A New John's Island Home for an Ever growing Family

A New Construction Home for Long Time Clients
I was thrilled to get a call from one of my long-time clients’ to help with the design and build of their new home. Their new family home was just about to break ground in John’s Island, Vero Beach.
The absolute best part of new construction projects is my ability to work with clients to specify everything little thing. And from the very beginning. Everything from cabinets, fixtures, countertops, beautiful flooring, custom built-ins, to lighting, tiles to toilet paper holders. Along with all the rest of the many-many items needed for a new home.
In this John's Island project the family wanted to keep with their traditional look while adding in some more contemporary touches. Light, bright and calm with touches of blue was to be the color story.

This new home construction project would be our third collaboration. Having worked together makes my job easy. As much as I love getting to know new clients, it's so easy to work with clients I know. Not only is it easier because we know each other, it is such a huge compliment to be asked back again and again.
With former clients we don't need to go through the discovery stage that comes with each new client.
For this home a neutral, calm and kid friendly interiors were the request.

The kitchen counter stools are from Palecek. They have a great collection of rattan products.
Click the imgaes below. Some more counter stools from Palecek.
The almost all white Kitchen was designed with function in mind first. Secondly the kitchen was designed to create a calm, sophisticated yet casual room. As part of an open concept Family Room the Kitchen needed to blend seamlessly.
On a previous projects, a major kitchen remodel, instead of a traditional Kitchen Island we opted for a furniture look piece that functioned as an island without the heavy look. To achieve that lighter feeling the island was designed as an open island with turned column legs.
My clients absolutely loved it!
Although it was sad to say goodbye to the old kitchen, we now had the opportunity to recreate the same style and look kitchen island.
The original kitchen was much smaller than the new open plan Kitchen / Family Room. Overall the size of the new island is over 8' long. There needed to be some reinforcement to hold this island up.
Click HERE to see the first Kitchen Remodel.

Scroll through below to see a few chandeliers similar to the oversized fixture used in this kitchen.
For the new home there were several changes and additions to the kitchen. Rather than wood tone for the island we selected a gray painted finish. The goal was to create a calm, tranquil tone on tone color story with accents of gray. Quartz was selected for the countertops. A surface that is easier to maintain than marble while still getting the look. A marble herring bone back splash adds just the right amount of pattern while keeping with the white tone on tone kitchen with gray accents.
An oversized chandelier hangs beautifully over the island and is a nice change from the average pendant.
Oversized counter stools made of rattan are the casual, textural element needed to complete the island. We placed a few more stools in the Family Room for extra seating when the entire family is together.
The wood floor throughout is a light colored, wide plank oak. Soft and beachy.

Kitchen Selections Below

What you can't see is the oh-so beautiful pantry off the kitchen. With tons of storage the pantry is a great place to hide all the must have stuff you don't want to see. The countertops in the pantry were done in a butcher block.

In the main guest bedroom a custom fabricated wing back style bed is upholstered in a soft blue oversized check. A traditional style bumped up a notch with modern fabrics and colors. The walls and trim were painted in calm shades of white. Under foot is a soft wool sisal area rug.

It really is fun to select and specify all the hardscape materials for a new home project. Even more fun and rewarding to see the outcome. The guest bedroom bath has a single vanity in a gray tone with marble floors. Sconces on each side of the vanity provide just the right amount of light.
Lighting Placement


Part of the selection process in a new build construction is custom lighting. Before the drywall is completed locating the wall sconces is a critical issue. We provide the contractor with detailed drawings giving them exact for each light. All of this takes place months in advance of actual installation.

This home was designed and built for an ever-growing family. With four children of their own and two grandchildren (and likely more on the way) each and every available space was utilized. A kid friendly bunk room was in the plans from the beginning. Nickel joint walls were added to the bunk wall. They are kid friendly and hide finger and footprints. Each bunk has an individual light and switch. Even the stairs can be used as operable drawers to hide any number of things.
Bunk Room Elevation
Lighting & Switch Locations

Planning and drawing the bunks.
There were eventually some changes made to the original drawing. The idea remained the same.

In between the second guest bedroom and the bunk room is a Jack-and-Jill bath. The cabinets were designed to look like double drawers but are in fact double doors. They are finished in a pale green with a light glaze. Marble penny tiles in blue, green and white are centered in the middle of the room and set off by white tile.
A quartzite countertop was specially chosen to coordinate with the other selections in the room.
Hardscape Selections

The photo above shows the slab when it was selected at the marble showroom.


A double queen guest bedroom shares the Jack-and-Jill bathroom.

Oh how I adore this white and gray Primary Bathroom
The original plans for the bathroom included two linen closets. A closet on each side of the vanity. But when I saw the opportunity, I changed the plan. Where tall towers sit above drawers would have been doors to closets. The towers provide ample storage while creating his and hers medicine cabinets.


In the reflection of the mirror you can see the tile detail on the shower walls.

Directly behind the double vanity is a free standing tub. A his and hers water closet on either side of the tub.

I have to say that this Library was a Labor of Love for me, and I am thrilled with how it turned out. The homeowners wanted a traditional Library but didn't want it to be dark, dated and old fashioned. This office was recently featured in a blog post here.
The concept for the room was to create a traditional, yet crisp white office.
But yet the office need to have wood.
My solution was to reverse the "traditional" wall panels and create a flat panel wood wall. Instead of a raised panel wood library we built a flat panel and added wood inserts. The wood inserts are stained in a color to coordinate with the light oak floors.
Although this is a very simple look, there was ALOT of planning that went into creating this room.
Office Elevation
& Lighting Placement


The Laundry Room is a light, fun room with a patterned gray and blue tile. It is located at the back of the house just off the garage. Such a fun room to walk by every day. I wouldn't have any problems doing laundry here.
You can find similar patterned tiles at local tile showrooms or even order from Home Depot
Click on any image below for more info and pricing

The outdoor patio is located just off the Family Room, adjacent to the pool. The chairs have been in the family for longer than I have known them. We originally used them in the kitchen of the last home. But they originally came from a home up north. The chairs have made the trip down to Florida, back up north and down again. See them HERE in the old Kitchens before photos. The patio is covered so there is nothing to worry about. The seats we covered in a performance fabric.
This new build John’s Island, Vero Beach home turned out to be a lovely, welcoming, and relaxing beach house that the owners’ children and grandchildren all want to live in.
P.S.
Entry Wood Floor Detail
I love the way the entry floor detail came out. I've posted about it before HERE. I went a bit off topic in that post, but if you've come this far I think you'll enjoy reading it.

Wood Floor Layout Plan
Below is the wood floor pattern layout.

Looking for more Home Decor? Check out some of my other shopping pages,
Beds - Nightstands - Coffee Tables - Chandeliers - Lamps -
Be sure to read all about a home designed by Jill Shevlin in this Luxe Magazine Article
Read an article by Jill HERE to get the Bedroom Look