There was a specific moment when Colby Minifie realized she could finally live alone. The actress—best known for playing the tightly wound Ashley Barrett on The Boys—had spent years splitting rent with roommates when friend and costar Aya Cash gently pointed something out: “You can afford to get a one-bedroom on your own.” Later came another push. “Now you should get a house,” Cash told her. “I think you can do that, too.” Soon, the pair were driving around Upstate New York looking at listings together.
The place Minifie eventually landed on is what she calls “honest:” The structure was solid, the bones were good, and most importantly, it sat on enough land to one day hold the geodesic dome she dreams of building. Demolition began immediately. “[The day after I closed], I was knocking walls down,” she remembers. “Sledgehammer out, let’s go.” What followed was less a standard remodel, more an all-consuming personal education in tiling, carpentry, plasterwork, cabinetry, electrical, and design—much of it self-taught through YouTube videos, trial and error, and calls to her father, an opera singer and seasoned renovator.
While filming a TV show sounds glamorous from the outside, the rhythm of production often left Minifie with long stretches of downtime. “Sitting around waiting to work is not a recipe for a successful mental health situation for me,” she says. “I need to feel as though I’m accomplishing something.” Over the years, she has found herself increasingly drawn to projects with results she can physically hold in her hands: quilting, ceramics, gardening, updating an Airstream trailer, and, of course, renovating this property.
Born out of her hard work: handmade arches, built-in cabinets, a red-grouted bathroom tiled over the course of multiple 14-hour days, and much more. The process often required an almost monastic level of focus. “It was my private studio for a while,” she says of the house. “And that felt sacred.” Ahead, Minifie simultaneously gives us a tour of her home and the way her mind works (intensely curious, easily hyper-fixated, wildly determined) in her own words.
I’m such a primary color person. I remember when my sister left for college, I wanted to paint my bedroom, and I wanted it to be green, blue, red, and yellow. My parents said it was going to be too much and suggested I use less saturated colors, so I did that. I remember feeling like I was in an Easter egg basket and thought, “This is not what I wanted.” And so now that I have my own house, I can finally do what I want with it. | Fogia Bollo Lounge Chair, Etsy; Mags Modular Sofa by Hay, Design Within Reach.
Ceramics is one of the only art forms I’ve found where the product is not at the forefront of the process. I remember one day going to the studio and bringing my wisdom teeth, which for some reason I had decided to keep in a little jar at home. I thought, I need a coffee table—why don’t I see if I can make these weird teeth and I can put a piece of glass on them? | Orange Källarhals Vase, IKEA; Tooth Side Table, Colby Minifie.
I really think that if you have hand-eye coordination and determination, and you can follow directions, you can do this. DIY feels intimidating, but only if you’re not engaging with it. | Chrome Table Lamp by George Kovacs, Etsy; Lamp Shade by Damson Madder, Anthropologie; Window Pane Pillow Covers, Lumi Living.
I found that with acting, whether it’s theater or film and TV, it’s so ephemeral. But with work that was tangible, I couldn’t take it away from myself. | Ear and Nose Ceramics, Colby Minifie; Mags Modular Sofa by Hay, Design Within Reach; “Cherryo” Art Print, Vertigo Artography.
Scandinavian design has always been interesting to me—those clean lines and warm colors. So I didn’t stain any of the plywood that I used. I liked the pine color as it was. | Round Wall Mirror by Finnmirror and Goose Lamp, Etsy.
I spent at least eight hours a day in the ceramics studio during the [writers’ and actors’] strike. I would get to the studio and put my headphones on and just see what came of the day. | Rectangular Tray by Gaetano Pesce, Coming Soon.
