home improvement

Showing posts with label home improvement. Show all posts

7.21.2026

Backyard transformation over the past few years, nice enough for our wedding!

Because this house was such a fixer-upper and needed so many big projects to essentials like bathrooms and the roof, it took me a while to get to the yard. I’m also not a gardener, or at least I haven’t been so far in my life, so aside from grass versus pavers, I wasn’t sure what to do in our backyard for a long time.

But over the past couple years, I’ve made some very impactful changes that have made this backyard a wonderful place, so much so that we just got married here!

5.04.2026

Full 'after' tour of our Tudor revival fixer-upper house and all sources

My home was recently featured in a full tour on Homeworthy, and I've spent the past year finishing the last little projects in preparation... I'm so proud and happy to call it DONE and share it all on here! (At least inside. I’ll save the exterior for another post when everything is in bloom this summer.)

If you want to see where it all started, you can check out the full before tour HERE.

I bought this house in 2018, when Otto was a newborn, and I had more vision than time, more determination than budget, and no idea how many changes would happen in my life and how many times I would redo certain rooms.

Some spaces came mostly together quickly, others evolved over and over as I figured out my style, what works for our family, and what actually feels right in a 1937 Tudor revival home.

4.20.2026

Easy DIY built-in cabinets in the basement

We recently added a wall of built-in cabinets to the basement playroom/TV room... something I was always intimidated by before, but they turned out great and it wasn't that expensive! Sharing the details.

3.26.2026

Affordable breakfast area furniture, and what window treatments to use for a sliding glass door

I've been helping my friend with design updates for her early 2000's lovely but pretty basic home, and this area needed improvements in form AND function (anyone remember those full-length slatted blinds on sliding glass doors??).

Breakfast Area Refresh and Sliding Glass Door Window Covering

8.20.2025

Timeless style updates to my plain all-white kitchen

I redid my kitchen in 2019, which was not that long ago, but I was still figuring out my style at the time and I chose some then trendy, more modern finishes I would not choose now. (I also was still very much in a fixer upper mindset, and the house had glass block tile and peeling wallpaper and three layers of old roof tiles and… point is, I just wanted something fresh and clean and new.) So I ended up with a very white, pretty boring kitchen.

But it feels wasteful to redo a new kitchen. I’m not about to replace tile countertops or cabinets, but I realized there were several things I could do that would add more character and interest. I also had some circa 2022/2021 “organic earthy modern” touches to undo! They had coordinated with the brushed brass and industrial wood shelves, but did not go with my clean, classic, Nancy Meyers-inspired, hopefully timeless kitchen look.

I did several small, budget-friendly projects to totally refresh this kitchen!

7.30.2025

Floral wallpaper transformation (and more) in our plain upstairs bathroom

I think I’ve done it… I think I’ve wallpapered the last room in this home that needs it! I hesitated for a while because I had already renovated this bathroom… Back in 2020, with kind of a mix of that organic earthy modern thing that was trending for a while plus some traditional elements like wainscoting. It was...fine. Honestly, fine. But I also thought it was sort of begging for wallpaper about the wainscoting on the white walls.

6.25.2025

Classic bracket open shelves in my historic house kitchen

I was really proud of these DIY industrial wood/bracket shelves when we redid our kitchen in 2019. I couldn’t find thick enough wood on its own so I use stair risers and cut off the rounded edges. They worked great function-wise, and when we first installed them, they added some nice warm because the kitchen was so plain and so white. But now… I’m really going for a more traditional, classic, and cohesive look here, and they were sticking out like a sore thumb.

So... I replaced them with something better!!!

Thanks to Van Dyke's Restorers for partnering with me on this post.

6.18.2025

Re-doing the entryway wallpaper! With something way better

Well, I’m to the point of redoing DIY projects I did at this house a few years ago…! I wallpapered this entryway with peel-and-stick wallpaper in 2021, My first wallpaper project in this house. That paper was trendy and kind of modern and never exactly perfect for this house. But, it was neutral and not offensive, and I wasn’t sure what else I would choose. But an entryway is such an important moment. When you first walk into the house, I wanted it to be really special.

Thanks to Sandberg Wallpaper for partnering with me on this post.

4.17.2025

Cutest patterned Roman shades, and outside mounting them

I’ve installed many Roman shades in my house, but only just now did I install any outside mount. Inside mount is typically the ideal, because then it doesn’t block any of the trim around your windows. But on some windows, there isn’t a deep enough trim, or maybe you don’t have trim and you want to make the window look taller. Or in my case, I didn’t want to block any of the light that I didn’t have to, and when you install inside mount, you automatically block the top 6+ inches of the window when the shade is folded up.

