How I'm gently renovating my 1950s home 🏡

Good Digs is a design and decor newsletter from The Good Trade. Every other Thursday, one of our editors pulls back the curtain on their space, inspirations, and reflections on home.

💛 A letter from our editor, Kayti

This summer my husband and I bought our first house in Long Beach, California. The 1952 stucco home is a dated ranch with wood-paneled walls and faded wallpaper, and a Frigidaire Flair pull-out stove that we are learning to cook on.

This move has been a long time coming. We’ve started, then stopped the house hunt more times than I can count in the past decade, all because of interest rates and lender hiccups and houses that felt too expensive for their lack of charm or care. As soon as we walked into this one, I knew it felt different. The bones were strong, and the layout made sense. Somehow we beat out five cash offers—we made a compelling argument to the sellers that we wouldn’t be turning the house into an investment property and joked with our realtor about how we “must save the house from millennial renovations!” Once in escrow, we discovered the home had been owned by the same family for over fifty years, and the previous owner, a woman who lived to 100 years old, walked the neighborhood daily and was involved in the local community.

long live the mint tile!

Now that we’re officially moved in, the mood boards and gentle renovation conversations have started. I say gentle because we desperately want to preserve the character and story of the house while updating it for a more modern lifestyle. For example, the exterior stucco is currently a heavy “Spanish lace” (oh, the things I’m learning!), meaning it’s incredibly rough and doesn’t fare well with dirt or tiny humans who bump into walls when playing outside. Unbeknownst to me until now, you can actually re-stucco your home with a smoother finish, which we plan to do later this fall.

Unlike with previous moves into the many rentals we’ve lived in over the years, I am doing things differently with this home. For starters, I am going extremely slow with the unpacking and dreaming. I’ve been known to move into a new space and dive headfirst into painting walls and making thrift store runs for new rugs and artwork. Maybe it’s because I have a toddler, maybe it’s because we own this home and the pressure feels higher, or maybe it’s because I am desperate for a slower pace in general, but I am committed to intentionality and patience this time around.

I’m taking myself back to school as well—to learn more about design and architecture so that I can make informed decisions about the space and how it will serve our family. In the past, I’ve very much hodgepodged the rooms with items I love and haven’t really thought about how everything is (or isn’t) talking to each other. I’m learning, though, how flow and intentional design choices are essential for our overall wellbeing. As someone who has always felt sensitive to space, it’s been eye-opening to discover how certain layouts and sight lines in a home can impact your mood.

All this to say, I am so excited for this next chapter of life and to really settle into this house and make it our family home. It’s not lost on me how fortunate we are to have a place to live, and in a city we love. My husband and I have been turning to each other all week while unpacking boxes, asking things like, Did we really do it? Is this really ours?

Below are a few of the resources I’ve recently discovered and am loving for education about interior decor. I’ve also shared a few items we’ve purchased since moving in (some practical, some for fun) that are helping make the transition into a new space more seamless.

Design resources I’m loving

Books | Thrifted coffee table books and vintage design magazines are great for inspiration. I also love collecting interior design books while traveling. Currently, I’m devouring The Interior Design Handbook by Frida Ramstedt.

Social media accounts | If I’m going to be on social media, I am going to learn something along the way. Here are a few accounts I love for design education, especially as a visual learner.

• Jason McKissick - videos on spatial awareness and floor plans

• France Brunel for understanding holistic design and color therapy (and also Paris content!)

• Loui Burke - for how to actually make a bed ;p

• Renovation Husbands - for all the design and reno inspo

• byrikkilee - for attainable and realistic design ideas that don’t make your house look staged

• Hans Lorei Design - my favorite videos! I’m learning so much about the fundamentals of design, proportions, room weight, etc.

Our first purchases as homeowners

For fun, here are a few of the items I’ve purchased over the past month in preparation for our move. Some are practical, others are celebratory, and all of them are from sustainable brands I love.

Biom wipes | Moving means a lot of cleaning, and these nontoxic wipes smell heavenly. I’ve used them to wipe down cabinets, walls, the seats of my car after moving boxes, you name it.