Before & After: A Run-Down House Gets a Total Renovation
It took eight months for couple Catherine and Adam to completely renovate this Charleston house. Built in 1935, their home is a two-story, “classic” four-square house, and while a lot of work was needed (like, a lot of work), there were also a lot of traditional and original architecture elements they wanted to keep and restore. With some design in Catherine’s background—and a lot of courage on the part of the couple—they decided to tackle the project of bringing their dream home to life. It wasn’t just an inside gut job and interior rebuild, either; the exterior of the home also got a beautiful refresh.
According to their house tour survey, Adam says his favorite element is the front porch. Before the renovation, it was surprisingly dark and rundown. The after is a bright space with ample seating and a delightful blue ceiling. The door also got an upgrade, and while it’s more modern than what it was before, it still retains a bit of a traditional vibe, working well with the home’s architecture.
Not all of the changes to the house were aesthetic; in fact many of the upgrades to the home improved its function, like in this area, where the couple turned an empty, wasted corner into a functional “drop zone” and storage area. They used Benjamin Moore’s “Whale Gray” on the walls to complete it.
From the before photos of Catherine and Adam’s home, it’s clear that while the space did need a lot of work, the house had great architectural bones to begin with. In order to preserve some of the home’s beautiful 1930s character, they worked hard to restore elements like the two original brick fireplaces.
Upstairs, a small bedroom is turned into a bold office thanks to Sherwin-Williams’ “Dark Night” wall paint color.
Some of the biggest changes in the house had to do with the first floor layout and the kitchen. They ended up rearranging the first floor to give it a more open feel, and completely moved the kitchen to another spot; they also added a powder room on the first floor. “This room was such a labor of love for me,” wrote Catherine. “I had searched for close to a year for the perfect dark green/blue/black/gray color for the kitchen cabinets and realized it just didn’t exist. So I made my own!” The end result of the renovation is a four-bedroom, two and a half-bathroom home that now works perfectly for their family.
Thanks, Catherine and Adam! See their full house tour.