Here are the latest updates to our rental house, with soo many changes to reveal!
I partnered with Mannington and Nebraska Furniture Mart on this project. Although I was not compensated, some of the product and installation costs were provided to me.Â
Today’s the big day! I’m finally sharing all the fresh updates to our latest rental house and I’m excited to share the changes with you! If you missed yesterday’s post, be sure to check that out first to get a little background information on the renovation project.
One of the challenges in updating an investment property is keeping the costs down. I had to work hard to find light fixtures that were affordable but still looked current. We also have to pick finishes that aren’t too customized and that will appeal to the masses.
Welcome to our updated house rental!
The “before” photos in the first several collages below were taken of the home listing on Zillow. Please note this isn’t how the home actually looked when the prior owner lived there. This was several months after she had moved and there was an estate sale.
We took the paint from a lavender gray color to Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray throughout the home. We’ve found it to be a really great smoky greige that works well for both gray and beige palettes!
Here is the kitchen and dining room before and after! I love how much brighter and more fresh everything looks now! The kitchen cabinets and countertops suddenly look new again, and the space feels so much larger now that the flooring flows from the kitchen to the dining room! In this updated space, we used the Adura Max® Plank Dockside Sand. We also replaced all the old white appliances with new stainless steel versions.
The master bedroom looks so much brighter with the fresh paint. Â It has really perked up the room!
We love the Dream Weaver Cosmopolitan carpet (Mocha color) that we selected throughout the house. The color is slightly darker than I would install in our own home, but I knew it would be perfect for a rental property. After it was installed, Kurtis and I both thought it was significantly nicer than the carpet in our own home. It’s so soft and plush! In the second bedroom, the carpet had red stains throughout, no light fixture (just a ceiling fan without bulbs) and smoke stains above the outlets, likely from plug-in scents that were left plugged in too long. It’s amazing how new this room looks now!
In the basement, we had everything freshly painted and the new carpet installed. We also swapped the one-light fixtures for some with two bulbs, and it made a huge difference in brightening the space up!
The flooring installation teams at Nebraska Furniture Mart did such an incredible job. There were multiple instances where both the hard surface and carpet teams went above and beyond to ensure the installation turned out as good as possible. For example, in both the kitchen and bathrooms, the prior flooring ran up under the cabinets and up the bases about three inches. Rather than re-install the new floors that way, our hard surface installer went back to his own shop and cut custom boards for under the cabinetry so it would match the cabinets. The flooring could stop on the floors and the cabinets looked higher-end and more finished. Little things like this made such a huge difference in the look! The picture below is before I painted the new wood installed under the cabinet, but you can see here what I’m referring to.
Some additional detail photos from around the house. We used the same plank flooring from the dining/kitchen area in the entryway.
I’m completely obsessed with the Luxury Vinyl we used in both of the bathrooms and laundry closet. It has the look of upscale marble but is much more durable. This has been the product I’ve received the most messages about on social media. Everyone loves the pattern and look! I also love that it has a slight groove in the vinyl where the grout would be if this were tile, adding some great dimension to the flooring.
I’m really happy that we opted to carry the luxury vinyl into the vanity area of the master bathroom as well (it previously had carpet). You can see here the painted wood that was added here in order to avoid running the vinyl up the base of the cabinet. I love how it turned out!
The entrance in the basement from the garage got the same vinyl flooring update.
We couldn’t be happier with our decision to continue the kitchen plank flooring into the dining room.
I absolutely love the unique details on each and every piece of the planks on the floor.
It’s such a cute house in a great neighborhood and we love how everything ultimately came together.
The tenant that has since leased the house told me that she had her heart set on this one after simply seeing the photos online. She toured multiple other properties but ultimately came back to ours! Everyone that’s been inside said it feels like a brand new home, and we couldn’t be happier with the end results!
I can’t thank Mannington and Nebraska Furniture Mart enough for being such great partners on this project!
Sources
Kitchen, Dining and Entryway Flooring: Mannington’s Adura Max® Plank Dockside Sand
Bathrooms, Laundry Closet and Basement/Garage Entrance Flooring: Mannington’s Luxury Vinyl Hive Pollen
Carpet: Dream Weaver Cosmopolitan in Mocha
Flooring Installation and Ordering: Nebraska Furniture Mart
Wall Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray
Interior Painters: Nelson Brothers Painting
Front Door Paint Color: TrueValue Ink Pad (painted by yours truly)
All Light Fixtures (other than entryway light): Home Depot
Entryway  Light: Lowes
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Nice job. Looks like a nice place.
The rental looks amazing. Love the choices and colors.
Sarah, this is lovely! It doesn’t even look like the same house anymore!
Great choices! I’d be thrilled to find a place like that to rent! You guys did a really nice job!
I love the plank floors! Beautiful job!
You made really excellent choices in this home. At one time, everyone used vinyl: it was practical and sturdy and didn’t require a lot of expensive maintenance. Your kitchen/dining flooring is very attractive. I hope you charged more for this lovely rental. When I toured rentals with my daughter in past years, you would not believe the dumps that are advertised and the unbelievable prices for them. You have good taste and pride of ownership; your renters are lucky!!!
Sarah!!! Wow!!!! This looks amazing. You guys did such a fabulous job with all your choices!!! I know your remnants will be absolutely thrilled in their “new” home!! Great job!!
*tennants (silly spell check!!)
