by LAURA FENTON photos DAVID TSAY styling LIZ STRONG
here are designer houses where every detail is just so, and there are do-it-yourself homes that are the hard-won product of the owner’s sweat equity. The two aren’t often confused with one another, but Renee Cusano’s home blurs these lines brilliantly. It is elegant, traditional yet casually fresh, and well-detailed. And Renee created just about everything—from the coffered ceiling down to the ribbon details on lampshades—with her impressive skills.
Renee and her husband, Brian Alexander, fell into DIY the way many people do: When they bought their first house in 2014, they had little money left to fix it up. So the couple remodeled it themselves. “It was our practice house,” Renee says. When Brian’s job required the couple to move to Sacramento, they found this 1931 Tudor-style house that needed updates. They started by remodeling tired features and bringing in affordable IKEA cabinets, which they customized to resemble expensive built-ins. But Renee realized they also needed to rethink their decor. “None of our furniture fit because our last house was an open concept,” she says. “That’s when my interest in design really started.”
1 Sneaky Storage
In the dining room, Renee worked in hidden storage for overflow small kitchen appliances. She covered a shallow base cabinet (sans doors) with a tailored skirt
2 Framed Up
Inexpensive framed botanicals from an art book and a rewired vintage lantern reflect Renee’s thrifty decorating sensibility.
3 Pattern Play
Renee stenciled the laundry area’s upper walls and ceiling, then painted cabinets, trim, and lower walls blue-green to enhance the petal design. A skirt on a curtain rod hides the washer and dryer.
4 Back Story
The remodeled kitchen includes an island the couple built out after backing two sets of base cabinets.
5 Fireplace Revamp
When the couple removed a dated fireplace insert, they discovered an arched brick opening. They retiled the hearth and fitted plywood and flat stock trim over the surround.
6 Surprise Passion
Renee never imagined she and Brian would become such avid DIYers; they still find time for projects even though they’re now busy parents to daughter Charlotte.
A headboard that Renee slipcovered—a project motivated by a costly estimate to have it reupholstered—was her gateway to home decor projects. “I realized I could create a custom-looking home through fabrics,” Renee says.
The magic is how Renee transforms humble elements into something that seems ripped from the pages of a design book. In a hallway, she painted walls pink and used ribbon as trim, taking it around doors, along the ceiling, and behind artwork. She transformed tables with wallpaper and draped hand-sewn coverings over cabinets. “Sewing is like a puzzle—you can figure it out as you go,” she says.
She also has a knack for coming up with beautiful solutions to practical problems. When she found herself dreading the work required to repair the plaster ceiling in daughter Charlotte’s nursery, she dreamed up a lattice-inspired overlay to cover the cracks.
As Renee gained decorating experience and DIY confidence, she began posting her projects on Instagram. In the process, she discovered she enjoyed sharing advice and addressing challenges with others. When Brian’s work required a move to Dallas, she decided to go a new direction and hang out her shingle as a decorator. Renee is starting her business with just a few clients—partially to get acquainted with the city but mostly for a familiar reason. She’s making over her family’s new home, one fabric-covered cabinet and pleated lampshade at a time.