Florida Interior designer's personal home tour

Hidden in the winding, tree-lined streets of Tamps's Palma Ceia neighborhood stands this Charleston inspired gem, complete with its signature piazza entrance. The first door takes you into the courtyard before entering the home through the "real" front door. The patio, laid with old Chicago bricks, draws you in with its southern charm and carries you all the way to the back porch. A glance upward reveals a balcony that wraps around the second floor with access to the master and guest bedrooms. Interior designer and owner of Belle Maison Interiors, Maura Kemm, fell in love as soon as she saw it. "I liked it from the first time I walked through," she said. "It has a great floor plan and a real welcoming feel. And since it was built in the '90s, all it needed was a cosmetic refresh.”

The outside needed just as much attention as the inside. In these before and after pictures, you can see how Maura brought the backyard back to life.

Here it is before…

And here is the after…

Maura and her family moved in before construction started and lived through the entire renovation. She admits it wasn't fun, but says it was well worth it. She gutted all of the bathrooms and the kitchen.

In the master bath, new flooring, cabinetry, mirrors, and lighting take the space from builder basic to stunningly chic. But the showstopper is the swing door Maura added to the closet. "It was made from a vintage window I found. I had my cabinet maker, Chris Cooney, build it into a door."

Maura tore out the old kitchen and started from scratch. She had Cooney build custom cabinets painted in Benjamin Moore White Dove and topped them off with creamy quartzite countertops.