Flip or Flop
I am sure you probably have seen HGTV’s show, Flip or Flop? I watch it a lot. It’s about a couple that flips homes for a living. I have been flipping homes here and there since 2007 as a hobby. I love taking ugly homes that need a lot of work and changing them into a show home. This month’s feature is one that I completed last year in Raynham.
When I first looked at this foreclosed home, I was glad that I had taken the time that day to go see the home. It was a wreck and had not been lived in for quite a few years. The home needed a lot of work, but the one saving grace was that the exterior was vinyl siding with a newer roof and only needed some touch up and cleaning. The kitchen was a disaster, but with a good vision, could be transformed into today’s sought-after look.
The house is on a slab with no basement, so the furnace was located in the kitchen, up against the center of the chimney. Today’s look would not warrant a furnace in the kitchen, so I chose to take some of the garage, which was very deep, and make a room for the furnace, an eating area, and a washer and dryer closet. It added some much-needed square footage to the house. As an extra bonus, I was able to add a nice six foot slider opening into the back yard.
The kitchen was an area that needed to be large and open to the front room. We took down the wall from the living room and opened up the wall to look into the new room that we created. Now, when someone comes in the front door, they can see right through into the room with the slider. Today’s young couples like an open floor plan. The chimney that is in the center of the house was painted an off-white and was in rough looking shape, so I chose to have it painted in a taupe color with high and low shading by a good friend who paints accent walls and tiles. It gave the house an accent wall that stood out nicely.
I ran some vinyl floors in a grey driftwood-look down the hall, into the living room and throughout the kitchen and new room. Not only did it make the rooms look larger, but also gave the home a floor with easy upkeep, especially if the new homeowners have pets. I find that a lot of these new vinyl floors look real and lasts forever. The younger families love it.
The kitchen in these slab homes are not large by any means. The key is to look at the area and save space the best way that you can. The water pipes are generally in the corner of the kitchen where you would normally see a lazy susan. The sink is right out of the corner with a fairly large window. The fridge is jammed against the wall that led into the back of the garage. It always makes the door opening look cramped into the garage. To alleviate these design problems, I chose to put the sink in the corner so that I was able to locate the stove on the window wall and take the fridge and put it on the right wall against the chimney, where the furnace was located. Planning the area to make a better flow of cooking and cleaning is a must in a small home.
Now that we made a room in the back of the garage to put a table, I was able to use the garage wall to add some more cabinets and then come out with a nice peninsula bar with some stools for the kids’ quick lunches. I kept the bar open all the way under the counter so that the kids or parents could be facing the living room to watch TV or look out through the large picture window into the front yard.
I chose white cabinetry from JSI in their Craftsman Premier Series and Plymouth Door style. I chose a more modern look for the home so that it was clean and bright. Beautiful, dark Steel Grey granite counters followed the theme. I chose white subway tile for the back splash with a white grout to keep the area bright. I chose black floating shelves above the sink area to add an accent to the room. They stand out nicely.
Overall, the home was transformed into today’s styles and colors to appeal not only to the young crowd, but also many older couples looking to downsize and live in a newer-style home. Taking a home from disaster to new is a lot of work, but in the long run, helps society out by making older homes livable for generations to come. It’s a nice hobby for myself and, at the same time, challenges my design mind to keep it fresh. I think the home came out great, hope you think so also!
Bon Appetit!
Tim Holick
Before the Remodel:
After the Remodel:
