Renovating a home yourself can take a while — especially if it’s an older space that’s been patched or updated occasionally over the years. When Nicole McQuade and her husband moved into their historic Richmond, Virginia, home eight years ago, they tackled renovations room by room.

There’s just something special about the cooks, recipes, and kitchens you grew up with. Architect Dhara Sanghavi grew up in a now-dated ’80s-style kitchen, which her mother cooked in as-is for about 15 years.“It was a very central place in my household,” Dhara explains. “My mom is a great host and feels happy when inviting our friends and family for meals. The whole family would come together to chop vegetables, and I loved knowing what was cooking.

When Andrea Jensen and her husband were house hunting, they narrowed in on a Southern California area they loved. However, “the neighborhood came with a steep price tag,” Andrea writes, “so we knew whatever we bought in our price range would require a lot of work.”They ended up purchasing a home that was built in 1978 and had not been updated since. “It still had the same dirty wallpaper, linoleum, and popcorn ceiling.