Notice the New Blog Layout?

I've been experimenting with new ways of expressing my blog.  Hope you like it. 

 Now on to the renovation.  I'm actually playing catchup since the renovation has been ongoing for 3 months now, but it is much more interesting showing you the changes now instead of waiting on the permits as I've had to do in real time.  This is the first of the changes to the condo.

This was the way the original kitchen layout was.  It was completely closed off and had a separate service entrance (10 feet away from the main entrance--very posh for 1969).

The main thing we wanted to do was to open up the kitchen and have ocean views from all parts of the kitchen and main room.

This was the first step of opening up the kitchen. Notice the hallway and ceiling heights, they will be opened up later.

The main living room will not change very much, except to be trashed!

You can see the ocean, this is why we are so excited, the views are wonderful!

The bathrooms were hard to photograph since they are so small.  

Here's the guest bath before and with initial changes:

Before

After.

Unfortunately we cannot enlarge this shower due to codes, but we can try to make it look larger by opening up the left wall with a half glass wall.  Also, we'll be putting a mirror on the entire back wall to give the bathroom an open feeling.

Our plan has been to add a washer and dryer in the master bath area.  That change is fluid at the moment.  

The master bath has a dressing area with the sink area seen here on the left and a separate sink with the toilet and tub.

First step is to get rid of the cabinets and see how to move the walls to make room for the washer and dryer.  A big plus for us since there is one washer and dryer per floor.  

Make sure to check back for more changes!

Condo in Florida

My husband and I have many ties to Florida.  I was born in Miami, we lived in Boca Raton for 8 years, but there has been one place that has been in both our lives for most of our married lives, the family condo.  My husband has been coming to this condominium since it was built in 1969.  We've been visiting since we were married and spend many days there with family while we lived in Boca Raton.  We've always dreamed of how we would renovated my in-law's condo if we bought it.  We'll our dreams have come true.  We bought a smaller condo in the building a few years ago, but it was too small for our growing family (daughters getting married, not children!). Last year a larger unit that was in foreclosure became available, and after a month of negotiations we were able to purchase it.  

When you first enter the building, it may not seem that the investment was very sound, but you must first see the views:

They cannot be beat!  Ocean front. Period.  Steps from the pool and a few more to the ocean, and in Palm Beach.  The Palm Beach.  

In future posts I will offer more information about the area, but I first thought I'd show you how our new place looked in it's prime.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Let's just say that the tile, countertops and floors were original.  This is how the condo was shown when listed, but this is what we found when we purchased it. 

Bedroom 1

Master Bedroom

Let the fun begin!