Victorian Exterior Makeovers: 11 Concept Renovation Directions
Color palettes, material specifics, Northeast climate notes, and the plan reading behind every transformation.
- Home
- All articles
All articles — page 4
108 plan reviews, renovation studies, room guides and essays, newest first.
All articles
Craftsman Ranch Plan 267116SPK: One Level, One Flex Room, and 540 Bonus Square Feet
This Northwest-craftsman ranch (Architectural Designs plan 267116SPK) is exactly that kind of plan: a tight, single-level split-bedroom layout with a den that flexes to a third bedroom, wrapped around an oversized three-car garage with a 540-square-foot bonus room waiting upstairs.
Backyard Pool Makeovers: 10 Layout and Material Directions
These ten before-and-afters take one ordinary pool area and reimagine it ten ways, from a Zen garden to a mid-century courtyard.
Plan 25946GE Reviewed: A Contemporary Craftsman Ranch with an Angled Garage, Split Bedrooms, and an Optional Finished Basement
The angled garage is the first thing your eye lands on, and it's doing more work than it looks.
Hallway and Stair Design: 12 Layout and Finish Directions
A hallway with a staircase is the spine of a house — it's the one space every room hangs off, and it's almost always the last place anyone spends money.
Garage Makeovers: 6 Workshop and Storage Layouts
The garage is the one room almost every house plan draws as an afterthought — a slab, a roll-up door, and whatever ceiling height the trusses happened to leave. These six makeovers run from a glossy showroom to a quiet electronics studio.
Estate Exterior Renovation: 10 Concept Design Directions
A failing estate is rarely a lost cause — it is a strong plan buried under bad decisions. These ten transformations all use the same forlorn shell.
Plan 680682VR: Walkout Country House With 3 Bedrooms and a Finished Lower Level
It takes the grade and uses it: 1,288 square feet of single-level living up top, a drive-under 2-car garage tucked into the hillside, and a 700-square-foot finished bonus room sharing that lower wall — 1,988 heated square feet total on a tight 46-by-28-foot footprint.
Plan 85495MS: Single-Story Modern Ranch with Separate Activity Wings
Most plans this size try to be a little of everything and end up zoned like nothing.
Bedroom Makeovers: 9 Layout, Color, and Material Directions
It's the line between a styling swap and a building move. New bedding, a rug, and a lamp are a Saturday afternoon.
Plan 280016JWD: 1,669 Sq Ft Craftsman Ranch with Farmhouse Details
Here's a small honest detail worth getting right up front: Architectural Designs files plan 280016JWD as a Craftsman / Northwest ranch, but the stock rendering wears a modern-farmhouse skin — white board-and-batten, dark metal porch roof, timber gable trusses.
Party Room Restyling: 2 Flexible Celebration Layouts
So when a room gets dressed for a party, The review examines it as a renovation — what is permanent here, and what is just a removable layer on Sunday morning? This is one tired living room, the same four walls in every photo, restyled two completely different ways.