01
Falling in love (with the right house)
How to read a house before you buy it — bones, flow, the window that will cost $9,000 to fix.
The Training Guide · 2025 Edition
Renovate like a pro.
Save thousands.
Eleven houses, two gut renos, one pink tile bathroom I will never forget. This is the training guide I wish someone had handed me the morning I picked up my first sledgehammer — written by a woman who's done the work, not interviewed it.
- The 7-phase reno roadmap, from first walk-through to final coat
- Budget worksheets that account for the things nobody warns you about
- The room-by-room playbook I've refined over a decade of DIY
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Homes renovated, loved, and lived in
$12k
Average savings readers report per project
120+
Pages of checklists, swatches, and honest advice
4.9★
From 12,400+ homeowners who've used it
What you're getting
Written at the kitchen table, not from the sidelines.
I've rebuilt eleven houses — my own, my mother's, a 1912 farmhouse that tried its best to fall down, a few flips that taught me everything the hard way. Every chapter of this guide comes from a project I actually lived through, with the dust, the tears, and the paint swatches to prove it.
No contractor interviews. No affiliate lists. Just the moves, measurements, and mistakes I've learned from — so your first reno can feel like your fifth.
Inside the guide
Nine chapters. Zero guesswork.
Every chapter ends with a one-page worksheet you can print, tape to the fridge, and carry into the dust-filled week ahead.
02
The budget that actually holds
My 15/20/65 rule, the "oh no" fund, and where the hidden costs always, always live.
03
Demo day — gently
What you can swing a hammer at, what you can't, and how to protect the things worth saving.
04
Permits, made painless
When you need one, when you don't, and the short script that makes the building department love you.
05
Kitchens I've loved and learned from
Seven layouts, three budgets, the cabinet decision I'd make again in a heartbeat and the one I wouldn't.
06
Baths, tile, and the patience it takes
Sequencing, waterproofing, and how to lay a floor that still looks gorgeous ten winters in.
07
Paint, color, and light
How I build a palette for a whole house — finishes, sheens, and the trick to north-facing rooms.
08
DIY, or hire it out?
An honest decision framework — skill, time, resale, sanity — for thirty of the most common projects.
09
The soft landing
Punch list, warranty tracking, and the ninety-day check-in that finishes a reno properly.
From the readers
Real homes. Real receipts.
This reads like my smartest friend sitting at my kitchen counter with a glass of wine, telling me exactly what to do on Monday morning. I saved $18,000 on our kitchen and kept my marriage intact.
I've bought every renovation book on the shelf. This is the first one written by a woman who's actually held the trowel. It shows — on every page.
The paint and palette chapter alone changed how I see our whole house. I finally understand why the living room always felt off — and how to fix it in an afternoon.
Your next home could feel like your best one.
Get the Training Guide free. Read it on the couch, bring the worksheets to the job site, save the thousands for something you actually love.
Send me the guide