Great Green

Guys, Frankie the Fliphouse is starting to look downright sexy as he gets cleaned up.  It's kind of exciting!  I can't WAIT to show you the final reveal.... next week (sorry). One thing that really makes the kitchen, though, is the dresser-turned-island.  It may have elicited a happy dance from me.  I hope whoever buys the house falls in love with this piece too, otherwise, I'm taking it with me!

I found this dresser at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for $62.50 (50%off!) and immediately knew this was the piece I had been looking for.  It was the right height and scale, AND as a bonus, it was already on wheels!

I found these date stamps on the bottom of one of the drawers.

Luckily the dresser was in stellar shape for being 98 years old!  There were only 3 prep steps that I needed to do before painting.  First, I used a heat gun and scraper to rid the back of the cracked veneer.

After the old veneer was gone, (prep step 2) I patched the blemishes and sanded.  The last prep step was removing the top.  Luckily it wasn't glued down, so I was able to remove a few screws I could reach and brute force the top off in no time.  Strong like bull.

The fun part was painting, putting on new hardware and attaching the butcher block top.

Drum roll please!!!  No? ok, well, here's what she's looking like today:

Hubba hubba, amIright?

I actually ended up using the darker/brighter color that I polled you guys about.  Once I changed the offensively colored CFLs in the house for more true-color bulbs it was the exact color I was hoping for.

I added a towel bar for added functionality.  Plus it gives me the ability to style it with a cute little hand towel (which, since I'm styling a house for sale, not to use..... this cute little towel, may actually be a pillow case.  sshhhhh, don't tell).

I'll break it down for you:

• Dresser: $62.50
• Butcher block from IKEA: $129
• 2 paint "samples" matched to Benjamin Moore Medici Malachite: $6
• Paint finishing wax (optional): $10
• Knobs: $0!  (I raided my own knob collection)
• Towel bar: $5
• TOTAL: $212.50 (not including tax)

If I had used cabinets for an island, the price would have EASILY been double, most likely triple.  For a piece that takes the kitchen from nice to WOW, it's totally worth it!

DIY Book Dock

What do you get when you mix a thrifted book and an exacto knife with a diy addict? Obviously, you get an iphone dock. Duh!

Ok, so maybe that wasn't so obvious... but anyway...

I was very sick of just having a lone charger cable snaking around on my night stand, so I decided to do something about it.  I found this book at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for a whopping 50 cents and it had a very pretty cover.  Don't even ask me what stories are inside, because I didn't even pay attention- I'd have to look at the spine to answer that, all I know is that the cover is very pretty.

I started by determining where I wanted my iphone to sit and tracing the bottom (with it's cover on).

Next comes the fun part!  Start cutting!  I should have used a new exacto blade for cleaner cuts, but I didn't.  My only excuse is laziness- finding a new blade would've taken me like 5 minutes- ain't nobody got time for that!

Once that was deep enough to hold the phone upright on it's own, I started on the hole for the cable itself.

I started very neatly with the exacto, but when I realized it would take me half the day to make such a small hole through so many layers of paper, I busted out the drill.  #ilovepowertools.  The drill wasn't as neat, but it got the job done!  Warning: drilling paper creates a lot of dust.

Once I was able to fit the connection part in the aforementioned hole, I needed to cut a channel for the cord to exit (very technical, you see)

When I closed the book, the cord was nicely tucked in and the lightning connection was sticking out the top of the phone slot like so.

All that was left was to move it to my nightstand, plug it in, and style!

The lamp may or may not be another DIY target in the near future.  (hint: it may also involved the wood veneer I showed you last week)

Everything looks so much neater without stray charging cables hanging around.  Bonus: now I don't have to worry about the cable sliding off the table and having to fish it off the floor or from behind the nightstand!  Win-win!

Frankie: Week 13

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. It's crunch time here at Frankie!  Windows are getting installed in less than a week, and the goal is to do some touch-ups after, then LIST!  I'm not sure if the basement will be 100% complete at that point, but the main floor of the house is looking mighty pretty.  Especially the kitchen.

The kitchen now has countertops AND a pretty backsplash!!  And working plumbing!!

I'm loving the Moroccan shaped tiles- just the right amount of texture and interest.  My muscles don't appreciate the time bent over the counter and running up and down the stairs to make cuts (with the tile saw in the basement), but the result is worth it!

I still have to wipe them down again to get rid of the haze and make them super shiny...But I also have some fixing to do.  Probably later once EVERTHING else is done.... but I hate making mistakes.  It's no fun.  It's kind of embarrassing to admit that it took me a full day to realize why the grout looked kind of terrible once it dried.  I first tried to blame it on cheap grout, but eventually the reality set it that I just used the wrong product.  I used unsanded grout when I should have used sanded.  Rookie mistake!

I'm hoping that another coat of unsanded grout on top of the already dried grout will have the necessary structure not to sink in the gaps and look silly.  Fingers crossed!!!  I feel kind of foolish that I did this- I just didn't think it through and I really hope I don't have to scrape all the grout out and start over.  That would kinda suck (majorly).

But on a more positive note, I've started polishing up the hardwood floors and they're looking quite spiffy!  Even just a good clean made a huge difference.

I used Rejuvinate Floor Restorer in High Gloss (after remembering that  Young House Love had a good experience with it) and it didn't disappoint.

Hello Shiny!

As I finish up with the floors, I'm also rehanging doors at long last!!  Those buggers aren't the easiest to get realigned when you've completely taken them down.  Maybe today the bathroom'll actually get a door.  Apparently a door is a very important element to a bathroom.  Who knew?

Back down the hall in the kitchen, I was also finally able to cut down the butcherblock for the dresser/island.  I had to wait until I had a second pair of hands at the house to lift it- a 2"+ thick solid wood slab weighs a few pounds.  It's not attached to the island just yet, but I'm already finding it handy to have this additional surface.  I can only imagine how nice it would be to cook in this kitchen!  Ya know.... if I actually cooked....

I took a bit of time yesterday to really look at what's left and make a bajillion and a half lists.  Shopping lists, staging lists, to do lists....  I have a love/hate relationship with my to do lists.  There are few greater joys in life than crossing off item after item on a to do list, but in their beginning stage, they're just intimidating:

None of the items on the lists are huge tasks anymore, so I'm really hoping that I can make quick work of these lists!  Chop, chop, Karen, this house won't sell itself!  Anyone in the market for a nearly move-in-ready home in good ol' Worcester, MA?  The kitchen's going to be kind of amazing!