Looking Back With Gratitude & Ahead With Great Expectations:
As the end of 2016 quickly approaches, I can’t help but stop and think about how crazy good of a year it has been. Somehow this has simultaneously been the longest and yet fastest year that I can recall. Since this is officially year one for Heather Homes, I wanted to wrap up 2016 with some project updates and then turn to 2017 to let you know what’s on the horizon.
2016: Looking Back with Gratitude
My heart overflows with thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement this year. Since the official launch of Heather Homes at the beginning of August, I’ve been nothing but encouraged to believe that I can totally do this. It hasn’t always been easy and I’m still trying to figure out all of the ups and downs of being a small business owner, but so far I would say it’s totally worth it. I’m so thankful for my family and friends who have helped out with projects, prayed for me, and have been willing to lend a hand whenever I ask. So here’s a wrap-up on the projects I’ve been honored to work on this year
The Cecil House: It just occurred to me that I totally forgot to post ‘after’ pictures of this much talked about project. Sorry about that. Since this was my first and biggest project, I had a lot of people following along on the progress. This house is located in a very prominent location in the heart of Hampton Heights and had suffered years of neglect including the loss of the ENTIRE front porch. I teamed up with Equity Builders and Renovations to rebuild the front porch and they did a fantastic job paying attention to detail the small things that make this new porch look like it’s been there all along. I also worked alongside a few guys to replace a good portion of the siding that was beyond repair and then had Bob Dean Painting come behind us to prep and paint this stunning beauty. And let’s not forget about the landscaping….Scrugg’s Landscaping came through and removed two of the huge trees that had died along with the overgrowth that was hiding the house from the street. My parents and I then went about the painstaking process of cleaning up what was left behind and I like to think we did a pretty good job shaping up the yard. A couple purchased the home from me earlier this month and they will be taking over the renovation from here working on the interior of the house. Best of luck to them as they make this gorgeous house their new home in the new year!
The Spring Street House: With the help of the awesome team of MP Services, we wrapped up the renovation of this stunning home back in late September/early October. Much of the work done to this home is in areas where you can’t necessarily see it – rewire, all new plumbing, and HVAC updates. However, we were able to completely renovate half of the downstairs to create a brand new, yet timeless look in the kitchen, half bath, and laundry along with the upstairs master bath, and repaint the outside of the house a pretty shade of blue (my homeowner’s cool choice). While I do realize the ‘after’ pictures of this home haven’t been posted yet, it’s definitely for good reason. The new homeowners have seriously put in some sweat equity by personally removing the old wallpaper – all of it – and painting all of the rooms we didn’t renovate throughout the entire house. I mean they are legit and have put in some serious hours! So, I decided to give them a little time before knocking on their door to ask to take ‘after’ pictures. We’re planning to meet up after the start of the new year so be sure to check back then when I’ll have all of the ‘after’ pictures posted for you. Until then, check out a couple I was able to sneak in after the hardwood floors were refinished.
Additional Projects: In addition to the two large projects listed above, I had the chance to work on two smaller projects as well. The first one in Taylors isn’t necessarily small in terms of size but since the work scope was limited to mostly cosmetic changes, it wasn’t quite as complicated. However, what a difference those cosmetic changes made! Everything in the entire house was painted including the kitchen cabinets which were a combination of some old and new(er) cabinets. New hardwood floors were installed in the entryway and upstairs hallway and all of the hardwood floors were refinished along with the installation of new light fixtures. Claudia from Jessi, LLC and her team did a fantastic job on this house and as much as I would like to take credit for the design of this project, I really have to give credit where it is due and that would be the homeowner. She knew exactly what she wanted – including blue ceilings in the living room which rock – and the results turned out great. I’ll have a full blog post on this house next year (I’m beginning to notice a bad habit of procrastinating forming) but here are a couple of my favorites pictures.
In addition to the Taylors project, I got the chance to help the homeowners of this cute little brick house make some small changes to the exterior of their home that made a big impact. The exterior received all new windows, some repairs to the soffits, fascia, and trim and then all of the trim was painted a fresh coat of white paint, which makes all the difference. Check out what a difference those changes have already made!
And last but not least, we had our very first Home Tour at the start of December and based on the feedback, may look to do a few of these each year. Many thanks to everyone who made it out and to my volunteers for just being awesome. We had the chance to showcase the exterior renovation of the Cecil house as well as tour the inside before renovations began and guests were able to tour the fully renovated home on Hydrick Street – My Americana. And in case you missed it, there’s a GREAT home across the street – 253 Hydrick Street – that just hit the market if you’d like to live in Historic Hampton Heights. I actually had the chance to manage this project several years ago when I worked for the Preservation Trust so be sure to check it out.
Okay, I’m a little tired recapping the last five months but cannot wait to share with you some upcoming projects and new ideas I’m working on for 2017…..
2017: looking ahead with great expectations
So in case you don’t know me well, I’m a bit of a nerd at heart. I love planners and notebooks and all things organized and can make list after list like the best of them. I may have gone a little overboard this year but look how cute these organizational tools are! I’m anticipating great things in 2017 and want to make sure I can keep track of them as I go.
New Project: At the same time that I closed on the Cecil house, I acquired a new house just down the street on South Irwin Avenue. This project was already about 60% completed thanks to the former owner so we have just picked up where they left off. We immediately got to work gutting both bathrooms and the kitchen and are excited about the new design plans for those spaces. All new plumbing will be installed in addition to smoothing out the ceilings and walls. I’m also adding in a few special features to this house to really make it one of a kind and without spilling all the beans, I’m thinking that I’ll be using some of the design choices shown below to make this home unique. If all goes as planned and we stay on schedule, I hope to have this house on the market by March so if you know of anyone who would like to call Hampton Heights home, be sure to contact us for all of the details.
There are a few more big renovation projects on the horizon as well but until they are firmed up, I’ll wait on giving you details about those. However, in addition to ‘business as usual’ we are hoping to add a few new items to the business plan for next year:
New Services: I’m still working on the details for these but plan to add two new items to my Design Services for 2017 – Curb Appeal and Staged to Sell – packages. I love both the process of both of these so stay tuned for more details!
DIY Tutorials: I get asked quite often how I made several items in my home and at the projects I work on, so, I’m planning to start sharing all of those details with you. From my cedar kitchen countertops to the really cool light fixture in my new breakfast nook, I’m going to walk you through how to tackle those types of projects yourself. Knowledge is power and I want to share what I know since so many others have done the same for me.
Repurposed Relics: Okay so I don’t actually know what I’m going to call this but I’m planning to start selling some of the items I’ve repurposed. I’m not sure if that will look like an online store or a trunk show from time-to-time but in an effort to not become a full-blown hoarder, I’ve decided it’s time to let go of some of these cool repurposed items. Just like with old homes, I love giving new life to old items I find along the way. So stay tuned and let me know what kind of items you’re interested in purchasing.
So that’s pretty much a wrap! Thanks again for a great 2016. I’m looking forward to an awesome 2017 and hope you’ll come along for the ride. Happy New Year!
