Today I’m sharing a very personal home tour… our former home in Coral Gables, Florida! Long-time followers of the blog will recognize snippets here and there, but I never shared the full tour. Built in the early 1970s, the house was a disaster when we purchased it in 2012. But we were able to make the layout work for our needs, and we fell in love with the location – a waterfront lot with direct ocean access in a small guard-gated community. After a two-year complete gut renovation, we sold in 2019 and moved back home to Dallas. While living in Florida, I wanted a very “Florida” house… enchanted by Palm Beach just to our north, I fell in love with the Palm Beach Regency style that perfectly suited our Regency-style home. Bright white walls, espresso stained floors, and a cheery Lilly Pulitzer tropical punch palette helped to curb my overwhelming homesickness.
We got back to Dallas as soon as we could (a very long eight years later!) and we are now at the tail end of another massive renovation. This time we bought a University Park Georgian built in 1990. I have always dreamed of renovating a historic home, but somehow it has never been in the cards… So I have created a “new old” home inspired by 1920s – 1930s architecture. Before “Grandmillennial” became a trend, I had drifted back to my traditional Southern roots, and our new home is filled with chintz, antiques, “brown furniture” and oil paintings…. with a generous dose of “glam”! I cannot wait to share! But for now, let’s take a trip down Memory Lane…
Thank you to our Miami realtor, Nancy Batchelor, for the pictures… Nancy was absolutely amazing to work with and has since become a dear friend. I will also be sharing some before pictures, which are quite painful to the eyes. After writing about some of the finest homes in the world for nearly a decade now, I have become extremely intimidated about sharing my own work. I have no professional interior design training, and when I did the Florida house, I was just beginning The Glam Pad and trying to discover my style. We also knew this was not a permanent home, so I did not want to over-personalize. Yet, I still wanted it to feel like “home” as much as it could, so I did sneak in a few favorite wallpapers here and there. It is fun to look back.
Welcome to our former home!
This is why we bought this house! No bridges to bay, direct ocean access! My husband is an avid fisherman and loved having his boat in the backyard. We also put out stone crab traps in season… I do miss those!
Nothing says “Florida” better than Carleton Varney’s iconic Brazilliance wallpaper. Bubble gum pink silk curtains add a preppy punch against a black and white Ellipse rug by Stark. The chandelier is circa 1970s, purchased in Dallas from Again & Again along with vintage pineapple lamps. The dining room table was custom made by Deco-Dence, and the chairs are from the 1930s.
wider view of the dining room and front doors pictured to the right
I painted the swirling black and white abstract to match the Ellipse rug… It is now in my son’s bedroom!
The painting above the silk sofa is by my favorite abstract artist, Xan Sinclair Koonce. Unfortunately we did not have room for it in our new home, so it is on consignment at Cerulean Gallery in Dallas if you would like to make it yours!
The Regency style sconces were purchased from Again & Again. The lamps are vintage Murano, and the sofa was custom.
Hand-painted Chinoiserie wallpaper and a Sherle Wagner sink grace the powder room. You can read more about it here!
We loved the white Danby marble we selected for our kitchen so much that we used it again for our Dallas kitchen… shipped to Texas from the same supplier, Mont Krest!
We also loved our Italian Ilve range so much, we purchased another one in Dallas… this time in white. (Purchased here)
The kitchen opens to the family room.
The Master bedroom features Quadrille’s Sigourney wallpaper, the mirrored nightstands are available here, vintage blanc de chine lamps, a custom Donghia tufted sleigh bed, and D. Porthault linens. His and Her closets are on either side of the bed.
Master bedroom
We used book-matched Calacatta marble slabs in the master bathroom. The paintings are by Caroline Crockett Kneese, owner of Cerulean Gallery.
This bathroom was formerly a bedroom adjacent to the master that we converted!
My son’s nursery, which I documented here. The Clarence House Congo fabric still makes me smile!
The shower curtain was monogrammed to match my son’s pillows, and can be purchased here.
