Budget Breakdown: A Design Duo Give Their San Francisco Loft a Modern Makeover for $70K

Drab carpeting, a boring stair railing, and nondescript kitchen cabinets all added up to a "blah" 700-square-foot space. Despite its lackluster appearance, however, "it was also the perfect size for our first construction project together," say the couple. "We ended taking on a lot of construction items ourselves in order to build for our budget." They outsourced electrical, plumbing, and paint, but did the demolition, framing, and much of the finish work themselves.