Original Beach Cottage

Welcome to the Beach Cottage!  Built in 1964, a 2600 Sq foot home within walking distance to the most gorgeous private beach in Naples, FL.

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The yard is what stole my heart with the wraparound brick driveway, the biggest banyan trees I’ve ever seen and the white picket fence.

IMG_2170 Charming is the word that describes the cottage, where french doors take you into the living room, family room, dining room, and master bedroom.  So many doors and windows allowing the sunlight to pour in all day!

Walk on up our little brick pathway to the old brick patio with the porch swing…

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IMG_2173 IMG_2177 IMG_2175Come on in and take a little tour…

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Kick off your flip flops and stay for a whileIMG_2021

As you walk in the door you see our living room to the left.

IMG_3151IMG_3183Original hardwood floors and white board walls were perfect as is.  Our cottage is filled with a mix of thrift store finds, antique treasures, and new furnishings.  Coastal cottage is the feeling I wanted for our getaway home.

IMG_1796 IMG_1800 IMG_1794IMG_1760 IMG_1758 IMG_1755The little white whicker rocking chair was bought for my youngest son who was 4 years old at the time.  The pillows I made for his nursery but had kept tucked away for a few years until I was able to bring them here and place them on his chair…perfect fit…and sweet memories of when he was a baby whenever I look at them.

Remember, the french doors I mentioned out of every room?  The living room has two sets! I can open the front french doors and look out onto our front yard, and open the back french doors and look onto the pool.

IMG_1766 IMG_1768 IMG_1764 IMG_1763The trunk is an antique that I found at an estate sale and is perfect for a little “coffee table.”

IMG_1747 IMG_1746I wouldn’t say I’m an antique hunter but I do love the aged look.

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Seashells collected over the years on our beach are scattered throughout the home in jars, on books and in baskets.  We never know what unique shell we’ll find when shelling around here.

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Our eating nook is a walkthrough path from the living room, as you pass the kitchen and enter into a large family room (more on that room in a future blog post!).  I found the table and chairs at a resale shop.  The table is distressed and chippy, perfect for a comfortable gathering for our house of five.

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The master bedroom has a set of french doors that open up to the pool and also a sitting “sun room.” We are planning on doing some renovations in here so I’ll be sharing more of that in the future along with the bathroom renovations.

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IMG_1895 IMG_1893 IMG_1890 IMG_1886 IMG_1885 IMG_1883 IMG_1876 IMG_1873 IMG_1872 IMG_1871 IMG_1869 IMG_1868 IMG_1867 IMG_1866 IMG_1864 IMG_1862The cottage has two more bedrooms.  One is shared by our oldest and youngest boys, and our middle son sleeps in the bedroom that becomes the guest bedroom when family and friends visit.

The beds and teak armoire were thrift store finds.

IMG_2212 IMG_2213 IMG_2211 IMG_2203 IMG_2210 IMG_2227 IMG_2226 IMG_2228 IMG_2225 IMG_2230 IMG_2229This little headboard with the sailboat is my favorite find for $5 and I painted it blue.  So much character for so little money!  All the bedding and accessories are from Homegoods.

IMG_2232 IMG_2221 IMG_2220 IMG_2209 IMG_2208 IMG_2218The best part of the cottage is the back yard.  We have complete privacy from surrounding neighbors with huge ficus hedges surrounding the home perimeter.  Sitting out by the pool is so peaceful and relaxing.

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This is our mango tree and we also have grapefruit and avocado trees!  Buckets of fruit get gathered by the boys and they like to sell it at their mini fruit stands on the street corner.

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UPDATE:  Our cute little cottage received a MEGA renovation! Come see what it looks like now HERE!!

You can also read the story (HERE) of why we bought this home in Florida, being 3,000 miles away from our home in Colorado.