I have some exciting news! Studio Olio has received two honors in BUILD Magazine’s 2026 Architecture Awards.
Studio Olio was named Historic Home Renovation Design Firm of the Year 2026 – Colorado, and our 1889 Victorian Bathroom Renovation in Richmond, Virginia received Best Historic Bathroom Renovation Project 2026.
BUILD’s Architecture Awards use an independent, merit-based research and evaluation process, considering design quality, project delivery, sustainability and industry impact.
Historic homes are the heart of what I do at Studio Olio — houses with cracked plaster and good bones, the ones someone might be tempted to gut. I design kitchens, bathrooms and whole-home interiors that bring historic homes into modern life without erasing what made them worth saving in the first place. My rooms tend to be colorful and personal, layered with pattern and collected pieces, because respecting a historic home doesn’t require a neutral palette. The home has a history. The people living in it now deserve to be visible in it too.
So this one landed differently than most industry recognition does. It’s for the work I want to be doing more of.
Designing Historic Homes for Modern Life
Historic renovation isn’t a style I apply after the fact. It’s how I approach the whole process, starting with the house itself.
I begin by understanding its age, its architecture, the original materials, what’s already been changed, and the details that still tell its story. From there I figure out what’s worth preserving, what needs restoring, what got lost along the way and deserves to come back, and what has to change for the house to work today.
That means refinishing original floors instead of tearing them out. Retaining old windows, fireplaces, trim and built-ins. Designing new millwork that looks like it belongs. Sometimes it means reworking a kitchen entirely, or fixing storage and lighting problems the original builders never had to think about, or bringing in furnishings that reflect the people who live there now instead of the people who lived there in 1911.
The thread running through all of it isn’t a period or a look I’m chasing. It’s respecting the specific house in front of me instead of treating an old home like a blank slate.
Old houses were built differently than new ones — the proportions, the materials, the craftsmanship are part of what gives them character. So before I ask what needs to change, I ask what’s already there that’s worth keeping. That answer is different every time.
At the same time, these houses have to function. Electrical needs updating. Kitchens need better storage. Bathrooms often have to serve modern life in footprints that were never designed for it. A family might need an extra bathroom, better light, a kitchen that flows differently.
None of that requires tearing out walls or forcing an old house to behave like a new one. The goal is to understand the house first, then decide how it needs to change — and “historic” doesn’t mean any one aesthetic. For some clients, careful restoration is exactly right. For others, bold color and unexpected pattern sit beautifully next to original architecture. Either way, I create a home that respects its history and reflects the people living in it now.
An Award-Winning 1889 Victorian Bathroom in Richmond, Virginia
The 1889 Victorian Bathroom Renovation that won Best Historic Bathroom Renovation Project 2026 is 36 square feet. It’s part of a larger whole-home renovation of this Richmond Victorian, and it’s a good example of how I work.
The room came to me with cracked plaster, mold inside the walls, almost no storage, and a soffit that made a small space feel even smaller. But it also handed me clues about what belonged there: a small black-and-white hex pattern in the existing floor, a cast-iron tub stamped 1913 still sitting in place, and a big window that filled the room with morning light.
I didn’t recreate the original floor. I carried its black-and-white hex pattern into the new design at a larger scale, so the room’s history and the bolder, more graphic space I was designing could speak to each other.
The plumbing stayed put. We refinished the 1913 tub, pulled out the soffit, enlarged the original tub surround, and built a custom vanity that quadrupled the storage. A wall-mounted faucet made room for an artist-edition sink, and graphic black-and-white diamond wall tile picked up the floor’s play with scale.
The homeowner had spent time in France and wanted the room to feel collected and personal, not like a museum piece. I wasn’t trying to reproduce an 1889 bathroom — I was letting the old and new live together, with the historic details informing the design and the new ones reflecting who lives there now.
You can see the full transformation in the 1889 Victorian Bathroom Renovation project.
Recognition for the Work I Want to Keep Doing
Historic Home Renovation Design Firm of the Year 2026 – Colorado recognizes the part of my work I’ve deliberately made central: understanding old houses, preserving what’s worth keeping, and helping them keep evolving.
Best Historic Bathroom Renovation Project 2026 recognizes one very small room in Richmond where those ideas came together as part of a larger whole-home renovation.
Studio Olio is a Denver-area interior design studio specializing in historic home renovation, with projects in Colorado and throughout the United States, Canada and beyond. Whether it’s a Victorian, a Tudor, or something else entirely, I start the same way every time: understand what makes the house itself worth keeping before I decide how it should change.
A historic home doesn’t need to be frozen in time to hold onto its character. It needs design that lets its history and the people living there now share the same rooms.
Frequently Asked Questions About Historic Home Renovation
Does Studio Olio specialize in historic homes?
Yes. Studio Olio specializes in historic home renovation and interior design — kitchens, bathrooms and whole-home interiors — with an emphasis on preserving what makes an older home distinct while making it work for modern life.
Does Studio Olio work outside Colorado?
Yes. We work with clients locally and throughout the United States, Canada and beyond. The award-winning 1889 Victorian bathroom above is in Richmond, Virginia, and is part of a larger whole-home renovation.
How do you modernize a historic home without losing its character?
I start by identifying what gives a house its character — original materials, architectural details, craftsmanship, proportions, even its quirks. That tells me what has to stay, what can change, and how to introduce new design without disconnecting the house from its history.
Can a historic home have bold color and pattern?
Absolutely. Historic doesn’t have to mean neutral. My interiors are often colorful and personal, with pattern, art and collected pieces living alongside original architectural details. The right approach depends on the house and the people in it — sometimes that’s careful restoration, sometimes it’s bold color and pattern.
Do you have to use historically accurate fixtures and finishes?
Not necessarily. My approach isn’t historical reproduction. Contemporary fixtures and finishes work beautifully in an old house when they’re chosen to complement its architecture. If historical accuracy is the goal for a given project, that becomes part of the process — but the approach should respond to the house and the client, not a fixed rulebook.
Can you renovate a historic bathroom without moving the plumbing?
Absolutely. Moving plumbing isn’t automatically the right call, especially in a small historic bathroom. In the 36-square-foot Richmond bathroom above, I kept the existing plumbing locations in place and still quadrupled the storage through a custom vanity and careful use of the existing footprint.
Studio Olio specializes in historic home renovation in Denver and remotely. If you’re planning a historic renovation and want to understand what’s possible — let’s talk.
Project Journal
Every historic renovation has a story. The story of this 1889 Victorian bathroom renovation unfolds across two journal entries:
Historic Bathroom Design: Restoring an 1889 Victorian Bathroom
Discover the design decisions that transformed a cramped 36-square-foot bathroom while preserving the character of this historic home.
Historic Bathroom Renovation: Behind the Build of an 1889 Victorian
Follow the renovation from demolition to completion, including the custom millwork, restored clawfoot tub, disappearing plaster trades, and the sequencing required to renovate a Victorian bathroom.
→ View the 1889 Victorian Bathroom Project for the complete project overview, before-and-after photos, and finished details.
