From old, dilapidated and desperately in need of an update to cool, retro and better than ever.
I was going to try and pack a lot in here but I think I’m going to let the pictures do most of the talking. This tiny house that started out as an easy peasy project was nothing of the kind. As with most renovations we found plenty of unexpected obstacles but we still managed to come in under budget (sort of) and only 1 month behind, but that is because we chose to do almost all the work ourselves. And because we both have jobs, this was limited to weekends and a few off days. So here are some thoughts that may help you if you take on this kind of project:
- Make sure to inspect as much as possible before going into a project. You can’t usually open up walls, (where most of the problems lie), but get under the house, get in the attic and check all places where water can give you issues.
- Add 20-30% contingency. Yes, that’s right, up to 30% will keep you out of a potential catastrophe
- If you are working on an older home, save the character! (list of things we saved below) Respect the house and the era if you can. People will appreciate this and you may save some money
- Take your time if you are changing the layout (ie: taking down walls) you really don’t want to make a mistake on this part. Plan it out, walk the space again and take a second look. They make it look super easy on HGTV when the designer walks in and says “move this, take that down, blah blah blah….” it ain’t that easy, believe me.
- You can do the work yourself, but bring in a professional where you need to. Remember if you plan on selling it later, then you need to have licensed people for electrical, plumbing etc.
Here are the things we saved in this home;





Here is the design (for the part of the house we changed) and color scheme:



And now for some before/after pics:


First 5 pictures are what we walked into, porch, living room, dining, bath and kitchen





And this is the porch done, along with the living room, bedroom, dining/kitchen and bathroom





Issues we had along the way




So we are looking for our next project. I know! Crazy to think we would do this again after all the back-breaking work, incidents with little creatures, injuries, disappointments, budget busters and arguments, but I love the process and it made me so happy to turn this over to the new owner. AND Shawn and I didn’t kill each other, so there’s that.
You and Shawn are awesome neighborhood beautification experts! ❤️
Thanks so much Judy! You saw it from almost the very beginning so I really appreciate the kind words!
It looks awesome! Before you know it you’ll be on TV! You guys did a beautiful job.
You know we curse too much to be on TV! LOL
Absolutely stunning. You’ve always been so incredibly creative and talented. I love it 😍
Thanks so much! It was a labor of love although there was a lot of arguing and eye-rolling along the way. LOL
This is so awesome! You and Shawn are true professionals when it comes to anything to do with workmanship and design. Congratulations on making this house shine!!
Thanks Marty, we were pretty happy with it. Looking for another one but taking a little break first!
Wow such an awesome transformation! You and Shawn did a great job and can’t wait to see what you do next! I do have to say I miss those eye rolls!
thanks Susan!