Since relocating from Australia to Thailand at the start of the year, my partner and I have been searching for the perfect place to call home …
In the hills of Koh Tao, we found a bungalow that costs less per day than a Venti Caramel Frappuccino. The bunglaow features one bedroom, a small kitchen and bathroom, two balconies, and a spectacularly uninspiring interior.
But HOLY SHIT LOOK AT THE VIEW:
Featuring veneer panelling, fluorescent lights, and a generous layer of gecko droppings, this one was a fixer-upper. We decided to live our a home improvement fantasy and give it a makeover.
One toenail was broken during the process.
And now, the hard work is over.
I give you …
The Makeover
Before
After
Our most indulgent item: the Italian bedspread. I have fallen in love with Granfoulard and they’re not even paying me to say that! (Dear Granfoulard: Please note, I do accept payment in bedspreads.)
With the help of a little Pinterest inspiration, we sourced furnishings in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Vietnam. We zigzagged through the Mecca of Bangkok in hot pink taxis, hunting down markets and haggling with stall owners down to the last crumpled baht.
Two bowls. Two wine glasses. Two plates. One saucepan. One fry pan. Absolute simplicity.
The linen curtains are dreamy. They flutter with the sea breeze and give us privacy at night, but when we wake up in the morning, we can still see a shock of blue ocean through the sheer fabric.
The tanning deck.
The yoga deck.
The office.
The view is terribly distracting. Joy = 10. Productivity = 0.
Ivan at work in his PJs.
Pretty, shiny, lovely things.
Mango, coffee, beer.
Home sweet home.
Torre DeRoche is the author of two travel memoirs, Love with a Chance of Drowning (2013) and The Worrier’s Guide to the End of the World (due out September 2017). She has written for The Atlantic, The Guardian Travel, The Sydney Morning Herald, Emirates, and two Lonely Planet anthologies.
88 Response Comments
This is absolutely amazing! What a transformation. Gorgeous photography too 🙂
It’s a tough life but someone has to do it!
Mad skills! I can’t believe renting this bungalow costs less than $5/day. What an awesome view in the morning for yoga!
WOW!!!! It looks amazing! I am so jealous of the yoga deck. It looks like you both have a very peaceful home and workplace!
Beautiful! I love it. Those semi-transparant curtains are a touch of genius. Please can I live there when you’re away?! 😉
I absolutely love this post – and that is my dream bungalow, send a note when you are moving out please. 🙂
I hope that big toe is all healed up… no more dead gecko shots please. Molly
🙂
Torre! My heart is all aflutter for the beauty of your project. Well done, lady. (And Ivan, too.) Good gosh, it’s gorgeous. And that bedspread…just lovely.
Terri, your bungalow looks AMAZING! You two did a great job on the transformation, it’s gorgeous 🙂 I especially love the mosquito net around the bed, even more than practical reasons it looks dreamy.
I wanna cry. I absolutely love everything. I love that wooden pot hanging by string. Is that the lady you wouldn’t part with? 🙂 I’m so happy you were able to make it go from drab to fab. I love the simplicity. Love it, love it, love it.
Wow, you did an amazing job! Can we take over when you move out? 🙂 Love the photo collage at the bottom of the post, btw!
I love it! Well done. The transformation is amazing. Some great shopping there. The naked lady definitely finishes it off nicely! Yay for beautiful thai apartment! Enjoy xx
Love all of this! Absolutely gorgeous decorating, and beautiful photos! Missing Thailand all of a sudden 🙂
Scrumptious!
Little home away from home! Looks beautiful, I can feel that breeze now.
Gorgeous photos, that looks like fun. I’m residing over here in Bangkok with the concrete. Enjoy your time there. Cheers, e
This makeover is so perfectly awesome. I would have taken it as is for $5 a night, but now it really looks like a home. With the best view (and decks to enjoy them from) ever. I’m a wee-bit obsessed.
Wonderful makeover guys, well done! I can imagine it would have been quite the adventure getting all that stuff there, but definitely worth it for the tropical retreat you have created! I like your style 🙂
As per usual – a professional job. Wouldn’t expect anything less! Looks fantastic.
Love the styling and close us pics.
WOW what a success! looks AMAAAZING. Really really impressed. Definitely worth the hard work you guys put in!
You guys are so happy there I can’t imagine this has been anything other than a labor of love. It’s going to be hard to leave it!!! Maybe sublet until you return?? It is BEAUTIFUL!!! XXX
So beautiful and homey! Love the photos as well, they really inspire some wanderlust!
Wow fantastic make over! I miss Thailand already…
I’ve just started following your blog, but I just had to congratulate you on a STUNNING makeover! Absolutely gorgeous. Your own little slice of paradise 🙂
Absolute perfection!!!!! You have created an oasis for the 2 of you. Bravo!
