My favorite old house finish is made from the scraped bits of bug secretions. And when first harvested, the finish is a tempting amalgam of scraped bark, bug appendages, and sticky-lac resin. The female lac bug is the one responsible for this resin and she lives in the trees of India and … [Read more...]
About Us
Making clients' dreams come true since 1997, I'm Kara O'Brien, a licensed contractor and owner of the renovation company Kara O’Brien Renovations. Former co-owner of Laughing Sun Renovations, a lauded and internationally recognized company, I forged my own firm, Kara O’Brien Renovations, in 2012. … [Find out more]
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From budget conscious kitchen and bathroom remodels to highly detailed historic renovations, we are here to make your dreams come true. If you are looking to revive that tired kitchen with the 1970s knotty pine cabinets with the peeling laminate counters or are dreaming of a luxury bathroom complete with Italian … [Find out more]
Featured in the Press
Santa Fe Style
By Christopher Oquendo, photos by Christopher Oquendo Published on 07/2011 Note: Laughing Sun only built the tiki hut for this home. The full article is displayed below, but for more photos and … [Continue reading]
Cool Coup in Kirkwood
Huge cotton mill beams were cut, planed, and sculpted to enhance the Craftsman motif of this Kirkwood home, restored after a 2004 fire. By Christopher Oquendo, photos by Christopher … [Continue reading]
Attic Takeover
Holmes Magazine, July 2010 Building out an attic space can be challenging, but at the same time the space is there for the taking. We love challenges at Kara O'Brien Renovations. Challenges in … [Continue reading]
We Build GREEN
Green Building Techniques Kara O' Brien Renovations has tackled green building from the start with our massive effort to recycle house parts, salvaged from other houses locally, parts that otherwise were headed to the landfill. We … [Find out more]