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Saturday 14 July 2012

The Rental Property Is Finished!

From April until now, the all consuming thing in my life has been renovating a rental property that I own with my brother and sister.  Like all century buildings, one job leads to a dozen more and the project snowballed to a complete gut on some rooms.  My siblings, their spouses and myself are pretty worn out and so very happy to pack up the paint brushes, cleaning rags, saws and hammers!

I'll take final photos of the inside this weekend to show you that I haven't been slacking off, when my posts became sporadic, these last couple of months.

I will give you a peak at what we did for the outside.  We didn't want to spend a lot of money on the old garage and shed but they definitely needed to look a little more presentable.  Getting rid of the garbage the tenant left behind was a good start.

Here's the scary before pic of the shed! ~


The broken window was replaced with glass from an old window.  A few missing boards were replaced and a couple of gallons of stain were applied.  We switched out the old door with one we had replaced a year ago in the main building.  Then, we three ladies in the work crew set out to pretty it up.


Here's what a little ingenuity and some elbow grease can do! ~


The gates from the broken arbour became shutters.  A pile of bricks were arranged to form a planter.  Some white washed, clay pots brighten the window and some little pots of flowers set on the old rail road ties add a bit of rustic charm.

The garage soaked up another five gallons of stain.  It's the original barn from the 1800's and that wood is mighty porous!


There's a half acre of grounds that hadn't been kept up when the tenant was here, but it's coming back nicely with some love and attention.

When we bought the property from Mom's estate two years ago, we had all the windows and doors replaced and painted the exterior ourselves.  I give all the credit for painting the second story to my brother and sister in law.  It's a really tall building and there was no way I was going up on that extension ladder!

The retail space is at the front of the building and all it needed was some colour added with pretty planters full of flowers.  All the planters came from our own stashes so the only costs were in the flowers.  ~


So, that's the easy part of what we did.  The tough stuff was inside!

Thanks, readers, for hanging in there with me!  







14 comments:

  1. It looks lovely - can't wait to see more photos!!!

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  2. I am so happy for you that this job is done! I'm also loving the way it turned out! That arbor as shutters is genius! Love the little brick flower box too! You guys all make an awesome team....great job! Looking forward to the rest.

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  3. We all love seeing a renovation. What you've done looks great. Looking forward to more pics. I know how nasty this kind of work can be. Pats on the back to all of you!

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  4. So glad that you are finished, I know how much the house consumed your life. Can't wait to see the pictures from the inside. Enjoy your weekend.

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  5. What an amazing transformation!! Can't wait to see the other pics of the house. Marilyn

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  6. I love love love old garages! Your's turned out great and the outside of the house looks wonderful too. Can't wait to see the pics of the new and improved inside! You must be so gratified to see it all done. Cathy

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  7. Oh MY! It turned out absolutely adorable!! You would never believe it looked so dilapidated if there wasn't a pic to prove it. Great job! I am so glad you can relax now :) Or go pick a new project, haha ;)

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  8. Wow Maureen, everything looks amazing so far - can't wait to see the finished interiors, and isn't it great to have an online diary to record all your endeavours !

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  9. Maureen- You have done an amazing job there- I can't wait to see more interior shots. We have a rental unit that we are working on, too...after SOMEONE peed on the floors-yeah...nice! Now..take a deep breath and relax for at least ONE day- xo Diana

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  10. Oh wow. Maureen this looks fabulous. I just showed Dino and all he could say was "Wow". Amazing transformation.

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  11. fantastic. more before and afters, please.

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  12. Such a beautiful difference. Your hard work has really paid off.

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  13. When turnkey rental business is strong, we sometimes forget about being frugal, but we all remember the “bad days” of the appraisal recession in the mid-1990s. rental properties

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