In Giving the Gift of Home, we shared how helping a family find a place to live became part of our real estate story.
Then came a chapter we never wanted to write after this home caught on fire: Your House Caught on Fire, Literally, Now What?.
Turning Lemons into Lemonade
Now, we’re working on what comes next—making that house a home again. And as we put it back together, we’ve had an opportunity to ask: Could the square footage already here work better?
The answer was yes. With a few changes, we were able to turn a one-bedroom, one-bath house into a two-bedroom, one-bath home without adding onto it.
The biggest opportunity was the oversized laundry room. We reconfigured that space into a mudroom and a second bedroom, moving the washer and dryer into an oversized closet between the existing bedroom and bathroom. Laundry still has a place, and the house now has another room for someone to call their own.
We also flipped the kitchen layout, placing the sink under the window. That change made room for a doorway from the kitchen into the bathroom, improving access and helping the new layout work together.
Same square footage. Another bedroom. A better flow for everyday life.
Work in Progress
The video shows the work in progress: unfinished floors, fresh drywall, and doorways that are beginning to connect the house in a new way. There’s still work ahead, but you can start to see how the space will live differently.
If you find yourself rebuilding after a fire, or simply rethinking a home that isn’t working well, here’s what we’re learning:
Find a good contractor. You need someone who can handle the repairs and help you think through what’s possible. Moving laundry, changing plumbing, and creating a bedroom take more than a good idea. Having someone who understands how to make those changes work is essential.
Work with your insurance company before making changes. Talk through the proposed layout with your adjuster and confirm what is covered, what would be an additional expense, and whether the changes could affect your claim or coverage. Get those details clear before work begins.
Look at how the whole house flows. Is a utility room taking up space that could serve a bigger purpose? Could a closet accommodate laundry? Would moving a doorway improve access or privacy? In this house, the changes worked because we considered them together.
We wouldn’t have chosen a fire as the reason to rethink this home. But sometimes, when things go wrong, there’s an opportunity to put a place back together in a way that works better for the people living there.
For us, that means making the most of the space we already have—and giving this house another chance to feel like home.
