Pacific NW Lemolo Beach Remodel - Part 1

My friends, Cathy and Brian, bought their Poulsbo family home in 1985, and after many years of fun beach and waterfront living for their entire family, they decided to take the remodeling plunge. Now that the kids are launched, and off on their own big adventures, they felt like it was time to give their beach view home a modern, coastal face-lift that fit their passions of Pacific Northwest living!

The remodel turned out fabulous! Every room is oriented to the views over Liberty Bay and the Olympic Mountains, and their newly revealed home totally reflects Brian and Cathy's adventure filled lives on the water.

 Lucky me, I get to share the pics with you!

This is part 1 - Downstairs:

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Q. What was the inspiration for your remodel? 

A. Inspiration- beach house of course!  But specifically, Pacific Northwest beach house, with a few tropical beach shells from our vacations past!  Always love looking at coastal home magazines and books, but a majority show very tropical homes.  The Pacific Northwest isn't anywhere close to tropical.  The beaches here are more rugged...less fancy...kind of like our lifestyle out here😊!!!  

Decorating in a beach style keeps us hopeful and sane during the long winter months as well. (totally agree with that statement! - C)

Kitchen:

Way cool Pendant Lighting! While they were out of town one weekend, Cathy and Brian's son and soon-to-be daughter in law, surprised them by turning her idea of stacking driftwood pieces onto her kitchen lighting into reality!

Q.  Awesome driftwood wall - how did you do that? 

A. Driftwood walls - LOVE!!!!  Very warm feeling. Brian and I were aiming for a very neutral color palette on our walls. The driftwood walls just added a great texture, as well as giving us a great neutral backdrop. The driftwood also makes colors pop - whether with our turquoise beach sign or black and white canvas photos! 

Our builder introduced us to a great eco-friendly product that we picked up at Home Depot for just a few dollars.  It's used in Canada to protect all the picnic tables in their parks.  This product comes in a powder. It's mixed with a gallon of water. Then painted onto cedar fencing.  Within minutes, the color of the wood changes from red to a beachy driftwood color. Our builder then lightly added a white wash over it. An entire wall costing roughly $100.00👍. 

Q. Is your kitchen counter cement? Or just made to look like cement? Love that look – so perfect for the Pacific Northwest!

A. Our Kitchen counter is inspired by the cement look, but we veered - we were told cement can easily crack! We need to look back at our receipts, but our counter tops are either Silestone or Caesar Stone (not sure if there's even a difference)?  We were advised to go with a polished surface; much easier to clean than with a rough surface.  Not sure if you noticed, but we went with an irregular shaped island, kinda shaped like an island. We thought that irregular shape matched the flooring in our attached family room, which was is also shaped to match the beach tideline.

Dining Room: 

Love the natural rattan textures and "driftwood" neutral colors - blends perfectly with the driftwood wall in the kitchen. Personally, I think a round table encourages fun parties, long conversations and lingering after dinner with friends... Perfect space for watching sunsets and storms, while enjoying a Pacific Northwest seafood feast! (hint, hint, hint... we will bring the salmon!)

 Check out Cathy's rope-wrapped chandelier - love the glass shades, almost like a vintage electrical insulator covers (more about that later!) 

Living Room:

Q. Anything special in your bowl of shells that you want to mention? Japanese fishing floats?

A.  Bowl of shells - the Japanese glass floats are a coveted treasure.  A friend of mine is an Alaskan fisherman and actually found them in the water while fishing!  The shells ALWAYS come home in my suitcase when we escape for tropical vacations. 

Q.  What inspired the cool beach rock look on your floor? Did you gather the rocks and do the application? Or did it come in a kit? 

A. The tile floors (heated...very wonderful, especially on winter mornings) butt up to rocks made to look like the edge of a beach.  The carpeting was chosen to match our Golden Retriever;.the carpet samples were placed across his back. The rocks were purchased right along with the tile. It was then cut in an irregular shape...just like a beach! 

Q. Love the large whale!   Did you make that, or discover it in some cool store?

A. The Whale was purchased at my favorite vintage/up-cycled shop in downtown Poulsbo, WA.  "Red Plantation".

Q. Tell me about your awesome driftwood wreath!

A. Driftwood wreath -  My good friend, Kathy and I formed a small business combining our love for beach combing & craftiness.  Every wreath is unique and just fun to look at!  Both of us have garages spilling over with beach finds. Some of our wreaths have shells, beach glass, etc.. on them, and some are just driftwood.  Very natural, but elegant and such a perfect reflection of our Pacific Northwest beach lifestyle!

Downstairs Shell Bathroom:

Cathy created the mirror from her stash of gathered tropical shells from vacations to Mexico, and beyond.  Love how she used white rope to rim the inside of the mirror, as it gives it a complete finished look and ties together her rope light sconces beautifully!  Make sure to check out the beach rocks that make up her back splash.....

Q. How did you come up with the fun idea for the oars and the toilet paper roll?  So adorable!

A. The oars in my bathroom were found at a rummage sale on Bainbridge Island.  Loved the old, warped look. I knew I wanted them used as a decoration in our guest bathroom, but wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them. I had them leaned against the wall in bathroom one day. When I came home from work, our builder had come up with the idea of using the oar locks to hold toilet paper. We loved this!

(note - there is a copper tube joining the oar locks to form the "roll" apparatus)

Family Room:

Dreamy white built-in bookshelves are filled with Brian and Cathy's gathered treasures from vacations and local artists. Keeping with a nautical theme, they've added simple red, white and blue pillows to the couch and a wonderfully thick textured sea grass rug (almost like rope!)  plus side tables that mirror the look of the concrete counter top in the kitchen.

Don't even get me started on their gorgeous rock fireplace! I think think it would be so easy to simply sink into her cushy couch in front of the fire and enjoy the view!  Such an inviting room - beach house casual, but still very elegant and ready for company to stop by.....

 Cathy is a collector of Lisa Sterritt's art - just like me!  (see the story here)

Q. Remind me of the story behind your favorite found “brick” on your bookshelf (I don’t want to quote you wrong!)

A. SNOWBALL brick - one year, a business venture had our cash flow extra tight. We were hemming and hawing about purchasing upcoming years ski seasons passes at Crystal Mountain.  I went for a walk on beach to think about thru our dilemma.  As I was walking along our beach, (Liberty Bay - Poulsbo) I came across this washed up brick covered in barnacles, with the word SNOWBALL on it -  

Needless to say, we felt it was a sign and we bought our seasons passes. It's one of my favorite beach finds! 

Did I mention how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends? Brian and Cathy's home is absolutely perfect for them, and is incredibly warm and welcoming!

Next week - The Bedrooms!