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Hey everyone!
I hope you're enjoying these last days of the holiday season as much as we are! We took a trip to Great Wolf Lodge with our play group and half of us (this is a literal number, not an exaggeration) got hit with a horrible stomach bug. The other half had to clean it up, so there's that. Now that the house no longer smells like barf I got to thinking about all of the projects I've done over the past couple years and was too busy to write about. One in particular just closed a couple of weeks ago! I had been referring to it as a "Flip House" but in reality we renovated it professionally, in the way we'd want to have the home done. The plan was to buy it, renovate it, and sell it for profit, but there was nothing cookie cutter or flip about this property!
So let's dig into details...
First, we bought the house at auction. site unseen. We had 3 photos to look at, and what was provided was rough at best. The home was bank owned, had been vacant for a long time, and there were squatters rumored to use it. We were given a quick inspection period so we planned to go view the property before we closed, knowing full well it was going to be in bad shape. I can't even explain how frustrating this few days was for us. We had the most difficult time gaining entry because we didn't yet hold the property deed, and the community had 24 hour security guards who wouldn't let us in without it. We ended up calling a realtor friend, after multiple attempts and several phone calls, and were finally given access. Living there I could understand why it would be so important not to make exceptions for people, but at the time it was annoying squared.
Once we got there we were able to snap some pictures and estimate the cost to renovate (to make sure we were making a sound investment). Upon entering the community there was little doubt that we made the right choice! It was the most beautiful community, one where someone literally measures the tree branches to make sure your oaks aren't overgrown.
Exterior:
As you can see from the front, the house needed power washing, paint, new hardware and lights, new screens on the back lanai, and tons of landscaping. The issues were mostly cosmetic and stemmed from neglect. Until we climbed over the bushes in the back, we didn't realize the house sat right on the water! Once all of that crap was cleared away, the view was beautiful.
Foyer, Formal Living, and Dining:
I grouped these three rooms together because when you entered the house there were large columns on either side of the double doors. To the left, when facing the rest of the home, was a formal living room, and to the right was the dining room and stairs to the loft/bonus room. If you walked past the dining room, down the arched hallway, there was a bedroom, bathroom, laundry room and entrance to the three car garage. The layout was nice, though it would need a few modern tweaks. My immediate thought was that the formal living room would make a great office/ play room. The house was also filthy, in need of paint, flooring, new baseboards, and new fixtures.
Living Room and Kitchen:
When you walk past the formal living room and staircase, the home opened up into a family room to your left with entrance to the master, and then the kitchen to your right. The kitchen had a hallway back to the laundry room area that I mentioned before, and there was a hall passed the kitchen to two other bedrooms, and another bathroom (with access to the lanai). There had been obvious plumbing issues in the kitchen as the cabinets were water damaged, the layout needed help, and there were a bunch of those "Florida shelves" that are in so many homes catching dust and serving no other purpose.
Master Bedroom and Bathroom:
The master actually had a really nice layout. It's hard to tell from the pictures I took (because I was afraid of creepy crawlies and the carpet smelled so bad) but the master was split into a section for the bed and then a sitting room. Some other homeowners in the community with similar layouts used the extra space for a second home office, or workout space. There was a pair of underpants on the wall so out of respect for the young lady whose garment hung therein, I did not take a photograph. Walking past the bed section there was a big "hers" walk in closet across from a smaller "his" closet, and then the en suite bathroom. The bathroom had a nice sized shower, soaker tub, his and hers vanities, and a door for the toilet which I appreciate as a mother who cant get any privacy. This side of the house really just needed to be cleaned, pulled and replaced.
Other Bedrooms and Baths:
The bathroom layouts made good use of the space, and really just needed some cosmetic love. The bedrooms were the same, in that they were nice sizes, had good sized closets with ample storage, and just needed cosmetics! Peep that purple sponge job that Vale just loved.
Our List of To-Dos:
Exterior:
New Roof
Paint Exterior (including doors, windows, sliders, and lanai cage)
Tile front patio and back patio
Add deck beyond patio
Landscape front and back, including new sod
Interior:
Close in formal living and add French Doors
Close in weird Florida shelves throughout house
Demo columns over master entrance
Remove crown moulding where it was damaged and use left over crown moulding in new office
Repair drywall where needed (ceiling in living room was bad)
Paint entire interior (including ceiling, walls, new baseboards, railing, stair treads, doors)
New LVP flooring throughout entire home, including stairs
New baseboards throughout home
Fix wonky electrical, new outlets/covers
New cabinets and countertops in kitchen and three bathrooms
Tile kitchen backsplash, and surrounds in three bathrooms
New plumbing fixtures throughout home
New light fixtures and fans throughout home
Custom trim work on hood vent and bar in kitchen, custom shelves in kitchen, custom stained French Doors to match shelving, and shiplap in master bathroom.