We selected Carrera marble for his bathroom.
We purchased the desk in my office at Lilly Pulitzer’s estate auction in Palm Beach. It was her personal desk in her home office!
We converted a mirrored dresser into a sink for this upstairs bathroom.
The oval mirror in this bathroom is a medicine cabinet… a great trick for maximizing space!
I do miss that pool!
And the fabulous vintage Peacock chairs I bought on Dixie Highway that our movers “forgot.” The lady pictured is our realtor’s star model… She models in all of Nancy’s photo shoots to make buyers identify more with the home. 🙂
BEFORE PICTURES
This was the dining room before, in all its sunken 70s splendor.
The kitchen before, which we completely opened up. There was also a washer and dryer hiding somewhere in there that we relocated.
The door to the right became the window over the sink, and we pushed the wall back to gain more space as well.
The door that is now the kitchen window!
The master bedroom. The bathroom pictured got turned into my closet, and my husband got the existing closet. We were also able to push this wall back since we were relocating the bathroom.
Here is the adjacent bedroom that became our master bathroom!
The former master bath, which became my closet.
My son’s bedroom.
The powder room.
This became the guest room. All of the upstairs windows were reconfigured and replaced to be hurricane impact resistant… oh, I don’t miss those hurricanes!!
Upstairs bathroom
Second upstairs bathroom
Renovations are kind of like childbirth… Somehow you magically forget the pain and suffering and only remember the good times… until you revisit the before pictures, ouch! But I love renovating. There is nothing more rewarding than bringing a house back to life and personalizing it to become the home of your dreams. Fixer uppers can also help stretch your budget, if you are careful. Oftentimes, especially here in Dallas, you can purchase a dated home at lot value. And you don’t have to spend money redoing someone else’s updates that are reflected in the home price but don’t suit your taste. Just make sure to find a realtor and a contractor you can trust! 🙂
Highlights from the 2021 Kips Bay Show House Palm Beach
A Florida Fantasy by Summer Thornton
Revisiting Phoebe Howard in Palm Beach
New Designs at The Colony Hotel Palm Beach
Andrea, I absolutely love what you did with that house! It’s so cheerful! Traditional yet suitable for Florida. You did a wonderful job!
Thank you, Elizabeth!!
Xx,
Andrea
The Glam Pad
Wonderful master bathroom and kitchen.
Thank you, Ellen!
Xx,
Andrea
The Glam Pad
Oh, Andrea! Seeing your beautiful former FL home was the highlight of my morning! Everything is stunning and I am so blown away by the incredible transformation. The special details such as the powder room faucet, LP estate sale desk, and the lion heads on the range hood stopped me in my tracks. Now I am anxious to see the reveal of your Dallas home renovations! I love learning more about you, so please keep on sharing!
Thank you, Andrea! This is such a tremendous compliment coming from you… your home is such an inspiration!! 🙂
Xx,
Andrea
The Glam Pad
Gorgeous house. Is it Gables by the Sea or Cocoplum? I lived in Coral Gables for 30 years and know Nancy B! We just moved to GulfStream for that “Palm Beach” style I crave as well.
Love your blog. We probably know alot of the same people;-)
Thank you, Susannah! It’s in Sunrise Harbor just north of Cocoplum. 🙂 I would love to see your home!
Xx,
Andrea
You did a marvelous job of turning into a modern Florida home. The wallpaper in the dining room with those bubblegum curtains are just so perfect. I am excited to see the new Dallas home.
Thank you, Sandy! I have been a busy bee and hope to share the new Dallas home soon!
As a Dallas person born and raised here… and an interior designer who loves Florida… I think your remodel was beautifully done… I look forward to seeing your remodel here in Dallas… thanks for sharing.. Teresa
Thank you, Teresa!! 🙂
Xx,
Andrea
The Glam Pad
Your Florida home was very nice and perfect Palm Beach style. Your design and decor is better than a lot of the professionals. Thanks for sharing.
Wow, that is a huge compliment! I get so nervous sharing my own work. Thank you, thank you!!
