Determined Do-It-Yourselfers - Page 2

a remodel—upgraded electrical and plumbing systems—had already been done by the previous owner. "To us, everything else was cosmetic."

Once they were in, Karen set about discovering what that floor plan had looked like originally and what it could look like now, yet still be authentic.

"I did a ton of research into the original Eichlers and how they were built," she says, adding that the need to compile their research was one purpose of the website. "I was hoping it would be a resource for other Eichler followers.

"I'm not a purist. I wasn't going to try to put an original Thermador in," she says of the kitchen remodel, one of the biggest do-it-yourself renovation projects they undertook, and one whose conclusion they recently chronicled on their website. "The final review on the kitchen, you can definitely see where we've been."

"We're doing it one space at a time, as our money and energy allows," she says, describing an ongoing do-it-yourself journey that friends and family follow on the website. "This is what we do for fun, so a lot of friends were interested in what we were doing...I'm very passionate about our house and how it fits into our lifestyle. I could talk about it forever."

Along the way, the family encountered a couple of unexpected plusses. One was the friends they've made online through website blogs and forums, including other mid-century modern bloggers like Andy Lacey of fogmodern.com and Karolina Buchner of dearhouseiloveyou.com.

Possibly the best unexpected benefit, though, was the impact on their two boys, now 7 and 3.

"Our kids love Home Depot," she says, adding with a laugh, "That's just what they do. And they actually help a lot!

"They each have their own kid tools and work right next to us. I think they see we're having fun, and they want to too."

Best of all, she says, "Now they understand a little bit of how houses come together. I think that's neat!"

You can follow Karen and John's DIY-renovation journey—one home-improvement project at a time—at DestinationEichler.com and DestinationEichler.com/blog.