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When we were demo'ing our bathroom, Ben mentioned that it felt wrong to be tearing out something that functions perfectly well just because of aesthetics. I reminded him, that's exactly what we said we wanted: a house that's structurally sound, but with room for cosmetic improvement. And yet, it did feel weird! It's one thing to renovate an older house with obvious damage and wear; it's quite another to remodel a relatively new house with no underlying issues. But if I thought remodeling our (less than 20 year old) house felt a little funny, here's an account that is way more extreme! I recently found @philip_or_flop through Instagram, and I'm totally intrigued. There are plenty of people who are renovating old houses or building custom new houses. But Philip and his wife Jenni took a different approach: buying a new construction builder house and immediately changing things to make it their own. Yep, they started ripping apart their brand new spec house as soon as the builders were done! Now, that might sound totally crazy and financially unwise, but Philip explains the reasons why they're doing it this way, and I have to admit...it makes sense. Custom homes are really expensive, and by choosing a house in a preplanned neighborhood, they were able to get a brand new home without the huge expense. They're also in a location they prefer--within walking distance to their daughters' elementary school, close to a historic downtown area, and not way out in the country (so their commutes are reasonable).
So why not an old house? He doesn't say, but I will speculate based on our experience. I have always loved the look of old houses, but after house hunting ourselves, we quickly realized that most old houses just aren't the right size or layout for how families live today. Many of them have small closed off kitchens, short sloping ceilings, and tiny kids' rooms, and almost none of them have master bathrooms, A/C, or main floor laundry. Plus, unless someone else has renovated before you, they'll likely have either outdated electrical and plumbing, foundation issues, asbestos ceilings, an old roof, or some combination of those--all of which which are expensive to fix and not DIY-friendly. For those reasons and more, a lot of Americans (including us!) live in developments with builder homes. If you're in the same boat, I think Philip's account will be really inspiring. He shows how they are making a boring builder home look WAY more custom and high-end. Instead of splurging on expensive upgrades from the builder (with limited options), they are doing the work themselves and getting it exactly how they want it. Philip says in his first Instagram post, "They always say 'you should buy the worst house in the best neighborhood.' This is kind of hard to do with new construction so we adapted this motto to mean we didn't pay for any of the builders overpriced options. This way we were able to afford much more house than we would have otherwise, will allow us to pay as we go and have a clean slate to transform the house to our own personal style." It's an interesting challenge, and a different approach than most house flippers and renovators you see. And they're doing a beautiful job so far! Here are a few of my favorite before & afters from his home.
Their gorgeous kitchen looks completely different with a Carrara marble topped island, DIY concrete countertops, tongue and grove ceiling, transom windows, double chandeliers, and marble backsplash with a pretty inset over the stove.
The living room went from a bland room with a boring fireplace, to a gorgeous space featuring a beamed ceiling, reclaimed oak mantle, reclaimed brick fireplace surround, shiplap chimney, and custom built-ins.
The dining room transformation included a reclaimed barn beam, tongue and groove ceiling with crossing beams, wainscoting, a window seat with built in storage, new paint, and a gorgeous light fixture.
And they didn't leave out any details. They are re-casing the ENTIRE house with Craftman style trim and 8" tall baseboards! Kind of a crazy amount of work to put into a brand new, "move-in ready" house, amiright???
I'm so curious to hear what you all think of this. Does it seem terribly wasteful to rip out a kitchen island that's never been used? Or does this seem like a smart way to get the home you want without the cost? Would you ever consider remodeling a new construction house? Gimme your thoughts! This whole idea is totally fascinating me right now. If you're interested too, make sure to follow Philip @philip_or_flop!
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My first thought was how wasteful and environmentally irresponsible. Maybe there is a way to have the builder just leave off the things they are going to change so brand new builder grade moldings don’t end up in the landfill.
I know, I thought the same thing at first. But unfortunately I don't think builders are allowed to leave a house unfinished. I'm pretty sure they have to add lighting, countertops, and baseboards before they can call a house done. Maybe they could skipped the kitchen island though?? The best case scenario is definitely if the builder can work with you to leave out anything you're planning to remove right away.
Unfortunately changing or deleting the moldings was not an option with the builder of our neighborhood :(
However, we have been donating 90% of the material (all long pieces) to Habitat ReStore to keep most of it out of the waste stream!
If you can afford it ... do it! Especially before you move in! Why hassle with the craziness of renovations while trying to "live" in a home. Like many of us we decide to update and u[grade in preparations to sell a home. I've done this many times and regret not being able to enjoy those granite counter-tops or new hardwood floors for more than a few months. I say good for them in making their "perfectly good" builders grade home into what they really want!
I so agree! It never made sense to me to finally get your home the way you want it, only to move. If you already know you'll want to renovate and you have the means to do it, the sooner the better so YOU can enjoy it to the fullest. And if you can get it done before moving in so you don't have to deal with living in chaos, all the better!