My Minimalist Home Renovation: Before and After

In 2022, my husband and I bought our top-floor condo in Richmond’s historic Fan district. Built in 1914, the 1,516 square foot space had an abundance of beautiful original features: ten-foot ceilings, white oak and heart pine flooring, wavy glass windows, pocket doors, detailed millwork, and solid brass hardware. I saw the potential for it to be the Scandinavian-inspired apartment of my dreams. The bones were perfect—it just needed some polishing.

Minimalist home renovation

From the foyer facing west, we can see into the entryway (ahead), the dining room (immediate left), and the living room (distant left).

Before we moved in, I spent three months managing the restoration. We refinished the original flooring, sanded the old millwork smooth, removed the newer crown moulding, replaced the newer baseboards with a historically-accurate profile, polished the brass door hardware, restored three painted-over transom windows, replaced the HVAC registers, updated the lighting and electrical switches and receptacles, and repainted the entire space.

Shortly after we moved in, we restored the antique security glass on the front door and the service stair window in the kitchen, which had been covered with mirrors. We also stripped and repainted the exterior of the French doors to the balcony off the living room.

A little over a year after we moved in, we remodeled the kitchen—to see before and afters, click here. The primary bathroom remodel is almost complete and will be shared soon.

You can find my list of preferred home contractors here.

We’re so pleased with how the restoration turned out! Check out these before and afters, photographed by Mindie Ballard.

If you’d like to learn more about any of the items you see in my home, I’ve included a full source list with links at the end of this post.

BEFORE living room facing west

AFTER living room facing west | This is where we unwind after our workday. If the weather is nice, we open up the French doors to the balcony.

BEFORE dining room facing east

AFTER dining room facing east | The Nelson bubble pendant anchors the space and the kitchen can be seen in the next room.

BEFORE foyer facing east

AFTER foyer facing east | Restoring the three transom windows that were painted over lets so much light into the hallway!

BEFORE foyer facing north

AFTER foyer facing north | I call this the “breathing room”—it eases the transition from life outside into the home. You can see the antique security glass we uncovered on the front door.

BEFORE bedroom facing west

AFTER bedroom facing west | Our clothing fits comfortably in this 41” wide closet—no dresser needed!

BEFORE home office facing south

AFTER home office facing south | We both work from home and share the home office. Not pictured: our Netherland Dwarf rabbits who live in this space with us.

I love the way our simple, modern furnishings complement the historic architecture of the space. Most of what we have was brought over from my prior home. I’ve been collecting my furniture for over a decade now; I prefer to invest in timeless, high-quality pieces that will last a long time and can adapt to any space.

To see even more photos of our home, including a peek inside our cabinets and closets, click here.

Source list

Kristen Ziegler