Only 2 wine glasses? That’s okay. I’ll just drink out of the bottle when I come to visit. 🙂
This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen.
Lovely. It must be so rewarding to have created something like that out of nothing. I am totally jealous. Hope your enjoyment is equal to (no, more than) all the hard work!
NO WAY! I want to move in. That is UNREAL! How much did the makeover cost? I’m dying over here.
Um, wow. I want to go to there. I’ve just stumbled across your blog and I think I’m going to have to read back through all your other posts, then try to convince my husband that we should move to Thailand. What an amazing transformation, and an amazing livestyle!
Wow!! It looks amazing! Can I steal it from you? Haha. I love the way that everything is so simple but makes such a difference. You’ve got my inner decorator busting to get out, damn it!
Wow, wow, wow! I am so incredibly impressed by this. So, so inspiring! Congratulations, your home is completely gorgeous. I’ll remind you now that I think I made first dibs on moving in next 😉
WOW can you be my real estate agent next time my wife and i are looking for accommadation in thailand! $5!! How did you get on to this place? I need to know your secret pretty please. Until you let me know i will just have to be jeleous and in awe of your achievement.Well done guys( bastards) sorry its just my aussie sense of humor.
Wow is all I can think of to say! I’ve been so looking forward to seeing the “after” photos and it really does look incredible. Great job guys 🙂
Great apartment and even better makeover. Thanks for sharing the before and after pics.
You shouldn’t have posted this because now we all have to hate you, it looks gorgeous!
You did a beautiful job.
Beautiful! You did an amazing job decorating. I love how cheaply you are staying in your new home, and I love how you’ve given it personality!
Wow! This place is stunning! Randy and I have wanted to stay in Thailand for so long now and this is exactly why. Absolutely gorgeous photos too Torre!
Wow, this is just amazing – you guys have done an incredible job! And your office… don’t even get me started. I’m in awe 🙂
Wowo – love love love this! Just about the right level of comfort I’d need to live long term somewhere. Enjoy it!
Makes me want to jump on a plane right this instant!
Beautiful make over. Makes me want to come and work in your bungalow…
WOW! what a makeover! That’s impressive. It looks like your own little paradise, congratulations!
I will start by saying my heart hurts this morning catching up on your posts — I’m back home after a year based in Koh Tao and your photos are filling me with nostalgia and a weird homesickness.
Secondly, I really regret never taking the time to set up a “home” like you did here! I bounced from shitty bungalow to shitty bungalow and never took the time to do something amazing like this. I wish I had! Kudos!
So where is Ivan doing his diving? Let me know if you need any recs for anything… I’ve been on and off the island for years now…
Hi Alex. Perhaps you need to come back to help with that homesickness. 😉
Ivan has just finished his IDC with Sunshine in Chalok. He’s now looking for work. Who were you diving with? I’ve gone through your blog to read as many diving articles as I could find. Your photos are amazing.
Ah, Chalok is so lovely. I was working with a film company so I filmed for Asia Divers, New Way and Sairee Hut. My good friends own Roctopus so when I was fun diving it was with them.
I am planning to do my DM in January, perhaps in the Philippines, but I’d absolutely swing by Koh Tao for a month or so first 🙂 Hopefully you’ll still be around!
awesome transformation and loving the photographs. Well worth the one broken toe!
DREAMY!!!
wow. i am impressed!! i don’t think i’d even know where to start!! i think i would’ve lost the will to live in hour 3 of haggling…maybe hour 1.
Thanks, thanks, thanks for all the comments and compliments!
Maybe you could add an extension next with a guest room for me?!
I usually run out of creative juice when redecorating my room. But you did a great job at transforming the bungalow into something more beautiful. Indeed, you found a place you can call home.
I am in love with your new beach house. How far away is your place from Bangkok?
Wow, you’ve done a great job! Ivan told me to check out the pictures on your blog. Really, Its picture material for the glossy magazines. Enjoy it!
Wow, I love that view!!
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!
Found your blog yesterday when I googled self-publishing and now I can’t stop reading it!!! 🙂
LOVE the writing and everything! 🙂
xoxox
Simply stunning transformation! Well done both of you!
Love the bedspread! I’m also a Granfoulard fan.
This is absolutely breathtaking. I am so living vicariously through you! all of the details are perfect. It looks like a completely different place!
I’m in love with your bungalow! Now I want one.
Wow – you did an amazing job with the place! Koh Toa is my favorite island to date. I hope you get to stay long enough to make all that hard work worth it!
This is so beautiful! Your photos have brightened up my otherwise very dull Monday morning!
You just trigger so many great memories of Koh Tao. I spent a month there, and loved this little island where I learnt to dive and did a lot of nothing, except eat Red Coconut Curry every night. You transformed this little oasis you called home.
