Our Rental House in Greenville, NC

We own a rental house in Greenville, NC and I’m excited to share some before and after pictures with you today! We bought this house for our son and his wife to rent while they save to buy a house of their own. It is definitely a fixer-upper, but it’s in a good location. It also has enough space for them, their two cats, and all of their stuff (at least for now). While we have made a lot of improvements, there’s still more to do. Today, I’m going to show it all to you.

From the beginning, we wanted to paint the brick. Skinny shutters rarely look good on double windows and especially not on the three windows to the right. In order for shutters to “look right”, they need to be able to cover a window if closed. Sometimes, less is more.

Here it is after a fresh coat of paint (Valspar white from Lowe’s), updated lighting, replacement windows (from Lowe’s), and new downspouts. We plan to work on the landscape this coming fall. The front door needs to be replaced, also. But for now, what an improvement!

This was the kitchen when you entered the side door through the carport. Yikes! We knew the Brady Bunch oven had to go! Also, the drawers! Have you ever seen such skinny drawers? The cabinets were ill-arranged and difficult to use. The refrigerator, in this location, took up so much visual space. The boob light and popcorn ceilings, ugh! Our goal was to open up the kitchen and give them more usable storage.

We repositioned the stove/oven to the old refrigerator location. Added a new pendant over the sink. So much better! All new cabinets, counters, and flooring. We used stock cabinets and laminate counters from Lowes. Keep in mind that this is a rental before you go rolling your eyes at laminate countertops. My neighbor used these countertops in her garage that she converted into a senior cottage and they looked great. So I knew it would be a good budget-friendly choice. The new appliances are all from Lowe’s.

The wall holding the oven/stove and cabinets chopped up the visual line to the dining area. I felt like the refrigerator would be better suited on the wall to the left once the oven wall goes away.

Viola! A refrigerator flanked with pantries and topped with a bridge cabinet. Not bad for stock cabinets! You may have noticed that we used the same island that we have in our home. We toyed around with the idea of doing an island with a cabinet base but opted for something more open.

This was the view looking from the dining area back toward the kitchen. Again, choppy and dark!

Don’t mind the buns & chips on the counter. We were getting ready for a cookout when I quickly snapped all of these pictures. Much better with that pesky wall gone isn’t it? So open and airy and perfect for entertaining. The back door and aluminum storm door are also next on the list to be replaced. I think a french door would be pretty there.

The view from the kitchen to the dining area. It’s so nice to have a full view of the space!

Alicia had their wedding photographs printed and framed. Aren’t they sweet?

This image is looking out toward the backyard. I love a kitchen with backyard access. In order to get to the backyard, they had to go through the carport and around the house. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to take those windows out and add a slider? (This is Merlin, my sweet 13-year-old grand kitty)

I love this view! A new pendant light to replace the ceiling fan and tons of natural light thanks to the new sliding door (also from Lowe’s).

This image shows the old windows and blinds and the awful trim color that made the living room look so drab. We also had the popcorn ceiling scraped in here.

So fresh and clean now with new windows, blinds, and a fresh ceiling!

This image was taken while the house was being painted and before the deck was built.

Here’s the new deck that is already getting lots of use. Having backyard access from the kitchen is everything! Thanks for stopping by!