Austin Contractor Services & Vendors We have put together this list of Austin contractor services and vendors to support our clients in maintaining and updating their homes. Some of these contractors have helped us over the years on our DIY projects. Other names on the list were contributed by our clients and friends. (We don’t […]
Archives for February 2016
Austin by Air: An Aerial Documentary (video)
Welcome to Austin Texas!
Austin Craftsman Style – Design Build
Austin Craftsman Style – Design Build Thanks for visiting our Austin Craftsman Style home on Lake Austin! Here are some finished photos for this house. We felt that a Craftsman style home with a deep porch would be a pleasing design for a house on this lot. The floor plan takes advantage of the view, […]
Craftsman Style Interior
Austin Craftsman Style Interior Thanks for visiting our Austin Craftsman Style Interior post! A craftsman style home with a wide front porch was our choice for the design of this DIY project. This is in the Lake Hills neighborhood of Eanes ISD, near the Lake Hills Community Park. We built a very modern, open interior […]
Concrete Staining Austin
Concrete Staining Austin Thanks for visiting our concrete staining Austin post. Would concrete floors be appropriate for a Craftsman style house? We think so. Craftsman is a bungalow style that is cozy and unpretentious. The style embraces simplicity and the use of natural materials. This is based on a Craftsman style, but adapts to what people […]
Austin Craftsman House Framing
Austin Craftsman House Framing Thanks for visiting our Austin Craftsman house framing page! This is one of a series of posts on the DIY design and construction of a craftsman cottage. The size and floor plan of the house grew out of these conditions: Lot terrain with some up slope in the back; the septic […]
Austin Craftsman Foundation
Austin Craftsman Foundation Thanks for visiting our Austin Craftsman foundation post! We had been looking for a small home to remodel, and had not been able to find a good fit. Mostly, the houses were already redone with choices that we did not like. We decided that the best thing would be to build from […]
Austin Ranch Home Remodel – Before and After
Austin Ranch Home Remodel – Before and After Thank you for visiting our Austin ranch home remodel. Our goal with this traditional ranch home was to bring it closer to the mid century modern style. This home already had some elements of the mid-century modern. There was a single living area open to the kitchen. […]
Austin Polished Concrete Floor
Austin Polished Concrete Floor Thanks for visiting our Austin polished concrete floor post. We have done polished concrete floors in the past, and have been very pleased with the wax finish. It has lasted over 10 years in one of our projects. In this case, we wanted to use concrete floors in a remodeled house. […]
Stained Concrete Austin
Stained Concrete Austin Thanks for visiting our stained concrete Austin post! In this house remodel project, we wanted to let the underlying concrete be the finished floor. It took some true grit to deal with the mud, the dust, and the backbreaking labor of this job. If you’re in the middle of a diy project, reach out […]
Load Bearing Wall Removal Austin
Load Bearing Wall Removal Austin Thanks for visiting our load bearing wall removal Austin post! Removing load bearing walls is a difficult part of any remodel. However, the lack of connection between the living room and back yard made this necessary. As you can see, the living room window looked out to a desolate and isolated outdoor […]
Ranch House Remodel Austin
Ranch House Remodel Austin At some point in the past, a poorly considered addition was built on the back of this home. This addition sat on the outdoor space where the original patio had been. It was called the sun room. Perhaps it should have been called the sun block room, since it blocked light […]
Sunken Living Room Austin
Sunken Living Room Austin When this home was built, floor plans were more open than they had been in the decade before. Instead of walls, changes in floor levels and ceiling heights were used to show the separation between spaces. Sunken living rooms were popular. As you can see, there is a step down […]
Popcorn Ceiling Removal Austin Tx
Popcorn Ceiling Removal Austin Tx Thanks for joining us on our popcorn ceiling removal Austin Tx post! We are just diy’ers, and only occasionally do a remodel project. But, we love to share ideas with our clients as they plan their house remodels. If you need somebody, and not just anybody, to help you […]
Remodeling a Ranch Style Home
Remodeling a Ranch Style Home This house was a well-loved traditional ranch style home. The bones were pretty good. But, there would have to do some surgery done to have a more open plan, with better access to outdoors. And, we wanted simplicity, white colors, hard floors, and a great kitchen. Not too much to […]
Traditional Ranch Redo Austin
Traditional Ranch Redo Austin This traditional ranch home in was done is the more “modern” style of the 1970’s. There was no formal living-dining room on your left or right as your entered the house. This house had a large single living area open to the kitchen. It was a precursor to the open plan […]
Ranch House Remodel Ideas
Ranch House Remodel Ideas This home came up for sale the Northwest Hills area – a part of Austin that we love. At the time, we were not looking for a project, and this home needed more work than made sense. See our First Look post. We ended up buying the house, tearing it down, […]
Modern Ranch House Austin
Modern Ranch House Austin Thank for visiting our modern ranch house Austin page! This property was for sale in a neighborhood we love – Northwest Hills. At the time, we were not looking for a project. But, after some thought, we ended up buying the place and re-building the house. Here are some interior design […]
Ranch Style House Austin
Ranch Style House Austin Thanks for visiting our ranch style house Austin project. We had noticed this house for sale the Northwest Hills area – a part of Austin that we really like. For more photos of the original house see our fist visit post. We fell in love with the corner lot and tall oaks, […]
Ranch House Plans Austin
Ranch House Plans Austin Thanks for visiting our ranch house plans Austin post! This is about a house in the Northwest Hills area – a beautiful part of central Austin. We fell in love with the corner lot and tall oaks, but the unfortunately we could not make use of the house. The house had to […]
Design Build Austin
Design Build Austin – Northwest Hills Project Thanks for joining us on our design build Austin post! This is the beginning of our story of a tear-down and rebuild project in Northwest Hills. An email had come in about a house for sale in the Northwest Hills Austin area – a central Austin neighborhood that we love. […]
Real Estate Negotiation Austin Style – How to Build Trust
Real Estate Negotiation Austin Style – Build Trust Most people (but not all!) know how valuable it is to have a feeling of trust in a negotiation. When trust is high, anxiety is lower on both sides. Communication is easier. And, the buyer and seller tend to offer more than they would in an atmosphere […]
Top High Schools Austin Tx
Top High Schools Austin Tx Three Austin high schools made Newsweek’s current list of the 500 best public high schools in the nation. The top high schools Austin Tx, per Newsweek’s ranking, are listed below. Beside each school is its ranking on Newsweek List of 500 best high schools. We have included school rankings for […]
Austin Condo Questions – Ask Before You Buy
Austin Condo Questions Understand the Basics of Condos There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about condos. People usually think of condos as units in a multiple story building. They have a hard time believing that a home on an acre lot can be a condo. You can’t tell by looking if a property […]
