Shorty the Flip House: Week 4

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I navigate through the business of flipping houses one house at a time!!  Come back every Friday to see how this house, aka Shorty, progresses from week to week.  To catch up on the progress on Shorty, check out his previous posts here.  If you’re new here, (Hello!!!) you can find more about my 5 previous flip houses here.  Thanks for coming along for the ride!!  

I was hoping that something might happen this week, but with the holidays, I'm not surprised that nothing has.  Well, nothing aside from planning and a touch of yardwork.  So instead of "pretty" pictures of a house in the midst of destruction (that would look exactly like last week's pics), I figured I'd show you my current plan for the kitchen and bathrooms.  Key word here is current since they will most likely evolve as the project progresses.

The kitchen plan has evolved a bit as I got pricing from multiple places and got in samples.  It's time for a change from the all-white kitchens that I've done lately, so I'm planning to go with grayish green cabinets and a wood island.  I'm still hunting down the perfect source for the flooring- it's apparently near impossible to find a gray plank tile without a wood grain.  I SO wish I could install marble-look quartize counter tops (wouldn't that be DREAMY?), but the big guy we call Budget tells me I can only afford granite.  The small adjacent powder room will be simple but I have a few special touches up my sleeve.

I think I've landed on going with Cabinets.com for the cabinets (not sponsored, I just like their colors/prices).  The colors aren't the right ones yet in Cabinets.com's last rendering below since I changed plans once I got in door samples, but the layout is perfect.  In the place of the chalkboard, I see open shelving, but I'm TOTALLY keeping the fondue pot on the island.  HELLO selling feature! LOL

If you've been around this blog before, you probably know that I like putting touches into vintage houses that nod to what might have originally been there.  I SERIOUSLY debated a claw foot tub for the upstairs bathroom, but unlike Millie, this house didn't need one.  Really, it told me.  Instead, it's getting tile wainscoting, oil rubbed bronze faucets, and a vintage style pedestal sink.

As I mentioned before, I'm not planning to play it safe design-wise with this flip.  A "safe" flipper wouldn't be planning colored kitchen cabinets and dark blue paint in a small bathroom.  I know both spaces are going to be stunning and the bold decisions will help someone fall in love with this house.  Shorty already has some real character, why shouldn't I make the new spaces have character too?

Stay tuned next week when the bathroom will start looking like a bathroom again!

Happy weekend and happy New Year!

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Shorty the Flip House: Week 3

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I navigate through the business of flipping houses one house at a time!!  Come back every Friday to see how this house, aka Shorty, progresses from week to week.  To catch up on the progress on Shorty, check out his previous posts here.  If you’re new here, (Hello!!!) you can find more about my 5 previous flip houses here.  Thanks for coming along for the ride!!  

Demo is delightful on any project.  Even more delightful when I let someone else do it ;-).  In the flips, I demo only what is necessary or being replaced to avoid incurring extra costs.... flipping is all about getting a return on the money you spend, so it needs to be spent wisely!!  That being said, the kitchen and bathrooms are GONE!

I just heart a blank slate.

It's a little weird for me to be so hands-off at this point in the process, but trust me, I'll be getting my hands dirty with finishing details.  I don't think I can call a flip complete until I have paint in my hair and grout under my nails.  Right now I'm knee-deep in planning, budgeting, visioning, and sourcing.

Aside from demo, plumbing and electrical have already gotten started.  The shower got a new valve and drain which means that hopefully next week, this bathroom can start being rebuilt!!

So far, the only hiccups  we've come across (knock on wood) are a chip on the porcelain of the tub and a bit of trouble with some feathered friends.  We'll be refinishing the tub after the room's all together so that's a problem easily solved.  The feathered friends were a bit more of a head scratcher.  It started Tuesday when Hubby and I were at the house and noticed a dead bird in the living room that hadn't been there just a few days before.  Curious.  I thought maybe it flew in during demo when all the doors were open.  Then yesterday, the electrician and plumber got a bit of a heart attack.  As they were both standing in the gutted upstairs bathroom, a bird flew in through an opening above the tub and started flying around.  Better them than me!   Luckily they were able to shoo it out the window with the aid of a window screen.  Man, I kind of wish I was there when it happened and had captured it on video!  I stopped by a short while later and tried to get to the bottom of the birds... so to speak.  From what I can see from the ground, it looks like there is a bird's nest wedged way into a corner on the roof outside- next to the bathroom window dormer and right above the tub.  Explains a lot.  I'm sure something can be patched from the attic so that the birds (and my contractors) all remain unscathed in the future.  I've had mice and termites in previous flips, this is my first run in with birds.

Even with the holidays, I'm hoping that some work will get done next week and maybe I can finally wrangle the drywaller to come in and give me a quote!

Have a wonderful weekend!!  Merry Christmas!!  Happy Chanukkah!  And in general, happy holidays!!!

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Shorty the Flip House: Week 2

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I navigate through the business of flipping houses one house at a time!!  Come back every Friday to see how this house, aka Shorty, progresses from week to week.  To catch up on the progress on Shorty, check out his previous posts here.  If you’re new here, (Hello!!!) you can find more about my 5 previous flip houses here.  Thanks for coming along for the ride!!

It was a slow week out at Shorty, prepping for the next steps.  The most notable thing is that the yard got a trim and lots and lots of pieces of trash picked up from it with Handy Dad's help.

The other visible changes are both hanging out in the driveway: a dumpster and a porto-pot.  Now that the house is clean, demo of the kitchen and both bathrooms starts today!!!

Hubby and I did quite a bit of readying for the next steps this week: getting a quote for an exterior painter (so we can be first on the list for Spring), going through the house with both my contractor and electrician, and, what's most fun for me: starting on the kitchen layout!!

I'm having a couple different cabinet companies quote on it, but I did get one quote back with a 3d view which is getting me excited for it's potential!

Please disregard the color on the cabinets.  I would love Love LOVE to do a blue or green, but I don't think it's in the cards (aka budget) for this project.  While I'd like to veer away from a white kitchen and go with a moody gray for the cabinets, the $ is going to dictate which way I go.  Once I have a bit more direction on the cabinet color, I'll be making a decision about flooring too.  In a perfect world, I'd be extending the hardwood floors into the kitchen, but due to some level changes, it's looking like tile is going to be the only option.

While that's all I have to share with you this week, things should really start looking different next week.  As always, I'll be instagramming some behind the scenes pics, so be sure to follow me there!

Until next week, TTFN!

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