apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Anything to make it look light & airy is best.

I love bold colors for my own home, but for a rental, I think you need to throw the widest net. I'd say a warm white, and actually Benjamin Moore has a white called 'Atrium White' that I think is good.

That lovely white beach outside your window? Take a baggie of sand and match it to your paint chips. That's your local white that looks natural in the local light.

If it's at the top of a five- or six-color paint chip strip, odds are good that you could also use any darker neutral or light color on the same strip.

I think you need to solve the green carpet situation first. Carpet seems like a bad idea for renters at the beach. What are you doing with that? What are your choices?

That view does look great!

If you haven't had trouble getting renters to come in and look at the place, I'd prime the walls and then tell them you'll paint any color they want.

this location is all about the outdoors, so i would choose colors that match the sand and sea outdoors, so the rug and wall colors must go. i would ceramic tile the floor and ditch the iron canopy bed, too close to the ceiling fan. good luck.

Cool, PALE and neutral.

If you are typically renting to snowbirds, throw a *little* color at them, but think more sherbet/Italina Ice and less Miami Vice.

Also take your cues from the building itself... the outside and common areas. By "borrowing" colors from those areas (assuming "not hideous") you can make the unit seem even more spacious.

And get a Home Depot neutral lightish but color-flecked Berber throughout, or a wool sisal.

I like the carpet in the bedroom. It looks to be about the same color as the water. Tile at the beach makes every little grain of sand painful if you're barefoot inside. Plus, doing short-term rentals, you can't ever get all the sand up from the tile so the apartment seems dirty. I would go with a sisal-colored carpet when it came time to change it, though.

Painting the walls the color of the sand is a great idea!

The people who will be renting it short-term don't want it to like just like their home. They want it to look like the beach.

Putting shells in a basket, etc, is not corny in this situation, you can be literal.

Get rid of the teensy "art" and get something large and beachy for each room.

Get rid of the window coverings that obscure the view, assuming that there is a view. Get rid of all the draped fabric, the skirts, the tablecloths, the ruffles, the pleats.

Also, make sure that it looks clean, literally and figuratively, in the photos.

Good luck!

Having rented in Destin, I can say that you will never please all renters! My mom loved the condo we stayed in, and I thought it was totally tacky.

Given that your renters will be more like my mom....paint it very netural colors and do lots of your typical "beach" accents. Light blues, greens, sea shells, star fish, sea glass - that kind of thing.

in agreement with most of the above: whites, neutrals for paint.

you really need to pull up that green carpet. lay down some bamboo flooring, or anything hard and warm to the touch. also, those window treatments need to be buried with the rest of 1987. that bed would be nice elsewhere, but i think the black iron and the square canopy is too heavy and austere for a beachhouse.

if it were up to me, i'd steer away from the western hemisphere beach influences, and take cue from international tropical destinations as reference. mediterranean, southeast asia. nothing over the top, but a few accent pieces here or there (light fixtures, maybe one wall of vintage wallpaper). keep everything else crisp and modern, and make that view the focal point and center of attention.

I'd never have that carpet in my house, but I think it works fine in a beach rental color-wise. Just pull it (or a lighter shade of it) into some accents like silky pillows. Target has nice ones that would work and they're cheap.

I love the idea of matching the sand and using other tones on the same color card. Paint the wall behind the bed one of the middle colors on the card. Ditch the bedding and go for all whites. If everything is very airy, the bed's visual heaviness is a lot less of a problem and makes it a good focal point. I'd pull inspiration from traditionally Southern summer fabrics with gauzy cottons, linen, lawn. Replace the table skirt with something not shiny, like a vintage tablecloth.

Good luck getting it rented!

I think Anne in Chicago has the smartest idea here. Consider that if you're around to manage/do the two-step job.

I think that she's going to be renting the apartment out to vacationers on a short-term basis, as opposed to people signing a year-long lease. Therefore, she probably won't be re-painting for every guest.

How about light blue in the bathroom? Gives the people who want some color a little something. Still beachy. Not over the top.

I'd go a different way with it....to avoid the whole "beach rental" cliche I'd stay away from blues and greens since the views seems to provide plenty of those colors. I'd go with light grays, medium browns, pale yellows....cool and calm colors. Because seriously, people rent apartments at the beach because of the price and availability and location, not the color of the drapes.

I agree with many - go very clean with color, lines, accents, and please pull up that carpet. Maybe accent with local art/prints...

Good luck!

I would go light, obviously, and monochromatic. When I rent a place, I want it to be something wonderful and impractical that I could never live with or maintain for long -- so edit it severely -- no tchotchkes. Everything should be both beautiful and functional and NOT cluttered.

By this logic:
1) If you are keeping the bed -- spraypaint it either white or whatever color you put on the wall (light blue? pale pale green -- both drawn from the water outside -- or a pale pink, to pull in the sunset? or a bluey lavender? or white of course

2) Replace that HIDEOUS swag with either a full bed net canopy hung from the ceiling -- very tropical, out of africa -- urban outfitters has it. found it online here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007IS79Q/ref=nosim/?tag=nextag-kitchen-20&creative=380333&creativeASIN=B0007IS79Q&linkCode=asn

3) Get all white, all cotton bed linens. Or if you want to do monchromatic, get all one color to match the walls. SLeeping in a monchromatic room is REALLY restful and luxurious, provided it is well done.

4) Get nice, substantial lined curtains to hang ceiling to floor at the edges of the sliding glass window to conceal the vertical slats (yeck) when they are drawn back if you insist on keeping them.

5) DO get rid of the rug. I'm originally a floridian; rugs in beach houses, while temporarily luxurious, eventually get moldy and gross. Replace with sisal area rug, and put wood on the floor (or do sisal wall to wall and prepare to replace every so often. NOT GREEN. Just kidding.)

