This is a series of posts about our latest endeavor as newbie house flippers! We give updates every few weeks on our house flipping adventures that include timelines, budgets, problems, and before + afters. If you want to start flipping houses, I hope you'll follow along with this series!
Week 1
Weeks 2 + 3
Weeks 4 + 5
Weeks 6 + 7
Weeks 8 + 9
Update
Bathroom Before + Afters
Kitchen Before + Afters
Laundry/Mudroom Before + Afters
Living Room & Dining Room Before + Afters
The bedrooms in the Avenue House weren't really anything to write home about. Aside from a decorative fireplace, the rooms didn't have a lot of redeeming qualities. In fact, the bedrooms left a bit to be desired. One bedroom doesn't have a closet, and the other has the tiniest closet I have ever seen and a kind of awkward built-in. Brian and I tend to be a little more minimalist when it comes to possessions, so we don't mind not having a ton of storage space, but even we could recognize this could be a deal breaker for a potential buyer. While we didn't do much to these rooms, I did want to focus on staging. Here is a summary of the projects we did:
- Patched plaster
- Painted walls
- Painted ceilings
- Painted the built-in
- Refinished hardwoods*
- Added HVAC*
- Painted fireplace hearth
- Installed new ceiling fans
- Added drapes
(* items are tasks we hired out)
Below photos by Maggie Mills Photography
BEFORE + AFTERS
The most time-cosnuming project with these rooms was definitely all of the plaster repair. We're used to dealing with drywall, which I think is a bit more forgiving. There were cracks EVERYWHERE in this house. The process to correct is very laborious; I think Brian spent a whole week making the walls smooth. You have to apply spackle, let dry 24+ hours, sand, and then repeat if not smooth. We knew that it was important because a buyer might get scared if they see a bunch of cracks in the walls (understandably) even if they are only cosmetic. You can really see how bad the cracks were in the photo below (there is evidence of an old stove pipe that would have connected to the chimney).
As I mentioned before, storage was lacking in this house, so we drug over a few dressers from home to show buyers there is room for plenty of storage. You can easily have a few dressers or even an armoire. I also wanted to infuse as much white into this room as possible to keep the feeling nice and airy. There isn't a lot of natural light or square footage in this room.
Yet again, it's hard to tell from the photos, but EVERYTHING in this room was ivory: the walls, the ceiling, and this built-in. I'm glad it is there because it does add much needed storage (and we could stick the air return in it), but the outdated brass hardware and off-white color made it look very boring. We painted everything white except the walls where we continued Sherwin Williams Repose Gray. The room seemed a lot cleaner and fresher with some paint (even though it took three coats on that built-in to get it covered well!).
I didn't want to overcrowd the room with nightstands, but I did want to stage with a queen size bed so that people could see a decent sized bed would fit. I think left unstaged, people might be unsure how to arrange furniture in this space since there are so many odd corners and obstacles. A new ceiling fan and white drapes finished this room off. Now the focus is on the beautiful wood trim, windows, beadboard ceilings, and floor instead of cracked plaster walls and lack of storage space.
The second bedroom is pretty small and doesn't have a closet, so I thought it would make sense to stage as an office. Bedroom furniture could have made the room feel tight, and only having to move a small desk instead of a bulky mattress set sounded pretty good to me. ;) There are also a lot of windows in this room, so I think any buyer could envision it being a great work space. The whole room completely opened up once we got rid of all of those layers of drapes! I swear each set of curtains weighed about ten pounds.
Again, this room was mostly plaster repair and paint, but I think it turned out really pretty. The decorative window pane over the fireplace was actually found in the crawlspace and added a bit more height to this room. It also draws your attention to the pretty brickwork - definitely the focal point of this room.
The fireplace didn't need much attention except for a shiny coat of black paint on the hearth. It was previously painted, but the paint was peeling. You can also see the refinished floors in the below photo. I think the new stain colors complements the brick a little better instead of competing with it.
COST BREAKDOWN
Hardwood floors - $875
Lighting - $195
Curtain Rods - $35
Curtains - $30
Paint - $90
TOTAL - $1225*
*does not include HVAC costs
SOURCES
PAINT/STAIN
Walls - Sherwin Williams Repose Gray
Floors - Minwax Provincial on Pine
LIGHTING
Ceiling Fans
Hall Light
DECOR/FINISHES
Curtain Rods
Office Chair
Boxwood Wreath