By Jesse Ellison
Photos courtesy of Jesse Bailey
From the Summer 2023 issue of Maine Homes by Down East
DIYer Jess Bailey has saved big bucks on wall finishes, cabinetry, fixtures, and furnishings for her Rockport home renovation. She shares a budget breakdown for each room on her Instagram account, along with thrifty hacks, such as subbing beadboard wallpaper (seen coated in Greenblack, by Sherwin-Williams, in her primary bath, below) for the real thing and giving a lampshade a glow up with graphic pleated fabric.
When Jess Bailey showed her husband, Aaron, photos of the Rockport house she wanted them to buy, he thought she was nuts. The circa 1978 hodgepodge was dated, with wall-to-wall carpeting that was irreversibly stained in some spots and threadbare in others, baseboards and moldings ripped to shreds by previous owners’ pets, and a putrid stench. But looking east from the kitchen, they could see the grassy top of Beech Hill Preserve; other rooms offered glimpses of North Haven and Vinalhaven islands, in Penobscot Bay. “Having these views, as regular people, it seemed like a no-brainer to us,” Jess says. “Even though we were looking at the biggest project of our lives.” Two years ago, Aaron, a detective sergeant with the Camden Police Department, who happens to be quite handy, and Jess, who has a knack for interior design and finish work, went in with masks and hazmat suits and gutted the house, with help from their three kids. Now, they’re remaking each room themselves on a tight budget, with Jess documenting their progress, and savings, on her Instagram account, @mainemadehome. “It’s easy to be jumpy in a house like this, where there is so much to do,” she says. “So I give myself deadlines, and I love showing people ways they can save.”
SAVE WITH SHIPLAP
The drywall in the now-open kitchen/living/dining area was dented and riddled with holes and protruding seams. Jess says it would have cost about $3,000 to hire a pro to repair some areas of the Sheetrock and replace others, so they patched the existing surfaces and layered on pre-primed composite shiplap paneling purchased from Home Depot for $300.
DIY A CUSTOM LOOK
Jess upgraded IKEA kitchen cabinet boxes with unfinished maple Shaker doors from Semihandmade that she painted, for a grand total of $4,651 (including enamel paint). Purchasing the company’s finished doors would have cost almost that much. She recommends shelling out $99 (which gets deducted from your order) for a consultation with a Semihandmade staffer to ensure you’re buying exactly what you need.
EMBRACE IMPERFECTION
For the primary bath, Jess bought a white-oak vanity on Facebook Marketplace for just $100 on account of a massive crack in the marble top. She filled it with epoxy and called it “wabi sabi” — a reference to the ancient Japanese philosophy of seeing beauty in flaws. By shopping Amazon Warehouse, which sells discounted returned and refurbished items, she saved $67 apiece on brass globe sconces, $25 apiece on brass faucets, and $25 on five rolls of botanical wallpaper that she juxtaposed, to dramatic effect, with green-black wainscoting.
Costs include the vanity and lighting, but exclude other furniture and décor.
