Olivia DiBona was always pretty sure her house was her forever home.
It was in the perfect location, close to her family and her business. The lot was a great size that she and her husband, Christos Koci, could grow into. However, with two bedrooms, the house itself was too small for them to build a long-term life.
Then, DiBona had an idea. Why not turn her starter home into her forever home?
Olivia DiBona and Christos Koci bought their first home together in 2019.
DiBona and Koci, both 31, live in Braintree, Massachusetts, about 20 minutes south of Boston.
In 2019, when they were thinking about getting engaged, a house DiBona knew well was about to go on the market. The two-bedroom, one-bathroom ranch sat across from her parents’ home, where DiBona grew up, and right next door to her aunt’s house.
When DiBona heard the owners were thinking about putting the house up for sale, she decided to send them a letter, asking if they would sell it to her.
“I put a letter in the mailbox, and they sold it right to us,” DiBona told Business Insider. “It never went on the market.”
She and Koci closed on the house for $409,000, right after they got engaged.
The small home worked well for the couple for a few years.
DiBona and Koci fell in love with their life in their 1,500-square-foot home.
They had a big backyard, DiBona only had a five-minute commute to her hair salon, Olivia’s Hair Boutique, and the proximity to DiBona’s family made both of them happy.
“I just love being so close to my parents and my family,” she said, telling Business Insider she sees her parents daily. “I was so happy that I could just walk 10 seconds across the street for anything we needed.”
The space was small, but it worked for them as a starter home. They did some minor renovations to the house when they moved in, updating the kitchen and living area to suit their needs.
They knew they would need more room someday, though.
In 2025, the couple decided to renovate their house so they could stay there long-term.
DiBona and Koci wanted a bigger space, especially since they hope to have kids someday. They also weren’t seeing homes for sale that fit their needs.
“I definitely looked on Zillow all the time, but nothing was my dream house,” she said, adding that she would have wanted to renovate whatever home they bought. “I would have been paying so much money for something that I still was going to have to do work on.”
So instead of finding a bigger home, DiBona and Koci decided to make one. After talking about it on and off for years, the couple made plans to renovate their home into a larger space in the summer of 2025.
DiBona and her father created the layout for the updated home together.
Rather than hiring an architect, DiBona worked with her dad to draft the renovation plans. He’s an engineer, and he minored in architecture in college.
“He did his own renovation plans, and he’s done it for a few neighbors,” she said.
DiBona also had experience from the previous renovation of her house and from renovations she made to her salon over the years.
She had a specific vision for her home, so she actually drew her own plans. She got graph paper and a pencil, and sketched a two-story version of her home with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
“I basically designed it, and then my dad put it into professional terms for my contractor,” she said.
For DiBona, that vision for her remodeled house was a mix of a few architectural styles.
“My husband’s family is Greek,” DiBona said. “My family is Italian. We go to Europe pretty much every summer, so we love that coastal but a little Mediterranean type of feel. But I also really wanted it to still fit in with New England, and I didn’t want my house to stick out. I tried to make it a little bit classic at the same time.”
The couple hired a construction team, but DiBona also did some hands-on work.
With their plans set, construction started in September 2025. DiBona and Koci stayed with her parents throughout the renovation, allowing them to keep a close eye on its progress.
“My contractor probably didn’t love that, but I was over here like micromanaging every day,” she said. “I knew the measurements of everything, so there were a couple of little things I caught when they first were framing it out.”
For instance, it was important to DiBona that she have a two-story foyer, as she likes the look and wants to place her Christmas tree there each holiday season. It was initially framed at 7 feet when it should have been 10, and because she was there so often, she was able to spot it and get her contractor to fix the height before the renovation was complete.
In addition to designing the new floor plan, DiBona also did some work herself, popping over to her home throughout the construction process.
“I definitely did a good amount of painting,” she said. “I stained the railings. I stained my front door. I plastered my hood in my kitchen.”
She also built her furniture and closet, and of course, selected the decor for the house.
The renovation took almost exactly 6 months.
The couple ended up needing to gut their home to make the renovation happen. They moved the living room, expanded the kitchen into their yard and into the former bathroom, and added a second story.
“Basically, we gutted everything down to the studs,” DiBona said. “We didn’t think we were going to at first, but then it just worked out that way.”
Despite the intensity of the work, the contractors promised to complete it in six months and stuck to the timeline. “Everyone kept being like it’s going to be way longer than that, but it was actually six months and two weeks,” she said.
The new layout had a second story.
DiBona’s new design expanded the first floor slightly, but it mostly increased the home’s square footage with a second story. The bedrooms are all upstairs in the new design, freeing up the space for more living area on the first floor.
DiBona said seeing the second floor get built was nerve-racking.
“The beginning was crazy when they gutted everything and took the roof off,” she said. “I was definitely panicking because it looked like an actual shack.”
When it was finished, the exterior had the classic look DiBona was hoping to create.
DiBona’s home still had siding, and the garage was in the same spot it was before construction began. That’s where the similarities end, though.
The second story completely transformed the space, doubling the square footage to 3,000. The couple also changed the layout of their windows on the first floor so they matched those on the second floor and added a balcony to the second story.
The pillars that connected their entryway to the balcony added that Mediterranean flair, while the siding and vaulted roof fit the New England environment.
DiBona had an open concept living space before the renovation.
Previously, the front door of DiBona’s home sat next to their fireplace, opening to a narrow room they used as both their living room and dining room.
