Every renovation has a stretch of days when the house stops looking like a project and starts looking like itself again. Most people feel that standing in the room. For our clients at Old Ivy, two sisters renovating the Buckhead home they grew up in, those moments mostly arrived on a screen, in a weekly video call or a fresh set of progress photos, because neither of them lived in Atlanta anymore.
They didn't need to be. The kitchen, five bathrooms, four bedrooms, the mudroom, and new flooring from one end of the house to the other all came together without either sister on site, and the house was finished without an in-person reveal. If you're planning a Buckhead home renovation and your life keeps you somewhere else, a project like this is entirely possible from a distance, and it can be one of the happiest things you do for a house you love.
One of the weekly progress updates our clients received: the original oak floors, freshly sanded.
How the weeks actually ran
The rhythm was simple and steady. Every week, our clients met with us by video. In between, they received progress photos and video, so they could watch the house change almost as it happened. Decisions that truly needed them happened on those calls, and Ashley always came with a point of view. The countless smaller questions that come up between a design and a finished room stayed with us.
Ashley led the design personally from the first conversation to the final details, and she worked alongside the general contractor the entire way. She created detailed design drawings and spec sheets for every detail she wanted, then came back to make sure each one was carried out to her standard in the house itself. That's the part no one can do from another city.
"She was our eyes and ears during the execution phase, and she would often check in or make adjustments if that was necessary," one of the sisters told us. "So it was very hands-off, and we couldn't have done the project without Ashley."
The sisters were deeply involved in shaping the house. What stayed off their plates was the day-to-day, the site visits and coordination that can quietly take over the life of anyone renovating a home. "There was lots of little things that happened behind the scenes," she said, and Ashley took care of them with the contractor so they never had to.
Staying close to the decisions that matter
Living far away, the sisters still had their say, and it landed where it counted most. Early on, they talked with Ashley about what they wanted the house to feel like, and those conversations shaped every room that followed. From there, the project was built around checkpoints.
"In our case, we chose not to be that involved because we were remote," she said. "But she put in the right checkpoints to make sure that we had input at the right places."
Some decisions they were glad to hand over entirely. Color was one of them. "She's amazing with colors, so I fully trusted her and her recommendations to make decisions for the colors, which really worked out beautifully."
Longevity was another. The family was preparing the house for long-term renters, and it's already leased. Ashley's years of residential, commercial, and hospitality work meant she knew which fixtures and finishes would hold up gracefully to everyday life. She also coordinated and purchased the decorative lighting and vanities herself, the pieces our client lovingly calls "the jewelry of the house."
In the living room, that's a brass chandelier with black shades hanging in front of the stone, and in the entry, brass sconces with textured glass discs that glow warm in the evening.
When a question did need their attention, the answer came quickly. "When I had a consult or something that I needed help with, she was very responsive and [had] opinions and clearly a lot of experience to help us make decisions quickly," she said. For someone fitting a renovation around a full life in another city, that speed is a gift.
Mid-build: the bookcase taking shape where the old bar stood.
What it looks like now
The finished house is a complete reworking of the place the sisters grew up in, and it still feels like theirs. The kitchen kept its footprint and gained all-new finishes: glossy two-tone cabinetry, white veined counters with a waterfall edge and a full-height backsplash, and brass pendants with white stone globes. The mudroom at its far end, once a tired laundry room, now opens to the kitchen and feels like part of it, with the laundry tucked under a long counter and a brass faucet over a deep sink. The primary bath, with its curved oak double vanity and organic brass mirrors, became our client's favorite room in the house. And where a dated bar once divided the foyer from the dining room, a mid-century bookcase Ashley designed keeps the sightlines open and makes the entry feel calm and complete.
All of it happened while the people who loved this house most were living their lives somewhere else, checking in each week and watching it become something new. Ashley "supported us," she said, "throughout the whole project from the planning phases all the way through execution."
If you have a home in Atlanta that's ready for its next chapter and your calendar keeps you elsewhere, we'd love to hear about it. You can see how we work together, and when you're ready, start a conversation with us.