The past couple of years have been an incredible adventure. In 2014, we visited Joshua Tree for the first time, and though that doesn’t seem so long ago, this magical place has changed so much for us since. We had never felt so drawn to a place before, and after a one night stay we knew we had to come back. The beauty of Joshua Tree, and the energy in the air had us completely in love. After buying the Joshua Tree House in 2015, we didn’t expect to come across another dream property so soon.
We had just been browsing real estate sites (it can become truly addictive), and saw a property that made us jump up. We contacted a real estate agent to go see it in person, and got the same feeling that the Joshua Tree House had given us. We’ve learned to trust our guts, and knew we couldn’t walk away from this place. The thought of never seeing it again was unbearable. And so, the Casita entered our lives.
We fell completely in love with the landscape. The views, the cacti gardens, and the silence of this place had us hooked. Though, the interior needed quite a bit of work. While it had character, it felt outdated. It was our goal to bring it into modern times while still holding onto its western charm.
One of our first projects was to knock down un-needed walls. This place at one point was just five bedrooms, so that meant when a kitchen was added it was built into a closet. Same goes for the living room… the couch was built into a closet. The flow was awkward and once we got rid of those walls the space completely transformed.
Our next step was to do away with the popcorn ceilings. A bit too 90’s for us, we felt this was also a great place to inject some character with tongue and groove ceilings. We spent many evenings staining and sanding those boards, but in the end it was our favorite addition to the Casita! (ps – If you’re wondering about sources everything is listed at the bottom of this post)
Above you can see more walls that we said goodbye to. Unsurprisingly, the space brightened considerably once we removed those extra walls, painted the walls and ceiling white, and replaced the fogged windows.
One of our favorite parts of designing the Casita was working with some of our favorite artists and designers to create custom work for the space. Above is a piece that Aleksandra Zee created for the bedroom, inspired by the desert.
This was a bigger project than we’ve ever taken on before, and the majority of the Spring and Summer we were covered in dust working on renovations. This included complete kitchen and bathroom renovations (something we had never done before). We learned a ton, and enjoyed the process, but were also so very ready for the Casita to be DONE.
Especially the bathroom!! It was by far the most drawn out project. Many days of drama were included: everything from the tile delivery truck getting stuck in the sand, to contractors staying late one night to help and leaving grout too long which then turned into many extra hours of scraping out excess grout. Whew… glad that’s over.
It turned out pretty though, huh? We wish this was our bathroom! The Before photo above is really more of an in progress shot, but you can still kind of see what we were working with.
This room was already one of our favorites with views out of the french doors looking out to the boulders. We removed the popcorn ceiling, painted the ceiling and walls, painted the concrete floors, and gave this room a slightly more masculine western mid century vibe.
We’ve had a lot of questions about where certain items are from, so we thought it would be fun to break it all down and share the details. Ready for a million links?
Living Room
Couch: West Elm
Coffee table: vintage by American of Martinsville
Swing: vintage (similar here)
Donkey Saddle stool: vintage (similar here)
Rug: Kelim Store
Lighting: Schoolhouse Electric
Framing: Framebridge
Moroccan pouf: Etsy
Record Player: Crosley
Round mirror: West Elm
Moon artwork: Stella Maria Baer
Ceiling fan: Bentley
Wall hanging: Blockshop Textiles
Dining Area
Dining table: vintage (similar)
Dining chairs: vintage (similar)
Bench: vintage/ recovered (similar)
Lighting: Urban Outfitters (similar)
Pillows on bench: Joybound Apparel
Kitchen
Cabinetry: Home Depot (customized in the store)
Countertop: Home Depot
Sink: Kohler
Faucet: Delta
Shelves: reclaimed wood (similar)
Shelf brackets: QuarterTwenty on Etsy
Leather cabinet pulls: Thirteen Eleven Olive on Etsy
Brass cabinet handles: Schoolhouse Electric
Dishes: Urban Outfitters and vintage
Framed artwork: Framebridge
Stove: vintage
Bathroom
Sink: Rejuvenation
Faucet: Kingston
Medicine Cabinet: Vintage (similar)
First Aid Kit: Schoolhouse Electric
Ceiling light fixture: Schoolhouse Electric
Wall sconce: Ind Lights on Etsy
Brass Towel ring: Pepe and Carols on Etsy
Brass Towel bars: Pepe and Carols on Etsy
Woven trash can: Urban Outfitters (similar)
Shelf: DIY
First Aid book: vintage (similar)
Shower head: Kohler
Tile: White Subway Tile
Tile: Black Hexagon Tile
Toilet: Kohler
King Bedroom
Tassel Duvet: Urban Outfitters
Moroccan lantern: Badia Design
Headboard: DIY
Plant shelf: DIY
Shelf brackets: Home Depot
Macrame window covering: Custom made for us by my Mom!
Wood artwork: Aleksandra Zee
Equipale chairs: Direct from Mexico
Cowhide rug: IKEA (similar)
Round Jute rug: Serena & Lily
Floor lamp: West Elm
Rug in closet: vintage
Stool in closet: vintage (similar)
Wood stump side tables: West Elm
Books: vintage
Patterned ceramic planter: bkb ceramics
Pink metal planter: Etrine
Joshua Tree photographs: Julia Kostreva
Framing: Framebridge
Cactus: Mariscal Cactus Nursery
Blankets: Tribe & True and vintage
Fan: Vornado
Fringe knit pillow: Urban Outfitters
Chunky knit pillow: Urban Outfitters
Fringed pillow: Lasso Abode
Queen Bedroom
Rug: vintage
Dresser: vintage by Real McCoy
Mud cloth blanket: Apprvl
Bed frame: Keetsa
Floating side tables: vintage (similar)
Fringed pillow: Lasso Abode
African mud cloth pillows: eBay (similar)
Sconces: Schoolhouse Electric
Spear: vintage (similar)
Clock: vintage (similar)
Hanging leather plant hanger: vintage (similar)
White planter: IKEA (similar)
Brass planters: vintage (similar)
Yoga artwork: Sara Combs
Chair: vintage/ recovered (similar)
Canteen: vintage (similar)
Elephant door stop: vintage
Ceiling Fan: Farmington
Sheepskin rugs: Cost Plus World Market
You can also check out our full interview on renovating the Casita with Domino Magazine here!
How inspiring!! Thank you for detailing exactly what goes into a renovation/makeover like this. Never been to Joshua Tree – but now I’m really curious! Love your taste and dedication to finishing it!
Hi! We are in search of cozy lounge chairs and yours are PERFECT! Of course, the one link I’m having a hard time finding. Any chance you can share where you got them? Thanks!