For years, we’ve enjoyed creating beautiful spaces through our blog and various room makeovers. This year, we’re diving into a new and exciting challenge: a complete home remodel of a property that we intend to sell, not live in.

We realized that our own home only offered a limited number of projects. By renovating a property for someone else, we can utilize our skills and experience to create value and potentially generate a profit.

While some might call it “house-flipping,” we prefer to view it as a problem-solving endeavor. We’re seeking out houses with existing issues and applying our creativity to resolve them, ultimately enhancing the property’s appeal for the next family that calls it home.

We’re thrilled to officially announce the 2017 Curbly House project! We’ve secured a property, and we’re ready to infuse it with love, thoughtful design, and innovative DIY solutions. Throughout this process, we’ll be sharing our experiences and seeking your invaluable input.

We’re acquiring an older home in need of some TLC and employing our extensive home improvement knowledge to bring it back to life. Along the way, we’ll be asking Curbly readers to help us make key decisions, such as prioritizing repairs, designing the kitchen layout, and selecting the perfect paint colors and flooring options.

Once the renovation is complete, we’ll stage the home, list it for sale, and include all the stylish furnishings and décor. This means the lucky buyer will be able to move into a fully furnished and lovingly styled home from day one.

The Plan: Creating a Dream Home in the Twin Cities

To fully grasp our approach, it’s essential to understand the real estate market in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The Twin Cities offer a high quality of life with a relatively low cost of living. Despite a competitive housing market, there are still excellent starter homes available in various neighborhoods throughout the cities.

We dedicated the spring to meticulously searching for the ideal property. Although it took a little longer than anticipated, we’re now on track to close at the end of this month.

So, what made us believe this house was a promising candidate for renovation? Firstly, it’s situated in a desirable neighborhood with excellent public schools. Secondly, it features four bedrooms (all on one level) and two bathrooms, a relatively uncommon layout for older homes in the inner city. Lastly, the house presented several challenges that we believe we can effectively address, adding significant value and appealing to buyers who prefer a move-in-ready home.

Partnering for Success

We’re not tackling this project alone! We’re collaborating with our friend and experienced real estate agent, Jon Peterson. Jon will oversee the day-to-day renovation management and contribute blog posts about the financial aspects of a home renovation project of this scale.

Addressing the Challenges: Kitchen and Accessibility

We genuinely appreciate this house and see its potential. However, in the spirit of transparency, we’ll be focusing on two key areas: the kitchen and the accessibility of the house.

Let’s start with the kitchen. Currently, it’s essentially a cramped space with appliances squeezed into what feels like a closet.

That’s not just a corner of the kitchen; that’s the whole kitchen. It’s incredibly small. Having such a limited and confined kitchen space will undoubtedly be a deterrent for families seeking a four-bedroom home, so we need to address this issue head-on.

Our plan involves removing a wall and creatively repurposing some non-functional space from the adjacent living area. This will allow us to expand the kitchen, create a more open and inviting layout, and improve the flow between the kitchen and the rest of the downstairs living space.

Now, let’s talk about accessibility. As you may have noticed in the exterior photo, the house is situated on a hill, offering stunning views of downtown Minneapolis. However, this also means that carrying groceries up the steps during the winter months could be a bit of a challenge. While this might be manageable, there’s currently no alternative way to access the house, such as parking behind the house and entering through a back door.

As you can see, there’s no garage, no sidewalk, and no designated parking area in the backyard. The only way to enter the house is via the front steps. We believe this is a significant drawback for many families. While carrying strollers and groceries up a hill might be good exercise, it’s not something most people would want to do on a freezing January day in Minnesota.

Therefore, we’re committed to fixing this issue. We plan to add parking in the rear of the house and construct a walkway leading to the back door. Depending on our budget, we may also include a garage, but that decision might be left to the next owner.

Beyond the Kitchen and Accessibility: Additional Improvements

In addition to the kitchen and accessibility issues, we have several other improvements planned for the Curbly House.

Firstly, we’ll be tackling the landscaping. The previous owners were avid gardeners, but the lilies and hostas have become overgrown. We’ll trim back the overgrowth, create a functional lawn space for children to play, and address some grading issues around the house.

Inside the house, apart from the kitchen, the two bathrooms are in relatively good condition and only require cosmetic updates. The partially finished basement rec room will also receive a makeover, adding valuable square footage to the home. We’ll also repaint the entire interior to enhance the beautiful white trim throughout the house.

When evaluating properties, we always trust our instincts. We look for houses that feel spacious, have a well-designed layout, and possess character, including trim work, moldings, hardware, and architectural details. These features are often difficult and expensive to add, making them highly desirable. We believe the 2017 Curbly House checks all of those boxes.

Making it Happen

This project is officially underway! Securing the property and obtaining financing were significant milestones. Jon will be back next week to provide more details about that process. We are through that phase and moving on to the fun stuff.

We’re fortunate to have cultivated strong relationships with various home improvement and design brands over the years, and we’re excited to incorporate some of their products into this project. Stay tuned for more information on that front. We believe the finished house will be filled with exceptional items and look absolutely stunning.

If you know someone who’s looking for a four-bedroom home in St. Paul (specifically, the St. Anthony Park neighborhood) later this year, please let them know about our project! We’re confident that we’ll have a truly exceptional home available and are eager to welcome a new family into the community. Please spread the word!

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