12.28.2024

2024 recap / 2025 goals

2024... my rate of progress on this house is directly related to my 1) financial comfort but also 2) my emotional state RE the rest of my life which includes health, parenting, my coparenting relationship, and dating. I was all over the place on those things in 2024 so I had some bursts of feeling good and having lots of creative energy for house projects, and some bursts of being distracted (good and bad). In general I'm feeling pretty close to "done" with this fixer upper, at least with the important stuff, but continuous improvement is my style and I'll probably always be refining. So, here are my top projects of the past year, and what's on the list for next year, assuming those two things go well. (:

Historic home project recap

My goals for 2024 were:

1. Finish the basement. Paint touch-ups, etc. I got about 25% of those done, but getting out all the right paint and finding a wall patch solution have been overwhelming so it's still not there. I did finish the laundry room.

11.22.2024

Stairwell wallpaper project reveal!

It doesn’t feel like that long ago that I learned to install traditional pasted wallpaper, but I realize I have now done six rooms in my house, and I love it so much! It really makes such an impact. It’s a bit more of a pain than painting, but really only a little.

I recently redid this project in 2019--my idea of redoing a space in 2019 was basically painting it white and adding some black and gray. :P This house felt so old and dusty, and that was my reaction to it. But now I am trying to complement it a little more, although still working with what I have, which is lots of white trim.

Stairwell wallpaper project

This stairwell goes down to our basement, which two years ago we had finished out with drywall and added a bathroom, so it’s actually a relatively nice space to play, plus I do laundry there. So I walk through this stairwell quite frequently, but it was always a little dingy and plain.

It’s also the door out to the trash can area and driveway so it’s a holding spot for things I want outside of the kitchen. I added some hooks to make it more functional before, but it was still really lacking in looks.

It’s right off the kitchen where I’ve recently been trying to add some traditional style and warmth, like with my vintage plate walls.

9.17.2024

Basement laundry room but make it cute - reveal! And sources

A basement laundry room is not my dream situation, but I’ve finally finished renovating and now styling this one and am happy with it! It was part of the big basement renovation project that we started in early 2022 but, thanks and part two divorce and lots of other priorities in life, there were still paint, touchups and other things to do until very recently. little by little finished parts of this room and then finally got the final piece, very cool, traditional drying rack!

Old House Basement Laundry Room Reveal

The blue on the walls is a shade darker than the blue on the drywall around the rest of the basement: the laundry room walls and trim and the trim everywhere else is Sherwin-Williams 6228 Refuge, the walls in the rest of the basement are SW 6227 Meditative. It’s actually really beautiful blue color, not too dark despite this being a slightly darker space, perfect amount of muddiness.

9.05.2024

Charming preppy guest room/office reveal! And sources

This guest room was my most recent room makeover project last summer, finished just before our house was on the old house TV show. But then last February, I was relaxing in a hot tub in Scottsdale and scrolling Instagram, and saw an image that I just loved so much, and felt so much more true to my style than how I had been decorating the past few years! I am leaning into my preppy side. With the creative juices flowing from the relaxation state of that vacation, I became inspired to put up some blue and white wallpaper in this sun-filled guest room that I also use as my office. It’s taken quite a few months to get all the elements in place but it’s finally done and I’m so happy with it!

Classic Feminine Wallpapered Guest Room

This is a really great room because it has south and west-facing windows, so lots of light particularly in the afternoon. I love it for my office for that reason! But it’s also just beautiful as a peaceful bed to look at as I passed by in the hall. And, we’ve used it to sleep in when it’s too hot upstairs! The blue and white Rifle Paper Co. paper wallpaper was obviously the anchor, but since it is a little cleaner/fresher/preppier then I've done the past few years. It took me a lot of head-scratching to find the rest of the pieces.

9.03.2024

Historic breakfast nook makeover reveal! And sources

I visited this house once when I was a kid. With my mom, talking to the previous owners about some neighborhood association stuff. The only thing I remember is the built-ins in the breakfast nook. When we walked through the house 25 years later, I was delighted to see that of course they are still there and just as I remember them.

But the nook itself needed some updates. I painted it a couple years ago, which was fun, but it was still a little plain. I’ve put a lot of thought into the curtains and other elements and now it’s finally done!

Tudor Revival Breakfast Nook Reveal

Welcome to this sunny room. The sun comes up on this side of the house and sunlight streams into here on clear mornings.

8.12.2024

My experience with home warranties

I realized this summer during the big heat wave that we had that my air conditioning was broken. I shared a little about that on Instagram and how it was OK because my home warranty would probably cover it (it did! He replaced three parts and the thermostat, and it cost me the $85 visit fee/deductible). I got some questions and figured I should share a little more about my experiences over the past 10+ years with home warranties.

6.20.2024

Brand new concrete driveway and patio: details and cost!

