Even for the most experienced of designers or contractors, renovations often offer new lessons or insight. These learnings tend to be about materials, or process—like why you should apply for permits early, or the realization that penny tiles are an installation nightmare. But Venice, California–based designer Jade Towery, who spent a year remodeling a dilapidated ranch house in the Yucca Valley, says the lesson was far more profound: “I learned what I was capable of.”

Before: Exterior

After: Exterior

After a decade of focusing on her work as a mother, this project offered Jade a chance to return to her design roots. Jade and graphic-designer husband Chris Towery first met at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2003 and settled in Venice, California, scraping to get by as they started their design careers and family. “Working as designers at design firms, we always considered ourselves poor,” says Jade. “We bought blueberries and strawberries at 99 cent stores.”

Before: Kitchen/Dining/Living Area

When they started a short-term rental business after constructing a backyard ADU, as Jade was pregnant with their second child, their fortunes turned around. “For the first time, we felt that we were financially rewarded for our design talents—and we started buying organic produce at Whole Foods,” she says.

After: Kitchen/Dining/Living Area

Empowered by the success of that backyard Airbnb business, Jade and Chris began searching for their next opportunity. They found an empty lot in Yucca Valley that sparked some serious inspiration…but they knew it would take a year or more to build.

And so, they sought out a nearby spot that could serve as a home base during the new build. The couple scooped up a dirt-cheap 1979 fixer-upper nearby, and while the lot languished in permit purgatory, they turned their attention to making the 1,400-square-foot rancher livable.

Before: Living Room

“This became our everything,” admits Jade. “For 10 years, I lived as a mother as my main identity—I put myself in a container where I was comfortable, and I really enjoyed it, but my world got small.” With this project, she broke out of her self-imposed box. While Yucca Valley seemed like a world away from their Venice home at first, Jade found herself driving out every few days, staying at a hotel for days or weeks at a time, running a construction crew first-hand. “It was invigorating. It’s like, ‘what else can I do? I can do anything,” she says.

After: Living Room

It was the ideal project to test her mettle. The sewer was clogged. The bathroom faucets were leaking. The 50-year-old carpets were caked in dust, and the backyard was a bleak patch of dirt, worn with deep grooves from the previous owner’s son’s dirt bike.

Before: Bedrooms

After: Bedrooms

But Jade pulled down the ceiling panels to reveal a surprisingly voluminous ceiling, and knocked down the wall between the garage and living room to extend the living space. (Even Jade’s four-year-old son, Ray, got involved swinging a hammer. “He wants to do everything I do, and we wanted to find out what was behind the drywall, so...we just started banging,” Towrey says with a laugh.) Underneath the gloomy carpet was a concrete floor; a quick polish, and it was good to go.

Before: Bathrooms

Down came the old drywall, up went fresh walls and plywood, and in came modern furniture and a few key pops of color. New windows, new doors, and fresh stucco gave the exterior a much-needed refresh, too.

After: Bathrooms

It’ll be a far more comfortable place for Jade to stay when their other property is finally approved to break ground—and in the meantime, it’s on Airbnb for travelers to enjoy. Creating a space that really pampers and welcomes visitors is newly important to Jade, thanks to another revelation she had over the course of the reno—one that came after a near-death experience.

Before: Backyard

After: Backyard

She was spreading herself thin, working long hours, driving in at 4 a.m. or staying at spider-riddled motels to save money and complete the project quickly. “I was depleted, and I was driving on roads with big, big trucks. It was a recipe for disaster,” she says.

During the middle of construction, she experienced a terrifying car accident that she was thankfully was able to walk away from…but it underlined how important it was to take a deep breath, treat yourself, and stop rushing. “It was a huge wake-up call,” she says. “I’m extremely grateful to be OK—and to realize a big lesson: It’s all right to slow down and to take care of me.”

More Before & After Stories:

A Joshua Tree Midcentury Serves Up Moroccan Vibes

An Interior Designer Rescues a California Desert Cabin From Drab Finishes

Project Credits:

Designer, General Contractor: Jade Towery, Fullsute Design Studio / @ArchitectsHouseIn

Structural Engineer: S&Z Engineering

Jade Towery’s Yucca Valley home is now available to rent on Airbnb