He Renovated His Own House, and Lived to Regret It

Larry Yung is a contemporary fine artist and interior designer, but that doesn’t mean he was fully prepared for the toll renovating a fixer-upper in Bayview, California would take on him. To make it happen, he got certified in framing, plumbing, electrical, and finish carpentry. As such, Yung says, "It took quite a few years to complete this project."

During the decade he spent on the renovation, he lived full-time on the property, even when it wasn’t truly livable. When he was working on the bathroom and the kitchen, for example, he spent over a year using a camping toilet and a plastic sink to take care of his day-to-day needs. "Would I do it again? No freaking way!"

That said, the results are more than worth the effort. The following is Yung’s account of how he completed the project, including how he designed specific rooms to celebrate his artistic ethos—and, of course, what he might do differently the next time.

Tell me about how you embarked upon this project.

I’m a contemporary fine artist who stumbled into design by accident. My ex-partner and I purchased a house and had a contractor renovate the space, and I added my own touches, putting murals and trompe l’oeil on the walls. In 1997, we entered a contest held by Metropolitan Home Magazine—actually we entered it twice, and the second time I got on the cover with a six-page spread, and they gave us a sports car.

After the magazine came out I had lots of requests to do interior design work. I started my own interior design business, and that led me into this particular project. I wanted to buy a house in San Francisco, and I ended up finding a property in Bayview that had very good bones.

I lived in the house during the entire renovation process. The house was a complete fixer-upper, and initially I hired contractors to create a living space in the garage. At that point I ran out of funds, so I began making art and holding exhibitions to raise money to complete the renovation myself. The first priorities were the bathroom and the kitchen. I didn’t have a toilet for almost a year, so I used a camping toilet that I found on Amazon. When I needed to do the washing up, I used a plastic laundry sink. It was used to wash tools, my dogs, my laundry, myself—anything that needed it.

What was the biggest mistake you made during the process? 

I didn’t have a budget—and that was a mistake. I had grand plans of renovating the whole house, and I underestimated the cost. That’s why I was only able to get so far with the contractors. After I ran out of funds I had no choice but to renovate the house myself. I watched a lot of YouTube videos about DIY projects, and I enrolled in San Francisco City College’s construction courses. After six months, I got certified in various aspects of construction and was ready to do work on the house.

What was the most challenging aspect of the renovation?

Drywall was a big challenge. There was a lot of old drywall in the house, and I had to deal with it all myself. I also installed new drywall. For example, when I did the ceiling, I had to buy this gadget that could lift the drywall so I could frame it up on my own.

Tell us how you put together the tile in your bathroom. It looks original, and it’s absolutely striking.

I purchased the tile from Waterworks. Their tile is all handmade, and it comes in various pieces. I created the design myself in CAD, so this is a one-of-a-kind design. I hired a contractor to install the bathroom tile, because it’s very tricky to do, but I did manage to install the kitchen tile myself.

Those are by Ann Sacks, and it was another one of the more challenging aspects of the project because the tiles have little ridges and they’re very uneven. The kitchen tiles are made of clay, and they are handmade and hand-glazed in Japan.

I’m noticing a lot of asymmetric design. The lounge sofa in your garden, for example, echoes the shape of the countertop in your kitchen and the end table in your living room. Did you deliberately choose to unify those motives?

Yes, that’s all deliberate. I wanted to create an organic space that mimics the outdoors. I’m very fond of the wilderness—so yes, I wanted to tie the aesthetics of the exterior and the interior together. It’s kind of flawless. Some designers like to break things up, but I wanted the entire space to have a cohesive look whether you were inside or outside.

The table in the living room—it’s an interesting story. I went on Craigslist to look for a chandelier, and I ended up purchasing a chandelier that was too large for the living room, so I have it resting in one of the bedrooms. But that chandelier had belonged to the famous architect Julia Morgan, in San Francisco, and I also had the opportunity to pick up a few architectural details from her house, which was being renovated at the time. So this end table was originally—I’m not really sure where it was architecturally in the house, but I think it may have been a roof detail or an archway detail.  

What are some of the other artistic decisions you made as you renovated and decorated your home?

I wanted to use my existing furniture, so it was really about what I was going to create around this furniture. It happened very organically. The low coffee table in my living room, for example, I had an old storage wooden box from the Salvation Army. I took the top off that and took the base from another antique piece and put them together to create a low coffee table. I added pieces from my travels in Indonesia, like the black high tray in the living room. The coasters, they’re tile samples from showrooms—I used those as coasters throughout the house.

In one of the bedrooms, I had this old antique French bed from the 1800s, and I wanted to juxtapose it with more modern elements. I also wanted to go big. So I created two panels, applied butcher paper and created this woven texture on top of it. They’re just abstract shapes, subtle hints, but to the eye it looks like a landscape. It’s interesting how the mind puts things together.

Is this the kind of project you would ever tackle again? 

Would I do it again? I gained quite a bit of knowledge, it was extremely rewarding, I gained experience and skills—but ultimately if I ever found another fixer-upper I would hire contractors to do the work and I would serve as project manager. I wouldn’t do it all myself!

What advice do you have to someone considering a project of this size?

Don’t live in the space that you’re working in! That, and be ready for a challenge.

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