Up next in 10
Nightmare Renovation: How Disaster Became a Dream Home
526 views
Jun 30, 2025
This renovation tested everything — our patience, our plans, and our ability to stay calm when nothing went right. From unexpected structural issues to delays, busted timelines, and problem after problem… this house just did not want to cooperate. But somehow, piece by piece, we found a way through it. In this video, I’m sharing the full story of one of the most frustrating — and ultimately satisfying — renovations I’ve ever worked on. If you’ve ever wondered what really happens when a project goes off the rails, this is it. Whether you're a homeowner, real estate agent, or investor, these insights will help you position your property as a must-have on the luxury market! Follow us for more home transformations & design inspiration: https://www.kylehilldesign.com/contact-6
View Video Transcript
0:00
This is what happens when a home renovation turns into a complete nightmare
0:04
From contractor chaos to design disasters, this house absolutely tested the limits of our skills and our sanity
0:13
But today, I'm going to show you how we turned this nightmare of a renovation
0:17
into an absolutely delectable design. Hey, how's it going? Good, good. But wait, the paint color doesn't match
0:30
Today, I want to take you guys to one of our latest and greatest projects here
0:41
This project actually came through friends of friends because they had a horrific experience
0:46
with their first contractor. So they've asked my team and I to come in to help project manage
0:51
and get it over the finish line. This house was a full gut renovation. They expected it would take
0:57
about six to eight months because of the mishaps with their former contractor, it's taken almost a
1:02
year and a half. So before we continue on this home tour, and I tell you about some of my favorite
1:07
projects that we've done in this home, I'm going to give you a little bit of advice. My best kept
1:11
secret. I think that any homeowner that's getting ready to do a big remodel or even a small remodel
1:18
you need to have a clear and concise design plan. You don't want to have to pay extra for change
1:24
orders or these kind of things. So before you even swing that hammer, make sure you know exactly how
1:29
you want it designed Make sure you have your fixtures your finishes even your furniture layout decided so that way there no surprises and it goes quickly and smoothly And in turn it will cost you a lot less money Yeah no it just been a mess
1:45
So yeah, I think just overall, it's been... Yeah. I think it's been challenging, to say the least
1:51
I agree. I agree. It has been tough. You know, I think with all of the delays, with contractors and permits, and just so many cooks in the kitchen
2:03
In this property, we had, I would say, quite a few projects, but there's three main ones that I
2:13
definitely want to discuss with you guys today. The first one is, as we're standing right now
2:17
this used to be an outdoor atrium. So when you walked into the home, you were immediately met
2:23
with the wall, but you had this amazing little outdoor area that nowadays really isn't that
2:28
useful. So what we did is we added in new support beams up through the top in the ceiling. And then
2:34
where the atrium used to be that footprint, we've opened it up and turned it into the dining room
2:39
Also, we have one of the biggest skylights here in Twin Peaks. It actually goes six foot by eight
2:45
foot and it's one piece of tempered glass. It's pretty incredible. Hi. So remember how I told you
2:52
I was going to discuss three of our big projects here? This is number two. What we decided to do
2:57
is add two double sliding glass doors here so we can truly get that California
3:02
indoor-outdoor type of living. Where I'm standing actually used to be the workbench for the garage
3:08
But what we've done on this level is we added in an additional guest bedroom a family room laundry room office a bathroom and you still have your garage And here we are project number three the final installment So what we did is we enlarged the
3:27
garage door so that you could fit today's modern size SUVs in here. As we all know
3:32
our project here on Teresita has been, for a lack of better words, a wild one. So now we have this
3:39
really amazing open concept home. It's perfect for entertaining. You can be in the living room
3:44
someone can be in the kitchen, someone else can be in the dining room, and everyone's always going
3:48
to feel connected. It's a pretty remarkable before and after, if I don't say so myself
3:54
So right now I'm standing in the primary bedroom. And let me tell you, when we first saw this place
3:59
the primary was definitely not primary. What we did is we decided to keep the bedrooms both in
4:04
their existing spaces. So the kids bedroom is exactly the same, but we added in a much larger
4:09
closet. Here in the primary, we completely redesigned all of this space. We added in a huge
4:16
primary closet. We added in a connecting primary bathroom that has a full soak and tub, stand up
4:23
walk in shower. I mean, backlit vanities. Like we really pulled out all the stops on all of these
4:28
areas right here. Plus the guest bathroom that we added into the hallway is just, it's just gorgeous
4:34
It's simple, it's clean, it's everything that new buyers are looking for
4:39
Fun fact, we were just supposed to add a window to this room, but now we have literally rebuilt
4:44
this room from scratch. So now I'm sitting in what used to be the garage
4:50
And as you can tell it definitely way more than a garage now So in this home once we started the renovations on it we were able to add over 1 square feet of usable living space
5:02
So that's why now, as I'm sitting in the family room, which used to be the garage, which is now an amazing family room
5:08
is pretty incredible. Throughout this downstairs area, which we like to call the garden level
5:12
we've been able to add a full bedroom to amazing sliding glass doors
5:17
that go out to the outside. So we're truly getting that effect of California living with bringing the outside in
5:23
Currently, you might be asking, where am I standing? I'm in our newly renovated office
5:28
The great thing about this is because we redesigned the whole garden level of this house
5:33
we were able to find an area just to truly have your own office down here
5:37
So working from home has never been so easy. The other thing that's like kind of clutch about this is it has its own private entrance
5:44
So if you need to take meetings, you need to have a client come over, You literally can just have them come straight into your office and they don't even have to go throughout the rest of the home
5:52
Talk about luxury at an amazing, amazing price. I've never been more excited to let everybody into a project that we've been working on
6:02
This project has had so many highs and honestly quite a few lows
6:07
But overall, I feel like everyone that was involved in it completely killed it
6:11
We were able to add over a thousand square feet. The home ended up selling in less than seven days, non-contingent, well, well, well over asking
6:20
and it had seven offers on it. You know, honestly, looking back at it, I think we definitely did our
6:25
job and I will always be happy that we were part of this project
#Construction & Power Tools
#Home & Garden
#Home Improvement
#Property Development