Classic black and white design is timeless and always a great option for a bathroom renovation. On this project, my daughter made all the design selections. Check out the “before”picture of her townhouse, master bath! VANITY Double bowl vanities are a great feature in any master bath, if space permits. Each master bath renovation we’ve done in this sub-division, was plumbed for a second sink, and this one was no exception. This bathroom is long and allowed for a 72 inch vanity with 2 sinks and tons of storage. My daughter selected a classic white vanity with black and white...
Rehab
Sourcing Affordable Lighting at Goodwill and Liquidators?
Great lighting is key to the aesthetic of a property and can be a big expense when doing a renovation. I replaced 9-11 fixtures in each of the last three properties I renovated and liquidators were my main source of inventory! I found these liquidators on Facebook Marketplace and eBay and saved more than 80%. Liquidators buy a truckload or a pallet of distressed or returned inventory from large retailers such as Wayfair, Home Depot, Amazon or Lowe’s, as examples, and resell the merchandise on Facebook, Amazon, eBay or even at a storefront, at lower prices. In one instance, I...
Reflections on 2019
Looking through the photos from 2019, it was fun to see an accumulation of projects that was new for me. I was reminded of a few things — to leverage experience from previous projects, to optimize available resources and to have comfort that everything is “fixable”, if you make a mistake. New colors and new patterns seem to fill my photo collection this year. Let’s take a look back! COLORS Paint is such an easy and affordable way to experiment with color. While I am not particularly bold in my color choices on rental properties as the properties need to...
Kitchen Cabinet Update
Paint and hardware can simply transform the look of 1990’s oak cabinets. And, this was my plan for the galley style kitchen in my investment property. While the kitchen had some great features (new appliances, huge pantry), the oak cabinets looked dated. PAINT COLOR For these cabinets, I wanted to try a couple of new (for me) ideas to add some interest. I used a less traditional blue (Magnolia Under the Stars) for the base cabinets and Alabaster for the uppers. I used Sherwin Williams paint products for both. The blue was a color match. Painting this time was a...
Fireplace Refresh
The fireplace is a great feature for this investment property but needed a bit of an update. With a little paint, stain and spray paint, the oak mantel, brick and fireplace doors took on a new look. This is the fireplace before any updates. FIREPLACE DOOR There are no other brass or gold features in the property, so the brass on this fireplace door was not in keeping with the rest of the metal features. I taped off the brick and glass and painted the brass frame with Krylon High Heat Max in matte black. BRICK This brick is in...
Interior Doors as a Design Feature!
Paint color, door design and hardware can transform the look of a plain door into something really eye catching. In a recent investment property renovation, I needed to replace the wood grain, brown interior doors with brass door knobs. And, there were a lot — 6 handicap assessable, 2 bi-pass and 4 bifold. I haven’t had to do replace doors before, so I decided to have a little fun with it. DOORS I really liked the two panel door with a straight top edge. I checked Menards, Lowe’s and Home Depot and this style and the door sizes I needed...
Bathroom Update! Affordable changes with big impact
Another bathroom update? You bet! I had 3 weeks while my nephew was traveling on business to update 2 bathrooms and the laundry rooms. I have a few units with this footprint, so I knew exactly what to do! My son, Kevin, helped with removing the toilet, mirror and vanity. Check out the in-progress demo below — 2 layers of linoleum. Flooring I hired someone to remove the linoleum. To be honest, that is one of my least favorite jobs and I had 3 rooms to get done. Worth the investment in my book! I had just enough left over...
Three Basic Updates to Make Your Laundry Room a Happy Place
Anything I can do to make doing laundry a bit more enjoyable, I am all for it. In my case, changing the aesthetic of the room definitely uplifted the vibe and made it more pleasing to enter the room. Now, to be clear, I am not doing cartwheels over doing laundry. I’m not crazy. But, these three basic updates will easily change the look of the room. It’s always fun to see the room from the start. My laundry room had a very 1990’s vibe with oak cabinets, medium green walls and vinyl flooring. Flooring As with any room, the...
Master Bath Vanity & Storage
Re-purposing solid, beautiful, furniture pieces gives me joy! AND, furniture inspired bathroom vanities made a this project really fun and a challenge. I rehabbed the master bath in my investment property which included a new double bowl sink vanity. Since I had good luck with fashioning a buffet into a vanity at my house, I decided to give it another try. I purchased this piece from Facebook marketplace for $75, which included a hutch. It was a bit too country looking for my taste, so I removed and replaced the front wood panel. I added a shelf on the bottom...
Board and Batten to the Rescue! Wallpaper No More!
Wallpaper removal is a daunting task, especially in an investment property where speed of renovation means money. So, is there another approach to add interest to a room with tired wallpaper and NOT remove the paper? Yes! Board and batten! In a recent investment property renovation, the kitchen had 1990’s wallpaper throughout the entire kitchen and to be honest, the prospect of removing the paper was daunting and a huge time suck. Instead, we invested time in adding some architectural interest to the kitchen walls – and, in the process, covered the wallpaper with board and batten. It’s always fun...
Kitchen Remodel | 8 Updates with High Impact
When I downsized into the townhouse, the kitchen was one of the first things I tackled. It needed new cabinets, counters, flooring, appliances, lighting, backsplash and paint! Here is the “before”! CABINETS Kitchen cabinets were the biggest investment for the remodel, but an easy choice. I just remodeled my kitchen at my former house and still loved them — so, I got the same – Aspen (Aspect, Poplar). I stayed with the same layout, but added a pantry cabinet, pictured below and a garbage bin. I ordered a bathroom vanity cabinet at the same time. There was 6 weeks lead...
Bathroom Makeover on a Budget
Bathroom makeovers can be daunting and expensive but totally doable with some diligence in sourcing materials and some elbow grease. My rental property was built in the late 1990’s and the bathroom was original, builder grade and in need of an update — on a budget. Here is a “before” photo. Materials Tile There are so many affordable tile choices nowadays, it was easy to find options that were well-suited for a rental and resale, meaning a classic tile. I found a marble-look 9 x 11 wall tile at Menards for $.99/ square foot for the bathoom shower and installed...