Looks great! We moved from a beachy area to Colorado a few months ago. I miss beach style decorating, I just can't warm up to mountain style. Too heavy and dark for me.

It looks beautiful Jules!

A tiny critique (don't get mad). The pictures would look so much more beachy Florida if instead of that big clock above the fireplace there was a tropical Florida or other painting. The clock is a bit distracting with the light loveliness of the rooms. Not a big deal though, your home shows well.

Just what I think of when I think of a beach house. Very nice.

Absolutely beautiful, I'm sure it will sell quick. Being a Northerner (Boston, MA) can I ask a really dumb question? What is the main purpose of a lanai? So many FL homes have them. Is it to keep bugs and critters out of the pool area? Can you still lay out by the pool and tan through it? Is there glass in all those panels? Many homes in this area have elaborate pools, but never a lanai. I'ts always intrigued me.

Your home is beautiful and looks ready to sell. Very beachy, clean and well coordinated. So much nicer than the staged home's in my area. Your realtor must be very happy. Good luck with your sale.

Lovely!! I love the twin bedroom, the coral is awesome.

The lanai is just screened in and keeps all sorts of critters out from geckos to bugs.

You can definitely lie out and tan and enjoy the breezes in a florida lanai, especially since unlike a screened porch a lot of the top is screen as well (at my inlaws' house they have a roofed over portion open to the screen portion).

I would love to have a lanai up north but I have to imagine snow load would be a problem on the screen.

Beautiful home, Jules. I too love the twin bedroom and love your use of the simply made beds in all the bedrooms.

You have a beautiful home - my good friends live in Vero :) I like the clock over the mantle and the look of the black against the light wall and I wouldn't change it. I live in Florida on the ocean and I don't have a beachy theme, just some nice light and soft colors and the pretty view out my window.

Thanks everyone.

The screen enclosure protects against insects and foliage, in this case mostly the foliage since we get a lot of dropped leaves that would otherwise need to be cleaned from the pool daily. Our new house won't have one since it's more open in the back with a water view and dock. They're not used in colder climates since snow and ice harm the screens. I very much appreciate their function, but I'm not a huge fan of the look to be honest.

We do have a very small lanai/veranda on this house, too, not pictured above (roofed, open-air living space ... lanai is the Hawaiian term often used in Florida). Here it is:

I love lanais/verandas. They allow you to be outside but out of the sun. I built our Lake Michigan home (primary residence) around an expansive veranda, and I'm having a lanai added to our new place in Vero because I've discovered that's where people gravitate. And we do say veranda in Michigan and lanai in Florida even though they're both open air, roofed living space. ;-)

Justerrilynn, funny you mention that because I had that clock on hand and figured I might as well use it somewhere in this house AFTER I paint it a light color. I even had a paint chip picked. Well, I never painted it, the clock got hung, I forgot all about that being on my to do list, and I never really paid attention again until now. Oops.

By the way, we've mostly rented this house out since we bought it six years ago and purchased it with that intent in mind — for it to be a rental property. Now that we're newly empty nesters and can stay away for longer stretches, we're not positive whether we'll rent the new place out.

Here are a couple "before" shots of the new project ... current state: 100% gutted:

Wow Jules that was an undertaking with all the Mexican tile. I actually like Mexican tile in some homes and put an easier to maintain fake Mexican tile in my last house. Your new renovations though are gorgeous! Have you gotten any offers yet? I bet you sell fast.

The house pictured at the top goes on the market May 1, so no takers yet.

To clarify in case I confused anyone, the "before" photos are of a different house we purchased that's now being renovated. I considered saving the Mexican tile but didn't based on a few factors. I'm so excited to decorate a new place! I'm going with less turquoise and orange, more cobalt and pinkish coral. And more shimmer.

Jules, really interesting about the lanai , thanks for answering. Yes, I don't think the screens here in the Northeast would handle snow at all, but it makes perfect sense there. What I would give to enjoy the sunny outdoors with those pesky mosquitoes! (or seasonal allergies!). FWIW, I rather like the clock. It's open and airy enough that I think it works. Although it's not 'beachy' I think it will appeal to buyers - all the home rennos on HGTV seems to always have a signature large clock. (especially fixer upper!)

"And we do say veranda in Michigan and lanai in Florida even though they're both open air, roofed living space. ;-)"

LOL, Jules, I believe only people from up north say lanai in Florida. :) I'm a Florida native and never heard lanai until I went to college and met people not originally from Florida!

Donna

Ha. What do you call it then, msmeow? I'm so interested.

My architect in Florida told me that he "stated porch instead of lanai on the plan to save 20% from the contractors." Funny.

Pretty house! Good luck with your sale. Did you own it as an investment? Did those numbers pan out? It seems so much FL property is rented out. I wonder if we should buy sooner than later and rent it out; Vero Beach seems underpriced to me so one wonders if waiting is wise.

I also wondered about the prevalance of the screens. In photos they really loom, but maybe it is like a fence; IRL it sort of disappears? Are they totally necessary? Do they come in different styles?

Beautiful and beachy! Good luck with the sale and with the new renos!

Lovely! It will be snatched up in no time.

Thanks again for the nice comments.

Yes, Mtn, we purchased it as a usable investment. We bought at the low point and made several improvements, so we should do pretty well on the gain, and overall our rental properties have been extremely beneficial in a number of ways. Indian River County is growing and is currently priced very reasonably, so my feeling is fairly-priced real estate investments in the 32963 zip code are probably good ones. There's also an incredibly high demand for nice rental properties. We've been fortunate with perennial renters who've taken great care of our home.