Xx,
Andrea
The Glam Pad
Hi Andrea, We have waited quite a while for this posting and are thrilled with ALL you accomplished at this property…”thank you”! And just as pleased that you and your family are back where your heart is.
Thank you, Lynn! I am so happy to be back home, but I learned so much during our time in Florida, and I never would have started The Glam Pad if it hadn’t been for that move! Life is funny sometimes. 😉
Xx,
Andrea
The Glam Pad
Oh Andrea!
This is one of my favorite blog posts ever! I am so glad you shared this with us. Your powder room blog post, with the story of the chinoiserie paper, is The One that sparked a long-slumbering interest in interior design. I began following you religiously after that, and set aside time every week for reading and browsing, eventually using Instagram (and an alias, so I could curate it perfectly! ( to follow dozens of accounts, including yours, all related to creating a beautiful space, inside and outside. I owe you an enormous thank you.
That said, your dining table is gorgeous. I adore inlaid wood, and this makes me smile with happiness. You said it’s custom – by chance is it by Scully and Scully? We are in a new home ourselves, all of 2 weeks, and need a console.
Thank you for this story and Before and After pictorial. I truly loved it.
Hi Kyrah,
Wow, thank you so much for the kind words!! 🙂 The dining table was by a company called Deco-Dence in Dallas that specializes in Art Deco era restoration and reproductions. We had it custom made for the dining room in our former Dallas home before we moved to Florida, and it was serendipitous that it worked perfectly there! Unfortunately the size did not fit in our new home, so I consigned it through Again & Again. We really loved that table!
Xx,
Andrea
The Glam Pad
Thanks for sharing the photos! I love the transformation and all the details! I think my favourite rooms are the dining room and the powder room with the Chinoiserie wallpaper. We’re renovating as well, which is a quite challenging during Covid times, so it was encouraging to see the possibilities.
Thank you!! We moved into our new Dallas home – still under construction – right in the middle of the lock-downs… It was awful, but I am just so grateful to finally be settled! Best of luck with your renovation, it is absolutely worth it in the end!!
Xx,
Andrea
The Glam pad
I’m glad you posted your FL home, you did a great job. Hubby and I have done 2 gut to the studs remodels plus 2 remodels not moving walls or to the studs. We’ve been married over 30 years and found it’s tough but the only way to get the home you want if you can’t afford to build from scratch. Good luck on your Dallas house. One of our remodels was a Dallas Georgian in N Dallas built 1985. We bought for lot value in 2001. We made a nice profit when we moved.
Thank you, Kris! You are so right, and renovating is much faster than building from scratch too! I love it so much, I thought about flipping homes at one point… Too much stress though, I think I’ll just stick with blogging! 😉
Xx,
Andrea
The Glam Pad
You did a great job. Looking forward to your Dallas reveal.
Thanks, Cynthia! You have been such a tremendous support over the years!
Xx,
Andrea
The Glam Pad
I cannot believe that the ‘after’ is the same house. What a transformation. We spent all of 2019 living just up the road in Coconut Grove and I always loved a drive through Coral Gables, looking at the architecture. The Floridian aesthetic is unique and has a stylishness all its own. I think you captured it beautifully.
Wow, you did such an amazing job! We just moved to Palm Beach County and are loving it so far 🙂
Fabulous reno! Beautiful choices. I don’t necessarily think all interior design bloggers have a great eye and taste. But you definitely do!
The before and after is mind blowing! I’ll be dreaming about that hand painted chinoiserie wallpaper in the powder room. What impeccable taste!
Andrea! What a total treat to see your FL home. The “before” would have had me running for the door – it says so much about your talent and vision that you saw the beauty within that house. Can’t wait to see what you do in Dallas — and I’m putting “Again and Again” on my must-visit list the next time I’m in town.
Stephanie
Thank you, Stephanie! Please come to Dallas for a visit soon… I’ll give you a tour. Miss you!!
Xx,
Andrea
The Glam Pad