Katherine Fugit and her husband, Conan, fell in love with their home on first sight — even though the house was formerly bank owned, without heating and teeming with black, liquid-oozing radiators. “My husband chanced upon the house on the way to lunch one afternoon and was drawn in from the sidewalk. He didn’t even wish to mention the house to me because it looked like way too much effort,” says Katherine. A few weeks later, she stumbled upon the house online; the rest is background. “It was just supposed to be,” she states.
They must work fast, she states: “We had to do lots of cosmetic things before we’d 50 guests in our house for our garden wedding just three months after closure.”
in a Glance
Who lives here: Katherine and Conan Fugit
Location: Wichita, Kansas
Size: 2,500 square feet; 4 bedrooms, 1.5 baths
That’s interesting: The home was once a girls’s lodging house.
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A 1940 census enabled the Fugits to track down the granddaughter of their household that conducted this former women’s accommodation house. “She was able to tell us interesting tidbits about the house,” Katherine says. “For example, she said that her grandparents really slept in the dining area, and the upstairs bedrooms were completely inhabited by the lodgers.”
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The Fugits tore from the old plaster and lath kitchen ceiling to show wood beams.
“We painted everything new white, for instance, previous cabinets,” Katherine says. “We added new hardware, a classic stove and created our very own antique trouble lights. We also tore up several layers of linoleum and refinished the wood floors underneath.”
Cabinet hardware: Martha Stewart for The Home Depot; cage lights parts: Lowe’s; cages: 1000bulbs; Edison bulbs: The Home Depot; saddle blanket: Atwoods Farm Supply
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They painted their old refrigerator with chalkboard paint and used a classic floor joist from the basement as a shelf over the stove to add much more character and background to the room.
The whole price of this kitchen upgrade was a little less than $400. Then see the kitchen before the upgrade.
Before Photo
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BEFORE: Here you find the old cooker and also the plain fridge.
Before Photo
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BEFORE: This shows the cupboard side of this space with old hardware, a pulled-off door, dirty floors and sagging ceiling tiles.
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AFTER: “We kept costs down by not purchasing new appliances, cabinets or countertops. We applied a new coat of paint and hardware and did a tiny dish organizing. At the moment, the kitchen is perfect for us,” Katherine says.
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A reclaimed basement floor joist was repurposed to an above-stove kitchen shelf. “We cut [the joist] in halfan applied one coat of wax and used two brackets for approximately $3.50 each to secure it to the wall,” she states.
Before Photo
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BEFORE: following is a look at the Fugits’ living area before the furniture was reshuffled.
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AFTER: “Conan and I agreed that his Natty G [National Geographic] collection would be a big portion of the living space, because they were such a big part of his life; the shelves have been designed especially with them in mind,” Katherine says. “I kept the wall color very muted because of each of the colorful publications but very warm so it seems comfy by lamplight. I wanted this space to feel like the interior of a tiny boy’s cigar box full of treasures and pretty images.”
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She rearranged the furniture so that a newly purchased sofa today sits in front of the windows and shelving components.
“The wall color picks up the yellow at the National Geographics and little touches of yellow here and there. And that couch was quite a find at $25,” she states.
The couple also reglazed and recorded their double-hung sash windows, which makes them easier to open and shut. “We are now able to open the windows and the rear door and get an amazing cross breeze in the day once the weather is cool.”
Wall paint: Crumb Cookie, Olympic
Before Photo
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BEFORE: Here’s exactly what the mantel and French doors looked like before the renovation.
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AFTER: They painted the mantel and the dining area (background), and also extra crown molding and a new light fixture in the dining area.
“I was curious about painting the French doors a black colour,” Katherine says. “We spent hundreds of hours poring over blogs and scouring the Internet until Conan discovered Door Sixteen. I saw her pocket painted black, and I knew right then what needed to be done.”
Door paint: Black Magic, Olympic
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The Fugits bought this Eden pendant light from CB2. They moved with a “pretty gray wall color,” Katherine says that seems a bit green in this photo. “Some day we will catch the gray shade just right,” she states. The table is from a yard sale, and the seats are a Craigslist score.
Wall paint: Ash Mist, Olympic
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“Our 1917 bathroom had dropped its character somewhere along the way, and after the toilet and bathtub began leaking to the kitchen we knew we needed to start working on it,” Katherine says.
They tore out the plaster and lath, the old tile beneath layers of linoleum and the builder-grade fixtures.
“We re-created the tile pattern, inserted a subway tile shower in which the cabinet was and refinished an antique claw-foot tub. The unusual sink was a Craigslist find, and the toilet came from our downstairs water cupboard,” Katherine says.
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She bought the claw-foot bathtub for $100 and refinished it with black paint. “If you are creative and individual and willing to perform a little slow decorating instead of running out and purchasing a fixed pair, you can do amazing things on a very small budget,” she states.
Wainscoting paint: Montpelier Madison White, Valspar; wall paint: White Knight, ACE Hardware; bathtub paint: Black Magic, Olympic; flooring tile: Merola, Home Depot
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The scrappy DIYer initially repainted this TV cupboard a deep forest green with light blue shelving and backs; she quickly changed her mind when she saw the dark color simply didn’t work with the remainder of the bathroom’s neutral theme.
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“We discovered these shutters at a thrift shop for $4. 2 coats of paint and a number of hinges later and they are perfect for our classic bathroom,” she states.
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The Fugits turned a third bedroom that was formerly swathed in bright teal and neon yellow trim to a crisp and collected office space.
They began with glowing white paint from Olympic and added a built-in desk and shelves with pockets for a printer, a scanner and other office materials. Book spines add splashy colour punches and draw the eye up, taking attention away from the smallness of this space.
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The guest area is a nod to Katherine’s thrifty ways: The metal bed frame was a $10 thrift shop find, painted with low-gloss black spray paint; the sheets, the lamp (painted with $10 cherry red spray paint) and also the ship painting were also thrift shop purchases.
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“Almost every bit of furniture at our home was purchased in a thrift shop or garage sale,” she states. “We’re not saying that everything you find in a thrift shop is worth purchasing, but recycling things that still have plenty of life in them and just need a little love is most likely one of the best things you can do to help the environment and your pocketbook.”