• The Sought After

The Sought After

  • Start Here!
  • Escapes
    • Stylish Stays
    • Hotels
    • Weekending
    • Spas
    • London
    • Los Angeles
    • New York City
    • Paris
    • San Francisco
    • Sunday Edition
    • Travel Guides
  • Spaces
    • Before + After
    • Entertain
    • Cocktail Bars + Sought After Sips
  • Style
    • Carry-On
  • Stories
    • PR Tips from a Los Angeles PR Firm Owner
    • Entrepreneur Stories
  • Work with Me
    • My Los Angeles PR Firm
    • PR for Hotels
Spaces

Five Lessons in Renovating, Three Years Later

September 26, 2017
Tips on an a complete condo remodel + before and after photos of a top to bottom condo renovation.

Everything I Learned from Renovating Our Condo

This November will mark the three-year anniversary of buying our townhouse. We both feel that we are quickly outgrowing the space, but then we just think about how cramped we would be if we lived in New York City or London, and realize we have it pretty darn good! I have had a few friends reach out recently about their own renovating woes, wanting to know what I would do differently—if I had known then what I know now—or if I would change any of the decor choices since trends come and go. I’m very lucky in that even though this was our first renovating project, I am still very happy with the outcome. That said, certain decisions get made because of budget, stress, or a tight timeline, so I would imagine it’s pretty impossible to get it all right the first time.  Here are five lessons I learned in doing a condo renovation, three years post remodel. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before we get to do it again! Want to know more? HIt me up in the comments!

I’M STILL IN LOVE WITH GRAY: The kitchen still remains our favorite room in the house, and after all that arguing over where to put the refrigerator and where to put my desk, the layout has worked out really well for us. I even still love the gray cabinets, and if I had to do it all over today, I would actually still choose the gray and would still go with Ikea! While the subway tiles were inexpensive and remain on trend, I would switch those to something more unique. Now that natural wood is a big decor trend for 2017, I have freshened up our kitchen with inexpensive wood items like this cutting board and these bookends.

DON’T GO CHEAP ON THE FIXTURES: We are in a pretty expensive mess right now, because we went cheap on our guest room shower i.e. off brand, made in China, and now it sprays water everywhere except where it should. Our plumber informed us that Chinese made faucets/showers are very difficult or impossible to fix, so we may have to completely redo the shower. We have loved all our Delta fixtures.

ONLY BUY NATURAL FIBER RUGS: I tried to save money in the guest room by buying a beautiful and cheap hot pink rug for under the bed. It was not made of natural fiber and smelled so badly of polyurethane, that we had to air out the room for several days, not to mention it was impossible to clean. I had to throw it away within a few months of purchasing. I found that saving up to buy good quality rugs will save you money in the long run. I love all our West Elm Rugs.

HOT AIR RISES: We did not have the air-conditioning ducts re-insulated during construction, which was a huge mistake. This building was built in the early 70s, and the insulation is almost gone. It will cost $10K to have them redone now because the entire upstairs laundry closet would have to be ripped out. Basically, in the summer, I’m always hot upstairs and freezing downstairs.

RE-WIRED: We also should have rewired the house. The costs would have been minimal, and we would have been able to run an ethernet cable, and thus solved our current wifi problem.

Photos Jessica Sample Photography

PS. 7 Tips on Renovating

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

0
2 Comments
Previous Scandinavian Inspired Design
Next How to Style a Holiday Bar Cart as Seen on Rue Magazine

You may also like...

Be Our Guest

Fall Florals

BEFORE + AFTER: OUR POWDER ROOM

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dave says

    September 28, 2017 at 9:37 am

    If you ran cables it would have solved your “current” wifi problem, nice pun! 😀

  2. Molly says

    September 28, 2017 at 9:39 am

    I totally did that on purpose 😉

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

As Seen on Style Me Pretty: A Glamorous Fall Dinner Party Under the Stars

PR for Interior Designers including why to hire a publicist and free ways to get your own publicity.

As Seen in Lonny Magazine: From Rundown Rental to Starter Chic

Sign up for The Short Story

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
Santa Ynez photo dump. ➡️ Highlights you shoul Santa Ynez photo dump. ➡️ Highlights you should bookmark:
Running into @christinedanuser @bettinapizzeria, The Egg in a Frame #2 at @bobswellbread (one of the best things I've ever eaten), the Scallop crudo @barlecote, finding two amazing organic tasting rooms (loved ALL the wine which is rare) @coquelicot_wines @solminerwine, dinner @bellslosalamos ✨✨✨
High above the Pacific in the Santa Monica mountai High above the Pacific in the Santa Monica mountains, we celebrated @imamandafeld 👰🏼I'd never been to this part of Malibu and it's unreal. ✨#malibu #santamonicamountains #topanga #visitcalifornia #amandaslastsplash
A look back at our weekend @thesurfridermalibu Ch A look back at our weekend @thesurfridermalibu 
Check my highlights for tips and recommendations when booking this boutique hotel in Malibu. 
✨✨✨
 #stylishstays #malibuhotel #malibucalifornia #mydayinla #boutiquehotels #luxuryhotels #visitcalifornia #losangelesstaycation #malibubeach #malibulife #malibu
Living my best life before count down NC begins ✨ @thesurfridermalibu
If you can't go to Italy... @capriclubla (thanks t If you can't go to Italy... @capriclubla (thanks to @jeffbetancourt @julesandfletchandteddy for always picking the best places) ✨✨✨#mydayinla
When you need to be inspired, staring at a compute When you need to be inspired, staring at a computer all day can be a creativity killer. So we did a team outing @moca. Don't look too close as we soon discovered this Pipilotti Rist exhibit is not exactly SFW. 🍆🌸🫣🤭
Swipe to see inside the newly opened Holloway Hous Swipe to see inside the newly opened Holloway House, the newest hotel & club from @sohohouse. Located in the former Palihouse space! Rooftop opens this weekend. Thank you @theprnet for arranging the tour ✨✨✨ #stylishstays
Copyright © 2022 The Sought After
Theme by SheShoppes

Copyright © 2022 · Avondale for Genesis On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in