Paige and Kyle Schrimpf build their dream home with a budding family.

The first thing Paige Schrimpf does when she opens her eyes each morning is browse the new real estate listings. As an agent with Re/Max Jefferson City, it’s the natural way to start her day. On occasion, something catches her eye. Those are the properties she forwards to her husband, Kyle.

That’s exactly what happened in September 2017, as she was awaiting the birth of her first son, Jaxon. She saw a listing for a spacious ranch on Schellridge, and though she says she and Kyle had no intention of moving, they were intrigued enough to tour the house. 

“We liked the area on the west end of town. We loved that it had a big main level living space and a lot just barely over an acre,” Paige says. “We saw the house and decided we had to have it. There were several offers, so we had to act quickly, but we ended up getting it.”

Jaxon Schrimpf in his newly renovated room.

Jaxon was born less than one week after the house went under contract.

“On our way home from the hospital, we drove the baby by the house to show him his new home,” she says.

The 5,000-square-foot house with a large yard showed a lot of potential. Paige says she could envision the space holding the large family that she and Kyle dream of, but it had not been updated since it was built in 1965. Muraled walls and shag carpet of every color filled the space. Paige says the house desperately needed a facelift, but she had trouble visualizing how it could look once updated. Luckily, her mother, Brenda Kolb, used to work as an interior decorator.

“When we looked at the house, we brought her and the contractor we were going to use to see if what we had in mind was in our budget,” Paige says. “She was the one who said we’re going to knock this wall out and do this and that. I thought it was going to be a lot of work, and [the inside of the home] was really ugly.”

With a newborn baby and a brand new fixer-upper on their hands, Paige and Kyle jumped into the project of gutting their new home down to the studs. While her mom watched baby Jaxon, she and Kyle ripped out that colorful shag carpet. She says they completed much of the demolition themselves, while their contractor, Archway Carpentry, began to rebuild the house behind them.

Paige says that for seven months, she, Kyle, and Archway Carpentry worked tirelessly to completely renovate the house, working on everything from the electrical and HVAC systems to windows, doors, and trim.

On the main level, Paige says they opted for an open-concept floor plan, tearing down walls in order to turn four separate rooms into one big open area, which now includes a kitchen, dining room, living room, and sitting room. They also opened a hidden stairwell in the living room that now leads upstairs. The house is rustic, with light gray walls and unfinished hardwood floors with lots of knots. A big stone archway separates the living room and sitting room.

“There is nothing shiny or fancy,” Paige says.

Though she and her mom would typically run around town shopping for finishes, narrow down the choices, and bring home a couple options to show Kyle, she says he was adamant about a couple design elements, and those elements have since become the main focal points of the house. He insisted on raising the living room ceiling into the attic. He also found beams from an old barn on Craigslist, which now separates the kitchen from the dining room and from the living room.

“Almost everyone that walks in comments on how amazing the beams are,” Paige says. “The tall ceiling makes the room seem so much bigger and open. I truly couldn’t imagine not doing it.”

Kyle’s own handiwork is also showcased on their living room fireplace, to which he applied German schmear by laying thick mortar onto the brick, creating a completely updated look.

“He thought he was Chip Gaines for a hot minute,” Paige jokes, referring to the co-star of HGTV’s show “Fixer Upper.” “It looks good.”

“My favorite thing is how open the kitchen is to the living room and dining room and sitting area,” she adds. “I can be in the kitchen cooking dinner and see everything. There are no walls blocking it. We also added some windows out to the back so you can see outside.”

Though they didn’t add any square footage, by moving walls and redesigning the space, they were able to expand the master bathroom while adding a large tile shower, a soaking tub, and a large window. The master bedroom also gained a walk-in closet and the first floor gained a half bathroom.

Their main level’s other two bedrooms, for 2-year-old Jaxon and, now, 5-month-old Maddox, also got new paint, carpeting, doors, and light fixtures.

With the first floor completely renovated and a fresh coat of cream paint on the outside, the Schrimpf’s moved into their new home in April 2018. This past September, they gutted the basement and replaced the floors, doors, trim, and paint throughout the space. Though the layout didn’t change, they turned a kitchen into an open bar area and converted one of three bedrooms into a gym.

Now that the hard work is finally finished and the entire house has been renovated, Paige says it’s fun to see how their hard work paid off.

“We made our dream house,” she says. “We could never have built something like this from scratch within our budget. It was fun to make this our own and it was a great way to get what we wanted without spending the money to build.”

While they truly enjoy the home in which they poured so much sweat, equity, and time into, Paige says her morning routine remains the same as always. Each morning, she still lays in her bed, browsing the new listings, and when something catches her eye, she forwards it to Kyle.



Resource List:

Main Level

Contractor, Dormers, Framing, Drywall, Finishing Installs: Archway Carpentry 

Cabinets: Toby’s Cabinet Shop

Countertops: Martellaro Marble & Granite

Dormer Roof: S&K Roofing

Electrical: Nathan VanLoo Electric

Exterior Doors: Mid-City Lumber, finished by Capital Finishing 

Exterior Light Fixtures: Major Interiors

Flooring: Beautiful Home Interiors, Scruggs Lumber

Garage Doors: Capital Installers Inc.

Gas Fireplace: Best Fire Inc. Stove & Fireplace Center

HVAC: Capital City Air LLC

Insulation: Randy’s Insulation & Drop Ceilings

Painting: Rita Lindenbusch and Kathy Schanzmeyer

Plumbing: Hayes Plumbing, Inc

Railing: Six G LLC

Security System/Surround Sound: Smart Solutions Inc.

Stone: Midwest Block & Brick

Windows: Scruggs Lumber

Window Install, Rear Siding Install, Painted Brick: Energy Renovator 

Lower Level

Cabinets: Paul Stockman Cabinet Shop

Drywall: Wells Painting & Taping LLC

Flooring: Mid-City Lumber 

Remodel/Finishing: Kevin Kliegal 

Stone: Stockman Stoneworks