It started with a FaceTime tour. Anna and Austin Smith, who were living in Washington, D.C., but planning a move out to Colorado, watched as their realtor virtually ushered them through a 1972 ranch house in Denver. “It was dark and cramped, with brown shag carpet everywhere,” says Anna. “But the price was right.”
So without ever seeing the place in person, Anna and Austin put in an offer, moved out West, and got to work. Remodeling on a tight budget, the couple—he’s in finance; she’s an interior stylist—purchased construction materials, tools, furnishings, and even plants secondhand. “Craigslist is our silver bullet,” says Austin.
The Smiths also saved money by tackling most of the work themselves, a two-year-long process that Anna chronicled on her blog, annabode.com. They spent hours on YouTube and Google learning how to do everything from framing doorways to plumbing sinks. At eight months pregnant, Anna even took on the laborious job of tiling the shower, while Austin removed mismatched ceilings.
But for the most part, the couple, now parents to two young children, discovered they make a solid DIY team. “I appreciate working with my hands, and Anna is really design minded,” says Austin. “But she runs the table saw better than I do.”