Sullivan’s Island Renovation
Breathing New Life Into Your Home With Smart Remodeling
Refreshed and renovated, this Sullivan’s Island home has become a serene and coastal retreat. A whole house remodel took this character-lacking house and transformed it into a modern style beach home. Tucked in on a smaller in-town lot, details, details, details create a home that flows from the covered front porch with painted ceilings and a stunning wood stained front door, to newly renovated back enclosed porch, down to the backyard with the perfect gathering spot with an outdoor bar and grill situated just under the renovated porch accessible via a custom spiral staircase.
The home’s front facade had a split staircase–this made the home look dated. Rather than tear it off, we saw the potential and decided we could incorporate the stairs and use them as the defining design element on this otherwise straightforward home. We replaced the standard vertical pickets and choose to railroad the stair railing. This added a modern touch to what had been a traditional front. We used copper caps on the newel posts and matched the stain of the front door to the handrail.
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After
We continued the railing on the covered front porch which extends the entire length of the house. The house and railings were painted a bright white, to match the new siding. To create contrast, the skirting that covers the lower level of this elevated home was painted a deep navy blue. We choose to replace the leaking, asphalt shingled roof with a metal roof in a traditional island galvalume color. The color contrast from the whites, silver and blue changes subtly through the day as the sunlight changes.
On the interior, we opened up walls between the living room and the kitchen to visually integrate the two rooms, and also expanded the cramped kitchen. We changed out the white cabinets and black granite for gray cabinets with a soft blue undertone. The countertops were changed to white quartz and we used a combination of shiplap and tile on the walls. A beautiful farmhouse sink was placed in the middle of the large, eat-at island.
Before
After
We also removed an upper ‘office’ space above the living room to create a single vaulted space. On the back of the house we rebuilt an old porch that had previously been enclosed. The porch ceiling was so low that no one ever used it. Our rebuilt porch now has a high vaulted ceiling, and is accessible by a large sliding glass door. A renovated master bath was made to be luxurious and beautiful. To brighten up the home and to add symmetry to the exterior and interior spaces, we added more windows. We upgraded finishes throughout the home and refinished the floors. All together we refreshed this home with some minimal changes and took it from dark, dated, and drabby to light-filled, coastal, and vibrant.
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Builder: Alair Homes-Charleston
From Rachel’s Desk
Sullivan’s Island Home Designed by Swallowtail Wins Pinnacle Award
The Home Builders Association of South Carolina recently awarded Alair Homes Charleston the prestigious Pinnacle Awards for their work on the Sullivan’s Island Renovation. Designed by Architect Rachel Burton of Swallowtail Architecture, this project was [...]
Charleston Home + Design Magazine Features Front Porch Design by Swallowtail Architecture
As featured by Charleston Home + Design Magazine A Sullivan's Island front porch design should feature three things—a large front door, a grand staircase, and welcoming lighting, just [...]
