The Home Page | Take a Look: Before, During, and After

This edition of The Home Page was originally emailed to subscribers on November 12, 2023. To receive Sarah Sinclair’s real estate newsletter in your inbox each Sunday, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

You know I love a good before-and-after story. Well, this week we’ve got three. I guess one of the reasons I enjoy seeing other people’s space transformations is that it gives us a snapshot of what’s possible without enduring the time and effort — not to mention dust, mistakes, and empty wallets — that often go into even the simplest of home improvement projects. They say that any renovation is bound to take longer and cost more than one expects, but with a quick before-and-after story, we get to enjoy the results at a glance!

The photo shown above is the tropical front lawn of Tina and Rudy Scott’s home on Vallecito Place in Carpinteria. They were the Carpinteria Beautiful “Lookin’ Good” award winners for this October. New stone detail, plantings, driveway, lighting, and walkway were all part of the overhaul, along with a beautiful new synthetic lawn. Jerry Galanti of EcoLawn Santa Barbara was the designer and project manager on this first-impression makeover.

As this “before” photo shows, Jerry oversaw a tremendous transformation. When asked how the process went, Tina Scott said that “Jerry and his team ran like a well-oiled machine.” More details here.

In the course of selling local real estate for 22 years, my friend Kalia Rork has helped countless sellers upgrade their homes before putting them on the market, and has also shown buyers the potential in a new house that just needs a little updating. Kalia has used her talented eye to update her own home from top to bottom. One small example is her fireplace. The original, shown above, was a soot-filled wood burner, typical for a 1960s Goleta tract home.

Her new fireplace is electric, super efficient, and clean, with a mantle made from reclaimed wood that was found in the handyman’s basement. Kalia had design and project planning help from John Dempsey, and styling and decorating assistance from our own Style Specialist Christine Cowles, whose latest article gives us a ton of makeover tips that won’t break the bank. Once the weather cools down, Kalia will surely spend countless cozy hours in front of this gorgeous fireplace with her pup, Joey.

Our last before-and-after for this week is really a “before-and-during” because this room isn’t quite finished yet. On Emily Henderson’s blog, she shows us their family room (above) in the state it was in before they moved into their beloved farmhouse. In a fun, step-by-step description of the project — including delightful references to The Golden Bachelor (Team Gerry, anyone?) — she shares their goals, the process, and one big mistake made along the way. Hint: If you’re choosing wall colors, you’ve gotta read this article. She calls her unfortunate color faux pas the result of “renovation exhaustion.” Thankfully there was a remedy, and the result is shown in this photo of the family room as it now stands.

I’ll keep an eye on the progress of Emily’s farmhouse renovation and share the final results … about the same time we find out how “the most dramatic finale in Bachelor history!” winds up.

As promised in the last newsletter, here’s this week’s opportunity to give back to our community this holiday season. Unity Shoppe’s fall food drive invites us to pitch in to ensure that families in need have food on the table this Thanksgiving. Unity Shoppe is seeking donations of food items large and small, such as yams, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, broth, canned vegetables, and frozen turkeys and chickens. These can be dropped off Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at their 1401 Chapala Street location through November 22. Of course, monetary donations are welcomed as well. I like their suggestion that as we’re shopping for our own feasts, we can pick up a few extra items to donate. That way, everyone will be well fed this holiday season.

There are plenty of other holiday ideas in this week’s issue of the Independent, plus all sorts of open houses and other real estate news for your own home renovation inspiration. Enjoy!