January Updates: The Seaview Suite Renovation!
Hi there!
As we waved goodbye to last year, little did we know we were about to embark on a DIY adventure in our Seaview Suite. Picture this: a 3-week gap between bookings looked like the perfect moment for a teeny-tiny touch-up. A dash of paint on the walls, a snazzy new double bed in the bedroom, aircon cleaning, and voilà we are ready for the season! – or so we thought!
But oh, how the tides turned! What began as a simple brushstroke escalated into a full-blown apartment makeover! Patrick and I, armed with dreams (and perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm), dove headfirst into the deep end of renovation!
Are you ready for the before-and-after journey that took us on a rollercoaster ride of sleepless nights, a few setbacks, lots of sweat, and a sacrifice to the Renovation Gods to get this apartment done just in time for the arrival of our next guests from Spain?
From Basic to Cozy: The Seaview Suite Transformation 🛠️✨
It all started just one week before our longer-term guests had to check out, on the 11th of January. I went shopping at a furniture shop in Larnaca and found a bargain on some big textured paintings. I just imagined they would look great in the first bedroom of the Seaview Suite, and if I could frame them with wood paneling they would look even more awesome. So I bought the paintings. Here is one of them, the other is very similar.
So, naturally, I proceeded to the other furniture and DIY shop close by, to get the tools and things for the paneling. But I couldn’t find the right wood size or MDF boards, I got distracted as always and got some decorative 50x50cm foam boards instead.
Long story short: the pictures never saw the wall in the bedroom because I decided to do wall paneling on the whole wall instead. And decided I would use the paintings in our 4th apartment which is in the buying process. And the foam boards ended up being my first “art piece” in the corridor of the apartment where the wall was always empty.
When Patrick came to the apartment to see what I was doing he said it would be nice if we had wood-looking floors in the bedrooms! And we should find out if it’s possible and check out some prices. And just like that, we’re off on a quest to Leroy Merlin, returning full of treasures – PVC wood floors, foliage wallpaper, empty picture frames, new curtain rods, and more tools!
But wait, of course, there’s a twist! We started taking out the tile skirtings in both bedrooms, only to realize that we are in Ayia Napa, where the buildings are old, and most of the electricity systems have quirky wiring. Each room has just one main power socket from where they usually extend more sockets to other corners of the room on the outside of the wall through plastic channels. So we called in the electrician to dig holes in the walls and rewire everything!
Now we had to close and patch up the fresh holes and we decided to plaster the rooms because the walls don’t have the same smooth texture everywhere. The previous owners just patched and repainted the walls over many, and I mean MANY times over the years! And we could not lay down the floor until we plastered and painted the walls. But first, before we plaster the walls we have to sand them! And let me tell you, Patrick and Jordan turned into the most adorable snowmen after they sanded the bedrooms! Now we are just sanding, plastering, and painting our way through a maze of DIY dilemmas!
So we plastered the rooms, it took two coats of plaster material per room and two days each to dry! At this stage, the whole apartment was a mess and we had a little over one week to receive the next guests!
In the meantime, I chose a new color for the walls, which is called “Sugar Dust”. A white that gives a more cozy feeling than the “hospital white” the walls were painted in before. And I got new curtain fabric and had them cut to size. The picture below is taken in the night, but the curtains are made from a textured dark green blackout material, to give our guests an ideal sleep.
The next stage was not just painting the walls and laying down the floors. We also had to create my “Ayia Napa Guide” wall gallery, fit a new mirror cabinet in the bathroom, change the ceiling lights in the bedrooms and the bathroom, build a new bed, chest of drawers, dining table, and chairs, put the wallpaper in the second bedroom, and decorate the whole apartment!
After laying down the wooden-looking PVC floors, we realized we had to cut from the bottom of the doors because we couldn’t close them anymore, even though there was already a gap between the floor in the hallway and the bedrooms! Luckily, we already acquired all the wood-cutting tools you can imagine!
The Finishing Touches: A Blend of Handcrafted Harmony ☕🌱
When all the “construction work” was done it was time for my decoration ideas to come to life! And so I made my art gallery wall and then stained all the wooden frames and built two small floating shelves in the kitchen to be decorated.
I also did the same shelves in the second bedroom. We hang plants from the ceiling in handmade fabric holders above the nightstands in the bedrooms. I sanded and stained the wood ceiling lights and the bedside wooden lamps in the same color. Also, we added a wooden beam as a TV console in the first bedroom, stained in the same color as all the other wood in the apartment, and hung a 58″ TV on the wall!
This was a time when we would work until 5-6 am, go home, sleep 4-5 hours, and come back to the apartment! But hey, three weeks later, we’ve turned the dusty chaos into a cozy oasis with new wood-looking floors, refreshing green plants, and walls so sugar-white they’re practically sweet!
Fast forward through sleep-deprived nights and relentless determination, and voila! The Seaview Suite emerged from the dust, transformed into a sanctuary of style, comfort, and a sprinkle of DIY magic. We got it ready just in time to welcome our next guests into pure serenity!
Here are the results:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Now it’s time to present to you my art gallery wall! You can use it as a guidebook to Ayia Napa! It features everything from the best place to see in town, to the top restaurants and bars, and also our house rules, check-out details, and a few pictures from around the resort!
We also added a small “Coffee bar” for those serene morning moments! Now you can enjoy an ideal cup of coffee with our complementary coffee pods! The coffee machine fits all-sized capsules and also coffee grounds!
We hope you liked our renovation journey! Now it’s time for you to embark on an unforgettable Airbnb getaway at our newly renovated Tanas Seaview Suite! ✨
Stay in style in our suite where every detail is a testament to our commitment to providing a Home away from home to all our guests! ❤️
Stay tuned, because our adventure continues! The balcony and roof garden are up next, and we’re just getting started! 🪄
