After nine months of steady, incremental progress on our beach house, the pace has suddenly picked up and everything feels like it’s moving at breakneck speed. This update is a collection of recent wins and small victories—think of it like a well-curated smorgasbord of renovation progress. The foyer photo above captures the lively chaos: organized, purposeful, and undeniably promising.
Those earlier images aren’t glamorous compared with the initial state of the house, but they do highlight how far we’ve come. Beneath the surface there’s a repaired, stable foundation, a new watertight roof, replaced siding, updated plumbing and electrical systems, a brand-new HVAC system we’re eager to turn on, and fresh drywall without mold or cracks. Small things like that add up to a huge difference.
One of the most transformative updates has been the installation of trim and doors. While the contractor was fitting trim during our tiling sessions, the change in the house’s overall feel was immediate—spaces read as finished instead of merely under construction.
We salvaged as much of the original trim as possible, but a significant portion was too degraded to reuse. To make the most of what remained, we prioritized the foyer, the downstairs doorways, and the stained glass windows by the stairs with reclaimed trim. The rest of the house received a simple, chunky trim that complements other restored homes in the neighborhood—timeless and robust.
People asked why the reclaimed trim wasn’t primed and painted before installation. The contractor preferred to hang first and paint later: reclaimed pieces vary in fit and suitability, and it’s more efficient to caulk and paint only the pieces that remain on the walls. That approach also left us pleasantly surprised by the subtle remaining paint tones—soft gray on the front stairs and a pale blue-gray around a doorway—that made us reconsider painting everything bright white. We’re now exploring whether to color-match those muted tones in select spots to preserve character.
We also rehung all of the original doors. Although salvaging original doors saved on new door purchases, it ended up costing more because each door needed a new jamb built. Still, the character and history they bring to the rooms is worth the extra effort. Our favorite is the chippy blue door between the mudroom and kitchen/dining area. It will usually stay open and will get a light clean and clear coat to preserve the worn look without constant paint flaking.
The upstairs doors are the original wood doors from that level. In the front bedroom we uncovered a beautiful brick chimney that we’ve left exposed in both the bedroom and the living room below. The doors, however, are darker and more scratched than we remembered—not in an intentionally weathered way but more like years of wear. Since these doors sit in a fairly windowless hallway, we’re debating refinishing, clear sealing, or painting them a softer tone similar to the stair trim to avoid a gloomy feel. We’ll let the rest of the house settle before deciding.
On our end, we’ve been hard at work tiling. Over two intense days we spent 19 hours installing tile across four floors—three bathrooms and a mudroom—and returned last week to tile three shower pans. There are still three shower walls and grouting to complete, but cutting that cost by doing the tiling ourselves has been meaningful: we estimate saving over $12,000.
The mudroom floor flows into the downstairs full bath. For floors we chose a durable 12 x 24″ porcelain tile with a slate look, and for the shower pans we used a basketweave pattern. The shower walls will receive an extra-long white subway-style tile. We kept choices classic to suit the house’s age but added subtle personality—like patterned blue accent tiles in the master bathroom.
The upstairs hall bath uses a warm gray 12 x 24″ porcelain tile with a concrete-like feel; paired with a matching grout it won’t show high-contrast seams. We kept the shower pan simple with white hex tile and plan to install a blue patterned tile accent on the shower wall to create a focal point.
For large-format tile installation we used a recommended membrane system and tried the LASH leveling system to avoid lippage (uneven tile edges). The LASH clips and wedges keep adjacent tiles perfectly level, and once set you snap the clips off below the tile—efficient and effective. Investing in the special pliers for tightening the wedges is worth it for speed and reduced thumb strain.
The most involved tiling job was the master bathroom floor where we used retro black-and-white hex sheets but replaced the black flower motif with a custom blue tile. We prepped sheets on a makeshift table, dry-fit the layout to ensure we liked the staggered pattern, and carefully aligned the floor pattern into the shower pan so the transition looks intentional and continuous.
On a separate cleanup mission, Sherry gave the original clawfoot tub a preliminary scrub. With just water and a sponge many surface stains and mineral deposits lifted, revealing the white cast iron beneath. We’re hopeful that with more elbow grease the tub can be restored without reglazing, preserving original material where possible. The tub’s exterior can be primed and painted to match the finished bathroom palette.
Practical systems are also falling into place: the HVAC technician installed the outdoor A/C units, so cooling the house is just days away. Equally exciting, the town installed the long-awaited water meter; now our plumber is connecting the line. The water connection issue was a lengthy saga involving old, misplaced infrastructure, metal-detecting, and excavators, but the city ultimately repaired an existing line and placed the meter at the curb like the rest of the street.
All of this feels like the good kind of renovation mess: progress layered on top of progress, with character retained and modern systems restored. We’re excited for the next steps—shower walls, grout, and finishing touches—and to continue sharing the process.
Catch up on recent beach house updates we’ve shared:
- Drywall is up, and it’s glorious!
- Finding a vintage pink stove
- Stuff Sherry bought (way too early)
- The outside’s almost done & the inside’s getting good
- That time our beach house photobombed HGTV
- Walls up, walls down, and a new floor plan
- How we picked the exterior color
- Gathering beach house style inspiration
- Beach house “before” video & floor planning
- Holy seashells, we bought a beach house!
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