It's easy to get wrapped up in the numbers and structural considerations when pondering a whole house renovation. But don't forget to take some time to think about color, y'all!

Don’t take Selma Blanusa all that seriously when she tells you she almost passed up her Sonoma, California, farmhouse while zeroing in on a different house nearby. “I didn’t anticipate I would fall in love with it,” she says of the one whose deed she went home with. “It was pretty worn down.” But Selma knows a find when she sees it. A compulsive renovator with a terrific eye and enviable resources, she was able to take one look at the frozen-in-time wallpaper, lace curtains, shag carpeting, and hulking range hood and see a stylish, light-filled forever house, its color scheme as smart and sunny as its manicured 4.6-acre lot.