Frankie: Week 16.5/Reveal pt2!

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I learn to navigate through the business of flipping houses.  Check out other posts about Frankie the Fliphouse HERE. Frankie is LISTED!!  Woo hoo!!  and I'm spent.  I hope you had a chance to check out part 1 of Frankie's reveal on Friday, if not, I'll give you a few minutes........ I'll share the link for the listing at the end of the post, but I wouldn't want you getting distracted before I show you the basement that I'm jealous of.

My own basement is old, tiny, and may be filled with stuff (just maybe)....  much like where Frankie's basement started, except his was very dirty and filled with old water damage and dangerous wiring.

There were remnants of walls, falling down ceiling tiles, and 3 layers of stylish wallpaper in some areas.  Sailboats are all the rage.

Again, the photos from the original listing showed the true character of the space:

Really pretty, right?  But wait!  I said I'm jealous of this basement...

Now it's open, bright, clean, and fraught with possibilities!

Everything that had gotten water-damaged over the house's 50+ year life was removed and practically every surface got painted.

Have I mentioned there's also a half-bath in the basement?  We didn't change it much- removed a not-to-code shower pan and cleaned it up.

Back in the main area, all the utilities are nicely tucked into a storage room behind the 2 doors.  I couldn't help myself and had to style the laundry area a bit with IKEA shelves and cute Target dollar spot bins.

Can I take this basement and move it below my own home several towns away?  That would be lovely.  Can't you just see the possibilities down here?  Man cave?  Play room?  Craft room/work area?  Guess which one I'd go for!

AND as promised, check out Frankie's MLS listing and pass it around if you know anyone in the market!

Frankie: Week 16/Reveal pt 1!!

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I learn to navigate through the business of flipping houses.  Check out other posts about Frankie the Fliphouse HERE. Woo Hoo, the end is near!!!!  Frankie the Fliphouse will be 100% done in the next few days and LISTED on Monday!!

I was hoping to be able to show you the full reveal today, but the basement is still a thorn in my side.  A thorn that's very close to being done, but still isn't photoshoot ready.  Never fear, I'll give you part 2 of the reveal Monday with the basement's before and after (spoiler alert: I painted a lot!).

WARNING: long, picture filled post ahead.  Get your pin-finger ready!

I won't drag it out any further.... I present to you, the new and improved....  Frankie!!!

Admittedly, the exterior is not a HUGE transformation.  I basically cleaned it up and added a color pop on the door.  Remember what he looked like on day 1?

A little fresher today, I think.

The real transformation, however, is when you step inside.  Just inside the front door, you come upon the living room.  The once gross green living room.

It's amazing what a bit of paint can do.

The most exciting transformation is what is just beyond the living room.

Once upon a time, the kitchen was grimey and practically non-functional.

This may be the first time I'll ever say this, but I think my before pics are too nice.  They don't truely convey the ick that was there before.  The photo from the listing does it a little more justice:

And now that you can really compare, it makes the end result all the better.

I raided my own house and Target's home section for some fun staging accessories.

As we proceed down the hall, we find the first bedroom.  Thankfully it now looks larger an brighter than when we began.

Across the hall is the other selling feature of this house... the bathroom.  What began as a dingy bathroom with a pink tub...

...is now a fresh space worthy of a new family's affection.

Personally, I'm jealous of the double sink.

Between the kitchen and the bath, I'm hoping this house'll sell in no time!

We can't forget, though, there are 2 more bedrooms.  They also didn't transform immensely, but boy, what a difference paint makes!

And last but not least:

And since I can't just leave you in the nice, bright, albeit not too exciting bedroom, I'll throw in a kitchen detail picture for fun.

So, what do you think of Frankie's transformation??

Keep your fingers crossed that someone falls in love with him quickly!

Update:  Check out Part 2 of the reveal, the basement HERE

Chalk it up

Back when I was at IKEA shopping for Frankie's kitchen a few months ago, I picked up this guy, the LUNS chalkboard, with staging in mind.

It's lacking a bit of personality, but for $15 I knew I could Tim Gunn it ("Make it work!")

In reality, as you can see from the pic below, the wood was very light- nice for some spaces, but clashed a bit with the wood cabinets in the kitchen where I planned to put it.

Luckily, light wood is problem easily remedied with a bit of stain, so I attacked it with Minwax Polyshades in Bombay Mahogany that I already had in my arsenal.

After one coat, it wasn't drastic, but added the richness needed to stand up against the reddish-brown cabinets.

Stain alone wasn't enough to kick up the personality, so I painted the box below the chalkboard with the wall color and added a fun corner detail.

The top corners each got 2 strategically places screws (for decoration only) and sprayed with a hammered silver spraypaint.

After everything had dried and I pulled off the painters tape, I listened to the little IKEA cartoon man's assembly instructions, then proceeded to have fun playing with chalk.

To help orient you, this little section of wall is in between the living room (left) and the kitchen (right).  I'm also making an attempt at not-so-subliminal messages for potential buyers.  I think it screams "BUY ME!!" but in a classy way.

Just a few small items left to stage and the upstairs will be ready for it's photo shoot!

The basement, however is another story.  Another messy, neglected story that I need to hustle on this week.  Let's all keep our fingers crossed for no more snow days and an amazingly productive week!