I LOVE this! We’re looking to find a nice place to live in somewhere near the beach in Thailand and this is the most inspiring post i’ve read in a long time!
Loving your blog, and can’t wait for your book to be (re)published! I’m currently living in Chiang Mai but always wonder if I should be down on an island.
Thanks for being such an inspiration.
Catherine
Thanks, Catherine. On my way to Chiang Mai at the moment!
Bummer I missed you in the CM! Just finished your book this afternoon and loved it. <3
Damn! I was there for a month. So glad you enjoyed the book!
This looks absolutely stunning. I wish I had a view like that from my office. I would never get any work done though.
If I wanted to be like you…..which I do…..would I have to know how to sail before buying a boat and casting off? Also, do you think a dog is doable on an adventure such as this. Also, do they really have internet in Thailand…lol….wow! You are my heroine~
It’s a good idea to learn how to sail, yes. If I could do it again, I would learn to sail.
A dog on a sailboat, or a dog in Thailand? People do take dogs sailing, but it’s a lot of trouble. The dog can’t come to shore in certain places because of quarantine rules.
Yes, they have great internet in Thailand! It’s better in Chiang Mai than it is in Melbourne, Australia.
I totally love the small sculpture of the reclining woman, where can I buy one?
Also, do you have an air conditioning unit? Or does the bungalow stay cool?
Jonathan
The Muse is from the JJ Market in Bangkok. Air-conditioner? Ha ha, no. We just swim in a pool of sweat instead.
Gosh! you are living the life I have been dreaming about for ages. Every night I vision myself meeting my man and building and creating a sanctuary to live over looking the sea, mountains and wildlife nature. its very inspiring and emotional to see your pictures, its as though you are have a created the actual picture of my minds eye of dream sanctuary 🙂 Wow! love it,
Unbelievable! I love the view, the furnishings, the tanning and yoga decks, the office, everything. We spent one month on Koh Tao and let me tell you, our bungalow was nothing like this one! haha.
Cheers!
Very creative! Love the linens used. Home away from home 🙂
This reminds me of a bungalow I rented in Inodnesia – minus the makeover.
You’re livin’ in style. Nicely done!
I just read your book in two days. Thank you for sharing your story with the world! Michael and I will also travel by sea in exactly 621 days… but who is counting!
I feel a closeness to you, Torre, because this is MIchael’s dream. I always figured I would be living in the Rockies somewhere with long flowing hair and beads adorning my body with a pottery wheel on the porch and vegetable and flower gardens out back.
I’ve always been very adventureUS …. 🙂 so moving into Michael’s dream was not difficult for me. I, like you, had never been on a sailboat. We now own a 44 foot Morgan center cockpit. She is a blue water cruiser and is as anxious to get out there as we are!
We would be honored for you to read our blog. So far we have not written on travels since we are still in Seabrook, Texas, but I can assure you that the blog will make you smile!
Once again, thank you for sharing!
Janet Lee
What visa does one have to get to just…live in Thailand…
We looking into going to live in Thailand. BF also in IT I’ve just finished massage therapist diploma. In London now, just got passport an need to get away from city life. I have a less is more mantra. This city is too much more. Just finished your book, good read, thanks! How did you decide on ‘where’ in Thailand. I’ve started the research ad totes overwhelmed!! x
You are living my dream, in my dream house! Beautiful place, can’t believe it only cost you 5$ :O Looks absolutely stunning after yer interior design :)!!
Sinead
x
What an amazing result! 🙂
Hi Torre,
I really like your blogging style and thoughtful writing. Thanks to Nomadic Matt’s “My 14 Favorite Travel Blogs of 2013” I was able to find you!
Congratulations for the bungalow makeover! Presently I am in Bangkok and I am planning a move to Koh Tao. For a similar accommodation, what would you suggest?
Thanks.
Thank you for your beautiful article. I love Phuket, I’ve been there last year and I would like to say that it is also a great place if you want to learn about Thai culture. Apart from swimming in the beautiful Andaman sea I was really looking for a culture immersion. So I booked myself on a trip to Phuket FantaSea Thai Cultural Theme Park. It was like my introduction to Thai culture in a very entertaining and positive way. The show was impressive and the elephants in the show – majestic and just adorable. The place is definitely a must see when you’re in Phuket!
I just loved your book Torre and I am recommending it to my family and
grandchildren. It is fantastic and I travelled together with you in my imagination
Thanks for it and please enjoy us with other books.
I can imagine to practice yoga in such a beautiful environment!
This looks amazing!!! How did you and your partner find this place?
Love. Love, love, love what you did with the place. Would love to read more about your search for furnishings in Thailand taxis.
Hi fearfuladventurer.com owner, Your posts are always well-referenced and credible.