Budget Breakdown: Their $98K Los Angeles Basement Reno Came In at More Than Double What They Planned

Felipe Lima and Ash Fenton were quickly growing disillusioned with the Los Angeles real estate market. In search of a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home on the city’s Eastside, they found that move-in-ready listings were being snapped up, often for double the asking price.

So instead they started looking at fixer-uppers, and, in 2022, purchased a 1950s hillside duplex in Silver Lake with a trove of original, if not exactly in-vogue, features: linoleum floors, a 75-year-old gas stove, and tiles in color combos like pink and maroon and blue and cream. One of the units, a basement apartment with its own entrance, had the potential to evolve into a warm, inviting space for guests or renters—if Felipe and Ash could do something about its dark, cramped interiors.

"It was a little dungeon-like," says Felipe, a creative director. "That’s just part of the natural vibe of basement apartments in Silver Lake." Still, the couple were determined to spruce it up. Ash, a production designer, drafted a $40,000 budget to transform the unit into a bright space that would feel larger than its 400 square feet.

But as they soon found out, that figure was something of a pipe dream, with the renovation coming to a total of $98,340. "I deal with budgets all the time," says Ash. "But I’m making facades and doing cosmetic work. I’m not involved in the construction nitty-gritty, so in my imagination it was a lot less than what it ended up being." Felipe (judiciously) adds, "I probably didn’t help. I’m always working on projects where someone else figures out the numbers. My job is magical thinking—getting the momentum going. I ended up doing that with our own house."

Despite that much larger figure, the couple saved substantially by calling on family and doing much of the work themselves. Felipe’s architect brother advised orienting the interior toward the windows, and Ash’s dad helped with the demolition. "We’re both handy," says Ash. "I was raised around construction and woodworking, so we had a general understanding of how to do the work. Once we realized more money was going into it, we leaned on those skills to give ourselves a buffer. We picked up most of the materials in my truck, painted the interior, things like that." Going DIY also meant they could move at their own pace and save up money between phases.

New windows were one of the biggest investments at $18,000, but made the biggest difference in the space by bringing in more light. The original windows, oddly sized and placed at different heights, were swapped out for matching wood-framed units. The timber is echoed in the updated millwork, which replaced old white trim.

At the entry, one of two plywood steps leading down into the unit is extended, forming a bench with storage for the dining table. New cork flooring replaces the dated half-carpet, half-linoleum combo, acting as both an acoustic barrier and a layer of visual warmth. A breakfast bar in the kitchenette was removed to open up the living space, and the shower was relocated to the opposite side of the hallway to create a clearer path through the unit.

The art comes from Felipe’s collection, including Japanese chirashi posters featuring Jeremy Blake’s Punch-Drunk Love artwork in the bedroom and a photograph of the 1967 Black Cat protest near the entry, a nod to the neighborhood’s activist roots. "We’ve been collecting for awhile," says Ash. "I’m a hunter. I love to find things. I do it all day for other people, so I love when I get the chance to do it for myself."

The dining table, a Craigslist score, is surrounded by Hay dining chairs found on Facebook Marketplace. "The sofa is a $300 Amazon thing that friends and guests seem to love. It’s the craziest thing to me," says Felipe. One standout piece is a black Isabel lounge chair made by the couple’s friends at Prísma Studio in L.A. They purchased it, along with a coffee table, at a discount. The couple had their eye on more designer pieces for the space, but passed on splurges to keep costs down. Making the apartment feel personal, too, was important. "It was a lot of curating and finding things that made the space feel like you’re not in the center of a big city," says Ash. "But we also chose pieces we’d like to see in our own home."

More Budget Breakdown stories:

After a Contractor Scam, an L.A. Couple Wrap Their Bungalow Remodel for $176K

For $213K, a Creative Couple Remodel a Cozy California Cabin—Without Drywall

Project Credits:

Designers: Felipe Lima and Ashley Fenton