Posts from Renovating Projects

Project by: Ana
Location: Seattle, WA

The one thing I love and appreciate most in life, besides my baby son Magnus and awesome husband Jordan, is working with my hands. The process of creation amazes me every time, and I look down at my hands and thank them for being healthy and strong, then I realize I should thank my eyes, brain and heart for caring on an artistic drive in me year after year.

Project by: Amber
Location: Belton, SC

After dreaming of this foreclosure for years, it finally became ours two years ago. But when we started knocking down walls, of course, we quickly ran out of money. Yet, we still had to renovate a kitchen. We literally had nothing in this kitchen but floors, a door, and windows! With a LOT of sweat, TEARS, and lonnnnnngggg days and hours...we made it happen for just a little bit over $5,000. Seriously, we got most inexpensive parts of this kitchen we could.

While not totally her taste, Meaghan's bathroom was functional. The tile floor had been cracking though, so she waited until it was time to replace it to brighten up the rest of the space and add her own touches.

Renovation by: Vickiann of My Crappy House
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY

You may remember Vickiann from her amazing "real" brick wall she added by herself to her house to give it some seriously awesome architectural character. She's back with a redo of a sad bathroom that is now bold and black and white!

This old Victorian bathroom is typical of Glasgow tenement buildings —super narrow and definitely hard to maneuver in. Since the original tub wasn't salvageable, Anne scored a couple more square feet from its removal:

Despite the kitchen's laminate counters, sloping floors, drop ceilings, and other quirks, John and Edwaard fell for their home in Columbus' German Village neighborhood. A seven-month gut renovation followed, and the space is completely transformed:

Renovation by: Leslie of Price Style & Design
Location: San Francisco, California

The view of Alcatraz outside the window of this San Francisco condo was the only stunning feature of this outdated residence. The teeny tiny kitchen with ruptured parquet flooring and old oak cabinets needed a major face-lift.

Renovation by: Heather and Mike
Location: Phoenix, Arizona

We are Phoenix, Arizona natives that have never left our little neighborhood of Arcadia. Born and raised in such a gorgeous and historical area of the city, we decided to buy the perfect ranch-style home (in serious need of some TLC!) in our citrus-filled area of town 8 years ago. We've had some serious adventures in renovations, and the master suite was the last piece of the puzzle!

Project by: Emily and Erica

Refinishing the main stairwell was just one small component of the year-log, full scale, gut-renovation of our 1900's Greek Revival house in Providence, RI—but as the staircase is the first thing you see when you come in our front door, we wanted it to be a striking feature.

If you've ever hired help in your home, you may well know this rule of thumb. Whether renovating or hiring a cleaner, no matter what, no matter who you are (even if you're reading this, Kim Kardashian), you can never have all three of these. You must choose only two: fast, cheap, and high quality. Let's break it down: