The House
Creativity runs in designer Jo Gick’s family. When she was growing up, her dad was always building something in their garage while Jo sat nearby, gluing shims together to make her own masterpiece. Then she married a handy guy, Dave, and they had two kids—Marin, 9, and Doran, 6—who also can’t wait for the next trip to the crafts store.
“My motto is if you can’t buy it, DIY it,” says Jo. The family’s home in Chandler, AZ, showcases many of her most clever moves. She and Dave bought the 3,450-square-foot house in foreclosure in 2016, and they completely revitalized it with a new kitchen, new bathrooms and new floors, along with fresh paint and wallpaper. Dave did a lot of the work himself, and Jo’s ingenuity lent each room a personal touch, from feature walls to supercool floors.
“I get ideas from everywhere,” says Jo. “It can be something I find in the sale aisle at Target, the architectural details of a building or fruit trees in my backyard. If you take a good look at your environment, you’ll be surprised at how much inspiration is all around.”
Jo's first two ideas are simple: 1) Since black paint can fade in the sun, Jo contrasted the white exterior with gray trim. 2) The house’s textured stucco was smoothed out for a more modern look. “It was worth it to take the house from the ’90s to now,” says Jo.
