A Beach Shack Straight from the 70's

I've downloaded the photos from the real estate site so I can show you through our new beach shack. I warn you, you need to have a bit of imagination and ignore the sellers gross furniture. This place has great bones and once I'm done with it, will look a million dollars!

In saying that, I want to retain the "shack" about it and not turn it into a glitter and mirror ball affair. I plan on stripping it right back to floorboards and polished/painted concrete with big sisal mats and white walls.

The house is a bit of a mis mash of areas built over several decades. The front part is 80's, the lower part was built as a store room in 1951 and then converted to a small shack in the 70's. Surprisingly it still works quite well despite all the "tacked on extensions" and feels quite open plan.

We also have a slight view of the sea. We are only 300 metres from the beach but the houses in front of us block most of the view. To maximise the small view, we plan on extending the front deck slightly.

This is the 80's extension. It's higher than the rest of the house.  Lounge and behind it, a main bedroom.

Love the carpet! *puke*

From the lounge, you can look down into the kitchen area. I really want to buy some old crayfish pots and make them into light shades to replace those old boring brown lights. 

The kitchen is small but tidy. Apart from replacing the tiles and modernising the cupboards with new handles, I plan on keeping the kitchen as is (for the time being any way!) The fire is in the wrong spot for the house so after winter I plan on relocating it and turning that spot into a breakfast area.

I'm going to sacrifice one of the four bedrooms and make it into Ewan's play room. I still might put some bunks in a corner or a sofa bed for those odd occasions when we might have a lot of visitors. I want him to feel like he has lots of room to spread out when we go to the shack given that our "city house" is quite small.

At least the walls are already white. Get rid of the furniture and this will actually be a nice looking room.

I plan on doing a few changes in the bathroom. A new vanity and replace the shower with a shower over bath. That might not happen straight away though, that's a "down the track" plan.

I'd like to put a deck all along this wall and around the front of the house. I also plan on re painting the exterior a cool grey colour.

Lovely native trees and plants are all over the block which gives the place personality.

So there you go. I have been sitting on my bum a lot this week, pouring over old magazines for ideas on what to do with the place (on a minimal budget). I'm seriously excited and can't wait to spend all my spare time there, living the quiet life, walking on the beach and seeing the joy in Ewan's eyes as he grows up discovering the coast. I have the best memories of staying at my family friend's shack every holidays, I hope Ewan will have that too.

For a look at the beach at Weymouth, go here or if a shack in the country is more your style, check out our old shack.