When you have all of the little details together, that’s what makes a house feel like a home.
Seth and Laura DeGarmo moved into a 2 bedroom, 1 and a half bath home in German Village two and a half years ago. The 1,300 square-foot home was very cute, but they repainted everything to make it more their style. Mixing mid-century modern decor with vintage pieces, creates a peaceful place to spend time.
The couple moved to Columbus from San Francisco when Laura received a fantastic job offer. Growing up in California, Laura was unsure what to think of Columbus at first, but grew to like it. Seth had grown up in Chillicothe, and had lived in Dublin awhile before he moved to California for work. While in California, he and Laura met.
“Coming from San Francisco, Columbus has a lot more culture and arts than I thought it would,” says Laura.
Seth adds, “I enjoy how much Columbus has grown [since I’ve been gone] and how much emphasis is being put back into Downtown.”
They worked with realtor Brandon Prewitt to find their home in Columbus. Seth’s mother went to visit the homes on their list and sent back photos.
“This house was the last one we looked at and we literally fell in love with it,” says Seth. “It wasn’t a fixer upper, but we’ve done a lot to it.”
Coming from a 400 square-foot studio, the DeGarmos have much more room to spread out.
“It’s a good, manageable size for a house,” says Seth.
The patio space was mostly unusable with many small evergreens filling the area. Those were removed, and the rest of the space was bricked, creating an outdoor room filled with colorful and inviting accents.
“It’s one of our favorite places to spend time,” says Seth.
The upstairs bathroom received a makeover with new floor tile and heating elements were added. New lighting fixtures complete the look.
Much of the work throughout the home was done by the DeGarmos on a budget. The driveway was updated with stones from Lang Stone Company. Simply changing the color to a sandy brown gave the house a much softer look and created another area to entertain friends. Patio lights strung across the drive create a special ambiance.
Living in German Village has been a wonderful experience for them.
“We love the history. The look. The whole story [of the neighborhood] is great,” says Seth. “People really love to take care of their houses and it shows.”
Walking to restaurants, shopping the farmers’ market at Kight Studio, and enjoying the beauty of the neighborhood are favorite activities for the DeGarmos.
“We finally have our home just the way we want,” says Laura.
At Home is a monthly column on Columbus Underground focused on urban home remodeling and style as well as older home renovations and unique homes in Columbus. If you would like to have your home featured in the At Home series, please send an email to me at [email protected].
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