I love a good home tour—and you guys apparently do as well. This Seattle home tour from several years ago (it actually went for sale back in March or so) and this roundup of five more well-designed Seattle homes are some of my most viewed and most commented on blog posts. And I don't blame you guys! Browsing the Internet for home inspiration and daydreaming about beautiful properties I wish I lived in is a frequent pastime of mine. I currently have over 5,000 pins on my home-based Pinterest board alone.
So here we go again! I scoured the Internet high and low for the dreamiest, most inspirational, and most thoughtfully designed home to bring to you guys and I've found it—the Blue Lagoon Build by Kyal and Kara Demmerich. It was originally featured in a variety of articles on Homes To Love and is well-documented on the couple's YouTube channel. Be sure to give the videos a watch if you love home renovations and reveals, the production quality is phenomenal.
Ready to get started? Sit back and continue scrolling for an epic photo dump full of magazine-worthy vignettes and show-stopping architectural statements. This is a home tour you won't want to miss.
The Blue Lagoon Build
About the Owners
Kyal and Kara Demmerich's claim to fame came in 2014 when they competed on Season 8 of an Australian reality competition show called The Block. I've never seen the show, but the overall premise is that four or five couples compete in a 12-week challenge to renovate an apartment block or row of houses. There are intermittent room-specific challenges throughout, but in the end, the goal is to auction off the renovated property for the highest price. Couples get to keep the profits from the auction and the couple who makes the greatest profit claims an additional $100,000 prize.
It sounds like a show I'd be down to watch, to be honest.
Kyal and Kara finished 3rd out of four couples on The Block, but they walked away with over $560,000 in winnings that allowed them to buy the Bateau Bay Shack property in New South Wales. Due to extensive mold damage and asbestos, the couple decided that the best option was to demolish the shack and build their dream home completely from scratch.
The resulting property is a stunning L-shaped house with a central garden, a pool, and a detached guest studio in a style that Kara describes as "Australian coastal meets Meditteranean villa." Once the actual renovation work began in 2019, the couple lovingly renamed the project the Blue Lagoon Build. Not only does it look like a luxury Mediterranean resort, but it also brings in elements of whimsy and fun for their two children such as an awesome custom bunk bed and a mezzanine-level play area above their rumpus room complete with a suspended rope trampoline. (From what I can gather, a "rumpus" room is kind of just a playroom or family room.)
The house is, quite simply, amazing from top to bottom.
Exterior & Pool
The exterior of the home is where both the Mediterranean and coastal vibes are incredibly strong. There are so many textural elements here that really drive the look home, including the stunning blue mosaic tiles in the pool ("Moss Splash" by Beaumont Tiles), mature Livistona australis palm trees, smooth sandstone ground tiles, and the more raw-looking sandstone accent walls.
The crisp white James Hardie Linea weatherboards make the house look bright and beachy, while the Mitre 10 Blackbutt feature wallboards and curved building edges really elevate the look of the home and provide contrast and visual interest without being too busy or cluttered. In the back yard, the clear fence around the pool is perfectly unobtrusive and simple, serving to protect small children from accidental pool mishaps while making sure to not disrupt the visual flow and balance of the courtyard.
I would LOVE to spend my days laying around this pool, comfortable and carefree in my own little backyard oasis.
The main house also features an accordion sliding door that can be thrown wide open in order to allow plenty of fresh air and a seamless flow between the inside and outside of the house. Imagine how wonderful entertaining would be at this house, with people moving about from the kitchen to the yard to the pool. Now that would be a dream!
Main Living & Kitchen
This kitchen is one of my favorite areas in the house. The custom oak cabinetry and joinery by Jasper Design Group and Loughlin Furniture create the ultimate "bespoke" look, a word that comes up frequently when describing this home. This kitchen has ample storage space for hiding away all your cooking gadgets, cookware, and dinnerware, something most kitchens don't have enough of in my opinion. The icing on the cake is the large slab of Cosentino Dekton Taga stone that makes up the countertop of the center island. It is 100m thick and perhaps one of the most beautiful pieces of stone I have ever laid eyes on. I could kiss this countertop it's so pretty, but I probably don't deserve to. Oak and leather bar stools from GlobeWest finish off the look and tie everything together.
Just like on the outside, the inside also features sandstone accent walls. While time-consuming to assemble, the effect is a harmonious marriage of elements that work both outside and inside the house. It's a beautiful sandy pink-orange color and provides just the right amount of texture and color to contrast the exposed white ceiling beams and crisp white walls.
And then there's the spiral staircase. Your eye can't help but be drawn to it. I could never in a million years picture myself pulling off a feat of architectural beauty such as this one, but Kyal and Kara make it work in this space. The pair clearly aren't afraid to take risks and be bold with their designs. This limewash staircase, a mirror of the one outside near the pool, is the perfect example of a design risk that paid off (and actually saved the couple a bit of square footage in the process).
