House Story: Insider Secrets to the Perfect Home Renovation

by Jasmine Roth

Overview

The star of HGTV’s Hidden Potential and HELP! I Wrecked My House offers a rare glimpse behind the TV show curtain, inviting readers into her world with super-simple advice that takes all the guesswork and stress out of any home project.
 
“Renovating a home can be mega intimidating, but not if you surrender to the wisdom of your new guru, Jasmine Roth. She knows all.”—Jonathan Adler

Finding your style is the first step to creating your dream home, whether you’re buying a new place, designing ground-up construction, or simply sprucing up the décor on a rental. Through her clear descriptions of four common design types and their many style subsets, along with thought-provoking questions and worksheets, Jasmine helps you create a cohesive feel with your home décor. She also includes helpful information on curb appeal and outdoor lighting (the most forgotten detail of your home), the science of knocking down walls, creative solutions to the five most common layout needs, floor finishes and wall treatments, everything kitchen and bathroom, and fun ways to personalize your space with DIY projects and unique bookshelf styling.
 
With hundreds of stunning photographs of Roth-designed interiors, House Story is a lush exploration of what is possible for you and your home, whatever the size and budget.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781984859174
Publisher:	Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication date:	10/12/2021
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	521,088
Product dimensions:	8.21(w) x 10.27(h) x 0.96(d)

About the Author

Jasmine Roth is a designer, builder, and star of HGTV’s Hidden Potential and HELP! I Wrecked My House. She also won Season 1 of HGTV’s Rock the Block. Building custom homes is her bread and butter and she loves finding ways to make homes as personal, functional, and as beautiful as possible. In 2012, Jasmine launched her residential development company, Built Custom Homes. As owner and founder, Jasmine runs her projects with a hands-on approach and customizes each home for her unique clients. When she isn’t on the job, Jasmine loves spending time with her husband, Brett, and their daughter, Hazel. She lives in Huntington Beach, California, and loves to travel, snowboard, and cook for her family and friends.

Read an Excerpt

Introduction

Have you ever walked into someone’s home and realized it has nothing to say? We all have that friend with a larger-than-life personality—or maybe your friend is known as the super Zen, go-with-the-flow yoga enthusiast. You’d expect to walk into their homes and feel that personality come through, right? Well, you’d be surprised by just how many homes I’ve seen that had absolutely nothing to say about the unique people who live there.

Your house is the one place in this world that can be inherently, unapologetically you. Someone who has never met you should be able to walk into your house and immediately know who you are and what you’re about. I believe that homes can talk—they can tell a story. They can tell us to relax, to be confident, and to live our lives with intention and integrity if we build them to be places that speak directly from our personality and serve our needs. I believe in surrounding ourselves with inspiration and living in a way that displays unquestionable purpose.

The decisions we make about our home’s design and functionality form the foundation of our house story. Whether you’re renting one room in an apartment or launching a full-blown home construction project, you can tell your house story so that where you live represents you and inspires you every day. And I truly believe that I’m the person to help you tackle this because of how I learned on the job. I’ve failed before so you don’t have to.

You see, I didn’t go to design school. I didn’t go to contractor school. But fast forward a decade, I’ve built and designed hundreds of homes and have multiple seasons of my own HGTV home renovation show under my belt. I haven’t been formally trained in any of the things I now do on a daily basis in my full-time job. I love building homes and I’ve had to learn as I go. I’m writing this today as a professional in the home renovation biz, but it wasn’t that long ago that I was exactly where you are: embarking on a home renovation project and in way over my head.

