Before & After: For Less Than $200K, a Fixer-Upper in Northern California Becomes a Beacon of Color

Following a contractor hiccup, the homeowners handled the renovation themselves—from the bold hues to built-ins.

Mar 10, 2026 - 17:17
Before & After: For Less Than $200K, a Fixer-Upper in Northern California Becomes a Beacon of Color

Following a contractor hiccup, the homeowners handled the renovation themselves—from the bold hues to built-ins.

"It was an emotional roller coaster," says visual designer Yaki Man. She’s referring to the two years and $195,000 that she and her architectural designer husband, Antoine Navarro, spent transforming their 1950 house in Murphys, California.

Bold colors enliven a 1950 house in Murphys, California, that was renovated by Yaki Man and Antoine Navarro.

It all started with their dream of designing a house together from the ground up. But buying land in the San Francisco Bay Area, where they mainly reside, was cost prohibitive. So the couple zeroed in on Murphys, about 100 miles away, for a weekend place that would allow them to showcase their creativity, settling on a property comprising two lots—one with a 964-square-foot fixer-upper and the other vacant.

The low ceiling in the living room was vaulted to 12 feet to create a loftier feeling.
The couple updated the galley kitchen with new Ikea appliances and cabinetry and used a signature curved line to separate the wood floor from black-and-white Merola tile. They used paint from HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams for the interior walls—Notable Hue in the kitchen and White Flour in the dining room. The Lisabo dining table and chairs, as well as the Varmblixt wall-mounted light, are from Ikea. The Roman window shades with valance are from Arlo Blinds, the yellow Tam-Tam Stool in the corner is by Henry Massonnet, and the pendant lamps are from Hampton Bay.

See the full story on Dwell.com: Before & After: For Less Than $200K, a Fixer-Upper in Northern California Becomes a Beacon of Color
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