Before & After Renovations

How I Turned My Creepy, Claustrophobic Bathroom Into…This.

August 21, 2018

Wait until you see inside.

Awhile back, a reader wrote in to ask me an interesting question: How, she wondered, did I get past the intimidation factor of a redesign? How in the world was I confident enough in my vision to actually...you know...pull the trigger, and make it happen?

The short answer is, unfortunately, that I maintain a (possibly unfounded) belief that if something goes amiss, you can fix it. In other words: it's just a house. And it's just decor. And while obviously you should put a lot of thought into a major renovation before kicking it off, the worst thing that can happen is that you don't like it, and then you either do something else, or you live with it.

Before & After Renovations

A (Bittersweet) House Tour

August 16, 2018

You've seen most of my house at one point or another over the years, but as I do not own a wide-angle lens, it's been tough for me to get shots that really show you what the spaces look like as a whole, and how they fit together.

The photographer who came over to shoot the house for the listing did have a wide-angle lens, though, and so I now present to you: A bittersweet little house tour. The only room missing is the master bath, which I'll be photographing myself tomorrow after I put a few finishing touches on it. (As a recap, here's what the house looked like on move-in day three years ago.)

I didn't include product info because there's just so much, but you can click through to the links below for details on each room, or just ask away in the comments.

Before & After Renovations

How To Renovate Your House (Without Having Loads of Cash Laying Around)

July 1, 2018

Aarrrrrrgh

OK, so yesterday's conversation under my bathroom renovation post was a little frustrating - you can read it here, if you're interested - but at it's heart was, I think, a solid question:

How in the world does one afford to renovate a house if, say, one has not found themselves the sudden recipient of a trust fund/inheritance/other random windfall of enormous proportions?

Before & After Renovations

Before And After: Black and White (And Wood and Gold) Bathroom

June 26, 2018

IT'S DONE.

I love, love, love, LOVE my bathroom. I say "my" bathroom even though it's the bathroom in the hall (as opposed to the master bathroom) because from the time we moved in it was the only bathroom with an actual bath in it - and we all know how I feel about baths. So while it was the kids' primary bathroom, too, I sort of adopted it as my own.

When I set out to renovate this bathroom (before and after pics are below, but you can take a look at what it looked like when we moved in, and then it's first evolution before the major renovation here), I wanted to make sure that it worked for the kids...but I also thought, what the hell: I've always felt like my bathroom is my sanctuary. So if I'm going to put in the work to fix it up, I might as well go ahead and make it everything I've ever dreamed of.

Before & After Renovations

Sunset, Poolside

June 12, 2018

I know I already posted about my pool renovation, but these photos have muuuuch better light and show the details so much better. So here they are.

As a recap, here's what we changed:

Removed the dated, curved coping and replaced it with clean, squared-off white coping;
Replaced the plaster bottom with deep blue Pebbletec;
Built a Baja shelf (a 8" deep platform in the shallow end that you use for lounging and such);
Removed the ladder, and built a bench in the deep end to replace it;
Replaced the dated tiles with iridescent tiles in varying shades of white.

Check out the original post (with before and afters) here, if you missed it.

« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next »