We’re excited to share more details on our latest short-term rental that will soon be coming to the market and available to rent along 30A – Hola Beaches Casita! Kurtis and I recently sold an investment property we owned in Omaha, and rolled that into a new property here and today I’m sharing all of our design plans for the space.
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A Little Background Info
Hola Beaches Casita is near our other vacation property, Hola Beaches, near The Big Chill (formerly The Hub). We love the location because it sits about halfway between Rosemary Beach and Seaside. The house is on the south side of 30A and the new townhome is on the north side. But they are part of the same community, share many of the same amenities, and are a quick walk to one another. Hola Beaches Casita is smaller than Hola Beaches, hence why we are calling it Casita (which roughly translates to cottage). We wanted to keep the Hola Beaches name (they’ll share this Instagram account), but also have a way to separate the original from the new property since we’ll still be renting both locations.
The townhome was built in 2016, and our unit was owned by one family the entire time. It was never offered as a rental and was a personal vacation home, so it is in really great shape! Like most homes along 30A, it was sold fully furnished. However, we wanted to take the direction of the decor much more coastal than what came with the home. Thankfully there is an excellent resell market here due to all the vacation rentals. My friend’s mom is also moving here this week, and she was able to take a bunch of the dishes and a bedroom set for her. Today, a local consignment shop (Resort Resale) will be picking up all the furniture and decor we don’t plan to use.
Not only has the home never been rented, but it arguably has one of the best lots on the north side of Prominence. It sits at the end of a street, with no neighbors to one side or behind the property. Since it’s a townhome, this means that every single window in the home looks out to woods, rather than another unit (like most properties there). It’s very private and peaceful, yet a quick walk or golf cart ride to the north pool and The Big Chill!
Hola Beaches Casita Design Plans
Today I’m sharing the design boards I put together fairly early in the process to visually see how everything would tie together. The most challenging part of designing these spaces was how quickly I needed to make decisions, especially to ensure that everything I ordered arrived by last Friday. We’re under a time crunch to get the house wrapped up, cleaned, and photographed so our listing can go live ASAP. We’re hoping that we can still get the space rented for the 4th of July Weekend!
With the exception of a few items, I really wanted this home to showcase some look-for-less items to some of my tried-and-true favorites! It gave me an opportunity to see these items first-hand so I can offer real feedback on how the save vs. splurge items compare. So outside of those few exceptions or from items I was able to source locally, nearly everything in the house is from Walmart, Amazon, Target or Wayfair and is an affordable alternative to some of my favorite higher-end brands!
Okay, let’s jump into the plans! A few things have already been tweaked in real time, but for the most part, these are pretty final.
Living Room & Kitchen Design Plans
Here is how the living room looked when we bought it furnished.
And here is the view from the door looking into the kitchen, with the living room on the left.
I knew I wanted to brighten things up a bit and lean much more into some coastal colors.
We’ve quickly learned with rentals, that slipcovers (and a backup) are critical for quick turn days. With that, the first item I ordered was this sofa (93″ with the Performance Presley Pearl fabric, which is essentially white). My friend Ashley introduced me to the sofa (and she’s used something like seven of them in different homes over the years). More recently, my friend Rachel also bought it. It’s super comfy, fairly priced (it goes on sale frequently for 20-25% off), and you can buy backup slip covers to have on hand.
I then had these chairs in mind, and when two popped up in my neighborhood buy/sell/trade group it was a no-brainer. I bought them from a neighbor who was moving in two days and was trying to clear a bunch of stuff out. I believe her chairs were only six or so months old, so I snagged them pretty quickly. She had the two listed for less than the price of one.
This is a pretty crude mock-up, but the living room and kitchen design board was the first I made. I overlayed products on one of the actual photos to get a visual for how everything would look together.
LIVING ROOM & KITCHEN SOURCES: Media Cabinet | Slipcovered Sofa | Swivel Arm Chairs | Coffee Table | Rug | Oyster Art | Kitchen Pendant Lights | Kitchen Counter Stools | Faux Fan Palms | Vase | Ceiling Fan
I actually have more furniture in the living space to share, but I haven’t made an actual board for it yet. But there is a little seating space to the left (with these chairs and side table) and then I’m using this console table under the art.
Dining Room Design Plans
Here is a peek at the dining room as it looked the day we closed.
From day one, I knew I wanted this Scalloped Wicker Light Fixture in the dining room. If you remember this post, this fixture is the best look for less option I had found that compares to our kitchen pendant lights. So I wanted to see this one in person. I love how it looks in the box, so excited to see it once it gets hung up this week! Admittedly the design plans are a bit beige, but our neighbor gave us the dining table for free since it no longer fit in her house, and we had the dining chairs already. I plan to find more ways to add some color here (this may not be the final spot for the art) so I’ll keep you posted!
DINING ROOM SOURCES: Scalloped Wicker Light Fixture | Dining Table | Dining Chairs | Oyster Shell Art | Vase | Faux Fan Palms
Bedroom #1 Design Plans
Here is a peek at the first bedroom when you go upstairs. It was equipped with a queen bedroom set (that my friend’s mom will be taking). With a rental, we felt it was important to convert this to a king size bedroom.
And here are the design plans. I’ve loved these hanging lamps for ages, and when I found them at Resort Resale (they were a return from a local lighting company) I was ecstatic to find them so affordable! I still have a little tweaking to do in this space, but the main elements are finalized. I actually ordered the lumbar pillow covers for the living room, and they may eventually end up there. But since I’m still deciding on the decorative pillows here, these are a sub for now. We ordered this mattress at the suggestion of our property manager, because they said it gets rave reviews in their other properties!
BEDROOM #1 SOURCES: Upholstered Bed | Nightstands | Euro Shams | Lumbar Pillow Covers | Handwoven Basket Art | Striped Jute Rug | Hanging Lamps | Ceiling Fan | Tall Dresser | Vase | Palm Fronds | Resin Clamshell
Bedroom #2 Design Plans
I’m honestly probably most excited about the middle bedroom in this home. It was already decorated with two twin beds, and in other homes with the same floor plan, is traditionally the bunk room.
We obviously didn’t have time for custom bunks (and we may still add them in the off-season) but for now, I made the most of this cute little twin room.
I am obsessed with the pennants I got from Etsy seller Anybody’s Backyard. Most of her items are one-of-a-kind so I can’t link them all, but she has so many fun pennants. I had purchased her items locally a year or so back and then found her Etsy shop. She even made a custom Hola pennant for me in my preferred blue and white. She was great to work with, shipped quickly and her products are gorgeous. Definitely check out her shop if you’re looking for some fun pennants. I can’t wait to hang this gallery wall! Although I think I’ll be hanging it to the left of the window to avoid it all over the beds where there might be curious hands 😉
BEDROOM #2 SOURCES: Wavy Headboards | Striped Rug | Nightstand | Ceiling Fan | Gallery Frames | Pennants (Hola, Surf, 30A, Gulf Coast, Swiss Cross, Beach House) | Throw Pillow Covers | Lamp | Vase | Fan Palms
Bedroom #3 Design Plans
The primary bedroom is rather spacious and has an en suite bathroom and I love the views of the forest in both directions!
In this space, I immediately knew I wanted to try this upholstered bed. It’s the look-for-less option to this Serena & Lily bed we have. It’s on site, and I’m thinking it will get set up today, so I can’t wait to see it in person!
BEDROOM #3 SOURCES: Upholstered Bed | Nightstands | Lamps (we’ll actually be using this look-for-less option) | Euro Shams | Brushstroke Pillow Covers | Rug | Seagrass Stools | Faux Coral Art | Bobbin Mirror | Dresser | Ceiling Fan | Faux Fan Palms | Vase
That wraps up the Hola Beaches Casita design plans for now! I’m not changing much in the bathrooms, other than a few art swaps. I’ll be sure to share those when I share the full home tour. I’ll plan to circle back over the weekend or early next week (once our photos come back) to give the official tour and let you know once the listing has gone live! We’re excited to share more of this space and to hopefully rent it out to some of you!
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Kathy says
Looks like some beautiful ideas. Can’t wait to see finished product.
Sarah says
Thank you Kathy! I’m excited to see it all come together!
Caroline L says
Beautiful! I can’t wait to see the final tour!
I am keeping an eye out for the rental link because this is more the size house we need (compared to the other Hola home) and I would love to come back to the area.
Sarah says
Thank you! And that’s what we’re hoping for! This is definitely a more mid-size that works great if you don’t have other families joining, etc. 🙂 I’ll be sure to share as soon as it’s live!
Nancy says
I am looking forward to staying here some day! ❤
Sarah says
You know we’d love to have you! 🙂
Jeanne says
Gorgeous! Would love to rent for a month!
Sarah says
Thank you so much!
Arlene LIND says
Can you share the website for the rental when you’ve completed remodel?
You said this is near Rosemary Beach?
Thank you.
Sarah says
Absolutely! I’m hoping it will be ready within the next week or so. I’ll be sure to share once it’s live. And it’s just over 3 miles to Rosemary Beach and about 5 miles to Seaside (the opposite direction) so it’s a great central location if you want to see all 30A has to offer. We’ll have 6 bikes and a 6-seat golf cart with the rental as well!
Susan says
Love your ideas and can’t wait to see it finished. We now live about 2 hours away so I’ll be watching for the rental information.
Sarah says
Thank you Susan! We’d love to have you!