Part I - The Beginning of a Big Ol' Renovation - About "Us"

I once read an excerpt from Real Simple Magazine about home renovations and how, to the home renovation lover, a house is never truly finished. And, when it is finally finished, then it is time to move on. This poem describes our lives and our approach to home renovations perfectly. 

Our Christmas Card Photo from 2008 - -during this time, we were living the life of renters, which was fun for a while but we were already itching to get our hands on a house.

Russ and I are a "real" couple in our early 30's who have big dreams and a very small budget.  We believe that every homeowner has the ability to add significant value to their home while simultaneously enhancing your marriage through home renovations.  Whether it be a simple project like changing out the hardware on your cabinets or a more complex project like installing your own floors - - there is something about working on your home together.  We think that home projects have the ability to draw you closer together as a couple while also creating a home that you love spending time in AND at the same time adding significant value to your most significant purchase of your life - - your home.

Russ and I love ourselves a good house project.  To be honest though, Russ really really really loves projects.  He could eat, breath and sleep everything and anything "house" related.  Frankly, he could live in a  a hovel if it was "his".  Russ is a very intuitive person with an incredible ability to find solutions to complex problems.  He pays attention to detail and takes his time making decisions, leaving no stone unturned.  These qualities may also explain why he has chose engineering, specifically project controls/cost scheduling as his career choice.  Russ works for an international global engineering firm in downtown LA.  When he's not working, or working on the house, he loves nothing more than a bike ride or painting.

Russ, building the forms for a modern cement pathway

I, on the other hand, love a good project as well but, I can't lie - - I love to partake in some of the luxuries life has to offer such as hot water and a working toilet.  Sometimes, (gasp) I actually like to take a weekend off and do absolutley nothing.   My love of "luxury" and zest for life (as well as my desire to share our lives with the world) may also explain why I chose "acting" as my career choice.  Actually, I am a struggling actor who is on the verge of success and who also likes photography and long walks with my husband and our little dog - Beba.

This is Beba - she's our assistant

We are very opposite from one another, which makes major projects that involve many decisions very interesting.  We have similar visions to what we want the end product to look like but very different ways of getting there.  Russ is an introvert, a thinker and is very slow to act; whereas, I am extroverted and act quickly.  Together, we make a great team.  For what one of us lacks, the other certainly makes up for it.

Me climbing Half-Dome at Yosemite National Park

On the other hand, we both get restless with monotony and feel useless when we don't have a hammer or paintbrush in hand.  I've come to the conslusion that we avoid certainty because it doesn't present enough challenges for our liking.  We revel in uncertainty (sometimes to my consternation) and we like that the "unknown" pushes us and helps us to grow stronger.  We especially like the "real" tangible changes that we can make to a structure. 

Our "pre-trip" before we made the big decision to move to Cali

With the growing DIY (do it yourself) population of people out there, we think many others feel this way too. In particular, we believe many homeowners/handy people are not interested in paying gazillions of dollars on renovations that we all know we can do (if given a little direction), at a fraction of the price that a fancy contractor may quote.

Some people train for marathons, some opt for competitive golf or tennis, but our challenge of choice is a home renovation. We love the possibilities that a “fixer” presents. Also, there is nothing quite as invigorating as a conversation about which type of faucet to use in the bathroom, the grain of wood to use on our floors, or the good deal one of us found on craigslist for a glass shower door or refrigerator. We love the hunt, we love Home Depot and we love the concept that we will reap what we sow!

When we aren't renovating we love hanging out with friends and enjoying good wine (and looking very "Hollywood" with our sunglasses)

We hope you enjoy this blog and we want to hear from you.  In our next post, I'll get ya'll updated on how we got to where we are today...owners of the most ambitious "project" to date.

~ Ang and Russ (and Beba too)