Hi, I’m Korena. My obsession for design started when I was living in an apartment ages ago and watching every HGTV home design and renovation possible, craving my own home to personalize.

When my husband and I purchased our first home over 10 years ago, we paid a decent amount of money to others over the years to upgrade it room by room. As our family grew, we knew we needed more space eventually but were still in love with our home and neighborhood. Just as soon as we finished the last renovation project (a master bathroom of my dreams), we spontaneously put in an offer for a larger house….in the same neighborhood. We went from one suburban mid 90s home build to another. We weren’t ready to say goodbye to our first home and still own it as a rental property.

While I love the space this new home provides for our family, my OCD quickly kicked in and the mental to-do list of allllllllll the projects began.

After watching all of those different contractors come into our first home (and probably being their worst nightmare nitpicking every detail), feeling like I had the equivalent of a HGTV college degree, being inspired by beautiful designs from professionals and DIY tutorials online, I figured it was time I went for it and try some projects on my own.

And this is where our journey together begins. Follow along as I seek to take this not so unique 1990s suburban house and make it the image of an upgraded, customized home that it has the potential to be. Here you’ll find a combination of DIY, professional upgrades (baby steps folks), home styling and clutch shopping finds.