Planning to Plan with… Planning

The opportunity to transform our garage — a useless space that was piled three or four feet high with holiday decorations and items our kid had outgrown — into what was could essentially be a studio apartment was really exciting. Not only could we get some much-needed…

Background for Breaking Ground

We had a big year in 2012.

We got married, Dan changed jobs and after losing the lease on the little house we’d rented for four years and seeing the spiraling costs of renting again, we bought a home in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. A bit more…

Everybody Wants Some

Our lack of experience with construction and home renovations coupled with a dearth of information on Accessory Dwelling Units made budgeting excruciatingly difficult.

We solicited opinions from just about anyone who’d give one, but there was nothing resembling a…

Grey Areas

I’ve mentioned HGTV enough times to demonstrate just how much time we waste watching these shows. Of course, reality TV is by definition incapable of providing viewers with anything approaching an education, least of all for something like a home renovation or purchase. Still, HGTV did teach us the…

Unknown Unknowns

This wouldn’t be a blog if the author — yours truly — didn’t have a lengthy and, for the most part, inexplicable absence of content.

A lot has happened over the last few weeks. We’re a bit more than halfway done with the project, which, while not complete, certainly looks…