A Jeff Doubét small Spanish-style cottage with front courtyard design. Go behind-the-scenes to see this BEFORE and AFTER project in beautiful Santa Barbara, CA

Beautiful things come in small packages, and I have always enjoyed designing small Spanish home remodels. For one, they get done a lot faster. Less surface areas to work with, less square footage to design, etc.

There is something really rewarding for the homeowner, designer, contractor and the artisan trades. We see things transform before our very eyes.

BEFORE PHOTO: I was very excited to be invited into this small Spanish-style house “real estate flip” in Santa Barbara. The second I met with the realtor on the property, I thought to myself… “this is going to be easy”.

I don’t want to sound boastful. The home already had good bones, and it just needed a touch up. Lipstick on a pig? That’s basically how I saw it. ABOVE: my design sketch with the ideas for the simple upgrades.

AFTER PHOTO: Fast forward after so many talented artisanal building trades put their passion and skills into making this project come to life. I am really proud of what we accomplished together.

Note: This home went on to win a national design award, proving that small Spanish-style homes can stand out in the crowd.

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Please be sure to check out ALL BEFORE + AFTER Episodes for more quality info and photos for small Spanish home designs.

Designing Small Spanish Home Landscapes

Santa Barbara has a coastal Mediterranean climate, and just about everything will grow here. This project was a real estate flip- so 1) I had my wish list of recommended plants 2) We needed to utilize what plants were immediately available at our local wholesale nursery.

Here was a partial plant list for the project. With nearly 3 acres of property, most of the land was natural terrain. Our team focused on making things look nice up near the house. The chicken scratch notes are those I jotted the day we went plant shopping at the local nursery.

As you can see, not everything was available. With time of the essence, Plan B kicked in. We cherry-picked plants that would coordinate nicely with our original wish list. We also considered plants that were already doing well in the existing landscape.

Here, the delivery of our plants begins to arrive. Coastal sage, olive trees, Mexican sage, potato vines, Spanish lavender and Sweet lavender varieties are in the photo above. We also purchased Tuscan Blue Rosemary, Cypress and Icy Blue Yellow Wood.

Spanish-style products on Amazon, and my project overviews where they were installed.

Specialty Trades for Creating Spanish Landscapes

To add charm to this small Spanish home renovation and landscape project, we used small amounts of high-end hardscape materials. Here, a local Santa Barbara Artisan installs a rustic stone cobble walkway made with Oklahoma stone.

Notice the subtle variations in color and texture. These cobble stones were hand cut and then tumbled in a cement mixer.

A favorite local Santa Barbara stone mason works at hand chiseling a sandstone cap. He’s making a pair of them out of two sandstone boulders delivered to the site. They will cap two stucco columns designed into the landscape remodel.

Custom Components for Spanish Homes

When designing a Spanish home and landscape, consider mixing store bought components with hand crafted items. We made the rustic wood shutters with 2 x 6 redwood boards, and painted them a dark shade of Santa Barbara Blue.

We bought an off-the-shelf decorative copper lightning rod with glass ball, and the terra cotta clay planter trough, above.

Above, the Artisan roofer installs the decorative lightning rod. A handsome roofer is a good choice for installation because they will be very knowledgeable about your roof structure.

They also have special fastening techniques, and waterproofing for the mounting bolts.

For this flip I wanted to add decorative clay vents. The stone mason cut clay drain pipe into 3″ – 4″ lengths. After tracing a paper template for their locations, he ground shallow troughs then pinned and glued them to the stucco wall.

Santa Barbara Spanish-style clay vents are made with real terra cotta clay pipe originally made for drains and sewer lines. You can still buy them at Santa Barbara Stone on North Nopal St.

The link above will direct you to a full blog post for how to exactly install real clay pipe vents.

Meanwhile, the various other Santa Barbara Artisans continue building the Spanish garden elements. In this photo a plasterer works with wet stucco as he finishes the side garden entrance columns.

