Budget Breakdown: A Neglected Garage Becomes a Library Loft for $69K

It was mutual friends that introduced Everald Colas of Storyn Studio for Architecture to a new set of clients. Colas—a Haitian-American architect, educator, and storyteller—returned to Florida to start his own firm spending eight years in New York City as a senior architect at Bjarke Ingels Group. Colas was used to working on much larger scale commercial projects but loves the unique opportunity that residential work brings. "Residential projects are always interesting because we have the opportunity to tell a client’s full story at all scales—from the rug, to the bookcase, to the overall space," he says.