A Dramatic Makeover Helped This Alabama Home Bounce Back After a Tornado

You'd never guess that a tornado destroyed Jennifer Hunt's Birmingham, Alabama, home in April 2011. Jennifer, who owns paper company Dogwood Hill, decamped with her family for eight months while the house was not only rebuilt, but renovated to their specifications. This included removing a wall between the kitchen and den, and extending the den into a new screened-in porch to open up the entire space. Jennifer and her husband also opted for a large wrap-around deck. Since they work from home, they decided the formal dining room would prove more useful as an office. Finally, they added two dormer windows to the rebuilt roof (a huge oak tree crashed through the original one).

Their home now features six bedrooms, four bathrooms and 4,300 square feet, plus everything on their wish list — all thanks to a tornado.

"When we bought the house in 2006, it had a quaint cottage feel," Jennifer recalls, but she didn't like its layout with choppy rooms, paneling in the den and an outdated kitchen. "Since we were in the renovation process anyway, I wanted to bring the house into the 21st century with updated finishes and functionality throughout the house," she says.

The home's original exterior was painted yellow with black shutters. "We didn’t mind the yellow, but I love a white house," Jennifer says. Not just any white, but Benjamin Moore Navajo White for a crisp look.

Jennifer's preference for white continues inside too. "I love white walls in most rooms and using color in the furniture, rugs, pillows, art and books." She describes her overall style as traditional with a hint of modern. "A good amount of our furniture has been given to us by family, so I’ve learned to incorporate pieces by recovering them or using them along with our newer furniture that might have cleaner lines."

Jennifer says watching the kitchen transform into an open galley-style kitchen was one of her favorite parts of the renovation. She took an active role throughout, from matching the paint color to the subway tile (and doubling it for the walls) to customizing the countertops. "My preference was white marble countertops, but I knew it didn’t suit our lifestyle," she says. "So I worked with a local stone company to locate the whitest granite they could find, and then had the finish removed to make it even lighter in color."