C&C at Home :: A Year of Renovations
When Andrew and I sat down at the end of 2020, we had flipped twelve properties and I told him realistically I felt like I could only handle eight for this year. He pushed me for twelve again this year, and I hesistated and certainly resisted some, but agreed we could do it. This afternoon I sat down to count up the number of homes we renovated and boy, was I surprised! Our team – contractors and partners – worked on SEVENTEEN different properties in 2021. That is insane! No wonder I felt so crazy this year – ha!
About the Properties
As I look at the list of homes we renovated, none were alike. They varied in location, size, and post-renovation value, which makes them a hard candidate for the ‘cookie-cutter’ style. I’m not much for sameness anyway, so it all worked out.
I won’t go into the details of all seventeen properties, because that would be a lot of photos and words {haha}, but here are my top four projects from the year.
Lake House Renovation
If you’ve followed our renovation business, Lucas Properties, LLC, on Instagram, you’ve seen plenty of before and after photos of this beloved property. We purchased this one in 2020, but since it was a full gut-job, it went well into Spring of this year before it was finished. This one started as a three bedroom, two bath home and ended as a three bedroom, three bath, with a spacious main room with magnificent views of the lake.
Favorite materials used on this project: shiplap, marble, LVT flooring and quartz kitchen counter tops.
Once the renovations were complete at the lake house, I then had to completely furnish the home so we could list it on the short-term rental market.
To learn more about this property, or to book it for a short-term stay, our friends at Heartwood Furnished Homes has all the information via this link.
King Charles Renovation
This was a special property because it was the childhood home of a friend of mine, with whom I used to attend church. Only by Providence did we connect at a time when she was getting ready to clean out and list this home, and we were the lucky ones who were able to give life to it once again.
Somewhat dated and in need of a few significant plumbing repairs, we spent a solid six months on this house once demo was completed. We opened the kitchen/dining room walls and added a primary suite in the downstairs of the home. This property started out as four bedrooms, three baths with the primary suite upstairs, and we finished with four bedrooms, three baths, with the primary downstairs.
Favorite materials used on this project: new cabinets from Cabinets to Go, granite, marble-look tile and Reeb fiberglass doors.
Our Office Renovation
Andrew and I prayed and looked for a property that we could use as our office for at least two years. Working from home got old even before COVID, for both us and our employees. And with a growing team, we wanted a space in which we could both expand and use as an opportunity for income. We found a ‘burned up house’ on a great road that we purchased for the purpose of using it for our office, but then the Lord provided the space we now occupy {and that house is currently a flip project}.
Our office is a 5,000 sf building, where the downstairs spaces are rented out and we take up the upstairs portion.
We painted the exterior, brightening it up and making it more visible to the local traffic. Then we renovated the space we are using, by tearing out the old carpet and replacing it with an LVT floor, we painted the ceiling tiles black, all the walls got a coat of paint and we rehabbed both the kitchentte and bathrooms so that they are more updated and in line with our design style.
This also was a renovation and then furnish project, so even though the renovation was completed, I still had to spend a lot of time, money and energy on purchasing the furniture and finishing touches. We are almost to the finish line!
Favorite materials used on this project: paint and lots of it, LVT flooring, Ice Blue granite countertops in the kitchenette and Wayfair for the furnishings.
Sims Renovation
Ah, the renovation that seemed to take forever. The Sims project was certainly one of my favorites this year, although at times it was a thorn in our side because of uncovering major structural/framework issues and delayed inspections. This was an old home, and we love old homes, but we dealt with removing old grasscloth wallpapers from plaster, installing new electrical, plumbing, HVAC…the list seemed to never end at times. But, with our amazing project manager and his team of sub-contractors we finally got this one completed and it’s set to close in the first of the new year!
This home started out as a wonky two bedroom, two bath and we ended up with three bedrooms and two {beautiful} baths.
Favorite materials used on this project: 12×24 marble tile, recessed lighting, Provincial stain.
The Year in Review
I am a little beside myself at looking at the list of all the projects we worked on this year. Never in a million years did I think we could accomplish twelve renovations {successfully} again this year, but seventeen has blown my mind! Not all of them were full gut jobs, and certainly few of them were easy. Most of them were a joy to work on, especially when thinking about the family that would occupy the space once we were finished.
I’m eternally grateful for the partnerships we have formed and stregthened this year and am excited to see what 2022 holds!
