Skip to content
sookhouse

sookhouse

Interior The Freshmaker

Primary Menu sookhouse

sookhouse

  • House And Home Improvement News
  • Home Workouts
  • Home Architect
  • Home Health
  • Home Office
  • About Us
    • Advertise Here
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Sitemap
  • House And Home Improvement News

How To Make a Small House Look Bigger (and a Big House Look Huge)

4 weeks ago Melinda E. Rakowski

It’s all about going big or going home on the “Bargain Block” episode “Minimalist and Dollhouse Completed.”

The show centers on renovation specialists and real-life partners Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas‘ efforts to save Detroit housing one block at a time. They buy mostly crumbling houses for ridiculously low prices, then renovate and sell them—often for under $100,000.

The home improvement specialists usually stick to a tried and true formula when overhauling a property. Yet, in the latest episode, all bets are off.

Instead, the team works to make a small house, which it dubs “The Minimalist,” look bigger. And it tries making an already big house, known as “Doll House,” appear even larger through brilliant color and wild design. The question is: Which home will sell faster—if at all?

They plan to redo The Minimalist with a simple design to create the illusion of space. Though the plain aesthetic sets the artistic Bynum’s teeth on edge, they estimate they can spend about $75,000 to buy the house and complete a renovation. After that, the plan is to sell it for around $99,900, making almost $25,000 in profit.


Their Doll House project was initially intended to be a duplex income property. But then they find out how much it will cost to legally separate each unit’s electricity, plumbing, and HVAC systems. (It’s a lot!) So they decide to turn the duplex into one family home. It’s their biggest Detroit project yet, with five bedrooms and two baths spread over 1,800 square feet. Yet they need to make it feel even larger.

Bynum and Thomas opt to take a risk to make the home stand out by going big with color and design. The result is a mix of zebra prints with florals and colors like green, pink, and yellow!

The “Doll House” before renovation.

HGTV

As the “Bargain Block” team struggles to jump through extraordinary hoops to make these projects work, it comes up with some fabulous ideas you might want to try in your home.

The longer it’s been on the market, the lower the bid

The
“The Minimalist” house before renovation

HGTV

The couple found a petite 1,000-square-foot home in better condition than most homes they’ve renovated (despite appearances). And so the owners were asking $35,000.

___

Watch: Exclusive: ‘Survivor’ Winner Kim Wolfe on Her New Show, ‘Why the Heck Did I Buy This House?’

___

But the show’s real estate agent, Shea Hicks-Whitfield, was skeptical about the price since the home had lingered on the market for quite some time. In addition, the front yard has become overgrown.

“You know how I do,” she tells Bynum and Thomas. “I will definitely shoot for $25,000 since it’s been on the market for a while. Who wouldn’t take $25,000 at this point?”

Sure enough, Hicks-Whitfield works her magic and gets the house for $25,000—$10,000 below the list price. The takeaway for homebuyers is to always look at how long a home’s been on the market before making an offer.

Less is more in a small house

Minimalist kitchen
Check out the minimalist kitchen.

Realtor.com

The Minimalist House has two bedrooms and one bath. While the team knows most homebuyers want a third bedroom and a second bath, it believes it can make this place work for a single person or a couple.

“The big key on the design for such a small house is to make sure that we keep it minimal, to not overcrowd the spaces,” says Thomas.

“The small rooms in the house call for a minimalist design to make it feel more spacious,” adds Bynum.

They agree to go with plain cabinets and a simple backsplash in the kitchen, an area where they usually prefer elaborate detail. The result? Space!


MORE FROM REALTOR:


Soft textures and colors make a home feel cozy yet spacious

Soft, two tone design
Soft, two-tone design

Realtor.com

“Light wood, neutral colors, soft textures, and tone-on-tone design elements will be perfect for this space, but a struggle for me,” says Bynum, who loves bright colors and bold patterns.

It’s incredible how comfy and cozy the space looks without feeling cramped.

“I’m trying to keep it very simple, elegant, clean,” he says. And it works! There are no distracting angles or contrasts here to make the area feel cluttered.

‘Broom down’ your walls

Keith Bynum displays the
Keith Bynum displays the “broom down” technique.

HGTV

Uh-oh, the team notices a problem as it begins to paint the interior walls.

“The Minimalist House has some really bad texture on the walls,” says Bynum. “It’s obvious that, over the years, a lot of people have patch textured, tried to match, and failed miserably, so my idea is to use a technique called ‘broom down.'”

So what is it? “You literally just drag a broom down from ceiling to floor over wet mud to create texture,” Bynum explains.

“The fun thing about broom texture is it kind of reads like rice paper when it’s finished, which is a very high-end finish,” he continues. “It’s extremely expensive and very hard to put up, so we can mimic that same vibe. And we’ll paint it stark white. So it will be very simple, but there will still be just a little hint of texture as you look around.”

