By KLD Construction
When most people think of coastal design, they picture beachy bungalows in California or Florida — not a home in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. But that's exactly what makes this Yuma, Arizona project one of our favorites. The vision was clear from day one: bring the relaxed, refined beauty of coastal living into this home, without it feeling forced or out of place in the desert.
What started as a kitchen conversation quickly became a whole-home transformation — kitchen, primary bathroom, primary closet, and exterior. Designed in-house by KLD's own Katie Dunn and built by our team from the ground up, the Barnicle Remodel is everything we love about what we do.
When we walked through the home, every room told the same familiar 1990s story. The kitchen had honey-toned oak cabinets with raised-panel arched doors, granite countertops, a diamond-pattern tile backsplash, and a ceiling soffit boxing everything in. Large and functional — genuinely good bones — but dated, dark, and ready for a complete reset.
The primary bathroom had beige ceramic tile floor to ceiling, a teal jetted tub, a cramped glass-and-metal shower enclosure, and ivy murals painted on the walls. And it wasn't just a style problem.
Here's something that bothers us deeply, and we know we're not alone in feeling it.
When you walked from the master bedroom into the primary suite in this home, you entered a hallway. Closet on your right. Closet on your left. Toilet straight ahead. Then — and only then — did you arrive at the shower and the double vanity.
Think about that for a second.
You're walking into your own retreat to start or end your day, and the very first thing you see is your closets. Not a serene double vanity. Not a beautiful shower. Your closets. Whatever's piled in there, whatever's hanging out of the hamper — that's your welcome.
Nobody wants that. And nobody should have to live with it.
This is one of the most common layout failures we see in homes from this era. The primary suite was given square footage but no real thought given to flow, arrival, or the feeling of walking into a space that's meant to restore you. Our clients felt it every single day. They just didn't know it was fixable until we showed them it was.
We flipped the entire experience.
By completely reconfiguring the suite — relocating plumbing lines for the shower, tub, toilet, and sink vanities; moving electrical for the new vanity, vanity lights, and recessed cans; rebuilding interior walls per the new plan; and relocating a 4x4 window on the exterior stucco wall — we redesigned the flow from scratch.
Now when you walk from the master bedroom into the primary suite, you arrive into the bathroom first. The vanity. The shower. The calm, beautiful space that should greet you every single morning.
The closets? Tucked where they belong — private, accessible, and completely out of the visual path. No more corridor of clutter. No more leading with the mess.
Relocating that 4x4 window meant opening the exterior stucco wall, properly framing the new opening, patching and re-texturing the stucco to match the existing finish, and ensuring every inch of it was weatherproofed for Yuma's climate. From the outside today, you'd never know the window moved. That seamlessness isn't luck — it's the standard.
Katie Dunn built the design direction around a moodboard anchored in ocean tones, warm natural wood, and the feel of a relaxed coastal home done with serious intention. The palette: soft blue-grey, creamy white, warm Coriander oak, and clean linen — like a breath of salt air transplanted into the desert.
Every selection flowed from that vision.
Every cabinet, the soffit, the pantry, the sink, the appliances, and all lighting came out. What went in was designed from scratch.
Custom paint-grade cabinets in Silver Strand — a soft, muted blue-grey — were built and installed by KLD's own Juan David. The cabinetry features a mix of styles: classic inset upper cabinets with glass fronts for display, beaded-panel lower drawers, and a dramatic floor-to-ceiling oven wall flanked by tall panel-door pantry cabinets on both sides. The custom island — also by Juan David — features warm wood tones on the base with a turned-leg table extension that extends the workspace into a casual dining surface.
Quartzite Calacatta Capixaba with a straight edge profile, installed by KLD's Claudio across every surface: the full perimeter run, a full-height backsplash slab, and the oversized island top. The stone is dramatic — bold white with sweeping grey and gold veining — and it carries the entire kitchen.
The range hood surround is plaster and wood — custom built and crafted on-site. The plaster body gives it a sculptural, architectural quality, finished with a warm wood accent band at the base that bridges the Silver Strand cabinetry and the natural wood island tones. It's one of the most custom elements in the kitchen and one of the details that makes this space feel truly one-of-a-kind.
The appliance suite is all KitchenAid — a deliberate choice for a cohesive, professional look:
In the breakfast nook, the bay window became a custom curved built-in banquette with storage drawers below and a custom specialty-sewn cushion. Overhead, a woven rattan dome pendant anchors the nook. It's the corner of the house you never want to leave.
With the layout corrected and every plumbing and electrical line re-routed to its new home, the bathroom was built from scratch — subfloor to ceiling.
AZ Tile Spark Ivory Matte Hex — large-format hexagon tile in soft ivory and grey tones, laid wall to wall with #333 Alabaster custom grout. The variation in the matte glaze gives it an organic, handcrafted quality that's right at home in a coastal-inspired space.
AZ Tile Vetri Naturale Polished Rectified Glazed Porcelain 4x12 installed in a vertical straight pattern throughout the shower, grouted in #544 Rolling Fog. Clean, modern, and beautifully coastal.
Thibaut Sutton Stripe (T-24085) — a textural stripe that adds warmth and depth to the space without competing with the tile or stone. Installed by KLD.
Custom vanity cabinets in Coriander Straight Grain Oak — a warm, natural wood tone built by Juan David. Topped with Quartzite Calacatta Capixaba countertops installed by Claudio, with undermount sinks. Gold-framed vanity mirrors and polished nickel wall sconces complete the vanity wall.
A freestanding soaking tub replaces the old teal jetted tub — no contest. The shower is fully tiled, open, and designed to feel like a spa. Brass plumbing fixtures are client-selected and tie the whole suite together with a warm metallic accent.
The newly reconfigured closet was designed in full detail — a complete set of custom built-in cabinetry in Winter White, engineered for his-and-hers use across every wall. The plan includes double-hang sections, single-hang zones, open shelving, drawer towers, hamper pullouts, and a center island — all drawn to spec and installed by KLD. Every inch is accounted for. There is no dead space, no awkward corner, no empty wall. It functions like a high-end boutique and stores like a dream.
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This home is unrecognizable from what it was. The kitchen is airy, intentional, and built for real life. The primary suite is the retreat it was always supposed to be — a beautiful bathroom that greets you first, and a closet that stays quietly, perfectly in its place behind it.
Every material was chosen because it belongs here. Every structural decision was made so that the finishes could do their job. And every inch of work — visible or not — was done to a standard we're proud to put our name on.
If you walk from your bedroom into a hallway of closets before you reach your bathroom — you don't have to live with that. Layout problems feel permanent until someone shows you they're not.
That's what we do at KLD Construction. We solve the problems that have been quietly bothering you for years. We just happen to make it beautiful in the process.
