My family and I are finally back at home, after a very very long road that included a hurricane, flooding, and then just as we thought we were done, a tree falling on the house. It’s been an incredible journey, but I am so happy to be able to show you our newly renovated home and to tell you a little bit about how we got to this lovely conclusion.

Over six years ago, Hurricane Harvey blew into Houston as a Category 4 storm, absolutely devastating the community. We had close to 50 inches of rain, and so many people lost their homes and everything they owned. I had over 3 feet of water in my own home, so the entire downstairs was damaged - entry, living, dining, kitchen, powder bath, study, primary suite, and laundry.

Over 135,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in Houston. That had a ripple effect in our industry with a shortage of workers and supplies, higher prices, and time delays, which was frustrating for everyone. And then it got even worse after the pandemic! That really put a hold on our timeline. I was also working with so many clients who were impacted by the hurricane and other storms that my project kept being pushed to the back burner! It’s always the way - like the cobbler’s children never having shoes.

But the silver lining in all of this is that I was able to rethink my home and how I wanted it to function. Thanks to the very talented architect Carlos DiNunzio and Tim Kirby with New Slate Properties, we were able to rework the footprint to make the rooms flow much better. The one item I am most excited about is the new staircase. It has opened up my entry and it doesn’t feel like you are walking into the stairs when you walk in the front door.

And then last year, just as we were putting the final touches on the interiors, another storm caused a tree to fall into the house. It created damage right over that beautiful staircase. Isn’t that just always the way things go?! So back to the drawing board for our construction crew, but they had everything back to the way we wanted it in a few months.

So here we are, with a beautiful finished home again. After this long road, I truly appreciate how blessed and lucky we are. Yes, you read that right. Even after all of the challenges and storms, we have a lovely space for our family. Family is the most important thing. All of this can be replaced as many times as it needs to be. But having everyone be able gather together in a place we call home…well that really is priceless.

So many people and companies have helped me through this long journey! Here are just a few who’ve made a huge difference in our recovery:

Hunter Jones at PuroClean

Carlos DiNunzio

Tim Kirby at New Slate Properties

Kim Davis, Stephanie Samper, and Rick Berry at Walker Zanger

Ferguson’s Corey Watts, Ammaad Khan, and Daniel Giltner

Thermador/BSH Group’s Suly Weissman and Joe Gonzales

G&S Custom Draperies 

Furniture restorer Chris Kokinakis 

Materials Marketing’s Lynn McClellan

Jana Earley at Luxe Fine Finishes

Neat Method’s Dominique Caskey 

Jose Mancillas at M&M Cabinetry

Rishi Vij at RK International

Keny Arana Painting

Circa Lighting’s Hannah Kubiak 

Christian Wade at Wade Construction and Roofing

Ha Nguyen at Jordan’s AC  

David Karson at Builders First Source

Tammy McMillan of Lighting Inc.

Scott Scerbo with Dorsey Builders

And Amanda Whatley!

And of course, I want to thank photographer Pär Bengtsson and stylist Jessica Brinkert Holtam for an amazing photo shoot of the finished rooms. I’ll give you a full tour in my next blog post, so stay tuned! Meanwhile, follow me on Instagram to get even more sneak peeks!

Warmly,

Beth