People often ask me when I got the bug for Design and Home Sales. It’s impossible for me to really pinpoint. My parents were in businesses that touched homes and sales. I think the moment I realized I would be good at it was when we purchased our home in Makakilo, Hawaii, but I have loved houses long before that.
When we look at homes, it can be hard to pinpoint what you’re actually looking for in a place to live. Usually it takes my clients 4 or 5 houses before they have really nailed down what’s most important to them. For me, when we were shopping in Hawaii, we saw about a dozen. My priorities changed, but one stayed constant. I wanted the home to need enough work to guarantee a raise in property value, but not so much work that we’d slave away working on it. My focus was cosmetic upgrades.
We ended up purchasing a 1500 sq ft, single wall construction (post and beam) home in Lower Makakilo. We had a gorgeous fenced back yard with a mature Mango Tree, views of the ocean on 3 sides, and Diamond Head and Honolulu from the back yard. This home would become my (and my husband’s) apprenticeship. We shadowed my parents and I expressed my ideas for the home, and they taught me how to hone those ideas and skills.
We started on the main room hardwood floors. The finish had started to peel and wear and my dad used it as an opportunity to teach my husband how to refinish floors. He took the time to explain that hardwood floors are perfectly imperfect, and if we wanted them to look new, we’d have to buy new floors. But the charm and character that comes out in an aged floor is better than any new flooring, in my opinion (and my dad’s!).
After the floors, we targeted painting the rooms and beams. The beams were painted dark brown, and I wanted to lighten up the space, so we used Seed Pearl from Pratt&Lambert. We used Blue Fog for the Family Room, Shantung for the bedrooms, and Moire for the Living Room/Kitchen. The white carpet in the family room just didn’t last with red dirt meeting small children and dogs. First, my dad built the bench and new bookcases. The bench opened up to store blankets and Christmas Decor (because this house seriously lacked storage!!!). The back table stored our printer and wifi, which for someone who hates wires showing was a true gift! Once the built-ins were completed, we laid laminate flooring in the family room. We selected laminate because this room in particular had been a carport previously. The concrete was uneven and laminate floors float and hide that unevenness.
Next came the kitchen. The very best most beautiful space in the home. I miss it terribly. It was a huge motivation for us to tackle our kitchen here in NY (photos to come!) The previous owners had invested in a gorgeous marble tile floor, which we decided would be a terrible shame to pull up. It was lovely and we wanted very much to keep the character and story of the home’s longest owners.
We took out the breakfast bar and my dad built cubbies that would serve for storage. It extended the island counter and opened up the kitchen to the rest of the room. We noticed tongue and groove ceiling behind the drywall and chose to expose it over the dining room and kitchen to match the original construction and define the space. Then, my dad made new cabinet fronts from bamboo plywood (which is extremely hard and heavy wood….) This created such a stunning modern island feel to the whole house. We elected to swap the stove and sink, first to make room for a dishwasher, but also because I prefer to clean dishes facing the room! We selected white quartz for the countertops. My dad found a copper accent to place behind the stove and installed a hanging pot rack. Last was the large gray subway tile backsplash, selected by my mama, and perfectly pulling the room together.
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Next we tackled the bedrooms. Carpet was pulled up, floors refinished, walls were painted, ceiling fans replaced! Bedrooms are so easy, it’s almost hard to make yourself work on them! But the reveal is so dramatic a difference and gives a remarkable difference in resale to tie them into the rest of the home. We did decide to add a sliding door from the master to access the backyard. Laundry in Hawaii is outside, so not having to walk through the whole house with laundry baskets was *amazing*!
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The French Doors were added at this point. We found 8 ft doors that swung in, really making the great room/living room feel as tall as possible and giving a gorgeous view of the mountain and sky out the front. This also helped the front porch feel like an extension of the living space.
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Lastly, my husband tackled the bathrooms. Painted to match the bedrooms. He tiled the shower to the ceiling. It was a lot of work and he is still moderately upset about it.
We selected gray and yellow theme, and chose driftwood tile for the flooring. Light paint colors, or light decor in general, always help a space feel larger! The curved glass door on the shower helped the tub feel larger. We chose a trackless door, no mess! We picked mimicking design for the half bath off the master.
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I hope you enjoyed our little recap on our first ever home! It treated us so well and we reminisce often. I think it’s important to recognize where we come from and give credit to those who help us get to where we are going. In this instance, we used this season and the Makakilo home as a learning experience. Hands on training from my parents that equipped me for the 1930’s Colonial we own in Upstate NY now. I currently use the #mycolonialcraftsman to show the current progress. Feel free to follow my Facebook and Instagram accounts to keep tabs on our renovations! Enjoy the Hawaii views!
**I sought permission from both agents to use their photos for before and after shots of the property.**