“When I first started my career, I was in the military for a while and was deployed several times, and that was for sure exhausting,” recalls Amber Schleuning, who’s reminiscing about what surprised her the most about remodeling her own home in an eight-month stint starting in 2019. “But this was also very, very exhausting, and I did not expect it to be.”

Amber grew up the daughter of a career military officer, to eventually become an Engineer in the U.S. Army herself, earning a Master’s in Public Health, and later working for the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs. By 2017, she had lived in Washington, D.C. for a decade and was ready for a change.

On a visit to Austin, Texas to see friends, she fell in love with the city, its pace of life, nearby hiking trails, and the music scene. “It just felt like a really interesting and growing and vibrant place to be,” says Amber. After making the move and renting for the first two years, she was ready to buy, setting her sights on a 1962 home in the Riverside neighborhood, where there was a pocket of midcentury builds that had survived recent development. “It felt like an area where time was standing still a little bit,” she says.

Before: Front Exterior

After: Front Exterior

Just as the neighborhood was stuck in time, so too was Amber’s house, which was being sold “as-is,” from the peel-and-stick vinyl tile, to the mold behind the living room’s wood paneling. Still, the plumbing and foundation were solid, making her think: “Okay, this is a project that I could probably tackle as a newbie.”

The first hurdle was financing, securing a bank loan to cover the mortgage and remodel budget. During that process, Amber found contractor, Joey Melgoza of A&J Moving & Contracting. “He served two primary roles: being the GC but also being my teacher in a way,” she says. “I would sit with him and ask lots of questions about everything.”

$3,400

Insulation

$27,420

Windows + Doors

$3,630

Flooring (concrete)

$11,655

Flooring + Tile Labor

$860

Interior Door Hardware

$13,400

Electrical

$7,500

HVAC Equipment

$6,364

Fencing

$2,044

Faucets

$1,647
Lighting

$12,100

Wall Finishes

$2,400

Millwork

$924
Tile

$7,650

Landscaping and French Drain

$14,750

Cabinetry

$10,076

Kitchen Appliances

$3,350

Demolition

$16,700
Structural Framing

$11,200

Exterior Hardie + Trim + Paint

$19,634

Miscellaneous

Grand Total:$176,706

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room

Amber’s ensuing remodel focused on updating the doors and windows, opening up the kitchen to the living and dining rooms, and collapsing two bedrooms into a dedicated primary suite. “I wanted to have a modern update while preserving the personality, history, and the intention of the original build,” she says.

To that end, she kept the front facade intact, as well as the large picture windows in the back and exposed beams at the living room ceiling. But other hallmarks of the 1960s build, like the too-small galley kitchen, had to go, getting swapped out for a bigger footprint, large island, and more storage.

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

The dining room posed expensive structural constraints for Amber’s original vision. In one corner, she had imagined replacing two picture windows with one “grand seamless opening” of glass. But when that couldn’t be done due to the position of a support post, she opted for a more cost-effective solution of two large sliding glass doors meeting there instead.

A second support post blocked the circulation flow and sight lines between the kitchen and dining room, but Amber refused to compromise on its removal, so the team figured out how to insert a new support header for the interior opening. “When you have a beginner’s mind, you don’t know what you don’t know,” she says of the remodeling process.

Before: Dining Room

After: Dining Room

After: Hallway

For the finishes, the challenge was to “have the discipline to stick to one personality and vision, as different design opportunities present themselves,” says Amber, who kept the palette primarily neutral, then added splashes of color in in the kitchen backsplash, hallway mural completed by a friend, and bright rugs.

The result is a home that, despite months of decision fatigue and “checking every detail in the spreadsheets,” has since lived well up to expectation. Take the kitchen, which was set up for easy cooking with friends, whether that’s a big pot of Chili Colorado on the stove, or something else. “We do a lot of green chilies anything,” says Amber. “There’s so many times that we’re in there and music is playing, and it just feels like exactly what I wanted it to be.”

Before: Hall Bathroom

After: Hall Bathroom

Before: Primary Suite

After: Primary Suite

Before: Attached Studio

After: Attached Studio

Before: Rear Exterior

After: Rear Exterior

More Before & After stories:

With a Crisp Addition, a Cookie-Cutter Eichler Breaks Out of Its Shell

A Houston Photographer Casts New Light on a Historic Craftsman

Project Credits:

Builder: A&J Moving & Contracting

Interior Design: Beunica Interior Design

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Before & After: In Austin, a New Life Out West Starts With a First Remodel for $176K