Beach House Project: Floor Plan and Renovation Plans

Thank you for all the enthusiastic comments on social media about our beach house fixer-upper. If you’re just joining us, we recently bought a beach house that needs a lot of love. This post outlines the current floor plan, what we’re planning to change, and the reasoning behind those decisions. Keep in mind this is the plan so far — we expect to tweak it as we learn more during renovation and once we get contractor estimates.

Video Tour

We recorded a quick video tour on our first visit after closing, so you’ll see the house as it arrived with all the leftover items that “conveyed” with the property. It’s rough around the edges, but that only made us more excited — and we made a few fun discoveries while sorting through things. If you can’t see the video in your reader, view the original post to watch the full walk-through.

Quick note: You might hear a slight change in Sherry’s voice in the video — she’s wearing Invisalign at the moment, which affects her speech a bit. We’ve talked about it on our podcast if you want more detail.

Current Condition and Existing Floor Plan

The house is about 1,800 square feet and currently has two official bedrooms. We marked a third room on the plan because it’s essentially a bedroom that’s just missing a closet. Several enclosed porch areas are labeled as “bonus rooms” on our drawing, but they have openings to the outside and are not true heated or insulated spaces at the moment, so they aren’t counted as finished square footage. The home currently lacks workable plumbing, heating and cooling, and fully functional wiring — so it’s truly a fixer-upper.

The existing layout is a solid starting point but could use a larger, more functional kitchen and more dedicated sleeping space so two families could stay comfortably. We want a layout that supports both family time and some privacy for guests, especially if kids are sharing bunks and sleeping bags like they do at other family beach houses.

Initial Renovation Idea

Before we made our offer, we toured a nearly identical renovated house next door. That walk-through inspired our first draft for rearranging the floor plan. Key ideas included creating a mudroom in the enclosed side porch, opening up the kitchen and dining area, shifting a long wall upstairs to add a bedroom, and converting a front storage room into an ensuite for the main bedroom.

1. Mudroom: Convert the enclosed side porch into a spot to store sandy beach gear, with hooks, baskets, and a small utility closet for a stacked laundry unit and water heater behind bifold doors.
2. Open Floor Plan: Remove the remaining wall between the kitchen and dining room (it’s already partially gone and not load-bearing) to create a more open, social space.
3. New Upstairs Wall: Shift a long wall upstairs a few feet to finish the bonus room into an additional bedroom.
4. Main Suite Conversion: Convert the front storage room to an ensuite bathroom and resize the closet for a better main bedroom layout.

Concerns with the Initial Plan

Over time we found a few problems with that first plan. The back of the house has limited wall space for kitchen cabinets because of the back door, a back staircase we want to keep, a low window, and a bathroom door. Moving a bathroom to the front upstairs would have been significantly more expensive because there’s no existing plumbing there; a plumber estimated several thousand dollars extra to run new lines. Finally, the initial plan risked creating a pass-through bedroom situation upstairs where people would need to walk through one bedroom to reach another or a bathroom — not ideal for privacy.

The Breakthrough: Neighbor’s Hallway

A visit to another near-identical house changed everything: it had an upstairs hallway in the same area we were considering, and it felt bright and comfortable rather than dark and cramped. That inspired the revised plan we’re now developing.

Upstairs Changes

1. Hallway: Adding a wall through the old Bedroom 2 creates a comfortable hallway without sacrificing too much bedroom space.
2. Hall Bath & Bunk Room: Split the upstairs bonus room into a small hall bathroom located adjacent to the existing plumbing and a compact bunk room that can fit two built-in twin beds — a fun space for kids to share.
3. Closet Changes: To get a flat wall for the main bed, Bedroom 2’s closet will be removed. We plan to add a wall of closets along the length of Bedroom 2 (likely modular systems) to make up for space lost elsewhere. The main bedroom’s closet solution is still undecided and may involve a wardrobe or built-in option.
4. Small Front Room: The small room at the front of the house might serve as storage, but we could also transform it into a cozy reading nook or other flexible space depending on our needs.

Downstairs Changes

1. Kitchen / Dining Swap: The kitchen moves to the middle of the house where there is a long wall for cabinetry and room for a large island. The dining area shifts to the back, creating a cozy breakfast room with potential space for games and a bookcase.
2. Kitchen Design: While we haven’t finalized cabinet layouts, placing the sink in the island will let the person preparing food look out toward the side windows instead of facing a wall.
3. Utility Closet: The mudroom will house a stacked washer and dryer and a water heater behind bifold doors to keep utilities out of sight.
4. HVAC Placement: A contractor suggested installing the first-floor HVAC unit under the stairs where there is currently storage, which would keep systems hidden and preserve mudroom space.

Next Steps

Right now we’re getting bids and estimates for structural work, foundation repairs, a new roof, plumbing, and HVAC. Those big-ticket items will shape our final budget and timeline. We’re hopeful the costs will be manageable and will keep refining the plan as we gather accurate contractor quotes.

Thanks for following along — we’ll share updates as demolition begins and more choices are finalized. We’re excited to turn this house into a comfortable, family-friendly retreat that works for extended stays and lots of sandy feet.

P.S. With the holidays approaching, we’ve put together gift guides and a selection of home décor favorites in previous posts if you’re looking for ideas or inspiration.