Grand Designs and Iced Latte
Mina and Karen of HGTV's Good Bones go over the floor plan for a two-story duplex they're planning to renovate and flip in Indianapolis's transitioning Bates-Hendricks neighborhood. "You're close enough to downtown and Fountain Square that you still have all the cool stuff," said Mina, "but you get more bang for your buck in Bates-Hendricks right now."
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Before
The Terrace Avenue Duplex. Mina and Karen purchased this essentially abandoned two-story duplex for $4000. The exterior is in rough shape with aged siding, broken windows, damaged gutters and crumbling concrete retaining wall and stairs.
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After
The Terrace Avenue Duplex. For the renovation, the original porch — which had previously been enclosed as part of an earlier modification — is opened back up and enhanced with new lighting, new front door, columns and railing, upgraded stairs and a wood skirt in dark finish. The overall look of the exterior is freshened up with new siding painted in ecru, white trim and vintage-style fishscale shingles, painted sky blue, in the upper gable. An upstairs dormer was added to accommodate a new master bath on the second floor.
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Before
The home, which has about 1800 total square feet, was laid out as an over-and-under duplex with a main living area, kitchen and one bedroom on the lower floor, two bedrooms and a single kitchen on the upper.
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Before
The biggest challenge in the renovation — aside from a broken sump pump and four feet of standing water in the basement — was how to reconfigure the downstairs to create an open and functional main living space.
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Great Room, After
The completed renovation includes this great room, adjacent to both the kitchen and new main living room, incorporating a dining area and new French doors that open onto an outdoor living space.
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Great Room, After
With a dining table that accommodates up to eight, and seating area with casual, contemporary furnishings, the great room is an ideal space for entertaining.
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Kitchen, After
The renovated kitchen features a large new large island, marble countertops, tall upper cabinets and gray tile backsplash.
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Foyer, After
The rear portion of the front porch is now an interior space, creating a front foyer with built-in bench seat and natural wood paneling made using some of the home's original wood sheathing that was salvaged during demolition.
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Home Office, After
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Stair Landing, After
Mina and Karen created this gallery wall on the stair landing using photography posted online by an interested potential buyer for the home.
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Upstairs, After
In the new layout, with the house turned back into a single-family home, the main living areas are downstairs, with the master suite and guest bedroom upstairs.
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Master Bedroom, After
The master bedroom takes advantage of the natural light from the newly upgraded bay window and white sheer window treatments. Mina and Karen staged the space with vintage style furnishings including a large iron-frame bed.
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Guest Bedroom, After
The guest room is features simple, contemporary furnishings including twin nightstands in blue lacquer finish, tufted upholstered headboard and a mural painting depicting Indianapolis's Vogue Theater. "One of the things we like to do in our houses, when we put all the furniture in," says Mina, is try to use local art. It's cool and pretty, and it's a way to pull the community into the project a little bit."
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Backyard, After
French doors from the great room, and a second door in the main living room, both open onto this new outdoor living space with seating and dining areas.
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Backyard, After
Bright blue and green throw pillows coordinate with an outdoor area rug as well as the color palette used in the interior decor.
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The Bottom Line
Mina and Karen purchased the Terrace Avenue duplex for $4000 and invested $170,000 in renovations. The house was ultimately listed for $259,000 for potential proceeds of $65,000.
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Ringing Endorsement
"Mina and Karen are great," said Wilson, a potential buyer for the Terrace Avenue house. "The work they do is fantastic. The work they're doing to revitalize the neighborhood is even better. Each house they do, I think, becomes a beacon in the neighborhood for future growth for the area."
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Behind the Scenes
Karen works on the reclaimed wood paneling in the new foyer.
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Behind the Scenes
General contractor Lenny (L) and Mina's brother Tad (R) work together to build the new front-porch railing.
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Behind the Scenes
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Good Bones renovation, be sure to keep checking back
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