This Family’s Beach Bungalow Is a Real-Life Rainbow Dream with Tons of DIY Solutions

Location: Hollywood, Florida

Size: 890-square-feet

We’re in the midst of a beautiful, blazing summer, and no home screams summer more joyfully than Ashley Wilson’s two-bedroom Pink Palm Hideaway on the Florida coast. Wilson is a full-time blogger who runs the home DIY site At Home with Ashley, where she takes readers through her many projects in her Florida beach house, as well as her Utah home, where the family of three lives the majority of the year. When they aren’t snowbirding in Florida, the Pink Palm Hideaway gets rented out to some very appreciative Airbnb guests. 

Meanwhile, the family enjoys everything the beach has to offer during those precious winter months in Florida. The house is a 15-minute bike ride from the beach, and Wilson says, “We build sand castles, play in the water, and collect seashells — then we people watch, have tacos … ”

Wilson makes the most of her space, relishing all the little joys it has to offer. “Because the house is smaller, my life is simpler,” she says. “I don’t feel like stuff is holding me down. I have more time to live. And you get to be more intentional about the spaces.” Each room feels like it has its own unique personality, while tying together the elements that Wilson embraces: bright colors, a vintage-meets-modern aesthetic, and personal details galore. 

It was important for the family to honor their location by bringing in elements of the Florida landscape and history: pastel colors, palm tree motifs, chinoiserie, and plenty of parrots. She calls her look “girly glam,” and leans into bright colors and whimsical details.

Another standout feature? The natural light. Wilson says, “[When I’m in Utah,] I miss that house, because you can open the windows and hear the palm trees. The outside works with the inside, in a soothing way.” That mix of indoor/outdoor living feels fully integrated, from the wallpaper down to the house plants sprinkled around the home.

Wilson is a master of marrying color with patterns without overwhelming her spaces. She advises starting small. “Paint a wall white first; that’s not scary. Then play with the art and pillows.” Her favorite sources for colorful home goods are thrift stores, Ebay, Target, and Etsy. Another way Wilson incorporates colors is through wallpaper. Favorite wallpaper sources include Milton and King and, our personal favorite, Anewall. She installs her own, although she laughs, “I get really stressed! No one can be around me when I’m doing it.”

Her favorite rooms in the home are the main bedroom and the kitchen, both of which were “total redos, besides the floors.” Wilson didn’t change the footprint of the kitchen, although she initially wanted a more open floor plan. But it turns out, she loves the way the kitchen feels cozy and separate from the other living spaces — and it saved a lot of money. Accessibility in her DIY projects is important to Wilson, and she’s frank about budget. “One of my core beliefs is that almost anyone can afford their dream house, with some elbow grease, creativity, and time,” she insists. “Every bit makes a difference, even if it’s not always a huge before and after.”

Having gone through a lot of home renovations, both minor and major, Wilson is an expert. For others undergoing renovations, she advises, “Have a space where you can unwind at the end of the day. I never let my living room get covered in stuff, so I could sit and watch a show after everything was done. Also, set up a good secondary space where you can transfer things while you’re working. And lastly, only do one space at a time. Totally wrap something up before you start a new project.” 

Six-year-old Don barely bats an eye at the activity around him. When he was younger, he helped paint spaces, although now he’s more interested in playing in his dinosaur room while Wilson works. However, Don definitely knows what he’s talking about when it comes to design. “He’s really skilled at the language of it. He notices things, and it’s a joy for me to talk to him about home design.” He had full say when it came to the choices in his own room, down to the beloved turquoise quilt (they now have one for each home!). 

When the family moved in, the first priority was Don’s dinosaur room. “It was key for him to always have a calm place to play,” Wilson says. They started with the wallpaper in the room, then built the theme around dinosaurs. Each of the rainbow shelves holds plastic dinosaurs that get taken down frequently for playtime. Don even helped pick out those thrifted and painted nightstands. “It’s a collaboration between the two of us,” Wilson says.

The family spends much of their time hanging out in the family room, watching movies. In this room, Wilson paired floral window treatments from Walmart with a subtle trelliage treatment on the walls, bringing in just a touch of vintage French influence. That sense of texture and surprise is a perfect encapsulation of why Wilson’s home feels so delightful — almost like a storybook that reveals a new chapter with each room.

The back patio also gets a special treatment with a rainbow wall and plenty of areas for hosting. As the pandemic eases, Wilson imagines many more opportunities to get friends together. “We’ll definitely slow down,” she says. 

Speaking of the pandemic: The Wilsons bought their Hollywood home in January of 2020, and barely settled in before the world flipped on its head. To encourage community, Wilson and Don built a free book library in front of their home, painting it, of course, a matching pink. Wilson recalls, “We first ‘opened’ it in March of 2020. People would visit the library and we’d talk to them from the porch. It helped us get to know our neighbors and give back during a hard time.” 

The Pink Palm Hideaway is doubtless an important and unique fixture in the neighborhood. When asked why she chose to give it a name, she offers a practical and emotional reason: “It’s been proven that homes with names sell more, and it helps give an identity to the Airbnb rental.” More importantly than that, the name almost establishes the house as another member of the family. “We talk about how we get to go visit the Pink Palm Hideaway,” she says. You can almost hear the smile in her voice. “I miss it when we’re away from it!”

One of the pros and cons of being a home design blogger is that your job is your home — and vice versa. Wilson keeps a running list of improvements on her phone, laughing as she tells me that the most embarrassing projects get prioritized first. Next up: a bathroom that has gotten renovated once, but needs another pass. “It’s not perfect yet,” she tells us.

Being an Airbnb host might not be for everyone, but for Wilson, it’s a way for the family to afford the dual-home lifestyle and to provide a service to the Hollywood community she loves. The home is usually booked up, and as one can imagine, it’s a source of delight for guests. 

“One girl called it her Anthropologie dreams come to life,” Wilson laughs. “That’s the best, because I love Anthro!” She describes seeing families jump up and down in excitement when they first see the place. But the biggest compliment she’s ever received was from a guest who said that the Pink Palm Hideaway felt like “a healing house.” The guest recently lost a family member, and took refuge in Wilson’s rental to find solace.

Wilson knows the power of a serene space. She shares, “I can struggle with depression and part of what I do to help my mental health is to decorate happy places. What you put around you can affect what’s inside of you. So why not surround yourself with the happiest things?” 

It’s not exactly easy to move your family across the country every few months, but it’s well worth it for Wilson. Don gets to experience the many perks of Florida life (hello, Disney World!), while also spending tons of time with his grandparents in Utah. He gets two sets of friends and two amazing rooms to call his own.

Don starts kindergarten this year, so the family’s routine will likely change. Perhaps the stay in Florida won’t be so long or languid. But they’ll still soak up the sunshine, from the creativity of the dino room all the way to the gorgeous sprawl of Florida beaches. 

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. 

Thank you so much, Ashley and family! Follow Ashley on Instagram and visit her blog, At Home with Ashley.

Send us an email with a link to your space to editors@cubbyathome.com. Can’t wait to see!