March 14, 2016

A Little Curb Appeal

It’s Monday! A little bittersweet because we had a really, really great weekend. We’ve been so go-go-go that it was so nice to have zero plans and gorgeous weather. We grilled out, had a movie night with the kiddos at home (The Good Dino, so cute!), played outside and Mark and I even managed to sneak out for a little while (don’t freak, we had a sitter LOL).  We did a little antiquing for Our Historic Wonderland and we even did a little house shopping! I have been on a serious hunt for some fun vintage doors for the interior of our new home. We’ve been hitting up every local antique store to find those perfect, beautiful, 1800’s, chipping, so ugly that they’re gorgeous, doors. We found some that I LOVE but now it’s on to re-searching more about lead paint before we purchase them…

So back to part two of our “date night”… Yep, once one flip house is nearing completion, it’s on the hunt for the next fixer upper. And boy did we find some fixer uppers! Let’s just say that some homes we looked at are riding that line between should we fix it up or tear it down? Of course we want to fix them up so we are searching for that perfect… too ugly for anyone else to want… too much work for anyone else to tackle… kind of home. Those are our little gems. As Mark and I BOTH said over the weekend at the SAME time “we are looking for that diamond in the rough”. And then we both laughed at the SAME time, it was one of those freakish “we’ve known each other way too long moments”, and then we thought “wait, that’s not right”… We are searching for that rough spot in a field of diamonds!

In the meantime, it’s a new week and time for a new update! It’s been several weeks since I last chatted about our Project Lakehouse Flip. This renovation was a wee bit more than just some pretty new paint colors and updated fixtures. Those flips we can knock out in no time! This home on the other hand had some drainage/flooding issues, water damage and all of that fun stuff.  Although issues like that can get you a killer deal on a flip, it can also be a headache and can extend the length of a flip quite substantially. Not only did we have to get those issues situated, but we had to then wait it out through a good bit of rain to make sure everything was situated before re-sheetrocking the interior. The last thing you want to do is get fresh sheetrock and paint installed only to find that the issues are not actually fixed after all.

We had good luck this go ’round… got all of those issues squared away and have since made some great progress over the last couple of weeks! Although we are not quite finished, it’s smooth sailing from here so here’s the update!

Before

In Progress

First up, we gave the porch a little facelift! This home needed a little curb appeal, well maybe a crap ton of it, so first we updated the porch with a beautiful gable, new columns and cedar shingles.

Almost Finished!

Next up, a fresh coat of paint! I decided to really update the exterior, we needed to remove the dated shutters. Simply removing the shutters instantly gave the home such a fresh, new look. For the exterior paint, I chose:

Siding: Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore

Window Sahes: Onyx by Benjamin Moore

Front Door: Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore

We still have a good bit of landscaping, staining and cleaning up left to do but it is already coming together so beautifully!

Another Progress Update…

One of the major things we wanted to tackle on the interior was really opening up the home. With such a gorgeous lake view, the goal was to make it a focal point from almost every room in the house. I mean, that IS exactly what someone will be hoping for with this beautiful property! So we took out a huge wall in the kitchen/living space and it made the world of difference! We completely re-configured the kitchen/dining layout and even created another bedroom with the former dining room. Mark is headed down today to install all of the doors, trim and cabinetry. More updates coming soon!

Before

In Progress

XOXO, Brittany Hayes