I spent thousands renovating a 2,000-square-foot home — but these 5 cheap upgrades actually made the biggest difference

Tech Insider
Stone fireplace with wood leather couch and gray chair next to it and white walls
Renovating our rental home cost thousands, but some of the cheapest upgrades were the most effective.

Jessica Ulysses Grant

A millennial couple who ditched van life to buy a $150,000 hoarder house said it's worth it. Take a look inside.

Tech Insider : Travel
Drew and Becky Bidlen holding their daughter in front of their home (Left) and an interior shot of one of the rooms covered in clutter.
Drew and Becky Bidlen bought their fixer-upper after spending three years traveling the US in a van.

Maria Noyen

A millennial architect and his fiancée turned a triangular car-repair shop into a tiny dream home — take a look

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Architect Richard Brown inside his home (right) and a full view of the triangular house from above (left).
Architect Richard Brown has been living in a 430-square-foot triangular home for nearly two years.

Brown Urbanism

I bought an abandoned house and tried to renovate it but failed. I'll never buy another fixer-upper.

Tech Insider
a woman in a flannel holding a goat
Karie Fugett and her boyfriend lived in a trailer while renovating their abandoned house.

Karie Fugett

Everything you shouldn't do during a home renovation

Tech Insider : Economy
A home renovation disaster image
Our yearlong cottage renovation stretched out more than three years. The work still isn't done.

Chris Burnett for BI

A millennial couple considered hundreds of houses — then spent $150,000 on a falling-apart Victorian sight unseen. They think it's worth it.

Tech Insider
A couple stands on the porch of their dilapidated house with pumpkins and flowers.
Evy Rivera and Jacob Evans are restoring their Victorian home.

Evy Rivera and Jacob Evans

A 125-year-old church sat dilapidated for decades in a small Texas town, but now it's a cozy rental with a loft and original features. Take a look inside.

Tech Insider : Travel, Travel
Bartlett church in Texas.
Heavenly Hideaway living room.

Erik Fossum/Fossum Studios

Why Japan has more than 8 million cheap abandoned houses that people are renovating into dream homes

Tech Insider
A street in Okawachiyama, Saga Prefecture, Japan.
An akiya is in the rural village of Okawachiyama, in Saga Prefecture, Japan.

Makoto Watanabe

We bought a house with an indoor pool. We thought it would be awesome but $30,000 later we wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

Tech Insider
A man and woman sitting at the edge of an indoor pool in their home.
Kaitlin and Josh Chmil bought a home with an indoor pool in 2020.

Courtesy of Kaitlin Chmil.

A Gen X woman bought a crumbling 1890s manor. She thought she'd be done restoring it a year into the project, but the work kept coming.

Tech Insider
The exterior of the manor.
The crumbling exterior of the 1890s Queen Anne house that Tabetha Heemstra bought in 2020.

McKinley Manor

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