Laundry, Mud Room, & Main Bathroom
The mudroom and laundry room definitely strikes me as a little bit different than the rest of the home, but not in a bad way. The room still continues the clean white beach house look while adding in some interesting and colorful tile not found anywhere else. The floor tiles are Serie Loft Tawny Satin by Beaumont Tiles and the green-gray backsplash above the washer and dryer is comprised of Devonshire Seamist Gris Structured Gloss tiles, also from Beaumont Tiles.
Overall, the space, which is located near the entry of the house, is equally beautiful and functional (which was the goal, according to Kara). There is a bench to sit down and take off your shoes and ample storage for dropping off bags, coats, hats, and any other miscellaneous items. The washer and dryer are closeby so that damp and dirty clothes can instantly be tossed into the laundry. The cabinet pulls in the laundry room are also the same as the ones in the kitchen, serving to keep certain elements consistent throughout the whole house.
The main bathroom is another interesting area of the house. A lot of clever design decisions were made in this room, including using larger-sized stone tiles to reduce the number of unsightly grout lines and building a curved tiled feature wall behind the tub that serves the dual purposes of hiding the bath plumbing and echoing the textures, curves, and colors found in the rest of the house. Likewise, the custom oak vanity by Loughlin Furniture resembles the custom work done in the kitchen to provide a nice unified home.
I absolutely adore the amount of natural light this room receives, something I've never had in any of my past bathrooms. It's always either a dark, windowless room, making it difficult to have any sort of house plant moment in my bathroom, or has a teeny tiny little window (at which point, why bother?). Here, the couple opted for something called a louvre window, which is basically a horizontal slat system that can be adjusted to maximize airflow and sunlight. Just look at the picture above—the thing is literally a floor to ceiling window. I'm completely jealous.
"Rumpus" & Children's Rooms
As mentioned earlier, a rumpus room is basically an Aussie term for a playroom or a family room (I definitely had to Google that one). Compared to the formal living room, this room definitely has more soft surfaces and casual furniture and decor. The plush fabric sofa looks perfect for playing and snuggling on, while the abundant cushions provide nice pops of pink, blue, and orange that subtly liven up the space without overwhelming the home's overall soft and neutral Mediterranean theme.
The real highlight of this room, however, is the net suspended over the couch that is accessible via a ladder to the mezzanine loft. I'm a grown-ass adult and I want to roll around on it! I have no idea how Kyal and Kara even thought of this feature, but it's hands down one of the coolest and most whimsical little elements in the house. It's such a creative use of the home's soaring ceilings.
This custom-built bunk bed located upstairs is another really cool touch, although I would have moved the bed away from the wall just a little bit more so that there was a bit more space to use the ladder. The bed itself uses Taubman's Endure paint in the color Charcoal Grey, although it definitely looks a bit more green than gray both online and in photos.
Main Bedroom & Ensuite
One of the most interesting pieces of furniture in this house is actually the four-poster bed. The wood used to build it was salvaged from the remains of the original shack that was demolished to make room for the new structure. It's a perfect way to preserve some of the history from the original property and provides a more mature and foresty look than the rest of the house.
In addition to having a main bathroom and powder room, the home also has a private ensuite bathroom and humongous closet located off of the main bedroom. To say that I'm jealous doesn't even come close to capturing my feelings.
Not only is the walk-in wardrobe huge, with plenty of storage and space for getting ready, but the bathroom also looks like a luxury spa right in your own bedroom. It's beautiful and uses many of the same elements (large stone tiles, custom oak vanity) as the separate main bathroom. If the yard is an outdoor oasis, then this ensuite would definitely be the home's indoor oasis. Because having options is the key to happiness.
Guest House & Studio
Finally, there's the guest house. This space is perhaps one of the most multi-functional areas of the property, serving as a home studio, a guest bedroom for visiting friends and family, a vacation rental (I would definitely like to stay here), and a space to potentially put up aging parents. This space can do it all!
It uses many of the same materials and elements as the rest of the house with the exception of the gray herringbone floors and gray wall paint on the lower 1/3 of the wall in the main living area. In total, it is about 40 square meters—or 430 square feet—which is ample space to put someone up in. Additionally, design choices like high ceiling and bright natural light make the studio feel even larger. And if you still want a bit more room? The sliding doors recess completely into the wall, opening up the main room to the connected patio where you can enjoy the sunshine.
Further Reading
Want to know more about the Blue Lagoon Build (building materials, paint colors, tiles, decor sources, etc.)? Start here!
- Kyal and Kara's bespoke Mediterranean-meets-coastal style home
- Kyal and Kara create a rumpus room the whole family can enjoy
- Kyal and Kara's master suite is every parent's dream
- Kyal and Kara create the ultimate guest house in their own back yard
- Kyal and Kara's Mediterranean-meets-coastal garden and pool
- Kyal and Kara reveal their laundry, powder room, and bathroom