House Flipping Before and Afters - Living Room Staging Ideas, Wood Trim Paint Colors - Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (2).jpg

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

The living room and dining room of the flip house didn't need too much TLC. The most involved project we did tackle was exposing the original coal basket in the fireplace and I think that brought out a ton of original character. I love the floorplan of this house and how the living room flows effortlessly into the dining room, which is connected by a swinging door. And how about those French doors?! Here is a summary of the projects we did:

Patched plaster
Painted walls
Refinished hardwoods*
Removed old gas line*
Exposed original fireplace
Installed new dining room pendant
Added drapes
(* items are tasks we hired out)

Below photos by Maggie Mills Photography

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House Flipping Before and Afters - Living Room Staging Ideas, Wood Trim Paint Colors - Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (1).jpg

House Flipping Before and Afters - Living Room Staging Ideas, Wood Trim Paint Colors - Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (4).jpg

House Flipping Before and Afters - Living Room Staging Ideas, Wood Trim Paint Colors - Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (5).jpg

House Flipping Before and Afters - Budget Dining Room Renovation, Wood Trim Paint Colors - Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (2).jpg

House Flipping Before and Afters - Budget Dining Room Renovation, Wood Trim Paint Colors - Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (3).jpg

BEFORE + AFTERS

Once again, don't underestimate the power of paint! I had a really hard time trying to figure out a paint color that would modernize the original wood trim without clashing and I think Sherwin Williams Respose Gray did just the trick.

House Flipping Before and Afters - Living Room Budget Renovation Remodel, Wood Trim Paint Colors - Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (1).jpg

We didn't even switch out the ceiling fan in here! (I did remove the cardinal chain pull.) I thought this house got terrible lighting, but it turns out the drapes were as thick as wool and blocked out any sunlight. I used my handy-dandy cheapo table cloth curtain trick (this time creating a pole pocket with iron on adhesive tape) and it made the room seem brighter and softer. We even kept the mirror in place for staging. Apparently it's about 100 years old and I thought it helped give some height to this room.

House Flipping Before and Afters - Living Room Budget Renovation Remodel, Wood Trim Paint Colors - Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (2).jpg

We also removed the gas heater (which weighed about a million pounds) and I spray painted the pipe cap oil-rubbed bronze. Brian demoed the brick patch and reinstalled the original coal basket he discovered in the crawl space. The fireplace is now more of a focal point than an eyesore and a nod to the 1930s architecture. I am SO glad I didn't paint the brick like I was tempted to do originally. The updated paint and furnishings helped neutralize the orangey color. I did end up painting the hearth black since the original hearth was just peeling paint - nothing worth saving.

House Flipping Before and Afters - Living Room Budget Renovation Remodel, Wood Trim Paint Colors - Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (3).jpg

I am obsessed with the glass doors and love all of the original woodwork. It makes the house feel so rich and cozy. I tried to keep everything else light and bright to help balance the darkness of the wood. I also added in pops of turquoise and teal here and there to bring some life to the otherwise neutral space. It's a cute little bungalow downtown - I wanted the inside to look fun. :)

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Exposing the original front door not only brought in a ton more light, it also adds so much character this home was lacking. I think going with Minwax Provinincial on the original pine floors helped to complement the Ebony trim without being too dark. We tested Minwax Dark Walnut and the pine floors looked like black and white zebra stripes. Not a good look.

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It's hard to tell from the photos, but I put in a lot of hours trying to bring the wood trim back to life. I touched up and raw wood spots with a stain pen, then I cleaned and finished it off with a coat of Old English to shine it up. I think it helped the grain pop and add a richness to the whole house. Since the walls were off white before, the original picture rail kind of got lost. By having some contrast between the walls and the ceiling paint, your eye focuses in on it more.

House Flipping Before and Afters - Dining Room Budget Renovation Remodel, Wood Trim Paint Colors - Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (3).jpg

Do you see what's missing from the dining room? The fridge is gone! Albeit convenient, a dining room is no place for a refrigerator. The appliance was relocated to the kitchen and I replaced that corner of the room with a little bar setup. There are lots of possibilities with this dining room. I hope the new buyer hosts many a dinner party in this space!

House Flipping Before and Afters - Dining Room Budget Renovation Remodel, Wood Trim Paint Colors - Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (1).jpg

This trio of windows is about 10' long total! Adding some lighter drapes let the sunshine pour in and make the room feel five times as big. You can also see a closeup of the fun chandelier we picked. A little more modern than what you'd typically think of for a craftsman house, but we got so many complements on it! It seemed to be a fan favorite with men and women alike. It's also a focal point now when you walk in the front door which I love.

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We didn't stray too far from the original hardwood color, however the new stain is a little less orange. You can see what rough shape the floors were in before (gouges everywhere) but the refinishing made them look brand new. Well worth every penny spent!