higher place to start out than by strolling you thru the brand new seaside home ground plan. Able to see how we’re laying all of it out, and precisely what the added sq. footage will embody? Come on in…
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Let’s revisit the present home ground plan…
Right here’s the breakdown of the present home…
Sq. footage:
1421 sq. toes in the principle home
Room Structure:
The present 2 bed room / 2 lavatory home has an undeniably awkward ground plan. It’s the one time I’ve ever seen individuals get misplaced in a home this small, as a result of the ground plan makes completely no sense. The children’ room connects straight into the lounge (divided by a curtain, no much less), and the “main” lavatory is separated from the first bed room by a small den that was added on to the home sooner or later.
Points with the present home
No clear entrance entrance. Whereas technically there’s a entrance door, it’s been utilized by precisely zero individuals since we purchased the home. While you pull into the driveway, the trail leads you down a sidewalk straight to the again door. So, nobody is kind 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 house. Except for the awkward ground plan, we’re additionally missing house generally. It’s a comfortable match for our household of 4, so when household or mates 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 if you each make money working from home), so one in every of us normally 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 children received’t get right into a battle when you’re on an vital name.
Closed-off rooms. In case you’ve seen our Austin home, that Adam and I are massive on an open ground plan format. We gravitate in the 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 house up.
Low ceilings. For my part, low ceilings are probably the most regarding issues a few home as a result of they are often actually tough to vary—and sometimes, can result in a home feeling darkish and crowded. So, after we first thought-about the acquisition of this home, ensuring that we’d be capable of increase up the ceilings was a prerequisite. Extra on that later.
Tucked-Away Kitchen. For me, the kitchen is the guts 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 visitors confused about the place they need to go. Within the reworked format, we wish anybody who arrives on the home to know precisely the place to park, with a transparent plan for learn how to enter the home. Do you know there’s an precise identify for this subject? It’s wayfinding, and contains ideas like creating “well-structured paths” and avoiding “too many navigational decisions.” Undecided why I’m obsessive about this subject, however I discover it endlessly fascinating.
Open ground plan.
For the areas the place we reside, eat, and play collectively as a household, I favor a wide-open house that feels expansive and ideally, opens as much as the outside as properly. In case you maintain studying, you’ll learn how we’re attaining that with a 1000 sq. foot addition that’s mainly one massive kitchen.
Vaulted ceilings.
Once we thought-about 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 preserving it one-story. We’ll be vaulting the ceilings, which implies that we’re extending into the triangular house 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 house.
Room for visitors.
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 mates for years to return. By including a visitor suite and a bunk room, we’d make room for an extra 4 – 5 individuals to stick with our household in the principle home.
Massive kitchen for entertaining.
For the reason that kitchen is my completely satisfied place, I naturally need to have the ability to spend time in it surrounded by household and mates. I want a kitchen giant sufficient to accommodate cooking initiatives, recipe picture shoots, and many individuals, since most dinner events find yourself with everybody gathered across the island. I knew that, based mostly on the present tucked-away nook kitchen, this is able to require an entire reimagining of the house.
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 house.
Flooring plan model 1
Our architect, Doug Burdge, just about nailed the brand new format on his first move. We had thought that the addition would most likely be comprised of a main bed room suite, nonetheless Doug completely reimagined the footprint of the present home to incorporate all of the bedrooms/loos, whereas including a 1000 sq. foot nice room that may grow to be the house’s focus. He really understood our need to make this home about entertaining and internet hosting, and created an open ground plan that was actually all about gatherings.
For this primary move, Doug experimented with an attention-grabbing imaginative and prescient for a contemporary “hacienda-style” entrance, the place as soon as individuals entered the principle gate from the driveway, they may roam round to the entrance of the home and enter via the large glass sliding doorways. Nevertheless, for us this plan was lacking a couple of issues… specifically, a transparent entrance door. We favored the idea, however felt prefer it in the end wouldn’t be conducive to on a regular basis life.
Flooring plan model 2:
Our second ground plan introduces the brand new entrance door, and (shock!) it’s truly on what’s at present the again facet of the home. We mainly flipped the doorway in order that if you stroll down the trail from the driveway, you enter down an extended 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 visitors!) 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 ideal choice since I would like 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 individuals stroll within the entrance door, and proper now they’d be wanting along side a banquette. Which brings us to…
Seaside Home Flooring Plan model 3:
Listed below are the main points of Flooring Plan 3 which is near the place we’ve lastly ended up…
Sq. footage:
2500 sq. toes (features a 1000 sq. foot addition)
Room Structure:
The brand new home can have 3 bedrooms and 4 loos (together with the brand new powder tub), plus a lounge and an ideal room with open kitchen and dwelling space. The eating room might be exterior beneath a coated trellis (sure—the one eating room might be exterior! The great thing about Southern California.)
It looks like we’re including on so many rooms and usable house, however truly, we’re solely including 1000 sq. toes to the principle home. It’s an instance of what a distinction it makes when a ground plan is designed to be sensible 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, loos, and lounge. Then we might let the addition keep one massive open room that’ll make your complete home really feel extra expansive, and invite the indoor-outdoor circulate that we knew we needed for this property.
Spherical 3 modifications included:
- Opening up the entryway to make room for a console desk and paintings—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 avoid wasting on price, nonetheless we knew that including a couple of toes to the Main Bed room can be a worthy funding and make that room really feel way more open and opulent.
- Vaulted ceilings all through—we determined that it could be price it to go forward and lift the ceilings within the visitor rooms as properly. It added on some price, however for me, excessive ceilings are a worthy splurge.
After which there’s the visitor home.
We haven’t even talked in regards to the visitor home but! It’s a one-room condo 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 preserving the present footprint, however getting very artistic to show it right into a one-bedroom suite with boutique lodge vibes. The visitor home challenge deserves its personal publish, so keep tuned to see how we’re doing it.