6) Another option is to go totally but not hideously nautical -- a navy blue and white color scheme. White bed linens, white painted bed, sisal carpet, blue and whita patterend curtains, a different blue and white pattern on a couple of pillows. White shells in a huge glass jar. Some bedside votives in small mason jars filled with local sand. Several large baskets, all the same, for storing stuff, lined up along a wall. Hooks on the walls above for hanging towels and clothes. A couple of good lights, maybe with arms, next to the bed.

7) Get one of those huge standing mirrors for $165 from Ikea. Another luxury...and place it across from the bed. I'm just saying.

I'd like to also endorse Donald's idea. You could get rid of the bed, get a low platform and go completely against type: earth tones, modern, a taupe wall, a red folded coverlet on the end of the bed, get rid of the rug...

but only if that works with the rest of the place.

And I disagree with the abocve statement that people dont rent because oif what the bedroom loioks like. I certainly do -- if i am choosing between places and there's a bedroom that comports with my view of what the place should be like -- cozy in the mountains, airy at the beach, modern in the city -- that's what I pick.

Growing up I spent all of my summers at Destin. After a day in that bright sun against that intensely reflective white sand some quieter colors are really refreshing. There is a reason that you see so many beach houses with the typical sea glass colors - they seem soothing against your sunburned skin and draw in what you see outdoors.

You can be atypical with how it plays out in terms of furnishing style. Just don't forget that comfort is the most important element, nothing is worse on a sunburn than rough textures for seating and sleeping.

Sandy,

We live in Fort Lauderdale...the people who've said "Get rid of the RUG" are right! For reasons of cleanliness, maintenance and style it's a must; you'll reap benefits in the long term. As was said a "sand" color on the walls is great too. One more idea: paint the ceilings a pale aqua or very pale yellow shade. The effect of this is subtle, but calming, fresh, and crisp. It adds color that doesn't call attention to itself.

One more thing that really looks great when staging a Florida space--pull the beautiful greenery outside inward by placing a few large glass vases with giant palm fronds or tropical leaves on a few strategic surfaces. You can see examples of this in the Delano Hotel site above. Good luck! Hope you can submit the finished product!

I vote for 'Out with the carpet'.
I think it's totally unhygenic in a beach house, plus with renters it's bound to get mangy and dirty, so out.
on the Amalfi coast rooms all have white walls, and blue with yellow accents around the place, following the line of the natural colours of the sorroundings. the cobalt blue of the sea and the yellow of the lemon trees.
i would also add a couple of plants to the room, maybe a small lemon plant (they grow just fine in pots, in houses as long as the room is bright), anf a ficus, or maybe even a couple of big cacti. here's the link to a lovely hotel with rooms with great views like yours to give you an idea

http://www.italytraveller.com/it/r/costiera-amalfitana/c/relais-blu-belvedere-2

My mom just sold her beach place on Navarre Beach (near Destin) and one thing that I really liked about the place was the collection of local art festival posters (one of which was from a Destin festival) she bought from the previous owner. She had a neutral backdrop going on in her condo with accents from the posters, most of which were cool colors that went well with the outside water/sand/sky scenery. I say find something local in the way of art to make renters feel like they at least learned a little about local culture.

I second the vote for pulling up the carpet (eventually, at least) but that can wait if you're rushing to get some renters in for the summer. When you do get to that point, do your homework. Bamboo sounds nice and ecological, but when you factor how far it had to travel (freighters are not especially fuel efficient and most bamboo flooring is not grown in the US) it might not be worth it. Also, bamboo is soft and not that sturdy. It will get badly dinged up pretty fast. I workout in a dance study that is high traffic but also all bare feet and two years in their floors are a mess already. You want something sturdier for renters.

I agree that you should get a real canopy for the bed, and go with the bright white walls.

Go white, white, white – walls, linens, towels, dishes. Being in the business of renting furnished units myself, the practical reason for going white is because you can bleach everything in the laundry (or in the sunshine) and the place will continue to look fresh longer. Colors will quickly fade or stain, and with short-term rentals guests will often wash the bedsheets and towels themselves with possibly disastrous results.
White walls that get scuffed can also be scrubbed down easily without leaving any obvious scrub marks, unlike other colors.
The carpet has to go - the color is a downer and you'll just end up trying to convince yourself it's okay, and it'll affect the whole mood of the place. Even if you decide to stick with carpet, go neutral and provide a stain remover solution in case of spills.
I've bought white dishes at Ikea for about a dollar/piece, so I'm not fretting about breakages. I buy eight of everything - plates, bowls, glasses, cutlery.
It's quite an undertaking to stock an entire condo, because you have to think of practical details such as a clock radio, hair dryer, iron and board, etc. Good luck in your real estate venture, and please make sure you post photos.

Hey, you guys didn't read the part about how she has to rent it out to avoid bankruptcy. She can't afford to redo the floor-covering and buy a lot of expensive things right now. Some paint and some JC Penny Masterpiece sheets and towels is about the limit. Plus, the rental season is already in full swing and time is no doubt a factor.

The solution has to actually solve the stated problem!!!

P.S. Use low-VOC paints so you can be GREEN like the carpet!!!

I don't mean to butt in and disagree, especially since I've only been posting (long-time lurker) for a short time, but I work in real estate at the beach, and I MUST disagree with the white-white-white comments. Ideally, yes, it would look great. But you're going to be renting, probably weekly? to all different people, and this would be SO HARD to keep clean! White towels and even sheets are easily bleached, but this is not so easy with a comforter, curtains, etc.
I would be pretty grossed out if I got to my rental and there were stains on the comforter.