'Good Bones' Season 5 Episode 9: Mina and Karen remodel quaint Wolfington home on a real minimal budget
In the latest episode of HGTV's 'Good Bones', Mina Starsiak Hawke and Karen Laine turned the dreams of one of their own, into reality. Two Chicks and Hammer's design assistant, MJ and his husband purchased their first home and the mother-and-daughter duo has made it their personal mission to make sure the home is befitting for the couple. They worked to blend traditional and modern styles, while MJ may have had to make compromises to stay in budget.
MJ and his husband, Andrew, closed in a deal on a home in the suburban area of Wolfington, located about six minutes away from downtown Indianapolis. They bought the 1,776 square feet home with two bedrooms and 2.5 baths for $160,000. It is a quaint home, with a gorgeous sunroom in the back, perfect for entertaining guests. After a thorough scope of the house, Mina concluded that the exterior needed to be updated with a new coat of paint while the kitchen will be opened up into the living room and dining room. The flooring in the sunroom will need updating as well and the main bedroom suite will go through a revamping.
MJ and Andrew allocated $60,000 as the renovation cost, bringing the total investment to $220,000. The post-renovation value is estimated to be $230,000. As demo ensued, the crew worked on the house, tearing down walls and kitchen while MJ and Andrew still live in the home. MJ wanted to preserve the wood fireplace from the dining room and restore it to enhance the brick walls. He believes that blending modern and traditional pieces together with a more neutral palette is going to make it perfect. He wanted to get traditional arched bookshelves for the living room while adding a fireplace to the sunroom. The team will have to get creative with the latter since there is no wall in the sunroom that could support a fireplace.
The kitchen gets light blond oak cabinets and the countertops get a white quartz addition, with a white backsplash adhering to MJ's traditional-modern motif. The showstopper in the kitchen will be the massive matte-black stone island, making it perfect for entertaining. The team also installed new hardwood flooring to match the existing flooring in the living room. They also decided on the vinyl floor for the sunroom, as a cost-effective alternative to the stone that MJ and Andrew really wanted to get. Outside, the modern windows and shutters got a modern update with a fresh coat of black and white paint and red brick got a whitewashing giving the exterior a cleaner look.
MJ's DIY project includes a cozy little breakfast nook next to the fireplace, with a small but efficient table. They also attached a malm fireplace with electric heating in the sunroom, to give it a more minimalistic effect. The team picked pieces that go with the traditional-modern setting for the interiors, complete with a neutral palette. Beige, white and black dominate most of the palette to give the house a more cohesive look. They were able to stay within the budget using cost-effective alternatives and antiques, bringing the total value of the home close to $230,000.
'Good Bones' premieres every Tuesdays at 9 pm ET/PT on HGTV.