Grove City renovation makes the most of a small space

Carriage comfort.

February 21, 2022

12:00 AM

Courtesy of Sarah Kartsher

When Sarah Kartsher moved to Grove City from Arizona in 2019, she purchased a recently renovated single-family home but had her heart set on taking a remodeling project on herself.

“I always wanted to buy property and be a landlord and have rentals,” Kartsher says. “Since things were shutting down (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) I thought it was a perfect time to stay at home and do renovations.”

A small carriage house on the property was a perfect opportunity for Kartsher. With its own entrance from a side path and only 550 square feet of space, it offered a manageable first remodeling project.

“I was looking for something that wasn’t huge since I’m doing this project by myself,” Kartsher says. “The scope of the project was a lot smaller, which appealed to me.”

The space stood out to Kartsher because it wasn’t a typical cookie cutter home. She describes it as a little older but with character. It gave her a great base for renovations.

Kartsher’s first step was an overhaul of the interior. The previous tenant had been a smoker and had left the house with a lingering odor and yellowing walls.

“I got a large dumpster and I just started ripping out all of the carpet,” Kartsher says. “I had to paint all the walls to get odor and the yellow staining out.”

Kartsher also removed the house’s paneling, cabinets, and both the base and window trim. Her next task was to install the flooring, which she describes as her favorite part of the project.

“That one was really a learning curve,” Kartsher says. “It’s not something I’ve ever done before, so it motivated me to keep doing all the projects because I really liked how it came out.”

Do It Yourself

If you’re considering your own renovation project, Sarah Kartsher’s biggest piece of advice is to plan out your steps.

“I always have a little notebook just to do sketches of the place,” she says. “If you really want to plan renovations, take into account the cost, take into account the scope of work, take into account the time it’s going to take you to complete things.”

Kartsher emphasizes focusing on one step at a time, especially for someone working on a project by themselves.

“One thing that I did right was just tackling one project and completing that,” she says. “You always want to plan things out but if you start going four or five steps ahead it can get very overwhelming.”

Kartsher stresses that, especially for first-time renovators, patience is key. Some parts of a project may involve extensive research and others may require trial and error.

“You’re not going to know everything when you start,” she says. “What it comes down to is trying to find balance if it’s your first time. You’re going to have to have an attitude to just dive in and start doing the work.”

In place of the old carpet, Kartsherlaid a gray plank flooring that runs throughout the house and complements the designs of the kitchen, living room and bathroom.

She also designed a small breakfast nook off of the kitchen. The space was so small that furniture could not fit through the doorways and had to be moved in through the windows.

Kartsher spent a year and a half completing the project, in part due to delays receiving materials. Learning the skills necessary to complete the project kept her involved throughout, though.

“The main challenge would be just figuring out what looks good and figuring out how to do it correctly by myself,” she says.

Now that Kartsher has completed her first remodeling project, she’s on to looking for the next one. She plans to buy and renovate another property soon, likely a larger, single-family home.

Courtesy of Sarah Kartsher

Lindsey Capritta is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.