Last season Renovation Inspiration featured a home we worked on in Bel Air — you might have seen it. But this season, SoCal Contractor is stepping out in front of the camera. This time, you’ll get a glimpse behind the scenes as we team up with interior designer Lori Dennis (my wife!) and Lamps Plus to renovate a fixer upper in an up and coming neighborhood in Marina Del Rey. Watch SoCal Contractor on the new season of Lamps Plus’ Renovation Inspiration here:
In Real Estate, Location Is Everything…
Located just 20 blocks from the beach, we knew this neighborhood was going to take off when we bought the place! It’s a great sized home – 4 beds, and 4 baths, that we’ll be transforming into three separate rental units for Air Bnb. For $1.4mm the home was reasonably priced, but it needed a lot of work. The subsequent renovations would cost us another $70,000. Having been in the business of home building and design for decades now, we knew of a few ways to cut corners without compromising quality…
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Recycle Whenever You Can
Every time you have to transport new materials or furnishings to site, you’ll incur an additional expense. Whenever possible, we used materials that were already on site and gave them a quick refresh. We kept the existing countertops for example, and the cabinets in the kitchen. With a fresh coat of paint, they were as good as new!
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Sometimes you have to bite the Bullet…
Not everything is going to be that easy, however. The master bathroom was a mess and there were all sorts of structural issues when it came to plumbing and electricity that needed to be prioritized before we could get to the fun part. A huge part of the success of a project like this is not being stubborn. You have to know when you just have to knock down a wall and start from scratch or not.
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Coastal Themes
Choosing a design scheme for this project was simple – we’re all about letting the surrounding environment dictate design choices whenever possible. We’re by the beach and appealing to tourists who are likely to be spending more time out exploring the neighborhood than cooped up indoors. That means optimizing the outdoor space, giving the interiors an eclectic, coastal taste of California, and establishing a connection with the outdoors whenever possible were the top priorities. That means, you’ll find lots of mosaic tiles, outdoor lounge areas, coastal decor, and blues throughout.
Tune into Renovation Inspiration on Lamps Plus’ Youtube channel. If you missed the first season, you can check that out here:
