Many row houses in San Francisco are small, narrow, and long, making for dark spaces. How do you make a small, dark space look bigger and brighter? Add mirrors, lights, and texture. However mirrors can look really outdated if not done right. Plus both mirrors and lighting can be expensive. I challenged myself on this low-budget San Francisco project to use repurposed materials found at swap meets, thrift stores, and Ebay, and inexpensive off-the-shelf products instead of going with the typical custom approach. These limitations, as is often the case, actually resulted in more interesting solutions.
The Living Room:
Before:
After:
Steampunk Mirror Wall:
Inexpensive $30 Home Depot door mirrors were turned on their side and staggered like huge subway tiles. Because the mirrors were not custom fabricated to fit within the existing niche, this left gaps at each end. Recycled fence wood was placed in the gaps to offset the glitz of the mirrors. Wood posts were cut, stained, and attached to the studs behind the fence wood to create floating shelves. A large rusted letter “Q” found at an antique store was added to complete the piece. Sitting on top of one of the floating shelves is a bicycle spoke found at a thrift store which we painted red, an industrial light bulb found at a swap meet atop a glass cube base, another thrift store find. The materials for the entire wall cost about $450, and installation took about 4 hours.
Fireplace / TV Wall:
A wood stud and drywall fur-out was fabricated to hold an ethanol fireplace purchased for $250 on Ebay. Ethanol fireplaces use canisters filled with alcohol to create a flame and require no vents, gas, or electricity. They are also narrow which was important since we didn’t have the real estate to spare. Cove lighting is a way to bring light into space that feels more natural because the light source is hidden. An inexpensive LED strip was purchased at the local hardware store and installed on top of the wall fur-out above the TV. Electricity was tapped off a nearby power outlet, and a wall switch was added in an indiscreet location. A floating wood shelf was added at the same height as one on the adjacent mirror wall to visually tie the two walls together. The materials and labor for this wall cost about $800, not including the TV. Fabricating this wall was the most labor intensive part of the entire project, took about 4 days and created quite a mess. A ton of wood and drywall was cut, taped, mud, sanded then painted. Although it would have cost about twice as much, fabricating the wall out of millwork offsite would have been preferable if there weren’t budget limitations.
The Kitchen:
The kitchen is partially below grade and flanked by large retaining walls on two sides making for a very dark space. Large LED flood lights were added above the windows to create the illusion of sunlight. Moreover, the white cottage-cheese textured walls were stucco’d with concrete and decorated with pebbles and a few rusty gears found on Ebay. To complete the look, concrete pavers and polished Mexican rocks purchased at Home Depot were added to the patio floor. This patio remodel expanded the space of the kitchen. A shimmery shell backsplash was also added to the stove wall to provide more texture and light play. The backsplash materials cost about $300 and took about 6 hours to install.
Before:
After:
The Bedroom:
Before:
After:
This room is the smaller middle bedroom in the apartment with only two small windows, neither of which provides much daylight. I found 14-inch square gold mirrors on Walmart’s website for $7 each. Forty-two of them were installed onto the wall with heavy duty double-stick tape. So that the room didn’t look like a Las Vegas hotel room from 1975, they were painted a flat white to look like antiqued tin. They immediately expanded the room and gave it a more romantic feel. The total cost of materials was about $300, and installation took about 3 hours. The tract light was also switched out for a more mood-inducing chandelier purchased for $199 from Lamps Plus. The headboard is an old barn door found on Ebay turned on its side, and the artwork on either side incorporates another Ebay find, antique banisters.
As you can see, it’s not necessary to spend a fortune on good design. Combining everyday or “found” objects in new and interesting ways can make up for a small budget depending on the style you want. This repurposed aesthetic happens to be in vogue, especially in San Francisco. Not including design time, this entire remodel cost only a few thousand dollars yet increased the value of this San Francisco flat by about $20,000.
The Living Room:
Before:
After:
Steampunk Mirror Wall:
Inexpensive $30 Home Depot door mirrors were turned on their side and staggered like huge subway tiles. Because the mirrors were not custom fabricated to fit within the existing niche, this left gaps at each end. Recycled fence wood was placed in the gaps to offset the glitz of the mirrors. Wood posts were cut, stained, and attached to the studs behind the fence wood to create floating shelves. A large rusted letter “Q” found at an antique store was added to complete the piece. Sitting on top of one of the floating shelves is a bicycle spoke found at a thrift store which we painted red, an industrial light bulb found at a swap meet atop a glass cube base, another thrift store find. The materials for the entire wall cost about $450, and installation took about 4 hours.
Fireplace / TV Wall:
A wood stud and drywall fur-out was fabricated to hold an ethanol fireplace purchased for $250 on Ebay. Ethanol fireplaces use canisters filled with alcohol to create a flame and require no vents, gas, or electricity. They are also narrow which was important since we didn’t have the real estate to spare. Cove lighting is a way to bring light into space that feels more natural because the light source is hidden. An inexpensive LED strip was purchased at the local hardware store and installed on top of the wall fur-out above the TV. Electricity was tapped off a nearby power outlet, and a wall switch was added in an indiscreet location. A floating wood shelf was added at the same height as one on the adjacent mirror wall to visually tie the two walls together. The materials and labor for this wall cost about $800, not including the TV. Fabricating this wall was the most labor intensive part of the entire project, took about 4 days and created quite a mess. A ton of wood and drywall was cut, taped, mud, sanded then painted. Although it would have cost about twice as much, fabricating the wall out of millwork offsite would have been preferable if there weren’t budget limitations.
The Kitchen:
The kitchen is partially below grade and flanked by large retaining walls on two sides making for a very dark space. Large LED flood lights were added above the windows to create the illusion of sunlight. Moreover, the white cottage-cheese textured walls were stucco’d with concrete and decorated with pebbles and a few rusty gears found on Ebay. To complete the look, concrete pavers and polished Mexican rocks purchased at Home Depot were added to the patio floor. This patio remodel expanded the space of the kitchen. A shimmery shell backsplash was also added to the stove wall to provide more texture and light play. The backsplash materials cost about $300 and took about 6 hours to install.
Before:
After:
The Bedroom:
Before:
After:
This room is the smaller middle bedroom in the apartment with only two small windows, neither of which provides much daylight. I found 14-inch square gold mirrors on Walmart’s website for $7 each. Forty-two of them were installed onto the wall with heavy duty double-stick tape. So that the room didn’t look like a Las Vegas hotel room from 1975, they were painted a flat white to look like antiqued tin. They immediately expanded the room and gave it a more romantic feel. The total cost of materials was about $300, and installation took about 3 hours. The tract light was also switched out for a more mood-inducing chandelier purchased for $199 from Lamps Plus. The headboard is an old barn door found on Ebay turned on its side, and the artwork on either side incorporates another Ebay find, antique banisters.
As you can see, it’s not necessary to spend a fortune on good design. Combining everyday or “found” objects in new and interesting ways can make up for a small budget depending on the style you want. This repurposed aesthetic happens to be in vogue, especially in San Francisco. Not including design time, this entire remodel cost only a few thousand dollars yet increased the value of this San Francisco flat by about $20,000.
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