We recently purchased a 30 year old condo in Florida on a beautiful canal. Furniture is included which is mostly 70's. All walls are off white, carpet is beige/cream marble, floor is vinyl tile-beige in kitchen and countertop is off white, and both baths have white tile and fixtures.

Living room has off white leather couch and chair and off white tables.
Adjoining dining set and hutch are brown.
Kitchen has nice white wrought iron, glass table and chairs.
Verticals in all rooms-no window treatments.

This year I would like to do valances on all windows, paint one wall in living/dining that is presently 70's paneling, and generally brighten up with accessories. This would be done mostly in the living areas first and the bed/baths a bit later.

I love cottage look, with plaids and checks, but want this to be a "Florida beach" home. I need a plan for living, dining, and kitchen areas and I am confused at this point.

At my home in KY, I have mostly reds and yellows, with a bit of sage green in the living areas.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

marihel

Do you have pictures?

I do, but I cannot post them at this time. I need to have them scanned first. I will try to do this by the weekend. Thanks for your reply.

I think you can still do checks in lighter tones if you want it to be beachy. I love rooms that are done up in all shades of whites and creams together, I think it looks so nice.

Welcome to the forum!

It sounds as if you have a lot of white, off-white, and cream already so here are some ideas based on that:

-paint DR set white
-choose a print for valances, cushions, chair seats - could go with a pastel or brighter colors whatever you prefer.
-I would paint that one wall in the LR the same off-white as other walls as I do not like accent walls, but that's a personal opinion.

If you don't want to paint the DR set you could use a print with darker colors and have stronger contrast between the white tones and the accessories. I'd love to see a brown/black/taupe tropical print with all the whites.

Here's the link to Mary Ruth's blog - you will see pics of tropical style which is lovely and great inspiration. Have a look around there, she has more than one blog and lots of pics of her lovely home.

When you come to decorating the bedrooms and bathrooms you could go with other colors, perhaps choose them from the print you use for the valances if you go with the pastel/colors.

Where is your condo located? We just recently purchased one in New Port Richey. It was unfurnished and I had a great time furnishing it. The only new furniture I purcahased new was two queen mattress and box. The rest was from the many thrift stores and Craigs List. I did it all for about $2000. Including the beds. We are retiring in a few years but decided to take advantage of the strong Canadian dollar and bought last October.We will winter there and plan to down size to a smaller home here in Canada for the spring and summer.

check the rms cottages. lots of inspiration there.

Hmmmm, I would actually have to come down there and STAY in the condo to get a feel for what should be done...but I do have an easily re-arranged schedule! LOL

Seriously I think you are doing the right thing to take it slowly & in stages...

Your plan also sounds great. I had to check the map to see where New Port
Richey was and see it too is on the west coast above Clearwater. We are going
to be in Cape Coral, which is just north of Ft. Myers. We were widowed and
remarried six years ago. The first year we went to Ft. Myer and hated the
traffic. We found Englewood, which is just south of Venice and we absolutely
loved it. Stayed right on the beach at a wonderful spot and made many friends.

However the cost kept going up and finally the price of housing came down. We
have friends where we purchased the condo and decided that financially it was
the best move for us. I am looking forward to making new friends this winter at
our new location and I think Cape Coral is a nice town whenever we visit it.

Several couples who stayed at Weston's in Enbgewood were from Ontario. With the
money value right now, you were very wise to buy.

I am actually happy with the furniture in this place, it just is too blah, no
color. I will be doing window treatments, pictures, pillows, and anything else
to brighten it up for this year, and next year get more involved. We will go
down in Oct for one month,and again in Jan for the rest of the winter. October
will be a "work" time fixing it up to look more like our home. I am excited.
Good to chat with you. Good luck. Marihel



---- HGTV Message Boards <webmaster@hgtv.com> wrote:

Welcome to the boards neighbor, yes take your time and enjoy the process, we would love to see pics when you get a chance. I also think you can do a beachy/cottagy look.

I seem to not be able to add pics to this reply. I click "add attachment", select a pic, and my only option is to "open", not "attach". Any help would be appreciated. marihel

I like the whites, cremes, etc that you already have and I would add some touches of blue/green.
Cool feeling. But, whatever you decide, take it from someone who lived in Florida for 10 yrs. There doesn't seem to be much now in the way of fabrics in the condo. You will be adding lots, I'm sure. Remember, when you shut the home up for the off season to be sure and leave the air condition on. I can't tell you how many times I have heard of problems with mildew on fabric, etc from people who have opened the door to begin the season and found a mess.
Liz