Jules, we called it a porch. Or deck, if it's around the pool.

D

LOL, Jules, I believe only people from up north say lanai in Florida. :) I'm a Florida native and never heard lanai until I went to college and met people not originally from Florida!

Likewise, msmeow. I grew up in Miami and I never heard that term till midwesterners who'd watched Golden Girls started moving down to the west coast of FL. We called it a screened-in patio or porch. But when I hear lanai I know even now that I'm talking to a furriner. :)

ETA Those folks also brought that bizarro idea of FL decor with them. I can still remember how completely baffled everyone I know was when we first saw Golden Girls at their idea of what houses in FL looked like inside.

Mtn - my inlaws have a dark bronze one (pool cage? Is that what people in FL call it?) and it disappears a lot more. I really don't notice it except to be glad when the geckos and squirrels are crawling all over the outside. The critter situation away from the ocean is such that they're a godsend. Right on the ocean ... maybe 50/50 having them or not? Not sure!

You can also pay to have fewer supports

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBf8jLqAPts

This is an interesting way to do it - columns and a pergola-like top.

Yes, you want a pool cage if you can do it, mtn. This part of FL is called the Treasure Coast today, but it used to be called the Mosquito Coast. Prior to the houses of refuge shipwrecked sailors would bury themselves in the sand to be able to get some sleep on the beaches. Personally I don't find the mosquitos nearly as annoying as the no-see-'ums, but there is still definitely the Hour of the Insect here in the evenings, although it's not that bad in the winter when there's some cooler weather.

BTW, no insurance co will cover a pool cage anymore, so you need to consider possible replacement cost (after a storm) in your expenses.

Robo, Yes, I saw many houses with these structures in my online results, but also quite a few that went commando. I know from fencing that black disappears more than white. I did also see one or two styled like yours above, which is quite nice.

Writers - good to know.

I would bet a whole big bunch of money that robo's photo is not from south/central coastal FL. Those pergola beams would be shedding splinters into the pool in a year.

ETA Forgot to mention that regular screening doesn't keep the no-see-'ums out. There is special finer mesh for that, but it does make things darker.

Writer, I didn't know that about the Treasure Coast. I'm in Northern P.B.County and not a lot of skeeters here unless you go west a bit. I wish my screened in pool structure would blow away in a storm. I have to go out there with a long handle duster or broom several times a week to de-spider web the whole area. It's a pain. My husband loves pool screening.

WB, I know I did see something similar in one or two FL homes, but no idea what the material was; cold they be concrete and stucco?

Anyway, having just read some long posts about No-see-ums, I am hoping they will be less populous when we go, but also rethinking whether we want to be oceanfront so that we have less of an issue. Insects worship me, I am highly desireable in their culture apparently.

ETA?

I wish my screened in pool structure would blow away in a storm.

Why? The way it looks, or? My DH used to clean our pool every day with gusto when we had an outdoor pool in our primary house. Now we have an indoor one here and the outdoor one at our beachhouse is maintained by the pool co because we arent there to do it. But he loved cleaning the pool (it was purposely sandwiched in by me among very large mature trees that took turns shedding leaves, pods, seeds, needles, pedals, etc.)

Jules, Sorry for hijack!

WB -- this is a FL co

Mtn, I'm just not keen on them. My husband rarely goes in the pool. I swim and use it at least three or four times a week from April to Sept or October (non heated). I love the openness and open sky when I swim and particularly enjoy it at night with the stars. We have had open pools in the past. However, if I lived further from the ocean and a few miles west night swimming would not be fun with no pool screening due to bugs.

Writersblock, you're right about the Golden Girls! Probably filmed in California :).

I'm in the Orlando area and nearly every pool has a screen enclosure. So many that when I see a pool without one it looks weird and kind of naked.

Donna

I know I did see something similar in one or two FL homes, but no idea what the material was; cold they be concrete and stucco?

Yes, the one in your photo is probably a masonite (yes) or plywood frame with stucco on it. Concrete is possible but highly unlikely unless it's a DIY.

"LOL, Jules, I believe only people from up north say lanai in Florida. :) I'm a Florida native and never heard lanai until I went to college and met people not originally from Florida!"

This is completely true--NOBODY ever calls a patio a lanai down here! As for the screens, people from other places might think how nice it would be to go without....until they spend a summer down here swatting and scratching all those mosquito and no-see-um bites.

So it's called a patio, porch or deck by true Floridians ... got it. These are some descriptions I've read online:

http://florida.ssimms.com/2012/02/08/patio-porch-lanai-veranda-whats-the-difference/

https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-difference-between-a-lanai-a-patio-a-porch-and-a-veranda

http://www.homedit.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-porch-balcony-verandapatio-and-deck/

What is Golden Girls decor? I only saw a couple episodes years ago and can't remember what that style might entail.

What is Golden Girls decor?

I should maybe have mentioned that our pool on Sanibel was open. But we were okay with always calling to have alligators, otters, etc removed from the pool and I didn't mind the friendly black snake that lived under the pool deck and used to come out to watch me do laps. I did mind like anything the millions of ugly brown frogs that would periodically spawn in the overflow, though. Ugh.

Pretty house, looks great!

Cage. We call the covered (with a solid roof) part of our pool our Lanai. The screened area is called a cage. Necessary here in Central Florida if you have trees and hate bugs.

Writers block, I imagine the top was just metal beams arranged in a pergola-like manner.