After years of post-college living with friends and renting on his own in North Royalton — no real plans to purchase, yet frustrated about frequent lease hikes — Anthony Perrin’s mindset about home ownership moved more toward, “Maybe.”
“I’m 29, so I figured maybe it was a good time to start looking, and I was getting to the point where I felt like I was throwing money away on rent,” says Perrin, who works as a project manager in his family’s business,
Artistic Renovations, based in North Royalton.
Driving up his parents’ street one afternoon in December 2022, he spotted a for-sale sign pitched in a somewhat overgrown front yard of an ample-sized ranch that “was a good price and needed some TLC.” Perrin’s uncle, a relator, helped him game plan a bid, which he won without too much competition.
“I didn’t necessarily have a vision for what the house could be at first,” Perrin says. The spit-balling with family and inspiration gained from exposure to remodeling projects throughout Northeast Ohio provided Perrin with a priority punch list he could tackle on budget as a first-time buyer, with his elbow grease and help from longtime contractors who showed him the ropes.
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Focused on Potential
The 1,800-square-foot home had all the trappings of a 1960s ranch that had been slightly updated over time. From an aesthetic standpoint, the interior felt like a real blast to a kinda-sorta retro past — but in a gut-it way. However, with experience in the remodeling industry working under his father, Perrin overlooked trivial surface issues such as mauve walls, wintergreen carpeting, cracked linoleum, knotty pine and antiquated fixtures. The exterior needed some love, too. “It was all old, white siding that was falling apart,” Perrin says.
Before:
Not anymore.
Perrin describes his taste as modern, leaning toward cool grays and crisp white, with a preference for open-floor plan living. “In my line of work as a project manager, I get to see bits and pieces of projects, but not the evolution from the second the first hammer gets knocked into a wall until you’re all done,” Perrin says.
Eyes Wide Open
The first order of business: Address the compartmentalized floor plan and cramped entry, expanding the main living area and literally raising the roof. Other projects included a kitchen remodel with new cabinets, flooring and countertops, and fresh paint throughout the home.
A powder room was transformed into a full bathroom, borrowing space from an awkwardly positioned laundry room off the kitchen.
“We knocked down a wall in the entryway to make way for an open kitchen, and the biggest changes were vaulting the ceilings in the front living space and kitchen,” Perrin says. Mechanicals were relocated — the HVAC system was relatively new. “But we had to get more heat everywhere,” Perrin says of placement.
Vaulted ceilings provide more headspace, creating an illusion of grandeur in the most-used areas of the home.
Knob-and-tube wiring was changed out, and recessed lighting installed in main living spaces. Perrin found salvage granite slabs from a supplier at a better price and opted for stainless steel appliances throughout, adopting a trend of mixing metals by selecting matte black cabinet hardware.
Painting wood-paneled living room walls Thunder Gray by Sherwin-Williams allowed for enough pigment to mask aging planks.
Bathroom updates include quartz countertops, paint in Warmer Gray — also used throughout the home in hallways and bedrooms — and a refreshed vanity.
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A Welcome Change
The home’s exterior won a significant curb appeal pick-me-up with a coat of navy and a new covered porch with A-lines that complement the interior’s vaulted ceilings.
Crisp trim around the windows and some light landscaping work — removing overgrown shrubs and trimming others — delivered an updated exterior that pops from the street.
“Having a place of my own that I can build equity in is exciting,” says Perrin, adding that his aunt happens to live behind him, so the neighborhood has become an unexpected family affair. He laughs, adding that homeownership wasn’t necessarily on his “2022-23 bingo card,” and after about seven months of renovations and a space with plenty of room to grow. “Everything fell into place.”
First-Time Projects
Finding affordable real estate that requires no work is a pipedream in most cases. Most first-time buyers want to put their mark on the property. Ken Perrin, owner, Artistic Renovations, offers advice for making the most of a remodeling budget when you’ve just spent a chunk on that first-ever down payment.
Play With Paint
It’s probably the least expensive and most impactful project you can do yourself. “In general, you can save by doing your own paint, flooring, new doors and basic trim work,” he says, adding more ideas to the list.
Ask for Remnants
Maybe this is not the year to replace kitchen cabinets — just add paint. Find out about suppliers’ remnants. Granite pieces that are mismatched or just didn’t work for another client. Those come at a discount.
Dress Up Old Cabinets
“Update older cabinets with vinyl sides by adding one-by-one trim to make shaker-style cabinets — dress them up to look more like furniture,” Perrin says.
Switch Hardware
All you need is a screwdriver to remove outdated hardware and replace cabinet and drawer pulls with new ones.
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