MAURICE (37) & BLAKE (34)          

Home: 1915 Craftsmen Bungalow

Layout: 3 Bedrooms, 2 Full Bathrooms & 1 Half Bathroom

Square Footage: 3,000 SQFT

Approximate Budget: $60K

RESTORATION NEEDS                   

1. Kitchen

2. Sunroom

3. Flooring

4. Basement

5. Guest Bathroom

Blake and Maurice bought a 100-year-old fixer-up, got engaged and started planning a wedding all within a year and a half! The couple has only been together for two years so that’s a lot of life in a short amount of time, but they are madly in love and can’t wait to spend the rest of their lives together in their historical dream home. Although Blake and Maurice saw their house as a diamond in the rough, the home had more issues and problems than what initially met the eye. So far, they’ve fixed the electrical, plumbing and a put on a new roof. However, those big-ticket items have significantly impacted their overall budget. What they intended on using to restore their interior was eaten up by those unexpectedly expensive fixes.

Maurice has restored homes with his family, but for Blake, this is his first-time diving into a home restoration, and it’s proven to be way more work, time, money and stress than he had signed up for. Thinking that they would save money, they decided to act as their own project managers and general contractors; hiring sub-contractors, laborers and contractors on a project by project, piece by piece basis. However, what they thought would be a fun exercise in overseeing their home restoration has proved to be an exhausting failure. They simply don’t have the time, energy, or knowledge to oversee this restoration on their own. Now, throw in the pressure and expense of planning a wedding at the same time and the stress is doubled and exacerbated! Blake and Maurice are arguing more than they ever have during their relationship, they are frustrated with how long the work is taking, and they are feeling like they are slaves to a home that they aren’t even enjoying.

Maurice has recently started a new job, and Blake works full-time, so what little time they do have is left trying to juggle the restoration. They’re missing out on seeing their friends and family, and they’re certainly not where they need to be when it comes to planning their wedding. If they don’t get help they’re going to have to push or scale back their special day. Something neither of them want to do.

The Kitchen: The kitchen has been demolished and needs to be built out. The existing kitchen is a complete mess. There are several holes in the floor, the windows are not completed, and the ceiling and plumbing is exposed. They want the kitchen to be the focal point of the home as Maurice is a baker and cook and they love to entertain friends. They desperately need this fixed before anything else in the home! Creating a kitchen would be a major milestone and help to set the tone for the rest of the restoration work. They need a contractor who can help to create a kitchen that is accurate to the period of their 100-year-old home and also fit into their chic and minimalist aesthetic. They love the craftsmen elements and they want to showcase them as much as possible in the kitchen and throughout the house.

Sunroom: The sunroom is a screened in room that currently needs to be enclosed with windows and proper insulation in order to make it a habitable space in their home. The screens are gone, the walls are essentially just a wooden frame, and there is barley an existing floor. In Blake and Maurice’s words, the sunroom “looks abandoned.” There are no stairs or real entry point to the sunroom. Eventually they want to enclose the room and create a breakfast nook and a space for their dogs. They would love to have large full-length windows to take advantage of the beautiful Spring and Summer weather. Maurice really wants an antique, iron wood burning stove for dreamy Detroit winters.

Flooring: The bedrooms and living rooms don’t have any usable flooring at the moment. They love the existing oak floors, but they aren’t sure how much is really salvageable. Although they love the look of the original floors, they are worried they may have to supplement the older floors with newer flooring. Either way they want the flooring to look like original wooden oak, and not modern wood!

Basement: The basement is dark, decayed and looks as though someone stopped working on it halfway through. They want to use this space as a laundry room and living area. The room has tall ceilings for a basement, which is a big plus, but the cement flooring has holes and the wiring is exposed. The hope is to eventually be able to host friends and family in a, “chill area” of the home.  

Guest Bathroom: The room is a shell of a room and is currently gutted. It has unique built in storage space that they would like to have designed into the creation of their new, “old” bathroom. At the moment there is no usable toilet or sinks, this bathroom needs quite a bit of work in order for it to be functional.   

The restoration has been dragging on for over a year. They have gone sizably over budget and they are exhausted with the all-consuming work of this home. They’ve lost motivation and are concerned that this home could put them over what they can actually afford. The stress is also seeping into their relationship. When they should be in engaged, wedding-planning bliss they find themselves arguing and resenting one another. They are also resenting the house that is supposed to be their forever home. They know they can’t manage this restoration on their own, but they are also reluctant to hand the reigns over to someone who won’t care for the home the way they do. Maurice and Blake believe that Nicole could really help them achieve all of their goals, on time and on budget, so they can get back to their lives and their upcoming wedding day.