This installment of DIY Diaries is heaven for anyone who's seen a poorly flipped home and wanted to take a stab at unflipping.
In Family Handyman‘s series DIY Diaries, real DIYers share the projects they’re most proud of. They recount the full story—from laying out the initial plans and wrestling with frustrating setbacks to celebrating their proudest moments. These candid accounts reveal the true ins and outs of DIY, and will leave you with practical tips that’ll give you the confidence to conquer your next build.
It’s not uncommon for prospective homebuyers to look at a freshly flipped home on the market and think, “I would never have made those choices.” Sometimes it’s enough to deter a buyer, but in other cases it’s an inspiration for a new project. That was the situation with Dana and Colin, a couple in Atlanta, Georgia. When they first set out to buy a home several years ago, their goal was “to find a mid-century modern home that still retained its original character.” Unfortunately, “nearly everything on the market had been flipped or heavily renovated.”
The home they finally purchased was a mid-century home, but the flippers who had owned it before had redone it to look much more “millennial.” The couple still saw the home’s potential, immediately noticing “elements that made it stand apart” from everything else they’d seen.
While Dana and Colin were new to DIY-ing, they always knew they wanted to make changes to whatever home they purchased. While they weren’t intending to take on a full unflipping project when they first started looking for a home, some “curiosity and hands-on learning” led them to pursue the “full DIY journey focused on restoring the home’s original [mid-century modern] identity rather than simply updating it.” As a result, they’ve made their design choices based on what the home (and ones like it) actually looked like in 1966, not just what “mid-century modern” search results show.
The Project Stages
How long did it take to unflip your house?
Dana and Colin are six years into the process of unflipping their entire house. It’s a long process, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Taking their time has paid off. The couple says that it “has allowed us to spread out the costs and plan each project thoughtfully, rather than rushing decisions or compromising on design and quality.”
Completed projects include: restoring the exterior of the house, stripping the paint off the interior brick, making the basement a “groovy” place to hang out, complete with wood paneling and a bar, and bringing the kitchen back to its green and brown 1966 glory.
Were there any setbacks you had to overcome?
Even small-scale projects come with setbacks. So it’s no surprise that Dana and Colin have run into some at each stage of their project. “The more frustrating setbacks have come from uncovering issues left behind by the flippers,” they say. “Nearly every project reveals shortcuts or poor workmanship from them. This includes a vanity falling off the wall, improperly installed doors that wouldn’t close, cracks hidden with caulking and other avoidable problems.”
The couple hasn’t let this discourage them, however. Instead, they’re grateful for the learning opportunities these challenges provide. In addition to reinforcing the importance of working carefully and thoughtfully, “each challenge has taught us something new that we’ve been able to apply to future work.”
What’s one aspect of unflipping a home that intimidated you until you tried it?
Taking on a project of this scale comes with many challenges. For Dana and Colin, one of the most intimidating aspects was stripping the paint off the brick. “We worried about damaging the brick or not being able to remove all of the paint and ending up with a worse result,” they explain. However, when it comes to something like this, the only way out is through. Once they decided to try it, “the overthinking faded, and the project became much more manageable.”
Are there any budgeting hacks you used?
Those aforementioned six years that the couple has spent so far have helped them budget. “It gives us the ability to save for each project over the course of a year or two,” they say. But it isn’t the only way they’ve made the “unflipping” process financially feasible. Dana and Colin “try to take on as much of the work ourselves as possible, only hiring professionals when a task is beyond our comfort level or requires specialized expertise.”
They explain that labor is often even more expensive than materials, and although there are some areas where hiring a professional is the right call, “people are often surprised by how much they can accomplish on their own once they’re willing to learn and give it a try.”
Was there a specific moment during the project where you felt the most proud or accomplished?
One of the highlights of the project was watching the details transform the home. Dana and Colin repainted the siding in Superior Bronze, a color that “closely reflects the tones commonly used when these homes were built [in the 1960s].” They were also able to find and install the type of globe light fixtures originally used in homes of that era.
One of their favorite details was the work they did to restore the front door. To do this, they found and installed “a bold orange color-blocked door with vintage escutcheons, door knobs and a deadbolt, all true to mid-century design.”
“Once everything was finished, it felt like all the years of work had finally come together, and the house finally looked and felt the way it was meant to,” the couple says.
If you could have a do-over, what would you change?
Perhaps their absolute proudest moment to date came from a portion of the home that they had to redo: the exterior. The flippers they bought the home from chose to paint it blue and white, a design choice that “clashed heavily with the home’s architecture and felt completely out of place.” When Dana and Colin moved in, they first updated it to look a bit more contemporary. They repainted it gray, with a darker gray as the accent color. They also added “a wood feature around the carport for privacy that tied into the front door.”
However, as time and renovations went on, “it no longer aligned with how we understood and appreciated the home.” The couple realized they had overcorrected, and that was why “it never felt quite right.” They waited several years before taking a second pass at the exterior. In that interim, they gained “a deeper understanding of the home’s architecture and how to properly honor it.” When they were ready to try again, they sandblasted the exterior to “restore it to its original natural finish.”
Advice for Aspiring DIYers
Where do you get inspiration for your projects?
Over the past six years, the couple has undertaken various DIY projects around the house. They say, “Much of our inspiration comes directly from the history of the house itself.” They’ve worked to compile resources and references to keep their renovations as period-accurate as possible.
The couple’s home was first sold by P&H Realty Company in the 1960s. As part of the marketing, the company put out a brochure “showcasing several homes they were building at the time.” Owners of similar homes have preserved “a significant amount of [that] documentation.” Dana and Colin drew on it as one of their primary sources of inspiration. They’ve also looked to “Usonian design principles and untouched, period-accurate homes,” in order to “guide our design decisions and keep our projects grounded in the home’s original intent.”
What’s one essential piece of advice you would give to DIY-ers before they start a similar project?
It can be incredibly intimidating to take on a project. But the couple says, “the best place to start is simply by trying.” They started with zero experience, and admit that they still feel under-prepared at times. However, “the only way to move past that is to start researching and actually doing the work.”
Perfection is an unrealistic goal, and it won’t help you along. “You won’t learn without making a few mistakes along the way, and that’s okay,” Dana and Colin explain. “Failure is part of the process, and almost everything can be corrected. What matters most is being willing to start and learn as you go.”
What’s Up Next?
While they’ve made tremendous progress over the past six years, Dana and Colin aren’t done yet. Their next project is the main bathroom. “We’ve spent a great deal of time carefully planning how to execute it, especially since the house has a very tight footprint and reworking the layout is always a challenge,” they explain.
By taking time to think through the design they want to implement, they “were able to nearly double the square footage.” When it’s finished, the bathroom will “feature custom mosaic tile and glass, a collection of vintage accessories and extensive custom built-ins.” The couple says it “will be our largest and most intentionally designed project to date.”
You can find Dana and Colin on Instagram at @un.flipping or their website.
