We all love a good before and after story with pictures, don’t we? I’ve got a good one for you today from a friend of mine here in the Atlanta area. I met Betsy Manley last year and we had so much fun talking about home renovations as I learned about her business and what all she does. She’s a house flipper, real estate agent, and home renovator. She lives on Lake Allatoona and specializes in lake properties too. She’s got a lot of irons in the fire and does such a good job in her home renovations. I’ve seen pictures of her projects online, but I got to see one in person this week and I couldn’t wait to share it with y’all!
Check out her website and if you’re in the area and in need of a home renovation, but you don’t know where to start, you will love meeting Betsy. She has a contractor that she works with on all her projects, as well as lots of sources to get the best products and she’s really good at renovating homes and making them pretty. She does a consultation called Love it or List It, like the TV show where couples decide if they are going to stay in their house and renovate or move and find another home. Home renovation and everything to do with home has exploded in the last year as more and more people are fixing up their homes and making them a haven, as well as working at home now. Home is so important to all of us! Come along with me for a great before and after story of this house flip Betsy just completed. It sold as soon as it went on the market and was the highest price ever gotten in this neighborhood.
If you’re in Marietta, the house is in Park Manor off Kennesaw Ave., a beautiful area of Marietta. This is an older neighborhood, built in the 80’s. Really nice homes, but in need of updates and renovations. This brick traditional was prime for a redo!
Betsy went in and changed this home inside and out and I think you’ll agree, it looks so fresh now. I dearly loved painted brick and white painted brick is all the rage now.
Dark and dreary exterior.
Changed to fresh and updated. I love the meal awning that was installed. Just that little change made a huge difference.
She also updated the landscaping too.
Inside, she made some really nice changes to make this home more open and flowing. Before foyer.
After.
The entry feels so fresh and new. She had new red oak installed in some of the downstairs space and had them all stained the same. She did a custom mix of Minwax stains to get a more brown/gray look which updated the floors too.
You can see the difference in floor color here in the living room before shot.
The After living room, staged as an office.
She painted the inside Chantilly Lace, I think she said.
The big change was getting rid of the formal dining room. It was right off the kitchen, so she took down these entire 2 walls to open up the kitchen and make it much bigger.
The back side of the kitchen breakfast area with the laundry room in the back space.
Old kitchen was very square and boxy with the walls up and the dining room on the other side of this right wall.
Before
Before
Same view, after. She put in all new cabinets with a pretty greige color and everything looks so nice and bright now.
Bank of cabinets looking out to the backyard.
This back area of the kitchen is more for prep and houses a wine fridge, microwave and sink. Lots of storage in this kitchen.
Breakfast nook.
Breakfast nook looking back to the new kitchen and into the new family room. She widened the door to the family room for a better flow and view. It was a tiny hallway before.
She built a shiplap wall to hide the hot water heater and added new tile to the laundry room.
Now looking to where the old dining room used to be, all the walls down and this space totally opened up. The island and cooking area are where the dining room was.
This is the main cooking area with stove and sink.
The island is really huge and nice with a farmhouse sink.
What a change taking out those walls made.
Here’s the family room before, all wood but perfect for painting.
I love the after on this space. I would have done the same, painting all that wood.
The built ins look great in that color.
Looking back to the kitchen.
Fireplace updated too. Light and bright!
Here are pics of the bathrooms and the afters are below.
Before of the master bedroom.
I think this was part of the master, not sure.
Master bedroom. After
She ended up going through to some attic space to make the bathroom bigger and it turned out so nice.
Double vanities.
Nice big shower.
Planked wall and hooks.
She added one more bathroom upstairs that didn’t exist before and with 3 bedrooms upstairs, two bathrooms were nice to have. One bedroom has a bathroom all its own and the other 2 bedrooms share a bath.
Great use of space.
Back of the house had a hot tub but no deck.
She added a huge Trex deck and it’s so big and spacious now.
Sodded backyard and new deck.
Fire pit area too.
