Phase One- And A Messy Phase It Was

Well, we did it! We bought, renovated and listed!  We also argued, laughed, problem solved, sweat, designed, cleaned, hauled and yes, we plan to do it all again next year.  Chris and I are excited to share more of the journey and plenty of the not so fun details.

An exterior paint job in SW Dovetail, and a major facade change with the bedroom windows brought the flip house out of the 50's, but my favorite exterior project was the addition of the arbor over the garage.  This added some charm and interest to an otherwise simple ranch.  Some Clematis vines next summer would be the cherry on top!

​This first blog installment on the renovation is going to focus on the biggest change, the open floor plan and kitchen. It wasn't a bad layout to begin with, or at least the living room and dining room were already open to each other.  The kitchen, however, was very small and very closed off.  Opening that up was the plan from day one. Here is where we started and how we got to the end result...
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​We began here....
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And ended here!

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But how did we get from this tiny kitchen full of metal cabinets to the finished product?

This was definitely a tough part of the demo and remodel .  That 22ft beam was a four man job!​

The kitchen and dining are also where we ran into our first "life lesson of flipping" about what contractors you hire, how you pay them and who to trust.  An expensive lesson involving an electrician who us left hanging was finally resolved with the assistance of a different local electrician that stepped in to help us get it done.   I guess it's good we are learning as we go, but this was an expensive lesson.

From paper and pencil, to the real deal.   A good feeling for sure!

I like doing tile, and after finishing the chevron tile kitchen backsplash, the plan was to create a shiplap on the back of the kitchen island that would mimic the chevron.  Turned out great! 

We selected a charcoal colored granite with a leathered finish, which gave it almost a concrete look.  Finishing touches of black hardware and lighting with both black and gold accents helped to pull everything together. 

The addition of the sliding door, where there was previously only a window, brought the open floor plan home.  Now there is even more natural light and a gorgeous view of the back yard and stone wall.

 As you can see, the difference is like night and day! More light, more kitchen and most of all a beautiful space to spend the days.

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On the next blog post I'll cover the two bathroom renovations.  From gut job to marble and subway tile.  Stay tuned!!