Expert Advice: Corbin Bernsen, Star Handyman - Remodelista
Most people know actor, writer, director, and producer Corbin Bernsen from his movie and TV roles–remember Arnie Becker on LA Law?–but in real life, at home with his wife, Amanda Pays, and their four sons, he plays the ultimate in-house carpenter and handyman. Photographs by Laure Joliet for Remodelista, unless otherwise noted. A shared interest in remodeling and design was in fact one of the things that brought the couple together–Amanda is a former actress now full-time interior designer, and the two have been renovating and flipping houses together in LA for the last two decades. Corbin and Amanda test out the Isaac 1 Light Pendant from Schoolhouse Electric in the kitchen of their latest flip, a 1960s 2,000 square foot post-and-beam house that they bought in February and have just finished. Corbin with a barn board–the day we dropped in, he was working on a sliding barn door to go between kitchen and living room. That’s still my favorite part of the process: seeing something grow from nothing. Corbin’s work table in the flip house. We can absolutely tell when a house has had loving owners and happy families. RM: How do you Amanda collaborate on projects?CB: One of the greatest things Amanda and I have shared over the years is our love of remodeling. Once I’m done, Amanda steps in (in actuality, she’s there all along the way), but after the space is “discovered,” she then starts thinking about design details, which can affect some spatial choices, so we work in tandem. The barn door in progress. This isn’t a trick but a genuine effort to acknowledge all involved are part of the history of the house and its future. For me the project is either done right or why do it at all. Lately we’ve been sourcing old wooden cupboards to use as pantries in place of built-ins. Corbin designed and built the wooden stairs in the couple’s backyard shed that they turned into a bunkhouse. Photograph by Matthew Williams for Remodelista. The Corbin special: a bedside shelf made from an old scaffolding board. Photograph by Matthew Williams for Remodelista. Photograph by Matthew Williams for Remodelista. Corbin introduced order to a utility drawer by inserting a wooden cutlery tray. A most handy tool for ripping plywood and boards; it gives you a blue chalk line to cut from one end to the other.7. RM: Are all tool belts essentially equal?CB: Not at all–the perfect one is broken in, soft, fits your waist perfectly, and doesn’t crawl down to your ass over the course of the day. “We love the creation process, and I suppose the challenge,” says Corbin.