Three Months to Awesome (A Renovation Story)

Anyone who knows us even a little bit (and we count all of you among that lucky group!) know how totally crazy we are about renovation and house transformations.  And if you’re reading here then you probably love those things, too.  This is why we’re so psyched to share the glorious renovation recently completed by our friend, Marybeth!

She explains:

Long story short, I bought my grandmother’s 75 year old house in May, gutted the kitchen and bath  and opened some walls (mostly by myself with help from family), painted the whole thing and just moved in last weekend.

The place is AMAZING, and somehow she did it all in three months… while still having a job and life and stuff like that.  She has great taste and we’re suspicious that she has a decorating business or home decor blog on the side which she hasn’t shared with us.  Rude.  Just check out this bathroom:

Somehow she looked at that pink-and-wallpaper space and thought “oh, totally the room for classy tile and elegant paneling.”  We LOVE the idea of high dark paneling in a bathroom – and you have to be pretty brave and have great vision to make that kind of change!

The main living area was really transformed by taking down some walls and widening doorways for an open floor plan.  Rather than a choppy layout of living room, dining room, and kitchen, it is now one big, beautiful space, and benefits from windows on three sides.

We like how she kept the archway shape to maintain the original character/feel of the house, but still widened it for a modern flow.

And added a new light:

Similarly, she kept a set of built-in bookshelves in the livingroom and just updated them with fresh paint.  They’re a striking focal point!

However, they almost didn’t make the cut:

The bookshelves – so funny.  They are the first thing people notice and I almost tore them out during demo!   My grandparents had them built in the 50/60s and I wasn’t certain the look would be a great fit but turns out a little paint went a long way.

That’s definitely something we’ve found, as well – keeping some of those older features really complement a renovation and make the space feel unique, personal, and full of history.  (I, Naomi, had the same experience with a built-in cabinet in my dining room: I hated that thing so much until I changed everything around it and slapped on some fresh paint, and now it is my favorite part of the room!)

But what has us totally jealous of her new house is the kitchen:

Wow, right?  It is so bright, happy, and open!  We love how the wooden shelves warm up all of the white, and how the beam and molding bring in some architectural details to keep it feeling unique and personal.

And that floor is basically a dream come true:

We both really wish that is what our kitchens look like now.  (For contrast, see here and here…)

So how was the process, as a new DIYer/renovator?

I had a lot of fun smashing through the walls and using the crowbar though I had more fun laying out the design and picking out all the materials.  My contactor did all the rebuild and was awesome but it took some convincing to get him to stretch his thinking and understand my vision.  He would have much preferred that I picked beige for everything to make his ordering easier. Ha.

Well, we think you DEFINITELY made the right call.  While some may defend beige, it is neither of our idea of a good time, and certainly shouldn’t be picked to be the easy way out!  We wouldn’t change a single thing about your new place.

Thanks for letting us share, Marybeth!