Jill Gleeson

Let me say this right off the bat: my husband and I aren't contractors. When we started this journey, renovating a tiny, woefully rundown old house ourselves, the only experience either one of us had was the bit of time Matt had spent as a volunteer with his church, helping revitalize homes in Appalachia. As for me? I had a background in... painting walls , I guess? But YouTube videos go a long way, and I've got a good-sized list of things I learned updating a 100-year-old house. I'm happy to pass it along in the hopes that I can save you some time, energy, and money. We made the mistakes so you don't have to, basically.

A bit of the backstory: Matt and I bought our 1040-square-foot house (told ya it was small ) in a little river town, 15 minutes from Pittsburgh, seven

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