A loft is not just an ‘extra room’. In its bones and beams, it holds potential. Potential for a new home office, a cosy bedroom, or perhaps a chic mini-library. Old lofts, in particular, have a certain charm to them. They can feel like hidden gems waiting to be polished. However, turning that dusty, cluttered space into something functional and beautiful is not as simple as throwing in a few bean bags and calling it a day. No, it requires careful planning, a splash of creativity, and yes, a bit of elbow grease. The process can be intricate, often involving…
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We had to move home. It’s never fun, is it? So we decided to minimise the stress by finding somewhere close. We bought an apartment 15 metres up the hallway. The new abode was, in real estate agent parlance, a renovator’s dream. Or, as others pointed out, parts of it resembled a public toilet. It needed a serious spruce and we had five months to do it. I knew moving and renovating, while working and parenting, would be challenging (it was). But surely there was plenty of time and there’d be many eager tradespeople ready to help us transform the…
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The kitchen can be one of the most expensive and time consuming areas in the home to renovate. But if you are thinking about starting one, or are right in the middle of creating your dream kitchen these these tips might help you on your way. How to get the look you want for less when renovating your kitchen Decide on a budget and stick to it. The amount you have to spend will determine everything from the materials you use to the appliances you choose. Keep it simple. The more elaborate you make your kitchen, the more…
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If you don’t try, you’ll never know what’s possible. That’s the philosophy Tracy Crawford adopted when she set out to buy and renovate her dream home. For seven years, Ms. Crawford had lived in an adequate house in Pittsfield, Mass., with her husband, Craig Crawford, and children, Riley, now 18, and Maggie, 14. But whenever they drove into the city center, they passed a 1938 house that was impressively large — 5,500 square feet, it turned out — on a bucolic six-acre property with a barn. “I was always like, ‘Oh, there’s my dream house,’” said Ms. Crawford, 54, the…
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The City of Angels remains a city of teardowns. Despite ordinances to preserve Los Angeles’s classic little bungalows, those charming dollops from the early 20th century that have helped define the city’s architectural character continue to be replaced by McMansions and apartment blocks. One house that slipped through the cracks is a 1927 Spanish Colonial-slash-Craftsman in the Fairfax neighborhood, just south of West Hollywood. In the fall of 2020, Siena Deck, currently a production assistant at HBO, won an eight-way bidding war to claim the heartbreaker, paying $1.29 million. The 1,228-square-foot house, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, is tucked…