PLAYING CATCHUP: END OF YEAR RENOVATIONS
- Rachel H
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
One Project, Two Project, Three Project, Four
The One With The End of Year Recap
It's admittedly been months since I've stopped to take a breath and reflected on all the work that's been done, so let's take a moment to catch up!
Q4 2025 in the life of Refern:
🏠︎ The Gunni Glow-Up flip was no easy feat, but it was listed in November and now under contract.
🏚️ A new quick flip, The Mullen House, had a cosmetic face lift (with my fave green cabinets!) and is also under contract.
🖊️ Design is nearly complete for The Leschi Residence: a client's home reno in a nearby Seattle neighborhood.
🎄 Kicked-off the holiday season at Jason's company holiday party!
The Gunnison Glow-Up
This flip can be summed-up as a 'learning experience'. 😅 The first time you do anything means it won't be perfect, you won't have all the right answers and in the world of renovations, you won't know how exactly much it will cost you. I'd gone into this project with these expectations, knowing that converting a detached garage to a dwelling unit was going to have unpredictable timelines, longer coordination with the city, and a few more headaches. It proved to be more than true, but after seven months, the renovation is complete and expected to close with the new buyer this month— phew!
No matter the logistical headaches, the new layout of the main house, a fully rentable detached unit, plus a few key design ideas allowed the home to sell after only a week on market! A few of my favorite moments around the house:
The Mullen House
This home was purchased site-unseen— that was a first! Mainly cosmetic, the goal was to transform this tired early 2000's property into an eye-catching, move-in-ready home without diving into any major work below the drywall. Aside from one major cost item —a new roof— we focused on high-impact interior areas and a few special design moves to make this house stand out as we entered a slower market. More on the full reno to at this link!
My inspo and finish boards (Freeform is the best quick tool for this!):
Leschi Residence Design Project
Think mid-century split level turned mid-scandi modern. Inspired by the Pacific Northwest, blending the clean minimalism and cozy warmth of Scandinavian design with the organic forms and wood tones of Mid-Century Modern. More to come on this project's design process!
Post-Project Insights
The Season for Selling Matters | November through January are typically the slowest time of year for real estate. Asking prices are lower and buyers often have more leverage for negotiation, If you can avoid a sale in the winter months, do it!
Tub Framing | Why can’t we get this right? For a standard tub, the framing dimension should always be 60” stud-to-stud so the tub fits perfectly! Tell that to my contractor please...
Tile Purchases | Each box of tile has a code associated with it. The code indicates the batch from which the tile was made. Each batch could have a slightly different color tone or even shape based on the machinery and settings used. Getting boxes from different batches typically won’t work as I painfully discovered recently...
Closing 2025
Though the darkness and chill of the winter is upon us, it's a great time of the year to reset and start the next project. A reno that begins now means selling in the peak season.
Cheers to reflecting this season,
refern (aka Rachel)
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