In 2010, my husband, Brett, and I were building our first home together, and we had no idea what we were doing. We naively thought we’d joyfully pick paint colors together like they do on HGTV, say “That’s the one!” and go have dinner. Boy, were we wrong. We thought our first home construction project was going to be so much easier than it actually was, and we didn’t have the time, expertise, or knowledge to guide our project. We didn’t know any of the things our contractor was asking of us, and it cost us money. Choosing the right paint color was the least of our concerns. After two years of drowning in our project, it became clear it was never going to get done unless one of us was there full-time. I gave notice at my corporate job, and the next thing I knew, I was on that job site every day, asking our contractor questions. I wanted to know how everything worked, to solve real home problems, and that was the beginning of my career. Obviously, not everyone is going to quit their job and fall into their future career. But because I went from literally not caring at all about design and construction to making it my profession and passion—in 0 to 60 speed—I have a unique perspective on how home renovations work.

What I’m saying to you is, I’ve been there. I get it. And because I’m not from any design school, I’m not beholden to any rigid design rules. I don’t get caught up in whatever the latest fad or the hottest ticket item of the moment is—that’s not what my clients need. What they need is a house that they can live in. And that’s what I’m after here: I want your home to be livable, functional, beautiful, and incredibly personal. I want you to be comfortable in your home.

So, if it’s midnight, and you’re sitting on your kitchen floor surrounded by paint swatches and hardware samples and you’re pulling out your hair over all the decisions and uncertainty, take a deep breath and open up this book. This is the book I needed when I was where you are today, sitting on that kitchen floor in a crumpled heap of stress. I’m going to help you.

You’ve got this—now let’s get started!

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Creating Your House Story 7

2 Curb Appeal-It's What's on the Outside That Counts 39

3 Knocking Down Walls-The Layout Lowdown 65

4 Wall Treatments and Floor Finishes-The Foundation of Your House Story 81

5 Everything Kitchen-The Heart of the Home 109

6 It's Not Just a Bathroom-Looking at the Loo 153

7 Fireplaces, Bookcases, and Hidden Spaces 189

8 Personalize and Diystelling Your House Story 217

Appendix A The Ultimate Jazzy's Picks-Three Home Designs 258

Appendix B The Everything Kitchen Checklist 268

Appendix C The Everything Bathroom Checklist 269

Appendix D Quick Reference Toolbox-Jazzy's Favorites 270

Appendix E Resources 274

Acknowledgments 277

Editorial Reviews

Roth really helps DIY designers break down the four basic styles [of interior design]—contemporary, cottage, traditional, rustic—and shows how, given one style, you can create your personal story with add-ons from other styles. She helps you identify what will work based on how you and your family live, and she’s excellent at the kind of advice a beginner desperately needs. . . . Perhaps House Story is so useful because Roth did not start off as a professional designer—she still remembers what it’s like to be clueless.”—The New York Times

“Dudes—renovating a home can be mega intimidating, but not if you surrender to the wisdom of your new guru, Jasmine Roth. She knows all. This book is your one stop guide to making it affordable, creative, and most importantly chic af! Buy it.”—Jonathan Adler
 
“Is it just us, or does Jasmine do it all? (It’s almost like she has a twin!) This book is the perfect companion to her beloved HGTV shows: an inside look at her process and inspirations. Jasmine’s amazing ideas and constant encouragement will give anyone the confidence needed to tackle their dream home renovation.”—Drew and Jonathan Scott
 
“I’m not sure what is more challenging—renovating or writing a book about it (trust me). Jasmine really breaks down the renovation basics, making it less intimidating and stressful and possibly even fun. Imagine that! House Story is a great informative book that lives in both the ‘pleasure’ and ‘reference’ department of my growing design book library.”—Emily Henderson

“Jasmine knows what she’s talking about. I only wish I’d had this book to reference years ago!”—Leanne Ford

“If you are looking for a simple, breakdown of all the things you need before hammering out your own DIY, HGTV’s Jasmine Roth's book House Story is the perfect companion. Offering a rare glimpse behind the TV curtain with a nearly 300-page guide bursting with vibrant, gorgeous photos, Roth—best known for Hidden Potential and Help! I Wrecked My House—offers readers and home enthusiasts a beautifully organized collection eliminating the guesswork and stress of any home project.”—PopCulture

From the Publisher