This 900-Square-Foot 1960s Fixer Upper’s Transformation Is Anything But Typical
The bones were good, but the design was anything but intentional when Max first bought this 900-square-foot ranch-style house in Casitas Springs, near Ojai, California, four years ago. Originally built in the 1960s, it was “stuck in time,” according to Max’s partner, food stylist, private chef, and content creator Rebecca Taylor, who moved in a few months later.
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There was “old carpeting throughout, a chain-link fence with no privacy, an overgrown yard, and long narrow rooms (especially the living room) that lacked flow or definition,” she begins, describing the feel of the space as more “neglected cabin than intentional design.”
Max and Becca share the two-bedroom house with their very cute basenji Olivier (Oli), and for the last four years they’ve worked on home projects “room by room as time and budget allowed.”
“Early on, we ripped out all the carpeting and installed cork floors throughout, which completely changed the feel of the house,” Becca begins. Max poured concrete countertops in the kitchen. And they had to get creative to tackle limitations and challenges of living in a small home.
“The living room was one of the hardest spaces — long and narrow with no clear flow,” Becca explains. “I solved it with floor-to-ceiling pinch-pleated curtains across the entire wall, not just over windows, which made the space feel larger and more intentional.”
There was also a gaping hole in the living room ceiling where a fireplace pipe used to be, so Becca found a vintage fireplace on Facebook Marketplace, restored a little life back into it, and installed it where the old one used to be. “It completely transformed the room and became the focal point.” She says the fireplace and the cork floors are some of her favorite elements.
The bathroom got a dramatic makeover, thanks to “Spoonflower wallpaper, a black Swiss Madison toilet, and a custom sink.” They also transformed a chaotic and unorganized laundry room into the cutest and most colorful space to do laundry in. And the couple spent $200 to add a narrow DIY display shelf that doubles as art and storage in the kitchen.
The kitchen also features a project that recently went viral on Becca’s social media. “The nook was created using IKEA KALLAX bookshelves for around $250 total — completely renter-friendly and versatile,” she writes.
The couple has also created a storied, warm home by filling it with family heirlooms: “my grandparents’ mid-century furniture, vintage wallpaper from their home that I repurposed, and pieces from my grandfather’s travels,” Becca lists.
The transformation of a dated former rental into an “artful oasis” has made the space feel eclectic, personal, and entirely like the couple who calls it home. “It feels like a Japanese record lounge meets eclectic art collector’s home.”
“My grandparents’ mid-century furniture and heirlooms from my grandfather’s travels sit alongside flea market lighting from France, animal print accents, and colorful touches like a mural of a calm woman in the laundry room,” Becca writes.
“The style is hard to pin down — it’s artful, layered, collected over time. We mix patterns with natural elements like stone, concrete, wood, and cork. It’s not “high-end,” but it looks expensive and intentional in its curation,” she continues.
“You see us throughout the space — jars of yuzu-cello and hoshigaki on display in the kitchen, my grandmother’s wardrobe in the casita closet, striped wallpaper in our bedroom. It’s not cluttered; it’s personal. Every piece has a story.”
This tour’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
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