Skip to content

Top Navigation

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Food and Recipes
  • Culture and Lifestyle
  • Style
  • Holidays & Occasions
  • Home
  • Gardening Ideas
  • News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living Books this link opens in a new tab
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Southern Living

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Explore

    Explore

    • The Best New Haircuts to Try in 2022

      The Best New Haircuts to Try in 2022

      Here are the haircuts you'll be seeing everywhere this year. Read More
    • How To Season A Cast-Iron Skillet

      How To Season A Cast-Iron Skillet

      Learn how to season this Southern kitchen staple in five easy steps. Read More
    • 50 Thoughtful Messages for a Meaningful Thank You Note

      50 Thoughtful Messages for a Meaningful Thank You Note

      Not sure what to write in a thank you card? Here's how to show your gratitude with a handwritten note. Read More
  • Food and Recipes

    Food and Recipes

    See All Food and Recipes
    4 Easy Ways to Tell if an Egg Has Gone Bad

    4 Easy Ways to Tell if an Egg Has Gone Bad

    It’s not all in the senses, but they sure can help.
    • Recipes
    • Quick and Easy Dinner
    • Kitchen Assistant
    • Casserole
    • Holiday and Occasion Food
    • Slow Cooker Recipes
    • Desserts
    • Healthy and Light
    • Side Dishes
    • Party Food and Drink
    • Appetizers
    • Meat
    • Breakfast
    • BBQ
    • Drinks
    • What's Cooking
  • Culture and Lifestyle

    Culture and Lifestyle

    See All Culture and Lifestyle
    70 Cute and Funny Nicknames For Your Best Friends

    70 Cute and Funny Nicknames For Your Best Friends

    Let your besties know how much they mean to you with these unique nicknames.
    • Quotes and Sayings
    • Biscuits and Jam Podcast
    • Travel
    • Pets
    • Healthy Living
    • Coastal Living
  • Style

    Style

    See All Style
    The Coziest Winter Nail Colors for January 2022

    The Coziest Winter Nail Colors for January 2022

    The beginning of a new year often has us all feeling like starting off fresh by taking on better habits, getting rid of old ones, and—most commonly—changing up our look. While others are hitting the squats and going into the salon for a pixie cut, why not start slow and steady with a cozy winter manicure in a color that feels new to you? It takes only a little courage to step outside your usual OPI Lincoln Park After Dark or Essie Bordeaux, which is all you need to kick 2022 off on a fanciful foot.  From new wintry takes on classic dark nail colors to unique pops of color that'll have you feeling the opposite of boring, these are the best nail colors to try this January and tick off all the way into spring. 
    • Beauty
    • Hair
    • Fashion
    • Short Hairstyles
    • Nails
    • Medium Hairstyles
    • Skincare
    • Long Hairstyles
  • Holidays & Occasions

    Holidays & Occasions

    See All Holidays & Occasions
    • Thanksgiving
    • Gifts
    • Christmas
    • Mother's Day
    • Hanukkah
    • New Year's
    • Easter
    • Mardi Gras
    • 4th of July
    • Weddings
  • Home

    Home

    See All Home
    16 Kitchen Design Trends Southern Designers Predict Will Be Everywhere in 2022

    16 Kitchen Design Trends Southern Designers Predict Will Be Everywhere in 2022

    There's no denying how the pandemic fundamentally changed the world—including how we live (and work) inside our homes. An overall trend toward celebrating the history and originality of our homes is displacing ultramodern aesthetics and sharp lines as we all look to create cozier, colorful, more personalized spaces that better suit our lifestyles. We're turning away from big-box stores and toward vintage items—first, out of necessity due to supply-chain issues, and now, for design reasons—to add charm and character to every room in the house, including the kitchen. Here, interior designers from around the South share their predictions for what's trending in kitchen design for 2022 and beyond.
    • Home Decor Ideas
    • Idea Houses
    • Kitchen Design
    • Before & After Photos
    • Bathroom Design
    • Curb Appeal
    • Bedroom Design
    • DIY Home Decor
    • Color Palettes & Paint
    • House Plans & Builders
    • Inspired Communities
  • Gardening Ideas

    Gardening Ideas

    See All Gardening Ideas
    If You Keep Finding Ladybugs in Your House, Here's What You Need to Know

    If You Keep Finding Ladybugs in Your House, Here's What You Need to Know

    Plus a few strategies for keeping them out-of-doors
    • Container Gardening
    • Gardening Flowers
    • Fruit, Vegetable & Herb Gardens
    • Garden Pests
    • Plant Guides A-Z
    • Indoor Plants
    • Fall Plants
    • Landscaping Ideas
    • The Grumpy Gardener
  • News

    News

    See All News
    • Celebrities
    • Local News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living Books this link opens in a new tab
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Southern Living
  2. Home
  3. Home Decor Ideas
  4. Woodsy Beach House Makeover

Woodsy Beach House Makeover

By Lisa Cregan June 16, 2014
Skip gallery slides
FB
Get Back to Nature
Credit: Laurey W. Glenn

In Bald Head Island, North Carolina, architect Ruard Veltman brings a laid-back and woodsy perspective to his family's beach house. 

