New Casita Build Mood Boards + Plans

We are building a casita!

And if you don’t know what a casita is (I guess, according to Instagram, it’s mainly a Southwest term! I guess because it’s Spanish and we are very Mexican-inspired here)…but it’s a detached “guest house” on your property.

Except ours will be kind of attached. So it’s in between an “extension” and a casita. The main entryway to the casita will be through our front terrace.

I provided the plans below, if you’re confused…head to my “casita build” IG story highlight – I walk through the whole thing there!

Why are we building a casita?

The main reason is because when we moved into this house two years ago, we told ourselves “this is a 5-7 year house, not our forever home”…and we told ourselves we would have one kid, maaaaybe two here.

But as time goes on (we’ve been here three years this month!), we just love this house, the neighborhood, and the location so much and want it to last as long as possible. So now we are thinking another 5-ish years from now.

As our house is now, I have an office because I am constantly on Zoom calls and Danny mainly works from our breakfast table and shares some office space for printing, etc. Then we have our bedroom, a guest bedroom that will eventually be a baby’s room, and two full baths.

But when we do expand our family, we know that Danny working from the breakfast table with a little one around and having no guest bedroom just won’t work.

We crunched the numbers, and it’s actually cheaper to build right now than to buy. Houses in our neighborhood are selling at $275 per square foot right now, and it costs maximum $200 per square foot to build. So we figured we could enjoy this extension to our home and build into equity at the same time!

The plans:

Aesthetically, I’m going for “California coastal” bones (fresh, light, airy, neutral with foliage) with some vintage details. I’ve been VERY inspired by the 90’s, especially by the homes in Nancy Meyers movies – they’re always so calm and homey yet aspirational. Here’s a good article on Nancy Meyers style and why people are so drawn to it.

I want it light and airy, and I’m working with Select Blinds to give the room that open-air feel. Check my “casita build” highlights for info on the sampling process with them!

Here is the mood board for the overall bones and the vibe of the bedroom:

For the bathroom, I have been wanting to do an old European antique bathroom for yeaaaars. I kind of incorporated that in our guest bath with the traditional tile and brass hardware, but this time I want to go all out. The moulding, claw foot tub (I already got this one from Vintage Tub!), moody neutrals, antiqued furniture and art.

Here is the mood board for bathroom:

Here is everything I’ve either bought or are planning on buying for the casita: