4 Lessons Learned From Our Fixer Upper
After experiencing the journey of our fixer upper, I’ve got a special question for Chip & Joanna.
HOW do you do that on a regular basis?! I mean, yes, it’s a ton of fun. But tackling a fixer upper is also a crazy amount of work, filled with a million details and decisions. As I think back on the journey of our house, I’m first and foremost filled with so much gratitude and pride. We worked as a team with all involved to completely turn this place around! But, I’ve got to be honest with you, there are also many lessons learned from our fixer upper. Changes I’d make if we did a round II. Things I’d do differently now that we’re a year out from our house’s completion and have lived in the space. Hindsight is always 20/20, after all!
Before we dive into the lessons learned from our fixer upper, let’s chat quickly about homeownership.
No matter how many nit-picky changes I can identify that I would have done differently with our fixer upper (And, trust me, I can be very nit-picky!) the fact remains that my family is living in a beautiful home that we were able to make into our own. We were actively involved with the renovation process even before we moved from Chicago, were the first renters when it was completed, and ended up loving the house so much that we decided to make it official and buy it last year. I know I’m extremely fortunate for how the journey of our house played out!
(To help understand our journey with this house, here’s the “Before and After” photos from our renovation! And, here’s the post where we announced we officially bought the house.)
And I have to say, being a homeowner feels so good. It’s amazing knowing that you own something; that it’s fully ours. That whatever changes we want to make – whatever vision we have for a space – is absolutely possible. Tackling a fixer upper was a process, but also one that we wouldn’t have had any other way!
Whether you’re looking to do a fixer upper or want a house that’s move-in ready, I’ve got to tell you about a great resource for Michiganders to help you accomplish those homeownership dreams!
The Michigan State Housing Development Authority helps to make Michigan a place where all people have quality affordable housing as a foundation to reach their full potential. MSHDA provides a variety of programs and products for both homebuyers and homeowners — things like down payment assistance, helping to make loans more affordable, and numerous home education resources. Swing by this link to learn more about them and the solutions they have that can help you be a homeowner. Especially in times like these, I think we can all agree that organizations like the MSDHA are welcomed and appreciated — I’m really proud to live in a state that has such a great resource to its residents!
Alright, back to our fixer upper!
4 Lessons Learned From Our Fixer Upper (Or, What We Would Have Done Differently In Hindsight)
Be Space Conscious & Scenario Plan.
Our house is a fairly typical suburban 1950s bungalow, and as is characteristic with many houses of its nature, it sits on a land site that’s not exactly sprawling. We have a back and front yard, but they’re not big by any means. Add the fact that the width of our driveway is narrow because our neighbor’s yard line is super close to ours.. And you’ve got yourself a predicament with cars and spacing while getting to the back yard. In fact, we found out after moving in that driving our car to the garage, which sits behind our house, is a feat done with (literally!) 2 inches on either side. (Yours truly scratched the entire side of the car against the brick of our house when we first moved in. Doug was sooo happy with me!)
Driving the cars back there is such a hassle that we simply don’t do it — we park on the street! Why then, did we decided to build a big, two car garage in the backyard? Definitely something we didn’t think all the way through with scenario planning.
Still scratching my head about that one!
In hindsight, I wish we would have thought through and scenario planned our yard and the garage better. We were so eager to have this big, beautiful garage, that we didn’t think to actually drive our car back there to see how the logistics would work with them fitting into it! We just assumed it’d all fit and work.
If I were to do it all over again, I would build a little shed-type unit – maybe a one car garage – with the primary focus being storage. I would have opted for more grass and yard space over a big garage that largely goes underutilized.
I think every fixer upper has its own “two car garage with no cars in it” situation! You’re making so many decisions with a project like this, that it’s hard to keep in mind the practicality of it all. Thus, a big lesson learned from our fixer upper is to pause, scenario plan, and make sure that you’re conscious of things like spacial issues or logistics. They’re so easy to overlook, but ones that become very important in how you live day-to-day in a space.
