This beautiful three-bedroom Meiselman in Palm Springs, California was my home for six years. This was a true fixer-upper. I purchased the home as a short sale and it had run into disrepair on all levels - aesthetically and mechanically. I had never seen such bad nicotine stains - all the walls were stained yellow and the smell of cigarette smoke permeated everything! The trees and landscaping in the backyard were all dead.

I updated the HVAC system and plumbing, replaced the kitchen and bathroom cabinetry using Semihandmade fronts, stripped away the carpet to reveal the original concrete flooring, re-tiled the bathroom and kitchen using Commune and Tabarka tile, wallpapered the entryway and dry bar, installed a vintage Malm gas fireplace, installed a sliding glass door in the guest bedroom to open it to the backyard, reconfigured the hallway and converted the garage that was falling down to a clean, bright studio space for my photography work.

Outside, I designed a custom driveway that organically connected with the breezeway using geometric poured concrete pavers. I installed beautiful hanging lights in the trees, hand selected large boulders for both the fountain and to place throughout the yard as a sculptural focal point, replaced the old metal gate with a handmade geometric dutch door, replaced the decomposed granite with a custom mix to inspire a feeling of the Mediterranean, hung hammocks from the trees, planted a mix of succulents, cactus and bougainvillea throughout, painted the fence and exterior of the house a soft warm grey, buried the electric cables, installed a fire pit and upgraded the salt water pool system.

Want to see more? Click here to see the dramatic before and after photos, and here to see the feature in Sunset Magazine.