He Renovated His Own House, and Lived to Regret It

Larry Yung is a contemporary fine artist and interior designer, but that doesn’t mean he was fully prepared for the toll renovating a fixer-upper in Bayview, California would take on him. To make it happen, he got certified in framing, plumbing, electrical, and finish carpentry. As such, Yung says, "It took quite a few years to complete this project."

During the decade he spent on the renovation, he lived full-time on the property, even when it wasn’t truly livable. When he was working on the bathroom and the kitchen, for example, he spent over a year using a camping toilet and a plastic sink to take care of his day-to-day needs. "Would I do it again? No freaking way!"

That said, the results are more than worth the effort. The following is Yung’s account of how he completed the project, including how he designed specific rooms to celebrate his artistic ethos—and, of course, what he might do differently the next time.

Tell me about how you embarked upon this project.

I’m a contemporary fine artist who stumbled into design by accident. My ex-partner and I purchased a house and had a contractor renovate the space, and I added my own touches, putting murals and trompe l’oeil on the walls. In 1997, we entered a contest held by Metropolitan Home Magazine—actually we entered it twice, and the second time I got on the cover with a six-page spread, and they gave us a sports car.

After the magazine came out I had lots of requests to do interior design work. I started my own interior design business, and that led me into this particular project. I wanted to buy a house in San Francisco, and I ended up finding a property in Bayview that had very good bones.

I lived in the house during the entire renovation process. The house was a complete fixer-upper, and initially I hired contractors to create a living space in the garage. At that point I ran out of funds, so I began making art and holding exhibitions to raise money to complete the renovation myself. The first priorities were the bathroom and the kitchen. I didn’t have a toilet for almost a year, so I used a camping toilet that I found on Amazon. When I needed to do the washing up, I used a plastic laundry sink. It was used to wash tools, my dogs, my laundry, myself—anything that needed it.

What was the biggest mistake you made during the process? 

I didn’t have a budget—and that was a mistake. I had grand plans of renovating the whole house, and I underestimated the cost. That’s why I was only able to get so far with the contractors. After I ran out of funds I had no choice but to renovate the house myself. I watched a lot of YouTube videos about DIY projects, and I enrolled in San Francisco City College’s construction courses. After six months, I got certified in various aspects of construction and was ready to do work on the house.

What was the most challenging aspect of the renovation?

Drywall was a big challenge. There was a lot of old drywall in the house, and I had to deal with it all myself. I also installed new drywall. For example, when I did the ceiling, I had to buy this gadget that could lift the drywall so I could frame it up on my own.

Tell us how you put together the tile in your bathroom. It looks original, and it’s absolutely striking.

I purchased the tile from Waterworks. Their tile is all handmade, and it comes in various pieces. I created the design myself in CAD, so this is a one-of-a-kind design. I hired a contractor to install the bathroom tile, because it’s very tricky to do, but I did manage to install the kitchen tile myself.

Those are by Ann Sacks, and it was another one of the more challenging aspects of the project because the tiles have little ridges and they’re very uneven. The kitchen tiles are made of clay, and they are handmade and hand glazed in Japan.