House Beautiful

Casa Covet Living: Karrie & Tim’s Gut Rehab

Gut Rehab: Karrie & Tim's House | Covet Living

Ladies & Gents, this is a pipe dream come true: our very own house to renovate!  And by “our”, naturally I mean mine and Karrie’s Tim & Karrie’s new pad!  (But c’mon let’s be honest – gurl you know I already called dibs on the front guest room for all of eternity!  And the day we went to look at the house together, high-fived Tim and yelled “SU CASA ES MI CASA!!!”)  HablhdsahjhahahaJFkldfhdhfjkahjhahhahah.  PS Karrie and I really do share a brain:

Karrie and Steph Convo | Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

But for real – I could NOT be happier for my bestie and her hubs.  They have both been busting their respective humps for years in La La Land and just closed on a sweet little 50’s bungalow right on the border of Westchester & Playa Del Ray.  Which, sweet as it may be, needs a shiny new sledgehammer to be taken to it stat for a little update.  How cute is this note, by the way, that the previous owner left for them??  “…the bar top took me a year of Saturdays to finish” = I DIE.  I told them they should frame it and put it up somewhere.

Note from Existing Homeowner | Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

Thank goodness Tim is as wise a man as he is and has given wifey and me the reigns (insert squealing and jumping up and down in circles).  Anyhow – Karrie and I will be sharing weekly updates with you as we just entered serious planning stages and demo starts (gasp) in a few weeks.  Here are a few shots of the hizzle as is:

EXTERIOR

Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

KITCHEN

…don’t worry – we’ll fix it!

Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

Tough to see but the kitchen is to the left of that sliding door…  if I had panned a few feet further left, you would see that lovely yellow peninsula countertop.  We’re thinking of widening this opening and putting in La Cantina doors to create an indoor/outdoor feel.  The area just beyond the sliding glass door is currently an extension of the paved driveway, but we’re thinking about tossing a deck out there. A Mesh Screen Door is also in trend and very useful.

Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

FAMILY ROOM (looks into a little bar in the back)

Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

BAR

…this is the bar the sweet former homeowner built.  Sniff.

Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

MASTER BEDROOM

…that little fireplace is coming out but we’re going to reuse it outside on the future deck/patio.  That wall of mirrored closets is also getting da boot.

Master Bedroom

MASTER BATH

…sweet Lord, that’s a shade of mint I’m not sure I’ve ever seen.  Plan here is to carve a little more space out for the master bath and give them a large glass walk-in shower, his and hers vanities, etc.

Master bathroom

HALL BATH

…does Thally Draper live here?  No but for reals.  I’m campaigning to bust out that soffit, add wall sconces in lieu of hanging pendants, put open shelving where the cabinet is above the commode, and the wall at left separates the sink area from the tub/shower combo.  That oughta be glass up top for sure, because this area is too small and dark for comfort as is.

Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

LAYOUT

The biggest challenge and what we’re trying to tackle first is reworking the interior… the existing floor plan is – true to the style when it was built – uber compartmentalized and funktastic.  Karrie and Tim want to bust out some walls and have more of an open layout – with a fatty gracious kitchen and big eat-in island that’s open to a cozy family room.  Other challenges include:

  • Creating an office space somewhere without occupying a bedroom
  • Relocating the washer/dryer from the kitchen (it was inside that big built-in cabinet/armoire thing) to a location that makes sense
  • The walls between the kitchen and family and between the kitchen and dining are most def coming out… which opens things up but then creates one long, huge open space.  The wall at the right between the living/hall and family/hall may also come out… all of which means we’re going to have to put some MAJOR support beams in.  In any case, we’d like to open this up but still have a designated kitchen, dining (doesn’t have to be separate/closed off) and cozy family room.

Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

So, that’s where we are kiddos!  Karrie and I also may’ve accidentally jumped ahead a few steps and hit Country Floors last month (like a candy store!) and ordered Tabarka samples (thanks, Amiel!), which we fully plan on decking out the kitchen with.  Which do y’all like?

Tabarka Tile at Country Floors | Covet Living
Palio 1 | Karrie and Tim's New House, BEFORE | Covet Living

PS…  how sweet is this pic of Karrie & Tim dancing in their new living room that I may’ve snapped when they weren’t looking.  *tear

Karrie & Tim's New House

Anyhow.. We’ll be rocking out weekly updates so stay tuned… and as always we love hearing from you!!

xoxoxox,

Steph & Karrie

*Credits: As-Built CAD drawing by DJR Design Group

7 Responses to “Casa Covet Living: Karrie & Tim’s Gut Rehab”


  • I will be obsessively watching this transition…so glad you are reporting and posting pics/ updates. Congrats, Karrie & Tim..& Stephanie! 🙂

  • Hi Steph! The plans are all sounding nothing short of divine! I’m a tee sue bit concerned with those kitchen tiles. The tiles give me a feeling of outdoor, unground pool tiles. They are also monochromatic in blues ? I do favor the bottom one that isn’t blue on blue pattern

  • I cannot wait to see this puppy transform!

  • This will be fun to watch as you girls do this makeover. I like the honeycomb tile with the spots on it but afraid it would get old after awhile. Can’t wait to see which one wins

  • Looking forward to watching this project with great anticipation. Congrats and best wishes to Karrie & Tim on their new home…and to Stephanie on her future guest suite.

  • Y’ALL!!!!!!
    So Exciting. Steph, I love that you are blogging it up on Karrie’s behalf because it’s just impossible not to share in your excitement for your friend. In fact, now I feel like maybe the front guest room is all of ours.
    Su renovation journey es mi renovation journey.

    Love it. Keep em coming.
    And holy shit, let me have that orange fireplace. I’ve been dying for one of those for all time.

  • Thank you JB from Jersey, aka Fairy Blogmother! I will await your thoughts on the renovation with much anticipation. Big hug from Cali 🙂 xo, Karrie

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