I wanted to record a lot of the renovation process—I’m inspired by so many people like Jenna Phipps and Lone Goose Co—but I’m too much of a ham for the camera. The first time I recorded, I was demoing the wall in the dining room and moved my ladder and dropped a hammer on my head. That was the end of most of my process videos. I also wanted to protect my flow state; I loved working on this house. I’m really proud of the bookcase, because I redid the math eight or nine times as I was trying to work around three outlets. | Cesca Cantilever Chairs and Fog & Morup Pendant, Etsy; Pink Bowl, Heath Ceramics; Bookshelf, Colby Minifie. The inlay on the floor is another thing I am really proud of. There were holes in the floor from having taken down two walls, and I got this really nice red oak that matches the floor that was already in. I stained it, cut it into triangles, glued it in, and it started buckling. So then I belt-sanded it all down, restrained it all, and it wasn’t right again. So I belt-sanded it again. If you look closely, it’s not perfect, but that’s the beauty of DIY. With my kitchen, people said, “Really, you’re going with Kelly green?” I tried all these other greens, and I was like, “Yeah, it’s got to be Kelly green.” I just love that color. | PH 5 Hanging Lamp, MoMA Design Store; Chandigarh Counter Stools, Klarel; Splatter Low Bowl, Hawkins New York; Essential Floor Runner, Revolve.
A family had lived here for 16 years prior to me buying the house, and they had done a ton of work. It felt solid and done by somebody who knew what they were doing. They added these kitchen cabinets and I just had to paint them. | Mechanical Household Scale, Hawkins New York; Black Bowl, Monday Ceramics.
I found this really cool blue countertop that looks like bubbling water. I liked how it went with the green cabinets.
YouTube University is where I attended. Every project started with me sitting there intimidated for like three days, doing research, and watching videos before I finally started. | Painting, Devon Grimes; Luna Woven Basket, Acme Brooklyn. I decided I wanted a completely yellow hallway. Once I had a vision, nobody could sway me from it. | Tubo Coffee Table, Chairish.
I made this bed as well as the one in the guest bedroom. This was the first king I’ve made and it was really tricky and so heavy. At some point, you have to flip it over to finish it and that was a scary moment, but I did it. | Bed Frame and Drawing, Colby Minifie; Golden Rug by Rugs USA, Amazon; Classic Percale Woven Checkerboard Pillowcase, Brooklinen.
My cobalt blue bathroom. Why not? I love this color! I built the vanity and found these faucets that were exactly the color I was looking for. | Gatsby Hand Towel, Slowtide; Colored Tap, Vola.
I had a vision for the guest room closet doors and I didn’t know how to do it, but I got it up onto its footing all alone and secured it to the wall. Measuring everything from how high the closet rod should be to what the depth is so that clothes don’t push against the doors—you have to figure out all that stuff. Every project I did in the house was an exercise in hyper-independence. | Zelie Wool Rug, Annie Selke; Wavy Wood Mirror, Amazon. I remember going to this tile shop and saying what I was going to do—originally, I picked bright orange grout—and the guys there said, “You can’t do colored grout. That’s just not possible. Why don’t you paint the ceiling orange or something?” But I thought, I know that this is possible. I’ve seen it on Pinterest. This is what I want to do. I found this company in California called Grout 360 where you can send them a paint chip and they will make grout in that color. It took four 14-hour days just to tile the walls, and then 10 hours to grout it. Billy Joel and the podcast Criminal got me through. The song I danced to after I finished my bathroom was “Zanzibar” by Billy Joel. I was just rocking out to it thinking, This is the greatest. | Faucet, Vola; Patterned Bin and Striped Towels, Dusen Dusen.
I would go to work with my dad and help him sometimes. I remember specifically cutting tile with him in a bathroom somewhere and getting absolutely covered in wet tile dust. The beautiful thing about my dad is that if I need any help, or if I have any questions, he stops everything he’s doing and teaches me. Then he just goes back to his work. | Red Hand Shower, Sproos.
When I was doing the red bathroom, I tiled all the way up to the alcove and realized there was going to be this weird border around it. I knew I’d stare at it forever and hate it. So I ripped all the tiles out and started over. The effort it takes to fix something and make it right is way less than looking at it for the rest of your life thinking, “I could have fixed that thing.” | The Body Exfoliator, Necessaire; Striped Towel, Dusen Dusen.
