Renovation Journey
From mood boards and early inspiration through to active projects and finished spaces — follow every step of our Spanish villa transformation.
1
Planning
1
In Progress
1
Completed
Her Room — Still Becoming
This one started as nothing — four bare walls, terracotta tile, a window with the shutters still half-closed. No furniture, no colour, nothing to react to yet. The bed went in first, then the panelling, then the prints — slowly, a few at a time, the way most of this house has gone. We chose warm, sandy tones instead of anything stark, and kept the moulding simple enough that it could carry whatever came next. The little watercolour prints went up almost as an afterthought, but they've ended up doing most of the quiet work in the room. It's not finished. The back wall — where the TV and a small vanity will go — is still empty. That's next: the television mounted flush to the wall, a vanity desk underneath, a plant for some life, a rug for the cold tile, and picture lights over the prints so the room has something warm to sit in once it gets dark.
The Basement - Games Room
We finally have something to react to, even if it's not ours yet. The image we keep coming back to isn't polished or styled for a shoot — it's a deep navy wall with panel moulding carried low, a gallery wall above a media unit, and a long L-shaped sectional sitting on a platform edged in cool LED light. A pool table and a dartboard sit further back, half in shadow, more functional than decorative. What we're taking from it isn't the exact look — it's the logic. Dark, saturated walls work in a room with no natural light in a way they wouldn't upstairs. The under-platform lighting does the job a window usually would: it gives the room a sense of edge and depth instead of just overhead light flattening everything. We're not copying this room. We're using it to ask better questions — how dark is too dark, how much of this is the navy and how much is the lighting, what actually needs games-room durability versus what's just for atmosphere.
After
BeforeHer Room — Still Becoming
This one started as nothing — four bare walls, terracotta tile, a window with the shutters still half-closed. No furniture, no colour, nothing to react to yet. The bed went in first, then the panelling, then the prints — slowly, a few at a time, the way most of this house has gone. We chose warm, sandy tones instead of anything stark, and kept the moulding simple enough that it could carry whatever came next. The little watercolour prints went up almost as an afterthought, but they've ended up doing most of the quiet work in the room. It's not finished. The back wall — where the TV and a small vanity will go — is still empty. That's next: the television mounted flush to the wall, a vanity desk underneath, a plant for some life, a rug for the cold tile, and picture lights over the prints so the room has something warm to sit in once it gets dark.
Materials & Finishes
Budget Notes
Same approach as the rest of the house — panelling and paint first, since that's what shapes the room before anything else goes in. The prints were an inexpensive way to add warmth to a plain wall without committing to anything permanent. We're holding off on the vanity and TV setup until we've found pieces worth the wall space, rather than filling it just to finish the room.
DIY Tip
If you're working in stages like this, leave the "next" wall completely empty rather than half-furnishing it. An empty wall is easier to plan around than one with a few mismatched things already on it.
Photo Gallery
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