Full Service Design & Style: Villas del Playa Condo #2

Villas del Playa is a well known bright yellow building in West End, just past Brisas de Mar on the beach. This particular condo had a beautiful bottom-level walk-out view of the ocean and sailboats, but an interior that was last updated in the 90s & featured dark cherrywood kitchen cabinets and furniture, an outdated corner tub and blue walls.

The new owners hired JWD to help bring the condo into modern-day design and create an inviting vacation home for their family of five and an Airbnb listing that shined online…. in, wait for it, ONE MONTH. Phew, it was a stressful whirlwind, but Jeanna got it done .  

The owners requested the following from JWD:

• use a color palette that has light grey
• incorporate a space to work remote
• create a guest bedroom that appeals to kids & adults
• include local art
• feature a live edge coffee table
• use rope lights in the master bedroom
• block light from the west-facing windows
• design a brand new kitchen and bathroom
• feature a unique & beautifully tiled master bath that feels "special"

Jeanna partnered with local contractor Alex Brooks to paint, install new tile, flooring & cabinets, and completely transform this beachfront condo using a color palette of light grey, warm tan and white. Read on to see the (really fun) before photos & our complete transformation photos taken by our friends TKPhotography.com. 

FIRST: UPDATING THE CONDO BONES

The condo had red cherrywood, dark grey paint, outdated tile floors and blue walls throughout. The first step in the transformation was to paint all of the walls white, update the shiplap half wall a light warm tan, paint cabinetry & shelving in a very light grey and all doors in white; and lay down warm grey luxury floor vinyl on top of the old tile.

BEFORE

AFTER

THE CONDO DESIGN REMODEL

kitchen

For the remodeled kitchen, Alex’s team repainted the cabinets light grey & replaced the countertop with a beautiful piece of white quartz with a grey & gold thread, while Jeanna chose brass pulls for the cabinets, a farmhouse sink, a custom seagrass blind for the kitchen window, and large bell glass kitchen pendants that give a coastal vibe to complete the remodel.

For kitchen styling, Jeanna included comfortable rattan counter stools and an oriental runner rug that incorporated the color palette of the condo. She styled the countertops with wood pieces for a nod to coastal island life, and chose white appliances to keep the kitchen light and bright. We are so proud of the final result:

BEFORE

AFTER

bathroom

The master bathroom is the room in this condo redesign that Jeanna is most proud of. She designed the tile work in the shower and all of the finishings, in what turned a very outdated master bath into a dreamy spa vacation bathroom that any guest would love.

For the shower, she scoured the island with at least 4-5 trips to tile stores to find tile that could be used *immediately* since the redesign was on a one-month timeline (not an easy feat since most tile is in low stock and shipped in from the mainland, so we highly do not recommend working in this timeline). What she decided on was vertical stacked white subway tile with a unique 1-inch grout line with contrasting hexagon tiles in grey marble for the shower niche and floor. 

The bathroom transformation was completed with brass bathroom hardware, updated brass vanity lights, a white vanity with quartz countertop that matched the kitchen and wood arch mirrors.

BEFORE

(This is the corner where the shower is now, how about this corner tub though!)

AFTER

THE CONDO DECORATING

upcycled & custom furniture

What was really cool about this space, is that the owners wanted to transform the condo while also utilizing furniture that came with the sale, reducing costs to redesign an entire vacation rental property. Furniture is by far the highest cost in any redesign (much higher than our design fees), so if you can get creative to save costs here and repurpose, we recommend it.

In the living room, Jeanna leveraged her island knowledge and contacts in Roatan to do the following:

• Use the old couch but made it new again by using a cream couch cover from Amazon (that can be washed after each guest or spill!)
• Upcycle a piece of driftwood off the beach to build a beachy coffee table by leveling the stump and having a piece of glass cut for the top
• Refinish and reupholster the dark wood rattan chairs into white & cream chairs that matched the new living room vibe
• Replace a dark brown outdoor console used in the living room with a custom console made in Honduran wood in a white-wash stain 

BEFORE

AFTER

nautical boat theme in the master bedroom

The condo owners sent Jeanna an inspiration pic that used rope sconces on the side of the bed, so she recreated this look and added local art & photographs of boats in Roatan for a subtle nautical bedroom that isn't tacky. The room was completed with a beautiful and inexpensive linen King bed frame ($350 off Amazon!!!), rattan dressers pushed together to make a long dresser wall, an accent chair we had refinished & reupholstered; and coordinating wood nightstands and custom desk for remote work.

Also, a really important piece to this room was blocking light from the beach-facing windows, so we used our favorite inexpensive linen blackout curtains to achieve this for the owners and guests.

BEFORE

AFTER

local art

The condo owners also requested that local art be used throughout the condo (a common request we get) and the best one-stop shop for local art is our partners in Coral Stone Plaza, Waves of Art. Jeanna visited and chose the nautical boat print used in the master bedroom, and some beautiful watercolors used throughout the condo. The owners also chose a local artist out of Utila who creates art from found plastic on the beach for a statement sailboat piece in the living room. 

neutral "kid friendly" guest room

A common request we see at JWD is to create a guest room with twin beds that can be used for kids. What we always try to do, however, is create a room that is neutral and can be kid friendly but used by adults as well. A great way to achieve this is to not only decorate in neutral decor that isn't overly juvenile, but to also put twin beds in the room and purchase an inexpensive King bed spacer on Amazon, so that the beds can be pushed together to create a King bed. 

This is the room we stretched into a little bit more "fun" with a bold patterned rug and pillows. 

BEFORE

AFTER

coastal touches throughout

This is a beautiful beachfront condo, so of course we wanted it to feel like the perfect seaside rental for owners and guests. The condo styling was finished with our favorite JWD coastal touches (that you can find in our store in Coral Stone Plaza!) such as rattan, seagrass baskets & trays, sea glass beads, a vintage brass fish figurine, faux palms (so they don't have to be watered by guests!) & coastal coffee table books.

reveal

The owners needed the condo done in one month because they had a trip planned in September, and we made the deadline! PHEW. They were able to sleep in their newly remodeled coastal beachfront condo, and loved the final result.

Here's what they had to say:

Jeanna did a complete makeover on our condo in West End, Roatan using new pieces and reusing some of our existing furniture in new and creative ways. She made the process very easy and handled all of the purchasing, shipping, and staging of everything. She worked with our contractor to make everything perfect while we were over 1,000 miles away. We have received a lot of compliments and can't thank her enough for the wonderful job she did. — Dean & Terry Olds

And that's a wrap on our Full Service Design & Style project for Villas del Playa #2! If you're interested in working with JWD, click the button in the banner below to get ahold of us.