I love Architecture, and I’m obsessed with renovations and bringing an outdated or neglected space back to life. Recently I came across an absolutely jaw dropping space that just sold that I’m excited to share today. I’m so sad I didn’t make it over to see the space before it sold {in a whiplash inducing three days at just over $1 million}, maybe I can make friends with the new owners and get an invite over for dinner, ha!

Too often people think that updates have to be very neutral and safe so that their space is appealing to the maximum number of people possible when they go to sell. I don’t really love this approach, most of the time the space just ends up being boring and too vanilla. You only really need your space to appeal to one person, the one who’s going to buy it! But I do understand the perspective, design decisions that are too far in one direction, or too customized or specific, might be a turn off to people. And it can be a challenge to make a ton of design choices if you aren’t a designer, or Architect. But there’s a difference between taste that is too personal, or that kind of unique {you know what I’m talking about!!}, and outstanding design that is bold and a true showstopper.

This space is a great example of what is possible when you do great quality updates and have a strong design aesthetic that is anything but safe and neutral. You will notice however, that these owners strike a great balance between bold fun patterns on some elements, and more calm neutral tones in others, for balance. Design matters, and like I talked about with having a rare find, if you create a really outstanding unique space, people will flock to it when you are ready to sell!

Here is the space before they bought it, back in 2012. It’s clear even with outdated finishes that it’s a great, unique space… and has a ton of potential.

First, here is the plan. The house is a single story space that used to be a factory as it’s original use. I’ve read that it used to be a soda pop factory, but when I looked it up all I could find in the records was that it was once an auto body place… either way, it’s unique and makes a good living space too!

It’s dfinitely not a traditional house set back with a yard. The front is totally enclosed brick, concealing a splendid interior courtyard.

Notice here that the glass connecting the courtyard and interior is an aluminum storefront system that is kind of visually heavy, so it looks kind of chopped up and disconnected from the inside…

Here is the kitchen and main living space… nice and open, amazing skylight, but the trim on the windows to the courtyard is a pretty dull and drab brown, and the kitchen is super outdated, even by 2012 standards, lol!

Here are the bedrooms and bathrooms. I don’t think that the design of the bathrooms is really a style that is very complementary to an open brick loft… but I’m not sure I think that kind of contemporary style is complementary to much… maybe it’s just me though, I guess it had it’s moment… hmmm…

In the ‘before’ space, the colors were darker, and a lot of the finishes were heavier. It’s clear that these owners took care to design their space, and they do have some fun things going on, I think the white bedroom looks great, and study gallery wall is pretty good. But let’s get to why we’re all really here ~ the after space!

Here’s what the owners who just sold did to this space, omg, I keep wanting to just squeal  in excitement every time I see these pics. JUST. SO. GOOD.

Originally the house had a brown door, and the courtyard brick was left alone. Now the door is a bright fun blue, the windows/doors to the interior of the house have been replaced with a much more open and streamlined style, and the courtyard walls have been painted white. A fun wall tile livens up the connection between the house and courtyard and a grill has been installed in what used to be just the back of the living room fireplace. I’m seriously sad I was never invited to any garden parties here, just sayin’…

On to the living space!

Okay, now that you’re done drooling… isn’t the after just amazing?! One big change is that the interior brick walls have been painted white. I’m always a little gun shy to paint things like this, but it looks so good! The space is so bright, total transformation. The streamlined glass between the courtyard and house really connect these two spaces as well. And while these owners have a lot of unique and bold touches, like the palm print wallpaper and the tile on the fireplace, the rest of the architecture is fairly simple and classic. They have a statement chandelier over the dining table, and good lighting in the kitchen. The kitchen design and finishes are very understated and neutral, but these guys were on to the brass hardware trend long before it went mainstream! One of the main reasons I love this space so much is because you can create something that looks this great on any budget, and the design of the furniture and finishes are the frosting on the cake when it comes to making the space really shine {like a diamond, ha}.

The rest of the house is no exception. Here are the bedrooms and bathrooms. The master bedroom is light and playful with fun wallpaper, and the master bath has the classic white subway tile on the walls, but the unexpected twist is the geometric herringbone tile on the floor and the constellation wallpaper on the ceiling. I really like how they took the wall tile almost to the ceiling, but stopped short, and brought the wallpaper down to meet the tile. 

The second bathroom is a much more traditional style design-wise than elements in the rest of the house, but I still think it works here because their style is so eclectic.

The study and mudroom are true gems. It takes courage to do an entire room in a bold color, but are we really surprised that that’s what they did here? Just look at that gorgeous teal, ohmygod ~ it’s so good! The trick with doing something bold like this is that you really have to get the color just right, it can easily go really wrong with the wrong shade… and they balance the bold color out with a lot of art on the walls and a little pop of yellow in the rug. Usually I stay away from primary colors, but they aren’t always bad, the bold yellow cabinets, balanced by dark grey walls and the geometric tile on the floor that brings the two colors together, are amazing!

This house might have sold for a million bones, but the design elements and finishes that make this house such a standout can be implemented in any space, and that’s one of my favorite things about design, it has the power to transform and make every space feel like a one in a million. Hope you have a great weekend, and if you need me, I’ll be here making inspiration boards for our new place {I’m pretty sure all of these images will be in there!}!