Save the bathtub

Refinished claw foot tub
The refinished claw-foot tub

HGTV

The Doll House comes with a 100-year-old claw-foot tub painted innumerable times and in need of repair. But the team is all about rescuing it.

It uses a chemical remover to strip the tub so the team can reglaze and refinish it in forgiving black. The vintage tub adds authenticity and character to the bathroom and would have cost thousands of dollars to purchase new.

Do the ‘less is more’ and ‘more is more’ concepts work?

The open houses for both homes are full of enthusiastic shoppers overwhelmed by the “Bargain Block” team’s talent and ingenuity. But time will tell if it was all worthwhile.

The Doll House’s outrageous color combos and design dazzled open house visitors, as did the price. An expertly decorated and wholly renovated two-story family house for $159,000? Such a deal!

Doll House, after
The Doll House, after

HGTV

Doll House living room
Doll House living room

HGTV

But no one had made an acceptable offer before the episode aired. Still, the “Bargain Block” team is confident. After purchasing it for $25,000 and spending $90,000 on the renovation, the team believes it’ll sell for at least $159,000 and make a $44,000 profit, minimum.

The Minimalist House—listed at $99,900—also had no offers by air time.

Minimalist House, after
The Minimalist House, after

Realtor.com

And a little sleuthing on Realtor.com® revealed that the house is still on the market—at $110,000! We’ll let you know when it sells.

The post ‘Bargain Block’ Secrets: How To Make a Small House Look Bigger (and a Big House Look Huge) appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.


Tags: A&L Home Improvement, D&L Home Improvements, Home Improvement Jill'S Dad, Home Improvement Jill'S Mom, Home Improvement Karate, Home Improvement Karen, Home Improvement Kelly Barnes, Home Improvement Kid Death, Home Improvement Kid Died, Home Improvement Kids, Home Improvement Kit, Home Improvement Kitchen, Home Improvement License, Home Improvement Loan Calculator, Home Improvement Loan Interest Rates, Home Improvement Loan Rates, Home Improvement Loans For Bad Credit, Home Improvement Loans In Texas, Home Improvement Logo, Home Improvement Magazine, Home Improvement Market, Home Improvement Meaning, Home Improvement Memes, Home Improvement Mom, Home Improvement Mortgage, Home Improvement Movie, Home Improvement Mr Wilson, Home Improvement Near Me, J Home Improvement Bakersfield, J Home Improvement Bakersfield Ca 93308, J Home Improvement Bakersfield California, J Home Improvement Inc, J Moon Home Improvements, J&K Home Improvement, J&M Home Improvements, K Home Improvements, K Home Improvements Springfield Pa, K&M Home Improvements, K&S Home Improvements, L Pearce Home Improvements, L&J Home Improvements, L&Q Home Improvements, L&S Home Improvements, M&M Home Improvement, P&K Home Improvements, R&M Home Improvements, T&K Home Improvements, T&K Home Improvements Reviews, T&M Home Improvement

Continue Reading

Previous Guide about buying land in Bryan country
Next Mansion Global Daily: Wooden Buildings Rise in Global Cities, A Fixer-Upper in the U.S. Costs 45% Less Than a Turnkey Home, and More

More Stories

  • House And Home Improvement News

Preservation funds earmarked for Emmett Till’s house

2 days ago Melinda E. Rakowski
  • House And Home Improvement News

One Killed, Others Injured After Chicken House Collapse Trapped Workers

3 days ago Melinda E. Rakowski
  • House And Home Improvement News

Mike Bost’s Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act is headed to the House | Government and Politics

4 days ago Melinda E. Rakowski

Categories

  • Home Architect
  • Home Health
  • Home Office
  • Home Workouts
  • House And Home Improvement News
  • New House

Archives

  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • October 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • January 2017

Recent Posts

  • Rustic Interior Design: How to Get a No-Fuss Natural Look
  • Lankford Funeral Home Indiana: Facility where 31 bodies found has license suspended
  • Home Gym on a Budget | Health
  • Shailene Woodley Buys Midcentury-Modern Los Angeles Home for $4.4 Million
  • Here’s When House of the Dragon Hits in Your Time Zone

BL

TL

Intellifluence Trusted Blogger

You may have missed

  • Home Office

Rustic Interior Design: How to Get a No-Fuss Natural Look

2 hours ago Melinda E. Rakowski
  • Home Office

Lankford Funeral Home Indiana: Facility where 31 bodies found has license suspended

2 hours ago Melinda E. Rakowski
  • Home Health

Home Gym on a Budget | Health

4 hours ago Melinda E. Rakowski
  • Home Architect

Shailene Woodley Buys Midcentury-Modern Los Angeles Home for $4.4 Million

4 hours ago Melinda E. Rakowski
  • New House

Here’s When House of the Dragon Hits in Your Time Zone

23 hours ago Melinda E. Rakowski
sookhouse.net All rights reserved. | CoverNews by AF themes.