Millie: Week 27

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I learn to navigate through the business of flipping houses.  This flip, Millie is the most challenging and most exciting yet! You can find more about this house and about my 3 previous flip houses here. This was the week I needed at this flip.  Millie finally turned a corner!  More rooms are painted than not, and it's starting to feel like it's going to be a liveable home in the very near future #happydance

All 3 bedrooms are painted, have lights, switches AND outlets!

And the artist formerly known as the pink room has shiny, polished up floors.  While the first floor hardwoods are getting sanded and refinished, the second floor started out in better shape and just needs some spiffing up.  My very helpful mom volunteered some time this week and made the floor in the newly yellow room shine like the top of the Chrysler building (using the same product that I used to shine up Frankie's floors- Rejuvinate Floor Restorer)

The other rooms still need some floor love but are looking rather spiffy otherwise.

The upstairs hallway also followed suit with the bedrooms, making the entire 2nd floor close to completion.

Next we take to the kitchen where not only did the countertops get installed, but the walls got covered in backer board and are ready for tile!

Against my Realtor's recommendation, I went with black granite and I stand by my choice 110%.  The room is going to get so bright once I install this tile all the way to the ceiling.

On the other side of the room, I extended the countertop past the cabinet and over the radiator to create a bit of a breakfast bar.

I'm thinking these IKEA bar stools would fit in perfectly.

The room that's really making me smile this week is the new master bathroom.  While it's still plumbing-less until next week, the walls are finally 100% done, it has working light fixtures, a medicine cabinet, and a really sexy vanity top.

I still have to modify the drawers to accommodate the plumbing, but one step at a time here people.

It's getting pretty awesome in this room, I won't lie.  Remember how it wasn't a bathroom 27 weeks ago?

I think this room has found it's calling.

I'm still working on figuring out the right stain combination to match the new door and trim pieces to the existing trim.

And just so you don't think I'm getting all spoiled with these working lights, outlets and fancy countertops, the living rooms still look like this....

But, at least the bathroom's pretty!

Millie: Week 26

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I learn to navigate through the business of flipping houses.  This flip, Millie is the most challenging and most exciting yet! You can find more about this house and about my 3 previous flip houses here. Progress slows a bit when you're fighting the plague.  But, there has been progress! and it's pretty stuff too.

The kitchen cabinets got fully installed and the countertops got templated.  Countertops are getting installed on Tuesday! Then... TILE!

The biggest visual change this week happened upstairs.  I scrambled to do paint prep (sanding, caulking) so that the painter could do his thing in the 3 upstairs bedrooms and hallway.  Finally, the pink room is no more.

The hideous louvered bifold closet door also got replaced with a vintage door from the ReStore.

And the back hallway:

Well, it's amazing what a little paint can do.  Clearly a little more paint is still needed for that YELLOW window frame.

In addition to all this, the former master is looking pretty snazzy once again.

In the midst of all this, I kept myself busy with snow clearing, random patching, caulking, cleaning, more snow clearing, and general stuff that needs to get done but isn't so pretty.

Next week's operative: finish the walls in the new master so we can get fixtures installed and subsequently working plumbing.  Fingers crossed!!

Millie: Week 25

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I learn to navigate through the business of flipping houses.  This flip, Millie is the most challenging and most exciting yet! You can find more about this house and about my 3 previous flip houses here. Back when we bought this house in August (oy), Hubby and I discussed and decided that it wasn't worth the energy and cost it would take to rush this house onto the market and it would be worth taking my time and waiting until around March (weather pending...).  Boy I'm so glad we made that call.  If we had gotten the house done as quick as possible, we would probably be trying to sell it in this:

And taking into account the amount of time/energy I spent on that silly yard, I want it to be a selling feature!  That it is not under about 4 feet of snow.  "Hello future buyers, this field of snow is actually a beautifully landscaped patio oasis.  Can't you tell?"

That being said, week 25?? Crazy!  But it's just about at a point where I can start moving the construction mess out of the house and it'll start looking like a livable dwelling once again.  Just about.

As you can see from the snow pic, removing the construction mess is easier said than done.  There was a dumpster under there somewhere!  My dumpster guys were barely able to get that out and haul it away.  I'm waiting until after this weekend's next blizzard (!!!) to get a fresh dumpster.  Until then, all the demo debris from the basement laundry room is hanging out in the basement.....

On the bright side, it only took my contractors a day to take this:

and make it this:

Now I need to figure out what to put on the new floor.  This is the very rare instance where I'm thinking that peel and stick tile is the way to go.

While they were playing in the dirt, I was trying to finish up the master bathroom walls again.  I need to hustle on this room so that my plumber can get fixtures in and turn the water on to everything so I can have functional plumbing once again.  I had shifted my hustle from this room previously to prep for another important room.

I was a crazy painting lady in the past week, all in preparation for the kitchen.  In the midst of this past Monday's snow storm (as opposed to last weeks, the week before's, or the up and coming one..... sadface), kitchen cabinets finally got delivered.  Before I show you, let's reminisce.  Wouldn't you want to cook here??

Maybe you'd like to cook here once I install a stove.  The cabinets are still in the process of being installed but guys, huba huba.  They're Martha Stewart cabinets in the color Ocean Floor.  I adore the color of the cabinets- a nice warm gray that has a little bit of weight without being dark.

I can't wait to get the counter and farmhouse sink installed and get my tile up!  Oh she's gonna be a stunner!

I need to get the rest of the work done in the whole house in the next month.  Ya hear that, social life?  See ya in a month!  Maybe some of the snow will have melted by then.  Let's do this!!!