When we bought this house six years ago, we knew there were a lot of things that were big ticket items we couldn’t do ourselves. We’ve done those slowly, over time--roof, gutters, and garage door in early 2020… Major basement renovation in 2022. Then got a divorce and I really slowed down on my home projects. But with summer coming up and with my life feeling pretty stable right now, I felt ready to tackle the very cracked patio and driveway that I knew were really negatively impacting the home overall and property value/future sale price. I knew this would be expensive, but I got three quotes and talked the project over with my dad and an engineer friend, and went ahead with it.

3.04.2024

Main bathroom sage green floral wallpaper transformation

I recently made a big change in my main bathroom and it's past time I share it on here. We redid this bathroom in fall 2019 (hardest reno we ever did btw) and afterwards it was... fine. Clean, fresh, not at all offensive. But my style has changed since 2019 and I've been leaning into the traditional and romantic vibes this house does well with, and this bathroom felt so boring.

I knew adding some wallpaper above the tile, and painting the vanity to match, would totally transform it. I was overwhelmed by the prospect of the project, and choosing a paper, so I sat with this idea for more than a year. Well, I finally did it, and I LOVE it!

Historic home sage green wallpaper bathroom

Ta-da! I chose the Alexandra Sage Green wallpaper from Sandberg Wallpaper. It's a floral stripe with a 19th century French feel.

1.04.2024

The pretty projects I did in 2023, and my big ideas for 2024

It is very satisfying to look back on what you've done in your home over 12 months. I set goals every year and do a recap of progress too. Usually each goals post includes a depressing photo of the exterior in early January, some interior in-progress shots, and some inspiration photos. The recap posts have exciting before and afters. You get all of the above in this post since I'm combining recap and goals in one this year. Efficient!

Historic house 2023 project recap

I started the year with almost no energy for projects, and that wasn't a bad thing. After our separation the prior spring and a tumultuous year and holiday season, a year ago I was feeling like I could really be myself, and didn't really have the energy or time for doing a lot around the house. Instead I went on my first warm weather long weekend vacation (Palm Springs in February with a girlfriend); I made major decisions about my life; I made major progress on my resolutions list like learn to make cocktails, get my tattoos removed, and buy golf clubs. But then this fall I got the bug again and have been pretty busy doing little things around the house and sharing about them on Instagram.

In April I wallpapered the dining room. It was a daunting job but I'm so glad I did it!

12.06.2023

Full basement renovation is complete! (Enough...) Cost breakdown!

Many months ago I shared about our basement renovation plans (here). A 1,100 SF basically unfinished, yucky, cobwebby basement that we, for the first time ever, hired out most of the work to finish to modern standards and add a bathroom to. We finished parts of it (bathroom, guest bedroom), but then began our separation and divorce and plans changed, including our use of the basement for a while.

Now, the basement is basically done, except for some finishing things like paint touch-ups and cleaning up the windows. It's partially in use as a playroom, plus storage, laundry room, furnace room, and lots of storage for my former brother-in-law's stuff. It's not fully presentation-ready but I've had some questions from followers and even neighbors about the cost and extent of the project and wanted to have everything documented!

Historic house full basement remodel cost and updates

You can see the full before pics and budget here, though that doesn't include everything. You can see my updates in this Instagram story highlight too!

The first thing we did was the earthquake retrofitting (bolting the frame of the house to the concrete foundation), a step necessary on the west coast for older homes not built to current seismic codes.

Then came framing the new walls, bathroom work (that post links the progress posts for the bathroom), and drywall. We painted it ourselves which was an awful experience due to the personal stress I had going on at the time... and there is still touch-up to do! But it's done.

The wall paint color is SW 6227 Meditative by Sherwin-Williams and the trim is a couple shades darker, SW 6228 Refuge. The ceiling is SW 7008 Alabaster (like the white walls, ceilings, and trim in the rest of the house).

1.06.2023

2023 house project goals

As I mentioned in my 2022 house project recap post, this house is in a good spot and I've learned I need to focus more on myself in 2023. So I have some goals for myself (take 3 fun vacations with friends, get my tattoos removed, learn to make cocktails), and the house stuff will have to fit into the happier lifestyle I'm trying to create for myself.

Part of that means hiring out some projects when I'm able. Partly that will also mean making small changes when they feel fun, like adding pieces that represent the style I've been working on identifying this past year.

Fixer upper renovation project goals for 2023

Exterior

I had this on my list last year but talked myself out of it... I want to paint the brick. I've gone back and forth a lot on this one and it's a harder choice since this is a somewhat historic house (1937), but... the bricks and mortar are not in good shape and cleaning them has not been successful. I need to tuck point/re-mortar in places and then I'd like to have all of the brick painted the same color as the siding. I think it will really clean up the look of the front and give the house a less shabby feel overall.

In the backyard, I hope to get it cleaned up (ended up storing a lot of garden stuff for various reasons) and hopefully remove the garden area, just make it lawn.

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