My family has been busy working on an important project over the past three months. The following post details what that project is and how it has impacted our family. If you’re a fan of shows about how to renovate a flip house (as I know many of my regular readers are) I think you’re going to enjoy this glimpse into our recent family project.

We drove up to the house and got out of the car. Unlocking the door and pushing it open revealed a house that had suffered obvious neglect. It needed some TLC, and that was exactly why we were there. We had a vision for this house, and we were ready to get started making that vision a reality. The vision we had for the house was a part of a larger dream we had for our family.

First, I’ll share a little background on our family. As the homeschooling mother of eight children, I have proudly poured myself into raising my children for the past 21 years.  It’s been a privilege and a joy. My husband Gilbert is a master craftsman. He has worked as a carpenter, general contractor and home builder, and for the past 30 years, has successfully owned and operated his own cabinetmaking business. In that role, he has designed and built exquisitely crafted cabinetry in high-end residential homes in Northern New England. A testament to the quality of the work he does is the fact that he has never, in over 30 years of business, had a need to advertise. All his customers come by referrals. Some of his work has been featured in Better Homes and Gardens and Maine magazine.

I’ve always enjoyed watching TV shows about “house flipping.” I’ve often thought “We could do that!” With my husband’s experience and expertise, I knew renovating an existing home in need of repairs would be possible. As for myself, I have long had an interest in interior design. Having 10 years experience in graphic design, I have an eye for color and detail which I knew would lend itself well to home design. Recently, I took an online course called Flip Chick Academy. Taking the course gave me the inside scoop on just how all those people on the house flipping shows make it happen. The detailed training and advice I received through the course was invaluable in giving me a framework for starting that kind of business. Together, my husband and I would make a great team. The Flip Chick course challenged me to think beyond what I was doing in my everyday life and see the bigger picture of some of the things our family could do in the future. We decided to start Beacon Homes LLC with the intent to purchase and renovate homes in our area.

But, I’m a busy mom of eight; how would I juggle my responsibilities at home with this new venture? The answer was to get the whole family involved. We brought our children to our first flip house shortly after we bought it. When they walked in, they all turned up their noses a bit. It was dirty and needed some work. All they could see was what it was right then. Gilbert and I knew we needed to help them see what it could be in the future. So we enlisted their help. We cleared brush and planted grass. We painted and sanded and swept. We tried to make it as fun as possible for them, and we included plenty of incentives to get the jobs done. We also enlisted the help of some very talented professionals in the area to help us bring this project to life. As a family, through all the work and the play, the vision started to become a reality. They began to see what Gilbert and I had pictured in our own minds. The result was a beautiful, like new house that would soon become someone’s dream home.

Our family learned to work together to create something beautiful out of something that was at one time not so pretty. What we created will be a home to someone someday soon. Our hope is that this home we spent our summer beautifying will be a place of comfort and joy to another family. We know that the people who choose to live in this home will be very happy and content surrounded by this serene, peaceful space as they create memories and live their lives here in this lovely home. As a bonus, they will have the chance to be part of a warm and generous neighborhood of people who will welcome the new owners of this home with open arms.

It has been a privilege and an honor to work on this home, preparing it with careful attention to every detail. The loving care we’ve given this 6 bedroom, 2.5 bath house has transformed it into one that looks brand new. In this house, we have made a home we would be proud to live in ourselves. Our vision for this ugly duckling of a house was to make it into a beautiful swan of a home. We have certainly succeeded.