You know when a show on HGTV presents a house that really needs some loving and a half hour later, there’s a perfectly magical home that is shiny, new and void of any surprise issues? Well I’m here to tell you that they are all lies! Ok well maybe not lies but they have a really good editor. We are not in the process of Randy’s first house flip but we are in the process of Randy’s first house flip that we are both living in together…for the first time. Knowing how fully capable he is of home repairs and house flips, I had no doubt of the potential of the house when we saw it. In fact, I pushed hard for him to get the house before there was even talk of us moving in together. However, as fate would have it, we are now heading down the road of renovations hand in hand and I gotta tell ya, we’re pretty damn good at it!
When Randy and I went on that first date five years ago, he told me that he had a full time job but that he did home renovations on the side. The home that he was living it at the time had more work to do on it but he had completed the kitchen on it already. When I arrived to the house on the first visit, there indeed was a beautifully done, updated kitchen. Honestly really happy this all turned out to be true because the rest of the house looked like it could have been on a dateline episode. He had already peeled and sanded the rest of the wallpaper, all 3 layers of it apparently, off of the rest of the walls leaving a faded, depressing puke green color everywhere. The wooden floors that were through the majority of the home were beautifully refinished. It was impressive what he had managed to do already, especially as someone who didn’t do flipping full time and this was just a side project.
The neighborhood that the house was in was beautiful and in an area that we really enjoyed. Our relationship began and grew while he was in that house, and four years later, he sold it and found a new flip. The new flip was in a decent neighborhood, but not as nice as the last. Thanks to the Pandemic, he was able to renovate the entire home in less than a year. Walls painted, floors refinished, kitchen gutted and flipped, bathrooms remodeled. It wasn’t long before Randy was getting the itch again for a new project. “Handy Randy” is a mover and a doer. He doesn’t sit still long and doesn’t like to not have somewhere to go or something to do. Both things that were out of the question with a Global Pandemic going on. Pre-Pandemic Randy would go to volleyball several nights a week but Covid had left him with nothing.
Several houses came across the radar but the housing market in our area was on fire! It was clear that if he found something, he’d have to make a move quickly. During our time in the first house, we’d take walks into a nearby neighborhood often. We frequently commented how if anything came up in that neighborhood, Randy should definitely go for it. A few years back, we had looked at one but it slipped away too fast. So one night, he called saying that a house had come up in that area and did I want to go look at it with him the next day. Of course I did!
We went. We looked. We saw. I fell in love. Half way through the house, I turned to him and told him he needed to text his real estate agent. The endless potential of the home was staggering. Randy had long said he wanted a different style home to renovate as his previous two had been very similar in their layout. This one was different. Somewhat colonial in nature, it had plenty of space, plenty of projects and was in the ideal neighborhood. After inspecting the rest of the house and talking it out, a text was spent and by the next afternoon, the house was under contract.
The house had been built in the 1970’s and from the looks of it, not much, if anything had changed since then. The majority of the house was carpeted, something we knew we’d wanna rip up sooner then later.
The house was covered in several different kinds of wallpaper, none of them subtle. When it comes to house renovating and flipping, my area of expertise is wallpaper removal and painting. And by expertise, I mean the area that Randy is good with me doing. I kid, but he knows I actually enjoy doing it and he also knows I’m super detail oriented so I won’t do a crappy job.
The kitchen was clearly in need of a complete gut job. The dark, dated wooden cabinets had paid their dues and were in need of replacement. A new refrigerator was the only thing in the kitchen that had been replaced in what looked like the last five years.
Not only was there one oven, but an over the range oven that was like none I had ever seen. Part of me wanted to keep it just for uniqueness. But it was obvious that was going to go as well.
One reason Randy and I work well together is that he sees the technical end of renovations and I see the styling part of it. It was clear what we both wanted to change and thankfully, they coincided with each other. The kitchen is obviously the room that I was the most concerned about wanted the most input on. While Randy enjoys cooking as well, he knows that how a kitchen flows is very important to a chef. I’m laid back with many things but the kitchen is huge.
The kitchen flowed nicely into the family room area which also had opportunities.
But after the family room, was a room that we have both claimed as our favorite: the sunroom.
I had always wanted a window covered sunroom that you could utilize year round. Low and behold, there it was. The sunlight surrounded the four seasons room. This room would be pretty clear cut: Paint the wood paneling and redo the tile flooring. I couldn’t wait to use this room in the future for get togethers and family holidays.
A first floor bedroom was clearly able to be transferred into an office. It would be revealed to me after we decided to move in together that this room would be converted into an office for me! This house was literally a dream come true. Our dining room was also clear cut, paint walls and re do floors.
The living room in the home was a large size and very nice. As we went through room after room, more projects came to light.
While the basement was unfinished and huge, the upstairs had many more projects and was far from unfurnished.
We found 4 bedrooms, each with paint to be redone or wallpaper to be torn down.
Some of them even looked like a horror movie. Thankfully the bed did not come with the rooms. There was additionally some ceiling damage from water, thankfully not new or current, that would also need some love. Each bedroom was moderate in size with good sized closets. I saw that my work was cut out for me with the wallpaper but was excited to do my part.
A full size guest bathroom was also full of work to do. Tiles to be ripped off, toilets to be replaced, counters to be torn down and yes… more wallpaper to pull down. If you were into a vintage looking house, then this would have been perfect for you. But for us, there’s no where to go but forward, which we couldn’t wait to do with this house.
The master bedroom was incredible! With plenty of room, two large closets and an en suite bathroom, it was the stuff people dream of.
This room was also pretty straight forward with the floors needing some attention and some more paint. Randy wanted to do some work on the closets by building some closet inserts.
And then there was the master bathroom…
More tiles to go, a tub to be dragged out, a toilet to smash, more countertops to remove and new floors to be laid down.
The back yard, which was large and somewhat overgrown with ivy and bushes, was going to need a lot of attention but would have to wait for an overall overhaul.
The house, while needing a lot of work, provided us with so many ideas and so many opportunities to collaborate. Randy’s style and mine are both on the more modern side. However I do like some more vintage type touches here and there while Randy stays true to modern. As a whole, we are both very good at both compromising as well as seeing the overall picture for the house. While we do have a few things completed at the time of writing this, I will reveal the rooms as they are completed along the way. Long story short, we are so excited for the future of this house and our future in it together. And we are also so excited to bring you along with us.
Stay tuned as we complete rooms and pick out options. Follow along on Instagram at @simplychefkaren for more exclusive content!