So we bought this house in August 2015. A year and a half ago??!! What have we been doing with it all this time? Well, for a long time....absolutely NOTHING. It sat, and sat, and sat. Looking sad and forgotten.
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| The day we took possession of our new "project" 150 Mayfield |
We finally got our act in gear and decided to "fix it up". To flip? Maybe. To Rent? Maybe. Every week it changes. Both ideas have merit but in the end, we've both decided to lease it (I think). Our main reason is because we hate the thought of selling it. Yep, emotional attachment. Never a good idea when you're a real estate investor. Breaking the #1 Rule. Oh well.
So on to the fun stuff. Before and After Pictures. Unfortunately, I lost most of my before pictures. I think I stuck the card in one of my deer trail cameras and then accidentally deleted it. BUT, I do have some early into the demo pictures which give you a pretty good idea where we started with this house. We bought it from a sweet old lady who had inherited it from her mama. The house hadn't been touched (other than a fairly new water heater and roof) since 1949. Have I mentioned how much I love 50's ranches (or technically '49's ranches)? Man they knew how to build houses back then. Solid as a rock. This house had great bones. A bit smaller than the ones we usually do, but great bones.
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| Exterior BEFORE |
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| Exterior: AFTER |
We knew from the begining we would need to paint the brick. For one thing, we were taking out some windows, and adding some others, at which point brick would need to be filled in that wouldn't match exactly. Another reason for painting the brick was to give it a more updated & modern feel. On the downside, all of a sudden, we've taken a maintenance-free home and turned it into a home that will need regular exterior painting. But, like I said. It had to be done and I think it looks fantastic.
We also knew we wanted to add a BIG front porch. This home is right on a major thoroughfare and we thought it needed to have more presence. Make an impact. Also, how fun to sit on that big porch, drink a glass of wine, and wave to your friends as they drive by. Every time we are at this property, one of our friends honks and waves. Part of living in the Garden District of Downtown Alpharetta, Georgia is being neighborly and waving at passing friends & neighbors. It's part of being in the South y'all!
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| Beautiful Front Porch |
Our guiding design principle was Rustic Modern. El Rustico Moderno - an inside joke from when we finished our basement (which I may share with you later). Basically this is a modern home with a flare of rustic thrown in (rustic wood beams, ceilings, fireplace). You'll see these elements in the photos. I'm in love with our contemporary front door! Although, when it was first delivered, I thought "well that's a bit drastic - no turning back now!". The landscaping is stream-lined and gives it that final touch. Thank you to Lane Landscaping for doing such a great job!
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| Front Walk-way BEFORE |
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| Front Walk-way AFTER |
The inside of the home was pretty easy to figure out. Originally there were 2 small bedrooms on the main level that shared a bathroom. Our plan was to turn the 2 bedrooms into one big master with an en suite bathroom. Where the old bathroom was, we made it into a half bath and part of the master closet.
The wall between the formal living room and the den had to come down. This opened up the kitchen and living area into one big room.
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| View towards Kitchen from Den. Wall coming down between Den and Living Room |
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| Front Door and Living Room BEFORE |
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| Front Door and Living Room (now Dining) AFTER |
The final thing that had to happen was vaulting the ceiling. We lost a
bit of attic space but the open feel given by the vault was well worth
it. Plus, it gave us an excuse to put cool beams on the ceiling. We
splurged and did spray-foam insulation in our new ceiling so the
heating/cooling costs for this home should be low.
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| Please excuse the floors - final coat of poly going on this week |
We also thought the home needed a fireplace to center the room hang your TV over. Notice the 2 doors on either side of the fireplace? Those go out to a nice big deck for entertaining. Since this home was on the small-side, it was important to add additional outdoor "rooms" with the front porch and back deck.
We turned the former living room into the dining room by hanging a beautiful chandelier. I can just picture a cool rustic table underneath it. The large kitchen takes up the whole far side with a nice peninsula bar to sit at.
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| Kitchen BEFORE |
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| Kitchen AFTER |
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| Kitchen Bar area (or cutout?) BEFORE |
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| Kitchen Bar AFTER |
We enclosed the carport so now this home has a nice big garage. We decided to do board and batten on the new exterior walls which adds a nice contrast to the brick. The style of the garage door is also more contemporary.
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| Carport BEFORE |
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| Enclosed carport makes nice-size garage |
The terrace level (no longer a basement since we opened up the stairwell) has 2 bedrooms and we added a beautiful modern bathroom with a tub/shower combo. We did grey hardwood tile on the floors, with carpeting in the bedrooms. This home has a large unfinished area with a garage door for storing your lawn mower and tools. This area also serves as the laundry room. Since we wanted this home to appeal to empty-nesters, we also added a stack-able laundry hook-up in the master bath room (for those who don't want to deal with stairs!).
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| Secondary bedroom on Terrace Level |
We used galvanized pipe for stair railing
So I guess that's about it! Other than floors getting their final coat, a couple mirrors being hung in half bath and terrace level bath....we are DONE! Thank you to Jamey's cousin Kenneth Bagwell for being our fearless contractor and taking us through this long process. We're excited to put the FOR LEASE sign up this week!
We used galvanized pipe for stair railing 
