This is the first of a series of blog posts of before and after stories. I love when I sell a home to a buyer who has a vision to give the home new life. And one of my favorite things is when the owner invites me back for a tour when the project is complete! I love seeing their vision turn into reality and so here is the first of the series, chronicling their stories, wisdom gained, resources used and of course, before and after photography.

I was first contacted by Mandi and Jose in November of 2011. They were relocating to Carmel and wanted a property with a guesthouse. They weren't afraid of some updating and had good vision. After looking for about 3 months, they ultimately settled on a home in Carmel built in 1976. The house was well built with good bones, but screamed 1970's and didn't have good curb appeal. The home had been on the market for over one year with two different brokers. Mandi and Jose were able to complete the purchase for below appraised value.

Over the course of 2 years they chipped away at various improvements, making careful decisions of what to upgrade, inside and out.

On the interior, replacing the carpet with a dark engineered Birch hardwood and painting the dark ceilings white, had the single biggest impact. The fireplace was a large stone centerpiece in the living room. They had a custom mantle put over the fireplace and a custom wrought iron hand railing and hanging picture frame design on the other side leading downstairs. From a design perspective, the owners used retail pieces from Restoration Hardware, Bungalow 5, World's Away, and Pottery Barn in a mostly neutral palette and stayed within a soft beach / swiss coffee white for the paint.  In the kitchen, they installed a new stainless fridge, double oven and upgraded the cabinet hardware and sink faucet. They placed a round Serena & Lily jute round on the kitchen floor with weave baskets above the cabinets.

On the exterior, they redid all the landscaping and removed the diagonal wooden beam siding; replacing it with a clean stucco finish. They also installed a frosted glass front door and added glass French doors to bring the outside in. They even developed a retreat area in the canyon with a hammock and fire pit on top of a Carmel stone patio. All of the Carmel stone that was used was found in the canyon in their very own backyard - even for the bench!

In June, the owners made the decision to relocate to be closer to family. I knew the home would be well received not only because of the changes they made, but also because the home looked so perfectly decorated. Within one month we had the home sold and the owners were able to get 40% more than what they paid just 2 ½ years ago!

Stay tuned for part 2 of my "Before & After" series featuring an incredible transformation of a 2 bedroom 1950s beach bungalow on San Antonio in Carmel-by-the-Sea!