A tale of two condos

While "remodel" can evoke all kinds of exciting possibilities a condo precludes many of these: ownership of "studs in" (and sometimes not even the studs!) limits what you can accomplish. Likewise many condo HOAs require design approval for any major changes to the interior. What to do if the association doesn't approve of your design?

In the case of this little treasure in Denver we wanted to escape from the college apartment feel without any major change to the structure of the home.

I played a good deal on the layout of the place and came to the conclusion that the blueprint was already optimized for the space. So the question became "how do you change the feel of a house without changing the layout?" The answer we arrived at was trim and finishes: wood floor instead of carpet, ornate trim instead of slimmed down 70s finishes. We were quite satisfied with the results.

In conclusion, it's nice to realize that a major overhaul isn't required to change the look and feel of a place. Not all remodels need to break the budget.