starting a major whole-house renovation... open to recs on anything from stuff to materials to mindset!

Question

bradshaw · Answer

ikea app modeling feature specifically: if you take pictures of empty rooms, you can 3D model where you’d potentially place things rather than move them around 100x.

i’ve done it for everything down to art. find items comparable in size on their website, and you can get a general idea of how things might look before (like me) purchasing things and crossing your fingers, praying it won’t be ugly.

Alice zaWitt · Answer

Keynote: Just wrapping up a whole house gut remodel without an interior designer. I found trying to organize my ideas on Pinterest to become hard once we were trying to actually make decisions. I made a Keynote with a slide for each room, used the remove background feature to simplify product images. This let me envision the whole room in one place and helped me see gaps in the design to clarify the list of decisions that needed to be made (need to pick a faucet, etc).

Sam · Answer

This Old House: Classic PBS show on home renovations. If you haven’t seen it, it utterly unique. They carefully explain what to do at a layman’s level, but they don’t talk down. They assume you can do hard repairs and show you every step. I would strongly recommend looking for any resources they have connected in even the slightest way to the renovations you want to make. Even the most minor video can help you out.

Just to give a small example, they have an entire feature segment on one episode about rain run off from a small outdoor building where you might not want gutters. They go through alternate options and show installation of a simple drip edge. Even if you have no intention of installing drip edge yourself, it would still be something to look at if you build a basic outbuilding. You might see that abs realize that you need to control water runoff, and that there are ways to do it without putting in a gutter system the building probably wouldn’t even support. It would give you something to talk to the contractor about both to communicate exactly what you want and to see if he can keep up with the conversation— lots of people don’t know very much about home remodeling but still go into the business.

To be clear, I’m just using the gutters thing as an example. I’ve used them as a resource across the board to flesh out ideas I have had  for a customer’s home. I would put them over any other resource—google, ChatGPT, YouTube, etc. because the videos are so well organized, you can click around in major segments and not watch the whole thing and still get a very good idea of what’s going on.

Space Camp · Answer

1001 Ideas for Kitchen Organization (New Edition): This book is essential reading before you renovate a kitchen. Some of the photos are dated but the ideas are 💯

Sophie B · Answer

This Oak House | Annie Meyers-Shyer (@thisoakhouse) • Instagram photos and videos: Annie Meyers-Shaw, daughter of director Nancy Meyers, has an Instagram (and apparently forthcoming book) dedicated to the documentation of an old house in LA that she has painstakingly remodeled. While her taste does skew a bit more traditional than mine, her meticulous attention to detail is impressive and she has lots of helpful tips, including everything from where to source stone to her favorite plumbing fixtures.

Babuji · Answer

Ceramicah Tera Lamp: During the lowest point of the pandemic, my adorable neighbors got engaged and started making ceramics in their spare room. They met in architecture school and started their lives together in our hundred year old courtyard building. Everyone in the building was given beautiful handmade vases. Then they started making lamps, eventually hiring another neighbor (a touring drummer) to work with them in their newly established studio. Now they have a flourishing lamp business, all handmade here in Los Angeles.

Corrina · Answer

Ceramica Vogue: For my reno, I longed for tile with no color variation. After hours of web searches and driving all over LA County to visit tile showrooms, a friend (to whom I am forever indebted) shared this Italian company with me, and we used their System collection. The resulting gloss 4x4 ballerina pink walls and matte 2x2 rusty, brick colored floor is the bathroom of my dreams~~~

Very Carrie · Answer

One word. CONTRACTOR.: As a former architect and someone who’s helped many people with renovations, the key is a killer contractor. There is only one I use and recommend in Los Angeles because he’s the real deal. Always on time, always on budget, and super fast. His crew is solid and he’s so patient and friendly. I’m based in LA and am happy to connect you. Send me an insta DM if you’re interested. @its.verycarrie

Grier · Answer

Frank’s Cane and Rush Supply: I’m a proud card carrying member of Frank’s Cane & Rush Supply thanks to my friend Sophie, the chicest girl I know. Frank takes seagrass rug orders over the phone from his office in Huntington Beach and they’re half the price you’ll find online and twice as beautiful.

Grier · Answer

Block Shop Key Fabric: Picture this: WOVEN performance fabric from Sunbrella x Block Shop. This fabric can handle anything: kids, pets, spilling an entire bottle of wine. It cleans beautifully and, most importantly, it’s woven, so rather than feel like something you’d sit on on your in-laws boat in August (scratchy performance boat fabric), it’s super soft and cozy to the touch. Beautiful & vibrant.

Grier · Answer

Treehouse: One of the very first Rec Leagues and still one of the best. @Treehouse has amazing collections across decor and hardware.

Grier · Answer

Petra Artistic Hardware: Outstanding hardware edited by the co-founder of Sight Unseen.

Grier · Answer

Block Shop Moons Wool Rug: Perfect durable area rugs, handwoven with a cool, clear point of view.

Grier · Answer

Duo High Stool: RAD furniture makes the best kitchen stools. Everyone in my family has these (and we even have a few custom versions). So comfortable and the colorways are even prettier IRL. Designed and built in Los Angeles!

Emily · Answer

Fichman Furniture: Does your house have radiators? We just got a custom radiator cover for our nursery and Fichman’s service and process absolutely BLEW ME AWAY. They have a neat little tool that whips up a diagram for your cover — and they’ll work with you on any fussy details. (Ours is in front of a window and needed a little carve out.) The cover ended up fitting PERFECTLY.

Emily · Answer

Amanda Hesser’s Rec League: Amanda Hesser just went through a major house Reno and cataloged her recs on her page!

JV · Answer

Can We Hop On A Quick Call?: Contractors respond shockingly well to quick calls —definitely they don’t respond to texts, and one-thousand-million percent they don’t respond to emails. (FWIW this was the first thing that came to mind when I thought about someone seeking reno advice because I truly was like…you should just call me.) Long live the quick call 🙏🏼

JV · Answer

Semihandmade: Custom Cabinets for Ikea: This is the cabinet hack: We used IKEA inserts (like an easy-bake kitchen) and went to Semihandmade for a more custom “front” of cabinet. The customer service was super helpful and they provided us with toe kicks etc, and the result is the overall look/feel is more polished & elevated.

Daniel Menegaz · Answer

Paul Ferrante: What kind of son would I be if I didn’t recommend the incredible lighting and antiques company my dad’s worked at for 30 years