Start Slideshow

1 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Get Back to Nature

Get Back to Nature
Credit: Laurey W. Glenn

Living in Charlotte, Ruard Veltman dreamed of having a cabin high in the mountains, but his wife, Millicent, lobbied for a place at the coast. Ruard lost that debate but did get a second chance at creating a mountain-like retreat when he rehabbed this 1,800-square-foot Bald Head Island cottage for his young family, including son Fritz, 8, and daughter Perrin, 6. First, he replaced the interior's 1980s-era peach drywall throughout wiht mossy green paneling. Next, he created relaxing outdoor spaces and then finished the look with rustic accents—not a seashell or mountain marlin in sight. "It's a house tucked away in the woods, but near the beach," says Ruard. "We're both happy."

1 of 22

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Exterior

What He Did: Exterior
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Hid it in the Trees
Ruard changed the 1980s cedar-shingled and shiplap facade from brown to gray-green. "Now it fades into the foliage," he says. And upstairs in the octagonal tower-like "crofter" (what islanders call the garage for their golf cart, the main mode of transportation here) Ruard created a screened-in office for himself with a 360-degree view of the woods. "It's my tree house," he says.

A hanging lampshade illuminates Ruard's desk and echoes the tower's shape.

2 of 22

3 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Exterior

What He Did: Exterior and Porches
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Forged an Entry
The approach to the house wasn't interesting enough for Ruard, so he handmade a tiered "folly gate" of timbers embellished with birdbaths made from plow discs. "It gives the place some flair," he says. He also "decentralized" the house by removing the front door. "Now you come in a side door through a porch. There's no grand foyer, so it's more in keeping with the casual nature of a beach house," he explains.

3 of 22

Advertisement

4 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Porches

What He Did: Porches
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Improved Life Outdoors
Because mosquitoes and woods go hand in hand, Ruard screened in the existing front porch—including an outdoor dining room—so his family can live happily outside when things get buggy. He also added a second screened porch on the other side of the home. Now windows and doors are thrown open, and people flow in and out all summer long.

A curtain screens the porch's lounge area from the main entry door.

4 of 22

5 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Porches

What He Did: Porches
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Encouraged Alfresco Baths
There's a shower inside the gate for rinsing sandy feet. But Ruard also installed two showers in the screened porch at the back of the house—one is a traditional showerhead, and the other is essentially a spout that fills a horse trough where the children take baths. "There are no neighbors, so we don't need privacy," he says.

5 of 22

6 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Kitchen

What He Did: Kitchen
Credit: Laurey W. Glenn

Planked the Room
Drab drywall was replaced with 6-inch wood panels painted the same olive-gray as the adjacent living room. The planks run over the ceiling, too, which Ruard dropped from 8 ½ feet (the height of the living room ceiling) to 7 feet. "The lower ceiling separates rooms without the addition of a wall," he says. Even the refrigerator is hidden behind paneling, and the sink's cabinetry floats off the floor like a console, so the space doesn't read as a kitchen from the open living room.

Love it? Get it!
Rusty buoy:
antique, Paula Rubenstein, Ltd.; 212/966-8954.

6 of 22

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Kitchen Before

Kitchen Before
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

The original kitchen was hampered by a single narrow doorway and drab white drywall.

7 of 22

8 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Kitchen

What He Did: Kitchen
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Connected it to the Woods
Three small windows over the sink were replaced with a single oversize one without mullions. Ruard calls it "a portal to the outside." Then, everything in the kitchen was pared down to keep the focus on the amazing view of palms and oaks. The window does double duty as a backsplash because it simply wipes clean, and the countertop seems to melt into the stainless steel sink.

8 of 22

9 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Kitchen

What He Did: Kitchen
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Corrected the Traffic Flow
"Having just one doorway meant you would get stuck in the kitchen," says Ruard, who fixed the room's circulation issues by adding a new, slightly disguised passageway in the back right corner of the kitchen. The wood scroll in front of the peninsula is a "way of creating a physical swoop between the kitchen and the living room," says Ruard, who crafted the drape himself. "It also adds humor—it's like a curtain pulled back to unveil the kitchen."

9 of 22

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Kitchen

What He Did: Kitchen
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Turned Down the Lighting
Barely there sconces light the sink, and simple recessed lights illuminate the peninsula's antique-walnut counters. "There is just enough light for food prep," Ruard says. "This isn't meant to be a place for the kids to sit and do their homework. It's less about task lighting and more about creating a dark, cabin-like mood, even in a workspace."

Sconce: custom, by Evan Wood, Chandelier & Light; 704/529-0707.

10 of 22

11 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Kitchen

What He Did: Kitchen
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Transformed Storage into Art
Ruard curates his pantry like an art installation. There are no upper cabinets; a long blond wood box mounted on the wall holds dry goods in glass jars. Baskets storing fruit and vegetables add texture. The family displays their plates and glasses in an open shelving nook between the kitchen and living room.

11 of 22

12 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

We Love This!

We Love This!
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Vertical, not horizontal, planks cover the refrigerator, making it unobtrusive but not hidden.