Oh my word!!! It looks amazing! And I can’t get over that flooring- I can’t believe how far vinyl has come?! Those are gonna be some lucky renters!
Great job Sarah! Not only does it look clean and new, it is also a very pretty property! I’m sure someone will snatch this place up in no time!
Oh wow, what a difference. I looks absolutely amazing.
Beautiful job! Excellent choices. I love it all. Your renter is lucky to have found this place! 🙂 I’ll bet you and Curtis are great landlords.
Correction!!!….Sorry….Kurtis with a “K”….
OK, Sarah, Claudia insists I comment and tell the world that those “before” photos were not how the house looked day-to-day but were from the estate sale. 🙂 It was a lovely home for my mom for 17 years. We are impressed with what you all have done. Congrats on a two-year lease! Yahooo
Thanks so much for the note Stacy! We assumed that was the case with the photos but didn’t want to make any assumptions 🙂 Please let her know I’ll be sure to update the post to include that info! Please also let her know we love the house so much and our new tenant can’t wait to move in this week. The day lilies are in perfect bloom and so beautiful out front – they’ll be the perfect welcome for them!
LOVE! What finish did you choose for the Sherwin-Williams paint? I am always debating about that. Beautiful job.
Thank you so much! We ended up doing an eggshell finish. We wanted touch-ups to be fairly easy but I also knew a flat paint would get filthy too quickly.
Hey! Love this so much! I actually went to bring home a sample of mannington dockside sand after seeing this post! It looks so much lighter on my sample so just wanted to verify sand was the color you did!!??! Thank you so much!
So sorry – I just saw this message. I did confirm that ours is the Sand color. Did they just give you a small sample? I only ask because every single “board” has a different color so it’s possible that they gave you a lighter one in the mix. It definitely all varies from light to dark mid-tone wood colors. It looks SO good in real life! Also check with your store (not sure if it was Nebraska Furniture Mart) but they should have a larger sample for viewing rather than the samples they give out. I hope that helps!
I was going to ask the exact same question!! ! THe samples from the flooring store (about 2×3) look absolutely blonde, like raw unfinished pine. You’re pictures show much more mid-tone colors. I guess I’ll have to order a box and see it in person!
As a long time landlord, I have learned that carpet isn’t the best of choices due to dirt, spills and showing of wear after several cleanings. We used vinyl planks in our latest homes and have found it to be the sturdiest floor of all! Cleans with a mop and shows no wear! You made wonderful choices in this lovely home!
What color white did you use on the trim? The place looks really nice!
Thank you! The trim was actually already white and in good shape so we didn’t have it painted. Unfortunately I don’t know the original color. Sorry!
Can I ask your opinion on the color of the Adura Dockside in Sand? In some of the pictures it looks quite warm toned and cool in others. I am considering this floor and my cabinetry is maple but with that dark red cherry stain. I’m having a difficult time finding a floor I like with it. Do you think this floor would compliment red toned cabinetry? Thanks!!!
I think it has a great mix of warm tones so it could look great with maple cabinets. I would just see if there is a local store where you can take home a larger sample to compare the tones. Sometimes the little square they give you isn’t enough (especially if it’s one of those warm vs cool pieces like you mention). Another great option is to see if you can buy a box of the flooring. I know Nebraska Furniture Mart will let you do that and then return it later if unused. So, you can spread some pieces out on your floor that way to get a better feel for it! I hope that helps!
Love it! I’m 99% sure I’m going to install Dockside Sand in my house. Was wondering if you were surprised by the color of the flooring compared to the sample? I brought home a sample and it looks so much lighter than I’d expect it to — almost more of a natural, light wood tone versus the warmth that you see in some photos. Anyway, I love that it looks like actual distressed wood! Love the wide planks.
Deann–did you end up going with Dockside Sand? I’m so nervous because the pictures aren’t matching my sample, either!! I have a sample that has 3-4 planks!
Sarah, the light fixture over the kitchen sink, do you have the name of the fixture and place of purchase? Beautiful home!!
Thanks Mary! We got it from Lowe’s. It’s just this shade with one of their pendant kits 🙂 https://www.lowes.com/pd/Portfolio-5-5-in-H-7-75-in-W-Brushed-Nickel-Industrial-Dome-Pendant-Light-Shade/50250185
Love it! I’m 99% sure I’m going to install Dockside Sand in my house. Was wondering if you were surprised by the color of the flooring compared to the sample? I brought home a sample and it looks so much lighter than I’d expect it to — almost more of a natural, light wood tone versus the warmth that you see in some photos. Anyway, I love that it looks like actual distressed wood! Love the wide planks.
I think the problem with the samples is it’s such a small chunk of the overall look. I would recommend grabbing two or three if possible to see if they come from a different plank. There are definitely some boards that are really light but others that are quite a bit darker, so overall it’s a good middle tone. Hopefully that makes sense!
Hello! Came across your post on pintrest because i’m wanting to use the Mannington Dockside Sand OR the Napa Barrel. The Dockside sand looks much darker in your pictures than in my large sample I got. Would you agree with that or do you think the picture is pretty true? Thanks so much!
I think it’s really just going to depend upon the natural lighting in your home! This was in a townhome that doesn’t get any southern light exposure, and only has minimal windows. So I would definitely keep that in mind! The photos here are an accurate representation of how it looks though in this home. I hope that helps!
I’ve been looking everywhere for the right flooring to go in my home. Your blog is exactly the inspiration and guidance I needed! Thank you SO MUCH.