Caroline Cornelius, a young schoolteacher, could barely afford the builder’s model villa condominium she bought in Sarasota in 2003. Upgrades were not an option.But from the start she had major ambitions for her two-bedroom, two-bath home in the Villa Rosa subdivision.
And so she made a list, saved her money and spent free time working on home improvement projects. Along the way, she learned to lay tile, paint, wallpaper and shop online and at local outlets just like a pro.Her most recent project: transforming her cookie-cutter bland kitchen to custom and personal.