Thursday, December 31, 2015

Ranch House - Kitchen

The breezeway was so insignificant, apparently, that I didn't take any pictures of it when we first went through. But you can see it through the sliding glass doors. It didn't have legitimate walls and had only an uneven cement flooring covered in a gross berber carpet. The carpet came up, the ceiling was torn down and the door to the garage was covered up. 



My father built a deck and then the wall was extended another few feet to enlarge the room. 





Wires, plumbing, insulation, drywall, new floors.



It still amazes me how a room can go from dark to bright without having to blow out a wall and put in windows. Remember, this room had sliding glass doors leading to the front yard and now it has a storm door with only a small panel of glass at the top. And yet look how bright it is now!



I was worried that the red tile would darken the room but my father made a good decision with them as they add some nice contrast from the white cabinets and they make the room feel warm.





We've left the fridge up to the buyer as there are so many different styles on the market. But that will fit into the open space on the right. And then beside that is an open space in which the buyer can do anything. I imagine putting in something along the lines of this



So that's everything. That's the house. Three months.






I have a sneaky suspicion that my father went into it thinking that I wouldn't be able to handle the work or would get bored after a while. It's a long process, after all. It doesn't go from gross to class overnight. I had sore muscles, a smooshed finger, a lot of dust in my nose, I was ready for bed each night at 7pm. But at no point was I thinking, Eh, this isn't really for me. If anything, I'm all in. This is it, what I want to do. I search almost daily looking for future prospects, seeing what the current trends are for materials, layouts, locations. I'm hooked. So for Christmas my dad gave me my own set of power tools from Ryobi - my own drill, saws-all and circular saw! I think all that's left is for me to trade in my car for a truck, but that can wait. And I'm still in search of scented masks for the next flip. And probably some earplugs as well. 

What was great about this house was that although it was forty-five minutes from Boston, it allowed me to spend a lot of time at home with my dad and sister, which I don't normally get to do. And though my sister didn't willingly come along, I think she had a little bit of fun helping out with the house. I mean she did a fair bit of laughing so that's got to mean she had fun, right?

Even though we all live fairly close, I hardly ever see my uncle and cousin. But because this house is next door to my uncle's house, he and my cousin came over a lot, working on the yard, tearing down the pool, criticizing our design choices. I don't know that I would have seen them otherwise so it was nice. And hopefully they'll be willing to help with landscape design on the next project as well. Fingers crossed.

And then of course it was great to learn all about what goes into a house, from the materials to dealing with the subcontractors, getting permits and passing inspections. And also trying to let go of control because nothing ever goes according to plan and that's okay and something that happens. Having to use a port-a-potty on a daily basis was probably my least favorite aspect of the flip, oh, and smelling like smoke for the first week. But I got to do something with my hands, to be able to say I did this. And I did it with my dad. And maybe I got teased for having a pink toolbag, overalls and "fashion boots", but I can swing a hammer with the best of 'em and those overalls are super comfy so they can tease all they want. 



And so, the first official #daddydaughterflip has officially come to a close. Now it's just the nail-biting period of waiting for someone to make an offer. Already I can't handle the stress. So I'm going on vacation for a few days, to start off 2016 refreshed. 

Cheers to a great 2015 and what's to come in the new year!
~S

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1 comment

  1. Woo hoo! The first Daddy/Daughter flip is complete! So proud of you. I love that one of your favorite parts of the experience was spending more time with your family. Fingers crossed for a great offer!

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