Beyond the living area, there were two doorways. One led to the kitchen, while the other led to the home’s two bedrooms. A staircase led to the basement.
For DiBona, creating more space for the kitchen was a top priority.
“I needed to have a giant kitchen,” she said. “That was my number one thing. We wanted to be the hosting house.”
She also wanted a larger living room and at least one more bedroom.
Now, when you walk into DiBona’s home, you’re greeted by the staircase and dining room.
The two-story foyer puts the staircase at the center of DiBona’s entryway, which then opens to her open concept kitchen and dining space.
The dining room sits in the same place it did before the renovation, but it no longer has to double as the living room, nor is it squished next to a fireplace.
DiBona kept her dining chairs and table, though she extended the leaf of her white table since it could take up more space.
The room has the airy, coastal feel DiBona wanted thanks to the white walls, wood floors, and white table, while touches like a pearl-encrusted chandelier and wicker chairs bring in the New England vibe.
Their kitchen was functional but small before the renovation.
Pre-renovation, the kitchen had decent counter space and a small island, so DiBona and Koci could prep food there. Still, the small island could only seat two.
However, they wanted their kitchen to be a gathering space for friends and family, so they needed more space for people to move around and seating for more than just two people.
There was also only one window in the space, so it felt dark.
In its new iteration, the kitchen became the home’s focal point.
The couple was able to maximize the size of their kitchen by extending their home into their backyard and by using space previously occupied by a bathroom. Now, they have room for their loved ones to gather.
A massive island is the centerpiece of DiBona and Koci’s new kitchen. It has a wood base, while the cabinetry and countertops are white, creating contrast.
DiBona’s kitchen features floor-to-ceiling cabinetry for ample storage, as well as luxury additions such as a coffee bar. A large window above the sink brings in natural light, as does the backyard doorway.
DiBona said the kitchen has already transformed the way she and her husband host parties.
“We’ve only lived in the house for under three months, and we hosted Catholic Easter, Greek Orthodox Easter. We’ve had Mother’s Day,” DiBona said. “It’s been really fun to use the island, fill it with food, and have everybody over and have a place for everyone to sit.”
DiBona said a big portion of the renovation budget went to her kitchen appliances.
DiBona knew she wanted to upgrade her oven as she planned her new kitchen, calling it her “big splurge.”
She kept her refrigerator and dishwasher in storage during the renovation. As they neared the end of the project, a friend suggested DiBona air out her refrigerator, which had been wrapped in plastic to keep it safe.
To her horror, she discovered the secure wrapping had backfired, as it hadn’t been aired out before being sealed. “I opened my fridge, and it was filled with mold,” DiBona said. “I was like, ‘I am absolutely not using again.’ So then we had to get a whole new appliance package.”
She ended up selecting a fridge and dishwasher that matched her new oven, so her original splurge ended up costing more.
She did find ways to save in the kitchen as well, though. She chose stock cabinets and got hardware for them on Amazon to make them more affordable.
The living room sits in a separate space post-renovation.
Rather than keeping the dining room and living room together as an open-concept space, DiBona decided to separate them in the new layout.
“I like having the living room separate from the kitchen,” she said. “I just like a little separation, and I like the living room to feel cozy.”
The second floor doubled the size of the couple’s home.
All three of DiBona and Koci’s bedrooms are on the second floor of their home. When you walk upstairs, two bedrooms and a bathroom sit on the right, while the primary bedroom and bathroom are on the left.
The have big windows with plenty of light, and they’re all large, which DiBona said is actually one of her regrets about the design.
“I do wish that I did four bedrooms instead of three upstairs,” she admitted.
Still, she loves the second floor, particularly her bedroom with its vaulted ceilings.
The primary bathroom is one of DiBona’s favorite rooms in the house.
The primary bathroom has a double vanity sink so DiBona and her husband each have their own space, as well as a large walk-in shower.
The shower has a glass exterior, built-in shelving, and two shower heads, giving the bathroom a luxe feel. DiBona also tried to make it practical for their life.
“I did huge huge tiles in there so that there’s not a lot of grout, which is really nice for cleaning,” she said.
The house is still a work in progress, but they love it.
The renovation wrapped up at the end of February, though there is still some work to be done on the house. For instance, DiBona and Koci haven’t picked a backsplash for their kitchen, and some of their rooms aren’t furnished.
“Our two bedrooms upstairs are completely empty,” she said. “They’re basically like my second closets right now.”
They’re having fun seeing what works for their space, though, and taking time to decorate it in the way that works best.
As she looked back on the renovation, DiBona said it was difficult to figure out her style and to have all of the materials and details she wanted selected by the time projects began. However, she said the biggest challenge of the renovation was communicating with her contractors.
“I would say definitely getting all of the contractors who are middle-aged men to listen to me was the biggest one,” she said. DiBona said they would often want to defer to her dad for information about the renovation, which was frustrating. “They would kind of be like, ‘Let me ask your dad about this.’ And I’m like, ‘My dad’s not paying for this house.'”
The renovation cost DiBona and Koci around $500,000.
$500,000 was more than DiBona and Koci wanted to spend on the renovation, and $100,000 more than they had originally paid for their home.
However, they think investing in upgrading their home was worth it because of the improvements. Plus, it was still more affordable than buying a similar-sized home in their neighborhood.
“Every house now around here is at least a million, and they all need a ton of work,” she said. “At least this is brand new.”
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