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Nina Menke began restoring a century-old house bought with her boyfriend using finds from Facebook Marketplace, thrift stores, antique shops, estate sales, and even free materials. Without a large budget, she does the work herself, progresses slowly, and seeks to restore original features compatible with the property built in 1926.
Restoring a century-old house is often associated with lengthy projects, expensive materials, and costs that can easily exceed a family’s budget. Nina Menke, 32, decided to take a different path when she started restoring the 1926 property where she lives with her boyfriend, Taylor Nagel, 35.
The story was published by People magazine on July 6, 2026. According to the report, Nina works in educational administration and began documenting on social media the removal of recent finishes and the gradual recovery of the home’s old character. The source did not disclose the city or state where the property is located.
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Nina and Taylor completed the purchase of the property at the end of May 2026. Although the property had already undergone a renovation aimed at resale, the new owner continued to imagine how the spaces might have been before the changes that modernized and standardized its interior.
This restlessness led Nina to paint walls, remove the carpet, and start changes in the living room. The goal was not simply to swap one decoration for another, but to recover elements that better matched the architecture and age of the home.
The fact that the house had been previously renovated did not eliminate all maintenance needs. During the process, the couple found services that still required attention, showing that a renewed appearance does not necessarily mean that all systems and finishes are resolved.
Lack of a broad budget set the pace of the restoration
Nina states that the couple does not have a large amount set aside for the work. Therefore, each intervention needs to be evaluated according to the available money and the ability to execute the service without immediately relying on hired professionals.
Instead of trying to complete the entire century-old house in a few months, they proceed in stages. The strategy consists of first doing what fits the budget and can be safely done by the residents themselves, leaving larger projects for more financially favorable periods.
This choice makes the transformation slower but reduces the pressure to buy all materials at once. The process also allows the couple to research alternatives, compare used items, and wait until they find suitable items at lower prices.
Marketplace, thrift stores, and estate sales became sources of materials
A large part of the furniture, decorative objects, and materials found by Nina comes from Facebook Marketplace, thrift stores, antique shops, and estate sales. These places offer items that have had previous owners but can still be used in an old residence.
The search is not limited to the lowest prices. Second-hand items can also feature solid wood, shapes, and finishes more consistent with a 1926 construction than new mass-produced products.
The search requires time because the right object does not always appear when the service begins. For Nina, however, waiting for a compatible piece is part of restoring the house’s visual identity and helps avoid rushed purchases that could increase the total cost.
Free wooden doors show the importance of research
One of the owner’s future plans is to replace hollow interior doors with solid wood models. The change aims to bring the environments closer to the appearance expected of a property built at the beginning of the last century.
Buying several new doors, however, could consume a considerable portion of the budget. While searching local ads, Nina found wooden models at reduced prices and even units offered for free by people who wanted to remove these materials from other properties.
The example of the doors shows how an item discarded in one renovation can become valuable in another. Besides saving money, repurposing prevents still usable pieces from being replaced just because they don’t fit the project of their former owners.
DIY reduces expenses but requires learning and caution
Directly performing the services has become one of the main ways for the couple to save money. Nina considers home projects one of her favorite hobbies and uses content available on the internet to learn techniques and understand the steps of each intervention.
Videos, demonstrations, and accounts from other residents can help in preparing walls, removing coverings, and installing decorative elements. However, access to tutorials does not eliminate the need to recognize limits, especially when a task involves electricity, structure, climate control, or other technical systems.
In the case of this century-old house, the report mainly details finishing and decoration work carried out by the residents. The source does not provide information on structural interventions conducted by the couple nor does it present the total amount already invested in the restoration.
Living inside the construction made the process more difficult
Besides financial planning, Nina and Taylor need to live daily with the transforming environments. The removal of materials, the movement of furniture, and the existence of incomplete projects are part of the routine for those renovating the same residence where they live.
The biggest challenge mentioned by Nina so far is working in a house without air conditioning. The couple plans to try to include the system installation in the 2027 budget, but until then, they need to manage the discomfort during the execution of the services.
The difficulty highlights that the savings obtained with a gradual renovation also involve concessions. Delaying an improvement can protect the budget, but forces the residents to live longer with limitations that affect comfort and the progress of the work.
Restoring the old doesn’t mean rebuilding everything at once
Nina’s proposal does not consist of transforming the residence into an exact reproduction of how it was in 1926. The report also does not present original plans, historical photographs, or documents that would allow us to assert what features initially existed.
The work seeks to restore personality to the spaces through materials, doors, furniture, and finishes closer to the construction period. It is a gradual interpretation of the past, adapted to current usage conditions and the available budget.
This approach differentiates domestic restoration from a rigorous historical intervention. Nevertheless, it demonstrates that preserving or recovering part of the character of an old building does not necessarily depend on replacing all components with new and expensive products.
Patience became a tool as important as money
Nina’s experience indicates that the cost of recovering a century-old house can be reduced when the owner agrees to extend the timeline, reuse materials, and perform some tasks themselves. This does not mean that every old renovation will be cheap, as each property presents different conditions, systems, and problems.
In the case reported by People, there is still no final budget, completion deadline, or public estimate of how much the couple will save. The project remains ongoing, and new needs may arise as the residents progress through the spaces.
The main result presented so far is the creation of a method based on research, reuse, and gradual execution. Instead of seeking an immediate transformation, Nina aims to build each stage from what she finds and what she can afford at that moment.
Would you recover an old house this way?
The story shows an alternative to renovations focused on large purchases and complete replacements. Used and free materials can reduce expenses and restore personality to a residence, but the search requires patience, willingness to learn, and care not to undertake work that depends on technical knowledge.
In your opinion, is it more worthwhile to restore an old house gradually, reusing doors, furniture, and finishes, or to invest in a complete renovation to solve everything at once? Tell us in the comments which strategy you would adopt and which original detail you would never remove from a century-old property.
