Flip Project - Master Loft & Bath Update

Just a quick post to show you some  progress shots of the previously pink & blue master loft & new bath in our flip project (#belmontflip).  You can see the before pics of the whole house here.  This level had no bathroom so we decided to put an ensuite on this floor.  Our master carpenter & partner on the project, Mike from MVH Custom Carpentry, has been working very hard on this floor!  Not only did he build the bathroom but he also built

 the barn door & vanity (below).  

The floors went down last week so now there is just some work to do in the master bath & then this loft is done.  The subway tile, hex tile & floor tile in the bathroom came from Home Depot.  All the lighting on this floor was purchased at Lowes & the laminate flooring came from Restore.

Flip Project - Kitchen & Bonus Room Update

Hey there!   It's been awhile (like three months)... but I'm back to give you an update on our flip project (#belmontflip).  If you missed it, you can see the before pics here.  Things are really starting to take shape & it's fun to see design decisions that I made months ago, all come together.

Thought I'd start with the little bonus room at the back which is just off the kitchen & leads into the backyard.  This room had something I'd never really seen before on the walls...I'm calling it plastic panelling because I really don't know what it was but that's what it looked like.  Let's just take a little peek at the before.

I wanted to visually elevate this room a little & also visually expand it, so went with shiplap on the walls.  What a difference a little bit of shiplap makes.   This room will be an eating area on one side (across from the fireplace) & a mudroom on the other side.  I wanted it to feel like a living space and not at all like  a mudroom so the texture on the walls really helps with this.  You can see that we moved the window & put french doors leading to the backyard.  We also installed a electric fireplace as this room has no heat source.  This is the first time I've ever used an electric fireplace... they really give off a lot of heat... who knew?  And this industrial light is from Lowes.   I'm really impressed with the lighting selections that Lowes has right now... great price point & style.  Most of the lighting in this house is from Lowes.   

We went with a longer click tile but I did it in a check... because of the threshold, I had to choose one that was very thin. 

Through the barn door you enter the kitchen... you can see the other side of it below.

This tiny kitchen has been quite a design challenge as it has one wall with two entrances & another wall with a large window...  I believe it's 10' x 7' so not a lot of room to work with.  I'm using a few tricks to make this tiny kitchen seem larger which I'll share a little later.  This week the farmhouse sink from IKEA was installed & the insdustrial 
light from Lowes.

All the work on this house has been done by master carpenter & partner on this flip, Mike VanHemert from MVH Custom Carpentry.  
He also made the custom cabinets in the kitchen & the barn door.

Next up is the bathroom on the main floor, which has just been gutted.

In the meantime you can follow me on Instagram @styletomoveblog if you want to see updates as they happen.  I'll be back soon to show you the progress in the loft & master ensuite.

Have a good week!

  

Our Sweet Little Flip - House Tour #belmontflip

So we've gone and done something completely scary, fun and crazy ... we've partnered with some friends and are flipping a house!!!  I've always wanted to do this...like for 25 yrs I've wanted to do this!   

   

The problem for me has always been that we lived in and around Toronto and the price of homes has just skyrocketed in the last 5 yrs.  To give you some perspective, the houses in our neighborhood have consistently gone up by $50,000 EACH YEAR and this past two years (before the new legislation further taxing foreign investors) houses have gone up by $100,000.00 per year.  This has made it impossible for us to buy in again and flip in the Newmarket, ON area.   But there was hope.  I started researching the Kitchener area, and have read a lot about real estate investing.  (Real Estate Investing in Canada is a good read and also REIN is a great source).  Without going into too much detail, here a few things to watch for in an area that should be a good investment.   Is there a freeway, an airport, a university in the city or are any of these being built and most importantly, is it close to a thriving metropolis?  Kitchener has all of these plus, the big kicker, there is talk of a high speed train going in, which will mean that people can live more affordably in Kitchener and take the train to Toronto.  Basically Kitchener house prices are about half the price of Newmarket, so all of this combined made us decide on the Kitchener area.

After scouring Realtor.ca and Ovlix all summer long, we bought this sweet little post-war, 1 1/2 storey, fixer upper, back in October with the hopes of selling it in the early spring market.  So far we've been working on the exterior (cleaning up the flowerbeds, painting the porch, repairing the chimney, and shingling the garage roof).  

So here's a little tour.

This is a progress shot of the front porch.  Still so much to do (like remove the awnings) but it always amazes me what a little bit of paint can do!

This is a pretty tiny house but it is full of character...like these arches you see when you come in. Such a nice detail!  I'm now seeing arches everywhere I go and trying to think of ways to incorporate them in my own home.   

This view is looking back into the closet...yes even the closet has a little arch... details!

This view from the living room shows you just how sweet (but small) this space is.  Through the hallway you can access the two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and the stairs to the loft.

The bathroom will need a total gut. Right now my design plan is to place the tub under the window, place one sink to the left as you're looking in, and place the toilet (out of sight) behind the door.  (I have a pet peeve about toilets being the focal point in a bathroom.  If at all possible, try to hide the toilet).

And this is "the kitchen"... there is literally just a bank of original cabinets and a stove...that's it!  No dishwasher and no fridge.  Again, this is a gut, but with some very good planning this kitchen can function well.  Also, another little thing about this kitchen that makes the design a challenge, is that there are two entries... one leading from the main area and one leading to a little back room... plus a huge window on the back wall and a built-in on the other wall.  Big plans for this little space!  

Off the kitchen is a little room that was added on about 10 years ago.  The other wall has a door leading outside which we are switching to accommodate a fridge in the kitchen.  This huge window will shift over and become French doors leading into the backyard.  I have big plans for this room too... to elevate it and make it function for a family or whoever might purchase this home.

Now let's go up the light blue carpet to the light pink loft  which is really the icing on the cake.  This space has so much potential.  The plan is to make it into a master retreat with an en suite.  

And here's the lovely basement...obviously we were a little excited about getting the gross carpet out and didn't get a photo with it in...also couldn't wait to get that 1970's paneling down... but you get the idea.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.  We've been going back and forth to Kitchener on weekends trying to get some work done.  (And can I just say that teens are very good at demo... gets out some frustration).  

I'll be sure to keep you posted.  Right now it's been more outside work and some not so pretty work inside, but I'll definitely let you know when the pretty comes.  I've also been posting a few photos and video (as it happens) on Instagram, if you want to follow me there. 

Have a great day!