Have you played the latest local dinner-party game? It goes like this: Someone brings up the topic of the city’s sizzling real estate market. One person tells a story about how long—how ridiculously long—it took for his sister/colleague/former football coach to purchase a house. Someone else jumps in with her own tale about how many over-asking-price cash offers her neighbor received hours after her home went on the market. Before you’ve even finished the appetizers, everyone at the party is offering similar anecdotes, and you’re all shaking your heads at soaring costs and low inventory. The moral of the stories is the same: The Denver real estate scene is not for the faint of heart.

Can you relate? Maybe you’ve made it through the gauntlet and scored a home you love—or, um, like well enough. Or perhaps you are going to stay put because the thought of jumping into the fray makes you sweat. (I’m with you.) Either way, you’re going to love this issue because it’s chock-full of ideas to renovate your home so it’s more functional and beautiful.

5280 Home June/July 2017
More From The Issue

At my house, we’re planning an overhaul of our kids’ bathroom this summer, so I’ve taken some ideas from the pretty spaces on pages 82 and 100. (And I’m crazy about the knobs and pulls on page 48, most of which would work brilliantly to upgrade the standard hardware on a new bath vanity.) I’m also hoping to give my home office a refresh, starting perhaps with one of the options in our wallpaper roundup on page 30.

What I love best about a renovation (besides the moment it’s done) is the satisfaction of transforming a space so it reflects my personal style. I wish the same sense of accomplishment to you. And if you come up with a better dinner-party game, let me know.

This article was originally published in 5280 Home June/July 2017.
Hilary Masell Oswald
Hilary Masell Oswald
As the former editor for two of 5280’s ancillary publications, Hilary Masell Oswald split her time between the vibrant design-and-architecture scene in the metro area for 5280 Home and the always-changing field of health for the annual 5280 Health.