PROJECT FILES
One Home at a Time
Story by Alli Steinke • Photography by Shallah Dozier
This Lowcountry couple flipped their first home and started their business at the same time.
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early six years ago, Katelyn Irizarry of Polished Renovations & Design purchased her first home and started dating her future husband Kyle. The two embarked on the renovation process together and brought on Kyle’s friend Ben to help with carpentry and build projects. The group worked so well together they began dreaming up their future business and were ready to start concentrating on custom work. When the three got together, Kyle recently purchased a home so they were in the process of renovating two homes at once, all while trying to get their business off the ground.
Capehouse, the home that Kyle purchased, would become not only the couple’s first project but also their first home as a married couple. “Renovating houses is a passion and it’s such an awesome way to express our creativity,” Katelyn begins. “It’s so much fun, and patience-testing.” As the couple began tackling the Capehouse project, they knew it wouldn’t be their forever home, but a home they’d be in for a while. It was designed with casual living in mind.
116 • CH+D • Winter 2022
Both Katelyn and Kyle had specific things they wanted in this home; Katelyn an antique brick herringbone vent hood and Kyle cypress shutters. They worked with it and made it up as they went. They got creative with their ideas which they still do today, just with more planning and guidelines involved. The Capehouse project was just the beginning for the Irizarrys. “We learned so much doing everything by hand,” Katelyn explains. “While we understand the value of hiring someone else to do the fine custom finishings, we would never have had such a good understanding if we didn’t ever do it ourselves.” When they begin a project now, they start with an on-site consultation where they walk the property with their client and talk about their ideas for the project. They ask for inspiration photos and probe for information about how they live so they can incorporate that into the plans. After the first site visit, if there is drafting or structural work