I thought you all might enjoy seeing a beautiful before and after on this classic Colonial 80’s house. I loved seeing it. Betsy is so talented and has a good vision for transforming a house. If you want to see more of these let me know and I’ll share more of Betsy’s renovations. It’s inspiring to see what you can do with an older house to update it all and bring it to the new century.
Enjoyed the renovations Betsy made to this home. I’d love to see more.
Wow! loved this. I would love to see more of Betsy’s work. Always fun to see such amazing transformations!
Great transformation! Even just painting all the wood alone made a huge difference. Thanks for sharing!
Shelley
Lovely reno, especially the main bath. But pretty soon every house in Georgia will be painted white. I really over that trend.
Yeah I don’t think every house should be painted white, but I do love this style painted white.It really freshens it up.
I agree! I love white, but after awhile it’s too much. Still something to be said for a nice traditional brick home.
Betsy did an amazing job of bringing this 80’s colonial time warp into 2021! Love how she reconfigured existing spaces and opened them up. Everything looks so crisp, fresh and modern now. Would love to see more of Betsy’s amazing work!!
When I first saw the before/after exterior and interior pics of this house it reminded me of “Young House Love” (John & Sherry Petersik) prior house in Richmond, VA. They painted the exterior of their red brick 70’s colonial as well and updated all the interior. They lived in a beautiful older subdivision called Salisbury not far from my home. Of course, they have since moved to the Florida panhandle and have fixed up a older beach home.
HI, Teresa, I followed and know John and Sherry and loved their Colonial in Richmond too. It was a great house and I wish them much happiness in FL. Their house there is fun too!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this! Yes- More please! She did a fantastic job!!!!
Betsy has great vision and I’d love to see more of her updated houses!
Wow, I don’t think I would have wanted to sell after doing the renovations!
She did a great job on this home. It was too drab with all the brown. I love the landscaping she added to. I wish I knew where she got her artwork for this home. I would love to see more of her renovations of older homes. Thanks for sharing her work Rhoda!
Absolutely beautiful transformation of this beautiful home. Love the new brightness and updates on this house.
The changes Betsy made to this house were AMAZING! Would love to see more!!!
Hi Rhoda, painted brick is my favorite. Betsy did an amazing Reno, please share more of her work.
Nice job! As much as I like stained wood, painting the family room was the right move.
I’m curious about external brick painting — how often does it need to be touched up/repainted?
I am wondering the same thing about the paint on the outside. Special paint and how does it hold up?
I’m not sure what kind of paint was used on the outside, but many people are now using a limewash paint called Romobio on exterior brick and it’s supposed to be a great paint for long lasting exterior renovations. I know people have been painting brick homes for years and even good exterior paint seems to hold up well.
WOW! She did an amazing reno on this beautiful home! I’d love to see more of her work as well. She has great vision for her homes if this is an indication! Love it!
What a fabulous house renovation. I love all the updates, giving the house a modern look. I too will be installing additional hardwood flooring and refinishing the existing hardwood flooring. I so like the new floor color. Is is possible to find out what the Miniwax stain mix use on the floors? I would be so appreciative.
I am curious about the windows. The original windows were brown – whether by paint or brown vinyl windows. The house now has white windows – with white frames. The old look and the new look are both 6 over 6 lights. Replacing that many windows alone is a monster expense – having recently replaced the windows in our home. Her contractor and she did a marvelous job and it is quite an impressive update to the neighborhood. Thanks for the pics and the post! Happy Friday.
HI Becky, she said they did change the windows out. This was an expensive renovation, but it paid off too.
Interesting; I like painted brick but this white is way too snow white – would have been much prettier with another shade/tint of white; how will the homeowner keep the front steps clean and “crisp”? What about the back of the house as this house is not 4 sides brick. Nice but very “trendy right now” interior changes. I thought “conventional wisdom” was to never price a home at the top of the neighborhood price range; guess things change. Marietta is a nice area and good schools.
What a treat! Everything looks phenomenal!
I’m not a fan of painting everything white. I thought the exterior with those interesting steps was much more cohesive before being painted and I almost had palpitations when I saw all of that beautiful wood in the interior painted. I did think painting over some of those very bright interior wall colors was an improvement.