In last month’s Monthly Miscellanea post, I mentioned the exciting news that my parents just bought a Florida beach house. They’ve talked about buying a place down there on and off for years, but my mom loves the beach and my dad loves… to snowmobile. 😉 They also had a wish list about a mile long, which made me wonder if they’d ever find a place!

Mom wanted move in ready (or close), 4-5 bedrooms so the whole family can be there together, toward the southern end of Florida so it’s warm in the winter, and amenities such as a pool, clubhouse, restaurant, and workout facility. Dad wanted to be on the water and eventually have a boat slip.

They both fell in love with a little area near Tampa called Bradenton, so they had a realtor consistently looking for properties and notifying them when something interesting went on the market. This particular place is on an island near Bradenton. It was being listed on a Friday, but my parents’ realtor called them Thursday afternoon and told them they HAD to check it out. So some very sweet friends of my parents who live in Bradenton volunteered to go look at it for them, even turning around an hour into their road trip out of town to go check the place out.

With three bedrooms, three baths, a den AND a sun room, the condo is practically five bedrooms, which is amazing for our family! I know this isn’t MY Florida beach house, but it is almost as exciting.

The Florida beach house is two years old and has never been used, so it’s virtually brand new. Some of the amenities include four pools, a couple of private beaches, a future marina and various restaurants, yoga on the lawn, a fitness center, and a private clubhouse. Both Mom and Dad are happy with this one!

My parents bought the unit sight unseen, but they went down for two weeks recently, and my mom is ecstatic. She feels like their unit has the best location in the entire complex. They have a nice side yard for the kids to run around in, great ocean views, and two pools within a block’s walk.

Some of the finishes aren’t what my parents would have chosen, but they are minor cosmetic things that can easily be fixed, such as paint color and the strip of brown mosaic tiles in the kitchen back splash. The plan is to live with those things for now while they furnish the condo, but luckily they know a gal who is pretty handy with DIY. 😉 I’m sure I’ll have some fun projects to post about in the next couple of years!

Even though I offer e-design services and am very comfortable designing places I’ve never seen before, it’s an entirely different challenge to furnish a place the homeowner has never seen! Relying solely on floor plan measurements (that may or may not be accurate) and great friends who pop over to measure spaces when possible has created some interesting situations, such as a daybed that turned out to be WAY too large for the sunroom.

And even though I’ve been able to help a bit with some of the design choices, technically my parents aren’t my clients, and my mom has a great eye for design and enjoys purchasing things herself. So I get to give my input, but definitely don’t have creative control. 😉 My style is more modern and eclectic, and we definitely approach things differently (the first thing I would do is get the walls painted), but every home my mom has decorated has turned out beautifully, and I know the Florida beach house will be no exception.

These pictures are from the MLS (thus the arrows on the edges – I was having technical difficulties with my iMac, per usual, and wasn’t able to edit them), but I’m excited to get down to the Florida beach house in a couple of weeks and take some of my own pictures. My parents purchased quite a bit of furniture while they were in Florida recently, so I’ll have some fun progress updates when we get back too.

The high level mood board we put together for the Florida beach house main living space has lighter walls (but not white, because my parents want some contrast with the moldings), a mix of natural driftwood pieces and white furniture, and a neutral sofa. Pops of aqua will be found in accessories throughout the entire condo, and the kids’ room will have some other more vibrant colors mixed in for a youthful feel.

Stay tuned as I update you on furniture purchases, decorating decisions, and DIY projects on the Florida beach house! Remember to follow me on social media for extra updates.

Just had to leave you with one last image of the clubhouse at sunset!