Ocean Cottage Makeover Part 1: Out With The Old

In May of 2020, my husband and I purchased an older cottage in the lovely town of York, ME — on a whim. We had always known we wanted to own a property near the ocean at some point. One Sunday morning, my husband saw a listing online that intrigued him, and suggested we look at it. By 4:00 pm that day, we owned the house! The cottage was just under 1000 square feet, so we felt it was a project we could tackle together without too much trouble. 

About the Home

The exterior of the home was covered with light blue siding and coral shutters and accented with overgrown shrubbery and a yard in desperate need of some TLC. The interior walls of the house consisted of all dark paneling, except for the kitchen, which featured brick paneling. The kitchen and bathrooms had linoleum flooring, while the living room and bedroom floors were covered with wall-to-wall carpeting that had been there since the 1970s!

Renovations Begin

In the summer of 2020, we began the renovations; the first thing we did was empty the house of the furniture, curtains, and carpeting, and then the work on the interior began. We started by painting the paneling in the two guest bedrooms, for which we chose the color BM Dove White, and then added beds to make the house usable for our first summer as owners.

Before & After Bedrooms

A Few Kitchen Updates

Because we’re still not sure what we’ll do with the cottage in the future (add on, flip or tear down), we painted the existing kitchen cabinets — which were a very dark brown — with Chicago Gray chalk paint by Annie Sloan, and whitewashed the existing paneling with Annie Sloan Pure White chalk paint. Then, we added a store-bought window valance, a new light fixture, and a new fridge and called it a day... for now!

Before & After Kitchen

Stay Tuned

…for Part 2 of “Ocean Cottage Makeover,” where I’ll talk about exterior updates and more! Do you have a space or home you want to refresh? Connect with me for help with your DIY makeover project!