You can DIY pretty much everything. But there are some things you should lean on the professionals for.
Doug and I are both optimists by nature. We regularly see something and think, “Oh, no biggie, we’ve got this!” So when it came time to finalize a few details of the house that we no longer had our contractor on hand to complete (The project went WAY over budget and time), Doug volunteered for the jobs. Most of them were done with flying colors (Great job, love!) BUT there were some that….let’s just say should have been left to the professionals. 😉
One example is our back door steps. They used to be concrete steps and needed to be completely upgraded to be brought up to city code. (See my “city” lesson learned below!) So, Doug re-built them! And they weren’t approved by the city. So he re-built them again! And…they weren’t approved for the second time. On the third round, we hired a professional. It took him one day, ended up looking so great, and most importantly they were safer than prior versions of the steps. Oh, and guess what? The city approved them.
Should have gone with the professionals the first time, ya? You renovate, you learn! Gotta give Dougy credit for trying.
Partnering with the city will make your experience much smoother.
I didn’t realize this when first diving into this whole project, but apparently it’s common for contractors to not *love* working with the city on approvals and permits. (Or, at least that was common with the ones we worked with!) The city can tend to slow things down, and they even make you re-do things (see above!) when they’re not up to par. Which is so easy to get frustrated by, especially if you’re on a tight timeline. But I think what’s important to keep in mind is that the city is there to protect you. If they’re suggesting that something be redone in order to approve it as up to code, there’s a reason why.
After almost a year of working with the city on approvals, code requirements, permits, etc. throughout our renovation, we eventually learned that they can actually be a hugely valuable resource.
First, it’s really good to have someone double checking the work of your contractor, no matter how much you trust them! With projects like a home renovation, there are a thousand ways to do any one thing. and it’s important for the safety of your home and family that the contractor is completing projects in a way that is up to code. Second, the peace of mind that we’ve gained knowing that our home and all the details – especially important things like electricity and wiring – are up to code is invaluable. Up to code and approved means you’ve been diligent, which is never a bad thing!
Know how aesthetic choices will (practically!) play out with a living space.
Ok, this is what I was talking about when I noted that I can be super nit-picky! I LOVE how our house looks, but there are a few things that I would have done differently in terms of aesthetics.
We chose to have all white grout in our bathrooms, and in hindsight, I would have NOT done this. Fun fact: White grout gets naaasty, especially when paired with white tiling which accentuates grime. White grout looks beautiful at first, and when you clean it, of course. But on those in-between days….woof. Particularly for our bathrooms that have subway tile, I would have done black grout. Next time!
Another aesthetic note is that in our sunroom, we chose black tile.
Looks awesome, but when things like dirt or winter salt from shoes gets on it, it dirties very fast. In fact, unless we’ve just cleaned it, it pretty much always looks like it needs to be swept. (Our sunroom is where we “enter” our home! So even though we take our shoes off in here, it’s always filled with outdoor elements.) This is definitely something that gets better when the weather is warm, since winter salt shows up the most on floors. In hindsight, it’s not that I wouldn’t have chosen black…I just would have really thought about the realities of this choice and what it’d mean for cleaning!
I supposed the silver lining for all of the above is that the visual reminders of cleanliness makes sure you’re on top of your game with cleaning! Our house is usually fairly tidy. Just wish I could get away with a few more days here and there when I don’t want to clean. ;P
Have you been a part of a fixer upper before? What are some lessons that you’ve learned? I’d love to hear in the comments below!
If you’re on the market for a new home — now, or in the future — don’t forget to check out the Michigan State Housing Development Authority! As a reminder, the MSHDA provides a variety of programs and products for both homebuyers and homeowners. Be sure to swing by their site to check out the many ways they can help you make your homeownership dreams a reality.
This post was done in partnership with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. Thank you for supporting the brands that partner with Isn’t That Charming!
