Drew and Jonathan Scott design homes in a variety of styles, but on the latest “Property Brothers: Forever Home,” they honor a trend that’s all the rage on Instagram: “grandmillennial,” which blends old and new.
In the episode “Building on a Legacy,” Drew and Jonathan meet married couple (and parents of two) Kimberli and Sheldon, who inherited their 1940s Los Angeles home from Sheldon’s grandparents. These two love the history of this home and want to preserve its stately style, but they don’t want the space to feel dated. They need to find a balance between his grandparents’ style and their own.
They give the brothers a max budget of $145,000 to make this home work for their family. And, in the end, Drew and Jonathan end up delivering a dream kitchen and living room (plus a main bedroom makeover) for just $130,000.
Find out how the Scott brothers update this house, and get plenty of tips for pulling off grandmillennial decor in your own abode, too.
The Scotts know they don’t need to keep every single detail the same in order to honor the home’s past. One big change they make to the living room is swapping the large window with a sliding door. This is a big upgrade for Kimberli and Sheldon’s kids, Amiel and Idris, who haven’t had convenient access to the backyard.
“With the new slider, Amiel and Idris will no longer have to go all the way around the house to use this home’s great yard,” Jonathan says. “That in itself is going to be such a welcome change for the family.”
When the house is finally done, Kimberli and Sheldon are thrilled with the change. It’s a big upgrade that improves the functionality of the house. Plus, the slider provides extra natural light for the room.
A brick fireplace can still look modern with a new mantel
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While Kimberli and Sheldon love their home, there are a few design details they wouldn’t mind changing. One of these is the dated fireplace mantel, which the brothers offer to update.
Jonathan suggests giving this fire feature a new stucco facade and a sleek floating mantel. However, he suggests keeping the original brick as a nod to the history of the house.
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“This family wants to maintain some of their home’s original touches as a nod to its rich history,” Jonathan says. “So we’re keeping some of the features of the fireplace just the way they were when Sheldon’s grandparents bought the house.”
When the fireplace is finished, it is gorgeous. The stucco and new mantel give it a clean, updated look, while maintaining a classic style that matches the rest of the room.
Two-tone cabinets can update an old kitchen
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Sheldon and Kimberli know the kitchen will need a serious makeover.
“Sheldon’s grandmother obviously put out a lot of amazing meals from the kitchen,” Jonathan says. “But it felt dark and closed in.”
The brothers agree to update the kitchen, but they want to make sure this brand-new space will blend with the rest of the home’s design. One way they do this is with color.
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Kimberli and Sheldon say they like two-tone cabinets, so the brothers take care to choose colors that have a classic aesthetic. During the brothers’ design meeting, Jonathan holds up blue and white Shaker cabinets and then gray and white, and Drew immediately chooses the gray and white.
“They would go more in this avenue over here, because it does feel classic to the home,” Drew says.
While two-tone cabinets are a modern style, the gray and white colors are classic.
Add a backsplash that pops
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While the brothers are careful to make the kitchen not look too new, they do agree that it would be beneficial to add a touch of modern flair.
“They want it to feel like their own home, not just their grandparents’ home,” Drew says. “Everything clean, everything classic, but then there has to be a wow factor, something completely unexpected somewhere, especially in the kitchen.”
So the brothers give the kitchen a beautiful backsplash with a geometric pattern. It’s an elegant addition that certainly makes the space look unique.
A dated dining room chandelier looks better in a bedroom
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It’s not unusual to find dated light fixtures in an old house, and unfortunately, Drew and Jonathan find one big problem in Kimberli and Sheldon’s home: an over-the-top chandelier in the dining room.
While Drew and Jonathan could simply replace the light, it belonged to Sheldon’s grandmother, and the couple don’t want to part with it.
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So, since the light fixture seems a little gaudy for the dining room, the brothers move it to the master bedroom, where it fits a lot better. In the dining room, the chandelier looked like an ’80s leftover, but in the bedroom, the light looks chic and glamorous.
In the end, Drew, Jonathan, and their clients are glad they’re able to repurpose the light in another room.
“I’m glad that we’re keeping some of the original pieces, like that fixture,” Jonathan says.
