Before & After: A Washed-Up Venice Beach Shack Catches a Second Wave

It was a dump. That was Veneer Designs principal Natalie Myers’s first impression when she saw this 1930s home in Venice Beach. The client, an entrepreneur from San Francisco, wanted a place to crash while visiting friends in the area. He envisioned "a cool little beach shack near Abbot Kinney and the Venice canals," remarks the designer. But the property was far from that: a 550-square-foot one-bedroom that was barely holding together.