Seattle’s Porch.com Simplifies the Home Renovation Process
By Lauren Mang June 20, 2014
This article originally appeared in the July 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.
Tackling a bathroom renovation? Want to see what your neighbor did with hers—and what she paid? Sign up for the Eastlake-based home improvement site Porch.com, the brainchild of CEO Matt Ehrlichman, to search a database of more than 1.5 million professionals—plumbers, carpenters, interior decorators—to find the right person to take on your task. In grand “keeping up with the Joneses” fashion, your gratis membership to Porch gains you access to pictures, project cost, experts chosen and other details about home-improvement jobs completed in your area (including your neighbor’s reno), not to mention LinkedIn-style endorsements of those experts from other Porch users. Scour the site for advice and how-tos, maintenance reminders and plentiful project photos that you can then save to your “scrapbook” for inspiration. And look for the handy-dandy service inside Lowe’s Home Improvement stores, too, where you can browse its online bounty of pros via Lowe’s employee mobile devices and in-store terminals.
Follow Us
Blueprints for Building Community
After tragedy struck a local restaurateur family, one of their daughters stepped in to complete the design for her brother’s unfinished home.
Although he was just 35 when a heart attack took his life, Khoa Pham’s imprint on Seattle’s international district was such that the city quickly designated April 21 as a memorial day in his honor. With his rescue pitbull, Pinky, by his side, Pham cut a colorful figure through Little Saigon and became well known…
Tuft Stuff
Tuft Ruft turns fiber art into a social, hands-on experience in Pioneer Square.
It all started with a bout of pandemic boredom. Like many, when COVID-19 hit, recent graduate Carrie Xiao found herself stuck at home, with extra time on her hands. One day, while scrolling social media, she discovered tufting: a textile manufacturing technique that creates a garment or rug with a “pile,” or raised surface. After…
Collaborating Cultures
Looking to build a home to welcome family and friends, one Kirkland couple turns to a sister to design a modern house with influences from the wife’s Thai heritage.
For many years, when homeowners planned to build or remodel, architects and designers advised them to think first and foremost about resale value. From the number of bedrooms to the materials, appliances, and finishes in the kitchens and bathrooms, homes were often treated solely as an investment, with an eye to future sales. In recent…
Whale Of A Remodel
The transformation of an Orcas Island home takes advantage of remarkable views
For many years, Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders entertained his Orcas Island neighbors with breathtaking acrobatics in his vintage airplane. Anders and his wife, Valerie, had purchased a five-acre compound on the isolated western edge of the island for its mesmerizing view, a subject he knew something about. As a member of the first human…