Our Florida house renovation is progressing well, and while we haven’t visited in person yet, our contractor has been sending plenty of photos from the last two months. Please excuse a few blurry shots or slightly different angles compared with our original “before” images—we’re grateful for every picture. We don’t have an exact moving date locked in, but we’re hopeful it will be soon. Once we’re there in person, we’ll share many more photos and videos.
Below we’ve summarized major progress in five key areas that you might remember from the original before tour. If you haven’t seen those initial photos or the video tour, they’ll add helpful context to the changes described here. Most of the early renovation work focused on making the house livable—restoring HVAC function, repairing plumbing so fixtures work, replacing damaged drywall, and patching floors. With the house opened up we also made practical, cost-efficient improvements that make sense while everything’s torn apart, like adding recessed lighting in the kitchen and vaulting the kids’ bedroom ceilings.
This isn’t a finished home yet; it’s a functional one that we can live in while we figure out longer-term design choices. With that, here’s what’s changed room by room.
The Kitchen
Since the early February photos, the kitchen has changed a lot. For this first phase we kept the existing layout, appliances, and lower cabinets so the house can be usable right away and we can decide later if a more extensive remodel is needed. That meant focusing on strategic removals and systems work rather than a full gut job.
Key changes included removing the soffit, upper cabinets, and the peninsula. Those elements made sense to remove while rerouting HVAC, replacing drywall, and repairing the floor. It turned out the flooring didn’t extend under the peninsula either, so taking it out was the right call.
Here’s how we tackled the kitchen’s biggest issues:
- Removing the soffit: HVAC ducts that ran through that bulky bulkhead were rerouted into the walls while the system and drywall were being redone.
- Improving lighting: We added six recessed can lights to brighten the space and cleared exterior brush that had blocked natural light.
- Smoothing ceilings: Since all downstairs drywall had to be replaced, we took the opportunity to replace popcorn ceilings with smooth finishes.
Removing the upper cabinets revealed a lavender-mauve paint that matched the old laminate countertops—a funny little time capsule of the kitchen’s past. After installing the new recessed lights and fresh drywall the room is already much brighter, even in contractor photos and video calls.
For phase one we’ll finish the kitchen ourselves by painting the cabinets, adding shelving, and addressing the countertops. This will make the space functional and fresh without committing to a full renovation yet.
Our Bedroom
We’re converting part of the old formal living room into our bedroom, which gives a natural spot for an ensuite and keeps us on the same floor as the kids. To create a proper bedroom wall and space for a bed and nightstands, we closed off a 5-foot opening between rooms.
The new wall also leaves room for a small seating area in front of the kitchen zone. Without furniture it’s tough to judge scale from photos, but the layout gives more flexibility than before and should feel comfortable once furnishings are in place.
From within the bedroom, the closed opening provides space for the bed wall and the double doors on one side will become the ensuite access. We also removed an odd angled post with a mirror that had served as an outfit-check spot—goodbye awkward feature, hello cleaner wall.
The floors have been sanded and are well underway, and the room is already feeling more finished even before paint and trim are installed.
The Laundry Area
The original laundry hookups were in the room that will become our son’s bedroom, so we needed a new location. We favored a side-by-side washer and dryer with counter space above, so we identified a deep closet at the bottom of the stairs that had a weird pass-through to our daughter’s bedroom. That pass-through made no sense for a closet and needed to be closed.
We widened the closet doorway, added laundry hookups, and built framing along the back wall to block the pass-through and give our daughter a separate closet solution. The space comfortably fits side-by-side machines with room to spare, so it should function like a small laundry nook with storage above.
With drywall up and the new doors installed, the laundry nook looks tidy and purposeful. We added extra insulation in the back wall to help reduce noise into the daughter’s room, and plan to install upper cabinets or shelving for storage. While it’s smaller than our current laundry room, this is a practical trade-off in a smaller house and fits the downsizing plan.
The Bathroom
When we bought the house the single bathroom was non-functional due to multiple plumbing leaks and a failed septic system. Since then we connected the house to sewer and addressed leaking issues, which led to a larger scope than we originally expected. What we thought might be a vanity swap turned into replacing floors, removing a tub and shower surround, and fixing a failed toilet valve that flooded the room.
We selected a colorful porcelain tile floor for the bathroom to add personality—especially since this will serve as the kids’ primary bath until we can add a second bathroom later. The vanity is a warm wood 31″ unit that will be paired with white subway tile around the shower to balance the bold floor. At the moment the walls show green moisture-resistant drywall, but the finished walls will be white and simple so nothing competes with the floor pattern.
We installed a new drop-in tub and will finish with straightforward white finishes—mirror, art, towel hooks—so this is one room that should be completely redone before we move in.
The Kids Bedrooms
One of our favorite changes was vaulting the ceilings in both kids’ bedrooms. From the exterior it was clear the roof sloped high over these rooms with no second floor above, so we explored the possibility. Our contractor cut small inspection openings in each ceiling and confirmed the drop ceiling was non-structural and that the attic space was mostly empty.
With ducts moved into the walls and new insulation installed under the roof, we chose wood planking for the newly sloped ceilings rather than plain drywall. The result is a completely different feeling—the rooms feel larger, airier, and more special. We’ll paint the vaulted surfaces white and add beams to keep the spaces bright; the floors will be natural pine and we’ll introduce warm wood tones through furniture and accents.
Seeing this idea go from a brainstorming session to reality has been incredibly rewarding. We can’t wait for the kids to see their vaulted rooms in person.
BONUS: The Upper Deck
Finally, a quick exterior sneak peek: the large upper deck off the upstairs family room has been significantly updated. We replaced the rotten railing with a horizontal-style railing that suits the house’s modern beachy lines and swapped the decking for Trex in a warmer Havanna Gold tone. The old pergola was removed for safety and decking replacement, and the chimney was taken out because it was causing leaks below. We plan to revisit shading options for the deck later, possibly adding a pergola or hanging chairs.
While repairing siding rot uncovered during the inspection, we also had the whole house painted white to refresh the exterior and better complement the metal roof and surrounding greenery. The white exterior cleans up the look and aligns with the light, airy interior we’re aiming for.
There’s much more to come once we can visit in person and photograph the finished details. We’re hopeful for a move-in very soon and are thrilled with how thoughtfully the renovation is unfolding—practical updates that make the house livable now, alongside a handful of transformative changes that will make it feel like home.