It's Great To Be Home

The Flip: The Master Bathroom, Then & Now

January 20, 2011 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 26 Comments

We’re nearing the end of our tour of the flip! I must admit, I’m a little sad. :)

So far we’ve seen the great room (staging sources here), the dining room (staging sources here), the jack ‘n jill bathroom, the laundry room and the master bedroom (staging sources here) – so of course it’s time for the master bathroom!!

When we bought the house we could tell that the master bathroom had lots of potential since it was pretty large, but the layout was terrible and incredibly choppy. The space was split into 6 rooms!!

You can see the original layout of the master bathroom in the floor plan below – 3 closets, a “wet room” with the shower/tub and toilet, a room with the sinks, and another room with a makeup vanity. Talk about choppy!

To take full advantage of the footprint of the master bathroom, all of the walls had to come out (except the shell of the 2 connected closets, which were combined into 1). The makeup vanity turned into another closet, and the original third closet turned into a huge walk-in shower! (See how we came up with the new layout here).

Take a look for yourself at how it all turned out.

After the great room, I’m most envious of this bathroom (in particular the jetted tub). What are your favorite features?

The Flip: Ch-Ch-Changes

December 15, 2010 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 41 Comments

You guys, things are happening!! I can hardly even recognize the flip anymore there’s been so many changes in the past few days. It actually looks like a real house that someone might actually want to buy – heart be still.

Okay, this is pretty much how things looked the last time we talked, right?

The bamboo floors are all dirty and nasty in these pictures, but today the flip was cleaned from top to bottom so they look oodles better (sorry, no pic of a clean flip yet!).

Lighting has been installed . . . loving how this sleek pendant looks in the dining room! We originally ordered a pendant with a drum shade but I fell in love with this linear version – no worries, the drum shade went into the master bedroom. :)

The patio is in the process of being scored and stained – hence the caution tape.

Can we pause for a moment and talk about how awesome my mom is? Look at these leaded glass panels she made for the kitchen cabinets!!! We asked for the same style as the panels she made for our house, and we think they really add something special to this kitchen.

Oooh, and the pendants were hung in the kitchen! Remember the debate over how many pendants to have, and our saga when each different pendant we fell in love with was back-ordered? Well, all that drama is behind us now and we’re super psyched over these pendants. As you can see, we went with four of them and they’re basically a mercury glass look (more so when the pendants are on). They bring a splash of black/dark gray to the kitchen that breaks up all of that white – something I didn’t realize it needed, but it looks great!

We discovered a little seam in the drywall on the ceiling near the fireplace, so the drywall guy whipped up this little plastic cocoon while he fixed it.

Here’s the drum shade in the master bedroom! Personally, I like to sleep with a fan on in the bedroom, but I like the elegance the chandelier brings to the room – hopefully buyers will, too!

The master bath is finally finished!

I’m debating whether I like the shower or the tub better - the shower is actually huge, which you can’t really see in this picture, but it extends about two feet further to the left behind the closet.

Mmmm, I think I would like every wall to be tiled in this marble/onyx mosaic tile.

Ooh, and the chevron patterned tile in the jack ‘n jill bath!! Every time I see it I swoon a little bit more. Each piece of tile was hand cut! It boggles my mind. In addition to every wall being tiled in that mosaic tile, I want every floor tiled in this chevron pattern. Pretty please. :)

And dual flush toilets!! We’re feeling so very eco-friendly. :) Oh yes, and we plan on doing this, too.

The front door!! I’m so glad we went ahead and replaced the old one.

This is the door after its first coat of stain – I’ll have to show you a picture later of how it looks now that it’s totally stained and sealed – soooo gorgeous!!

Oh, side note. The new front door handle has now been installed. I know this because we went by the flip late last night to turn on the alarm and we couldn’t get in. Why would that be? Because the guys installed the handle and then locked the keys inside. Oh yes, good fun for all. We thoroughly enjoyed the two hours we spent with the locksmith at 10:30 at night.

Anyhoo, we got new shutters, too!! Even though it’s not even remotely architecturally correct, I decided to add shutters on either side of the bay window. The nerve! I think it looks better, but hopefully we won’t have any architecture buffs scoping out our little rancher. :)

So that’s the latest update!! How’s it looking to you?

Renovation Tip of the Week: How to Pick the Right House (for resale and for you)

December 7, 2010 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 6 Comments

You guys have been with me through the thick and thin of 3 top-to-bottom home renovations. Through this series I hope to share with you some of the tips and tricks that have helped me save everything from money to my sanity (for the most part).

Even if a home has all the bells and whistles, it still might be a terrible investment for you, or you might not enjoy living in it. Here are some things you should look for when making an offer on a house:

1. A great layout or a layout that can be changed.

Very few things affect the way you live in your home like the layout. We have passed on more beautiful homes than we can count because our future kids’ bedrooms would be on the other side of the house, or the master bedroom was in a tiny converted attic, or the wall couldn’t be taken down between the kitchen and family room because it backed to a fireplace. Try to see past all the glitz and glamour of a home to feel how the layout would actually work for you (or a future buyer).

2. All the systems are in good basic condition.

Buying a house is expensive, period. If you can, find a house that only needs cosmetic updating – since you’re unlikely to get your money out of replacing those leaking pipes.

3. The house has features that are important in that neighborhood.

Is the house in a family neighborhood where big backyards are a must? Does every house on the block have an attached garage? Even if these features aren’t important to you, the fact that they’re found in every house indicates that they’re important to most people in the neighborhood – as well as the people that will eventually be buying your house.

4. It’s in a good location.

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times – 90% of real estate is location, location, location. But what does that actually mean? The bottom line is that you should buy the worst house on the best block in the best neighborhood that you can afford (so long as that house doesn’t sit on the intersection of train tracks and the highway).

5. No prior renovations have been done (if you’re planning to do your own renovation).

If you’re a flipper, you don’t want to pay for someone else’s renovations – those renovations will cut into your profit (because you’re likely paying a higher price for the house), and you might have to re-do those updates because they’re outdated, done incorrectly, or are simply unattractive. Scour neighborhoods for homes advertised as “needing updating,” “one-owner homes,” or “with original features.” Those are the diamonds in the rough.

What considerations were important to you when buying your home?

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