I am so excited to be back doing what I love – designing! Raised ranches can be tricky – see how I start doing this raised ranch renovation during the planning phase.
This style of house isn’t my favorite – it’s more like on the bottom of the list, but I actually grew up in one. A raised ranch is pretty standard – you walk in the front door, and you can go upstairs or downstairs. Builders build this type of house because it is cost effective. It gives you quite a bit of square footage for less money. The downstairs tends to be partially underground, so you don’t feel like you’re in a basement. Most raised ranches have walkout lower levels and windows that are bigger than a standard basement window. These are the benefits.
What makes it challenging is you virtually have no entry. It’s not the most welcoming. But once you go up or down the stairs, you’re golden. So, I’m going to focus on making those spaces the best they can be. There isn’t usually much charm in these houses either – they are very practical and that’s why they were built in the 70’s and 80’s when people needed lots of space for little money.
Our beauty was owned by people who took very good care of it. The biggest problem is it is stuck in the 70’s. I love the 70’s … I was born then. But it’s time to bring this up to date.
things to consider when flipping a house
Because this is a flip, our design choices need to be very strategic. We want to make it amazing – but cost is a factor. This is a business investment. Finding sales is imperative … the hubs is a sale finding ninja. The way I design in general is making a space look like a million dollars but spending a limited amount of money. No one needs to know. 🙂
We also need to be mindful of time. We would like to get this back on the market as soon as possible to take advantage of the sellers’ market, so things we chose need to be in stock or nearly in stock. You need to get things ordered ASAP when doing any renovation because choosing finishes and shipping takes time. Planning properly also plays a big part in this (and any building project). Mistakes are made if you do not plan properly, and they can be costly. I’m going to give you a look into how I plan for a renovation.
planning a house flip
The exterior of this house is one of my biggest challenges. I’m not a fan of the exterior of a raised ranch. They’re kind of blah. The builders thought putting these kinds of weird roofs on as a front porch maybe would make it look better. I wouldn’t have done that. We are still debating how we will finish this, whether we paint the brick, wrap the columns with wood, or just paint the shutters. I think cost will end up being the decision maker. We’ll wait to see what the inside runs us. One good thing is the brick is in excellent condition – I just wish it were a more uniform pretty red. The brick does wrap all 4 sides – bonus.
The main focus will be the main living area. We plan on removing the walls separating the kitchen from the rest of the space. This will give a much more modern feel and open concept that people love. We’re facing a bit of a challenge as the opening would be very large if we do the whole thing. We need to open the walls to verify, but we have two options. 1) Take out all the walls and put in a laminated beam all the way across which would be heavy, bigger, and much more costly. 2) Take out all the walls but leave a column next to where the kitchen island will go. This would allow 2 beams to be put in that are shorter, smaller, and less costly. The drawback is you have a column. We want to cover the beams with wood to make them decorative. Stay tuned there.
The kitchen design is super important. We feel this house will best suit a family or a gaggle of college students (being in close proximity to 2 universities), so the kitchen should be much more practical than it currently is. I always lay out a room on graph paper (yes, old school since I didn’t go to college to learn CAD). This allows me to scale everything out. One square = one foot. If I lay out the cabinets the way I think they’ll work best, I can also make sure there is room for a table and chairs. I don’t want to have a fabulous kitchen but have everything else cramped.
The main bath will get a moderate redo. The tub surround, toilet, vanity, and floor will all get ripped out. The tub will get professionally painted white, new tile around the tub, new vanity, toilet and flooring along with paint and voila – you’ll be amazed at the difference.
The primary bath will get all ripped out – new shower, vanity, toilet, and flooring. Everything will remain in the current location so that keeps costs considerably cheaper.
The bedrooms will all get painted top to bottom and new lighting. Otherwise, they’re good to go! There will be some staging at the end to make them feel luxurious.
The lower-level bathroom will get all ripped out – new (bigger) shower, vanity, toilet, and flooring.
The family room will get a fresh coat of paint – every inch of it. The entire bottom floor will get new flooring.
We hope to move the cabinets from the kitchen (which are in decent condition) to the laundry room and create a kitchenette area. The lower level has 3 entrances, so this space is perfect for the new buyer to use as a rental if they so desire.
This is a preview of what’s to come. As we finish up each space, I’ll link sources so you can see where it all comes from.
If you want to see more progress, follow me on Instagram.