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Tracy & Travis | Home Reno | Mid-century + Desert Modern Design

@aplaceinprogress

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Renovation journal for our 1957 home in the desert Southwest🌵Personal, unique design w/ a nod to our past & place 🏜️ Follow for Before & Afters, Inspo

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This caught me completely off guard 🥹

Sure, we genuinely liked that our house was pink, and it’s a color we’re often drawn to.

But the thing that convinced us to stick with pink when we repainted came from an unlikely source: our son’s 5th grade class poetry project.

Each student in his class wrote a poem about the places, people, and traditions that make up their background, where they’re from.

At their promotion ceremony on the last day of school, their teacher read snippets from all the poems, mixed up together.

I didn’t even know this poem existed, so I definitely didn’t know what our son wrote, but when his teacher read aloud, “I am from the pink house surrounded by palm trees,” it took my breath away, and of course I knew whose poem that line was from.

Granted, I was already super emotional, but the second I heard that and saw our son smiling at us, I KNEW we had to keep the house pink. It just felt right. 💗 taken in Tucson, Arizona by @aplaceinprogress

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2 years ago

It … is … finished!!

Our kitchen renovation only took 8 months and most of our sanity and money. But she’s a beaut.

#kitchenrenovation #kitchenremodel #kitchendesign #kitchenbeforeandafter by @aplaceinprogress

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2 years ago

Eight months in to starting something is the best time for a proper introduction, right? 👋 We are Tracy and Travis, natives of Austin, TX who have lived in Tucson for most of the past 13 years. We stumbled upon this midcentury home in January and immediately fell in love. It was in good condition, but needed some TLC. You could say the same for our family after some hard things the last few years. We closed in February and got to work. Travis is a landscape designer and on the faculty at the University of Arizona. Tracy runs this account and is taking some time off after 17 years working in higher education communications and marketing. We have 3 kids, but you won’t really see them here (privacy, etc.). You will occasionally see our senior chihuahua mix, Doodle. We love modern design, hospitality, travel, baseball, British murder mysteries, and queso. The goal here is to create and celebrate beauty and special moments around us, in an honest, everyday way. Welcome to our home, and thank you - truly - for following along. 📷: @meredithamadeephotography. Scroll to the end for our true photo personalities. taken in Tucson by @aplaceinprogress

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4 years ago

Door transformation! Who knew 3 panes of glass could make such a big difference?

Our dining room and living room have always had beautiful picture windows (we installed these new ones a couple of years ago), so I didn’t think changing out the old wood slab doors for glass-paneled ones would affect the feel of these rooms other than being prettier to look at. I’m happy to admit I was completely wrong.

I don’t think you get a full sense of it on camera, but the change is stunning in person. Lesson learned - don’t underestimate how much improvement can come from a seemingly small change, especially when there is light involved! 🌞

(P.S. Yes, I’m fully aware we need to clean the baseboards.) by @aplaceinprogress

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4 months ago

The mountain laurel disappoints me every single year by @aplaceinprogress

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7 months ago

Just ignore the outlet that’s smack dab in the middle of the wall, ok?

This sun catcher was in our 7-year-old’s room, but it wasn’t getting enough light, so Travis stuck it up in the kitchen, and it’s my new favorite part of the room.

Anyway, you’re allowed to just do something delightful in your house, and I think that’s a nice thing to have as a human being trying to exist in this world. by @aplaceinprogress

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9 months ago

Oopsie, did not mean to go silent for six months! Apparently I needed a break from thinking about our house all the time. Also, very little happened around here during that period.

But in 2026, we’re getting back to work and hoping and praying with everything we have that we’ll finally FINISH* the renovations. Will share plans and progress soon.

In the meantime, I finally made an orange-slice garland after years of thinking about how lovely they are, so this little Christmas decor moment is not going away anytime soon. I’m just not ready to be done with greenery and twinkling lights.

*Obviously a house is never truly finished, etc., but we at least have to finish the projects that haunt us when we’re trying to sit around and relax here. by @aplaceinprogress

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9 months ago

“Once I’m done with this, if I never have to lay another brick again, … [trails off into inaudible despair].” That’s what Travis is saying in the last video. Hard to hear over our son’s blasting video game music.

It’s been quiet here while we survived May-cember and I lost the will to share anything. BUT that doesn’t mean things haven’t been happening.

The backyard has been in a near constant state of disrepair since we started renovations here. It’s a bummer to work so hard, on both the interior and exterior, and look out to a view of chaos and construction all the time. So while this may not look like much, getting to this point is a huge milestone that definitely deserves a spot on the feed!

More details in Stories! taken in Tucson, Arizona by @aplaceinprogress

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a year ago

I think this is our 7th dumpster in 3 years? And that’s with us preserving, reusing, and giving away A LOT of materials from this property. I had no idea this would be such a big part of renovating. But hopefully this is the end of our dumpster era. by @aplaceinprogress

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a year ago

What steps did I miss? 😐 by @aplaceinprogress

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a year ago

A little spring oomph for our entry table 💛 by @aplaceinprogress

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a year ago

Pro tip: don’t sleep on the @westelm floor sample section! We have found quite a few treasures tucked away in that back corner of the store.

This bistro table was originally $399 but the floor model, with a very small surface stain, was on sale for $199. Most tables we had been looking at for our kitchen nook were at least $500-$1,000, and that just wasn’t in our budget. So we felt great about snatching this one.

This is also why we love just wandering shops even when we’re not trying to buy - sometimes that’s when you find exactly what you need. Why does it so often work that way?

#kitchendesign #kitchennook #bistrotable #banquetes #westelm taken in Tucson, Arizona by @aplaceinprogress

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a year ago