12 of 22

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Living Room Before

Living Room Before
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

A mostly white living room did not flow with the natural beauty outside.

13 of 22

14 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Living Room

What He Did: Living Room
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Kept it Dark
The entire living area is painted in the house's signature deep olive-gray—the same shade as the exterior. "It's dark on purpose, to be like a mountain cabin," says Ruard. "I even matched the rug to the wall color." He wanted to create a shadowy enveloping space where the sunlit windows, left bare, really pop from their sills and highlight the view.

14 of 22

15 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Living Room

What He Did: Living Room
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Infused Wood
Wide-plank horizontal paneling replaced the drywall. "The walls help the house fit in the wooded landscape," says Ruard. A drinks table was made from a section of an old cedar post, and two nicely beat-up antique chairs add more richly grained interest. He even cut the legs off an old Indonesian dining table to create the coffee table. Ruard says, "Now when the room is crowded, you can walk right across it. And there's been many a party where people danced on that table!"

15 of 22

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

16 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Living Room

What He Did: Living Room
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Created Contrast
The antique wine table (behind the sofa) isn't used for its original purpose. Instead, the top tilts up to lend drama. "Its round shape feels like art," says Ruard. The floors are original Southern yellow pine, stained darker to bring out their "zebra stripes" for a hint of pattern in the sea of solids.

16 of 22

17 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Dining Room Before

Dining Room Before
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

The column and latticework in the dining room added clutter to the small space.

17 of 22

18 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Dining Room

What He Did: Dining Room
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Banished fuss
"I like a clean look," says Ruard. So he took down the column and latticework. He even covered the window seat cushion in the same shade as the walls and ceiling for cohesiveness. "This is a small space, so using a built-in, wraparound bench helps it feel less cluttered," he says.

Kept it Minimal
Ruard didn't want the interruption of a hanging fixture in the low-ceilinged room, "and the large table lamp makes it seem like more of a multiuse space," he says. He left all the windows bare to make them seem larger.

Love it? Get it!
Lamp: custom, by Evan Wood, Chandelier & Light; 704/529-0707.

18 of 22

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

19 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Primary Bath Before

Master Bath Before
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

The primary bath was bland and uninspiring with its ordinary bowl sink and countertop.

19 of 22

20 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Primary Bath

What He Did: Master Bath
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Multitasked
In the small house, the primary bath also serves as the home's powder room. The sink sits atop an old drop-leaf table, making the room presentable for guests. An enormous wood-framed mirror slides aside to reveal shelves—where toiletries and towels are hidden. In the bedroom, the kitchen's original refrigerator hides between the closets behind the bed. "It's great for storing drinks, and there was nowhere else to put it. I stock it at the beginning of the summer," says Ruard.

Love it? Get it!
Mirror:
picturehousegallery.com. Sconce: custom, by Evan Wood, Chandelier & Light; 704/529-0707. Sink: Light (4030A); lacava.com for retailers. Faucet: Madison Wall-Mount 3 Hole Lavatory Mixer (36712360); dornbracht.com for retailers.

20 of 22

21 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Primary Bedroom

What He Did: Master Bedroom
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Lightened Up
The walls in the primary bedroom and bath are painted white (White Dove by Benjamin Moore) for a complete departure from the living room. "I wanted to create a surprise," says Ruard. "As you come down the hall from the living room, the bedroom looks like the light at the end of the tunnel. It's a relief from all the dark."

Love it? Get it!
Artwork:
print by Nall; through octaviaartgallery.com.

21 of 22

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

22 of 22

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

What He Did: Primary Bedroom

What He Did: Master Bedroom
Credit: Photo: Laurey W. Glenn

Got Inventive
Ruard built the primary bed's eye-popping barn-wood headboard himself, then floated it in the middle of the room. Behind it, curtains cover the closets, giving the effect of windows. Decorative fringe hides reading lights on the headboard.

22 of 22

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Lisa Cregan

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 22 Get Back to Nature
    2 of 22 What He Did: Exterior
    3 of 22 What He Did: Exterior
    4 of 22 What He Did: Porches
    5 of 22 What He Did: Porches
    6 of 22 What He Did: Kitchen
    7 of 22 Kitchen Before
    8 of 22 What He Did: Kitchen
    9 of 22 What He Did: Kitchen
    10 of 22 What He Did: Kitchen
    11 of 22 What He Did: Kitchen
    12 of 22 We Love This!
    13 of 22 Living Room Before
    14 of 22 What He Did: Living Room
    15 of 22 What He Did: Living Room
    16 of 22 What He Did: Living Room
    17 of 22 Dining Room Before
    18 of 22 What He Did: Dining Room
    19 of 22 Primary Bath Before
    20 of 22 What He Did: Primary Bath
    21 of 22 What He Did: Primary Bedroom
    22 of 22 What He Did: Primary Bedroom

    Share & More

    Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print
    Southern Living

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • About Us
    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Books from Southern Living
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    MeredithSouthern Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporation. Southern Living is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporationthis link opens in a new tab All Rights Reserved. Southern Living may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Southern Living. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.southernliving.com

    Sign in

    View image

    Woodsy Beach House Makeover
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.