Spanish Doors and Courtyard Improvements

A pair of wood front doors open to the Spanish-style courtyard. Staging of this Santa Barbara home included new clay pots planted with small olive trees, lavender and rosemary.

Consider a small wall fountain like this one to add interest, texture and charm to your project. With or without water, they look great.

BEFORE Photo: The back elevation of this fixer Spanish courtyard home was also Plain Jane and dingy. The house colors were dull, and none of the doors or windows matched.

AFTER Photo: The Spanish home was greatly improved simply by changing the paint colors. We painted the French doors white to match the new windows.

We also deeply recessed a small new decorative window, and added Spanish wood shutters above the large picture window.

If you are a local Santa Barbara or Montecito resident, a good resource for affordable Spanish style fountains is Home Improvement Center on E. Gutierrez St.

Behind the counter in the Garden Dept. they have large catalogs of fountain designs you can choose from. The 2 cast concrete Spanish-style fountains I ordered for this project took about 3 or 4 weeks to arrive.

Meanwhile, this Rock Star continues working his Michelangelo

This is one of my favorite photos captured at this project site. Look at the sheer concentration on his face. After all the years I have worked with him, I have never seen him in a bad mood. Try to find a job you love to do, and there will be more joyful days.

Here he figures out how to get the second stone column cap out of this clunky chunk of local sandstone (a boulder).

This is the same sandstone boulder the talented stone mason has been handcrafting into a stone cap. A few hours later, you can see the artistry that goes into making an authentic stone cap.

Having designed stone walls, mailboxes, pizza ovens, curbing, planter beds, etc. for over 20 years- I have a deep respect for the guys who have the skill + stamina to make our projects and town great.

Handcrafting Spanish Homes in Santa Barbara

There is a wonderful community of Artisan builders and craftsmen in Santa Barbara and Montecito, CA. who are passionate about the craft of creating Spanish style homes and landscapes.

Here the stucco expert applies the Santa Barbara mission finish on the garden columns. Once the hand chiseled sandstone caps were positioned, leveled and secured to the top of the cement block columns, the plasterer applies stucco right up to them.

THE EASY BUTTON TO VIEW ALL PROJECTS ON SITE

A week or two after the landscape was completed, a painter touches up the rustic wood shutters. When designing your own Spanish home improvements, consider thick wood shutters like these.

They are simple to make with 2 x 6 lumber for the main boards, and 5/8″ x 5-1/2″ cross boards. For durability, build the shutters with redwood. If on a budget, you can get by with Douglas Fir wood from Home Depot.

The completed project with handmade wood shutters, store bought fountain, clay planter trough and copper lightning rod. A Santa Barbara sandstone planter wall was also handcrafted by the stone masons.

Spanish Home Signs

Another way to personalize your Spanish home is to name it. Here, a local Santa Barbara sign painter hand letters an iron sign.

This project sits on top of a beautiful mountain, so I named the home Casa Bella Monte.

Naming your home with Spanish flair can be one of those extra special unexpected details most do not think about.

We mounted the Casa Bella Monte sign to a driveway column near the entrance to the property.

Fun things to think about while planning your own remodel. What design details will make you smile every day?

A family crest, or a name sign like this is a fun way to guide friends and family to your new property… “Look for the driveway sign out by the mailbox” is a short hand way of letting everyone know your home will be easy to find.

Here is one last shot of the small Spanish home and landscape after completion. It captures many of the authentic Santa Barbara Spanish details clients seek to achieve in their projects.

If you are contemplating a re-design/remodel and would like a one-on-one design consultation, please check out my Spanish Home Design and Consulting Services.

Well friend, this wraps another site visit episode in beautiful Santa Barbara, CA. I hope you enjoyed learning how to infuse more Santa Barbara Style into your own Spanish home design project. If you are working on a small Spanish home and landscape yourself, be sure to check out Small Spanish Home Collection 1 and Small Spanish Home Collection 3 for more inspiration. Scroll to explore more helpful links and resources for designing and building your own Spanish-style home and landscape.