Projects: Before & After

ONov 6, 2025

Projects: Before & After

Here’s a gallery of projects to showcase

I wanted to show some before-and-after project photos and a story behind each project. Enjoy!
– D

ENCLOSED EXTERIOR ENTRY

In this case study, we were working with a residential home made up of completely of concrete & stucco that had been recently painted a modern, dark paint color. As a result of using one paint color across every square inch, this enclosed entryway became cavernous and uninviting. Needing a cost effective solution, we removed a color swatch from the building to hunt for a color to complement the exterior color. As well, we punched up the overhead light by upgrading to an energy savings LED light bulb and a large glass globe to aid in throwing the light. A fresh coat of paint on the existing house numbers, fresh foliage in substantial pots flanked each side of the archway, adding a “welcome” bench and painted the concrete floor a lighter color helped to define the curved pathway leading towards the main house inviting buyers jnside.
COST: $800 TIMELINE: 1 DAY

BATHTUB TO SHOWER CONVERSION

This dated bathroom was in serious need of an update after issues with various water leaks at the sink, the toilet and the tub. As we were developing the scope of this project, we discovered the owners were planning on aging in place for as long as they could and wanted to create a safe environment when entering/exiting the tub. Enter our recommendation to convert the high sided bathtub into a large walk in shower with built-in bench for sitting. By adding a return wall gave us the opportunity to close the open end of the shower bench and still left ample space for a large obscured glass shower door bought right “off the shelf” eliminating the need to order custom glass. With miles of existing tile grout in this small bathroom, cleaning had also become problematic so we decided to go with seamless sheets of quartz within the shower area applied all the way up to the ceiling, covered over the wall damage with simple wainscoting after removing the tiles & installed 1 piece sheet linoleum for the flooring. Aside from reusing the vanity & countertop, all the materials in this modest bathroom remodel were new including a much needed ceiling ventilation ducted through the attic to the outdoors. Modern touches of black finishes on decorative fixtures help create the visual contrast for older occupants. A crevice free, “comfort height” toilet and wood blocking were added inside interior walls for future grab bars means this bathroom will function for this family for years to come.
COST: $27,000 TIMELINE: 4 WEEKS

BACKYARD BLANK SLATE

This formerly sad little backyard sits perfectly perched above the Pacific Ocean coast and was just begging for a new beginning! After a long discussion about the need to keep things somewhat maintenance-free but still lush & “alive” with greenery, we stretched this slim budget to the max by breaking up large patches of dirt with meandering pathways made up of mulch, grassy areas of sod, gravel and decomposed granite aka: “DG” defined by simple recycled edging. Once we had a foliage & irrigation layout in place we added a firepit area with seating cut from a fallen tree already on the property. We then ran a watering system with drip lines on a timer to help keep water usage down making this lanscape design drought tolerant. A gentle powerwashing of the shared wood fencing that bookends this property and a coat of “solid stain” in the color Redwood by Behr, (I absolutely LOVE this stuff) this tired looking fence came right back to life in a single day! The beauty of this project is that the small plants we planted will grow to be quite large in scale & the clients will have years of fun filling in with smaller plants as they enjoy many “happy hours” taking in the sunset.
COST: $12,000 TIMELINE: 1 1/2 WEEKS

BIG IMPACT TINY HOUSE EXTERIOR!

This tiny gem of a home is an original SEARS kit home( SearsHouses.com ) and is located in, what is now, a very sought after & prestigious neighborhood of Silicon Valley in Northern California. The original owner/builder still owned the home when we were hired to prepare it for the real estate market. Since he had purchased the land to have his kit home built, many “McMansions” had been built up around “her”. As you can see from the sun damage, it had been quite some time since “she” had a fresh coat of paint. I wanted to create a paint scheme that was as cheery as I think she is. This was a very proud homeowner & wanted to show this ol’ gal with all her resilience off. His asterisk with selling was that the new owner had to promise not to tear her down. With that I just knew she needed an naval orange door! We changed out the house numbers, the exterior light fixtures, lowlighted the original mailslot cut into the original entry door, added window boxes planted full of spring flowers and painted the detached garage exactly the same way. The landscaping was kept simple but surprisingly substantial and equally as impressive when compared to her high brow neighbors.
COST: $15,000 TIMELINE: 1 WEEK

OPEN CONCEPT KITCHEN

On this project we had a postage stamp sized kitchen totally closed off from all the action of the large adjacent living/dining room areas as well as a view of the in ground pool. With worn and dated everything & not nearly enough storage, I approached this complete kitchen design on a strict budget by deciding to use “pre-made” cabinetry without modifications, prefabricated quartz slabs in a discontinued color & downsized to a smaller window in the former casual eat-in dining area. Sounds crazy to downsize a window in already dark room, right? BUT I did this in order to accommodate wrapping cabinets & counterops around the corner lending the room needed to use a full capacity refrigerator and squeezing in a pantry appropriately sized for this 4 bedroom home. By choosing a simple shaker style cabinet in white paint brought in a ton of reflective light & brightly displays the splurge item of using iridescent shimmering glass & porcelain backsplash tiles installed atop the counter that are reminiscent of a sea shell. I designed a light package to include overhead, under cabinet, task & accent lighting all run independently on dimmer switches creates the scene for whatever mood the occupants are in. The prior clunky grey/brown tile installed poorly on, what seemed like a 2” thick mortar bed, we managed to “feather in” perfectly new hardwood planks with the old hardwood and feels like this much larger open kitchen layout had always been here! A modern glass trimmed island hood with brushed stainless steel duct was used to minimize blocking the cook’s view yet still very functional at catching contaminants before they escape. A microwave installed in a base cabinet allows young adults to operate without worrying about overhead spills.
COST: $45,000 TIMELINE: 6 WEEKS