So as you can tell, our list was a mile long! But we got it all accomplished, and sold the house for a hefty profit.
Before and After Exterior:
The first day I saw this house I fell in love with its columns and grand appearance. It had been neglected for so long, and really just needed a family to come in and love it again! We painted the exterior in Sherwin Williams Snowbound, the front door and garage doors in SW Ellie Gray, and the windows in SW Tricorn Black for a bit of a pop against the white. I chose copper lights for around the garage doors, and black Schlage Hardware for all of the exterior doors. We brought the landscaping back to its former glory, and I staged the front porch. Those planters are filled with fake flowers! Cute, right?
As you can see, the back porch got a total facelift. We tiled, painted, rescreened and staged it. We also did a lot of landscape demo. Those poor trees looked like stumps in the picture, but within a month they were fully bloomed and smelled incredible.
Before and After Foyer, Formal Living, and Dining :
Excuse the funky angles, but hopefully you get the idea! This room was closed in and framed for these beautiful French doors. The house interior was painted in Sherwin Williams Pure White, so I wanted the office to have a daring pop of color. It was painted from floor to ceiling in SW Wormwood. The bookshelves were old crummy ones that we added crown molding to, painted black, and then staged. The office desk was an old Thomasville desk I stripped and refinished years ago. 90% of the furniture in our home was purchased second hand and refinished!
Above are a few shots of the stairs and dining room so you can see what a huge difference paint makes! The ceilings were incredibly high in this home, and I wanted to show them off by creating a bright and airy space with paint that wouldn't isolate any potential buyers.
Before and After Living Room:
Before and After Kitchen:
There is so much to unpack here, so I want to speak on the kitchen a bit before I show you more pictures! As you can see, the Florida shelves were closed in, the layout of plumbing and electrical mostly stayed the same (except we added two sconce lights and a recirculating vent hood). The biggest changes I wanted to make were in the amount and type of storage in this kitchen. It looks like I got rid of all the upper cabinets, which I did, BUT I added a ton of base cabinets and pull out drawers. We extended the bar out further, wrapped it around the kitchen, and then got rid of the island. Now instead of an island which blocked accessibility within the kitchen, the bar acts as a gathering space for meals. We wrapped it in fluted trim to offset the horizontal lines on the hood vent, and sat six low profile and super comfortable bar stools around it. Notice that instead of bifold pantry doors, we wrapped the fridge in cabinetry and drywalled it in for a custom look. The 36" farmhouse sink was a game changer that I highly recommend. All other sinks are inferior, just sayin'.
Before and After Master Bedroom:
This entire room was furnished with second hand furniture that I painted/ refinished, including the floor mirror. The bed we bought a few years before and the decor was all stuff I already had. It worked great! This was the method we used throughout the home: stuff we already had, peppered in with a few consigned/ second hand items, and a few new things.
Before and After Master Bathroom:
In the master bathroom we used a 3D metallic tile for the surround, and carried a marble herringbone tile from the floor up to the tub surround. The front of the tub and shower was trimmed out in shiplap, and so was the back wall. We used Delta plumbing fixtures in all three bathrooms, and mixed metallics for a softer look. The cabinets throughout the home are white shaker, and the countertops are all Quartz. My plan was to give each space its own identity, but keep the big ticket items uniform as that's what I've found most buyers like to see.
Before and After Guest Bathrooms:
The above bathrooms were designed and executed with the thought that one would have a more feminine feel, and the other a more masculine feel. The permanent items are all neutral, apart from the blush mirror in the feminine bathroom, so buyers could easily insert their things for a new look that would work just as well.
Before and After Guest Bedrooms:
We went very basic with staging these bedrooms. We used what we had, bought a few things new, and consigned a few other things for staging purposes, but that was it!
Overall, I love the way the house turned out. It's classic where it needs to be and funky where it can afford to be. We ended up going under contract three times on this place, but now that it's closed, and for more than we ever anticipated (this market is crazy), I'm hoping that the new homeowners love it as much as we did. Cheers, sweet house! We'll miss yah.
xoxo
Alyssa
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