Every contractor who walked through said the same thing. They were all wrong. The first question every contractor asked when they walked through the home was the same: “How about we just put the kitchen where the old kitchen was?” Every time, my answer was no. The...
If you’ve spent any time researching what to do with an older home, you’ve probably seen these words used interchangeably: preservation, restoration, renovation, rehabilitation. They’re not the same thing. The approach you choose shapes every decision that follows —...
A small Victorian bathroom renovation is rarely about square footage. It's about what you keep. This is the bathroom I’d put in my own home. I’ve said that out loud more than once since this project wrapped, and I mean it. Not because it’s the most dramatic renovation...
This is part 2, of this Historic Church Hill, Richmond, Va project build, check out part 1 here. Now that the fence, and two custom structures are in place, the grading of the site can continue and the hardscaping can start! As the property is on a small slope I...
Here is the Before! This is a typical Church Hill, Richmond,VA, Back Yard. Twenty Eight feet wide by 150 feet long, which includes the footprint of the home!! Right after you walk out the back door, you couldn't walk directly out the back door, you had to walk down...
Over the past twenty years of historic home renovation Denver work, I've worked with hundreds of contractors — on residential and commercial projects, indoors and out, new construction and old. Early in my career I learned the hard way what happens when a contractor...
This week I want to talk about the cabinet drawers, making our full sized fridge work in our space as well how we are keeping our open shelving functional! If you've been following along with the Fall 2018 One Room Challenge™, then you are already pretty familiar with...
Curating what photos tell the story of the space is one of my favourite parts of project completion. And so, here is the full reveal of the finished Light Filled Folk Victorian Kitchen for the One Room Challenge™. Come on in. I could sit in this...
Last week in the One Room Challenge™, the trim had just been installed. This week we had the cabinets installed and the counters put in! I didn't have time to paint all the trim before the cabinets came in, so I painted the lower corner by the far left window that...
The drywallers came in and gave us some new walls! The dust that sanding drywall mud creates is just as fine as plaster dust, but it doesn't spread as far as the plaster dust did. The fan shown in this photo will be moved to another room. These old fans with only four...