Before
It will be fun to one day look back and reminisce about all the changes we’ve made to this house. Our little fixer upper is growing up so fast already. Sigh.
Patio Pillows
Outdoor Pillows
It was about time we decided to set up a patio table on the deck outside our bedroom. And pillows were the most exciting part! It was actually my first project that I had planned, even before we moved from the old house. I had bought fabric weeks before we even moved. Call me crazy, but it was my #1 project idea since May.
There are so many fun and funky patterns of outdoor fabric, why would you buy them from the store? And I think they’re a little overpriced if you buy them from a Target or Home Goods. So I headed to Joanne.com to find a few patterns I liked. Luckily there were many! And a few cute ones in-store too. They were even all 40% off! All I needed to do was buy some stuffing and I used my sewing machine to do the rest.
Mix’n & Match’n
Here’s what I found on my first round of shopping in Joanne.
In love with the geometric one.
I ordered these three on Joanne.com.
Nontoxic Deodorant
Alright, we’re about to get personal here and talk about something you (probably) use every day. Something that gets all up in your business. Something you may be uncomfortable talking about: Deodorant.
5 Tips for Staging your House
5 Tips for Staging your House
If you’re in the midst of trying to sell your house, you know how stressful it can be. But if you follow some of these basic tips, it doesn’t have to be hard.
- Get help – A staging person has a great eye and experience. When in doubt, have someone walk through your house and uncover your blind spots. Many realtors offer to include this for free and have connections in the industry who consistently stage houses that sell.
- Borrow – Ask friends and family for select pieces of furniture before footing a bill on new things. Thrift shops and consignment stores can be your best friend.
- Keep it simple – Neutral paint colors, sparse furniture and minimalistic decorations are the name of the game. Clean, clean, clean! I could say it again. It makes such a difference. People like to envision what they could do to a space, not see that someone’s living there.
- Storage – Invest in a storage unit, or rely on friends and family to hide away your clutter. Nobody wants to walk into the garage and see mountains of odds and ends. On that note, hide away anything that is valuable to you. If someone makes an offer, they may ask for you to leave that favorite rug or those expensive pillows behind in order to seal the deal.
- Breathe – This is a process with lots of moving pieces. Get yourself a good team and do what you can to best prepare your home for showings. After that, let go and trust that things will work out. It’s important to get good sleep during this transition and eat healthy (even if you’re not able to use your kitchen.) It can feel chaotic, but it will all be worth it once you get a happy buyer for your house 🙂
Stage Presence
Here’s how we did it. We were pretty confident in our staging abilities, and guess what? We didn’t do too bad! When Barb the professional came in, we didn’t have a whole lot to change. Mainly this is because we had already cleansed the premises and shipped all our possessions off to various garages.
If you’re currently trying to stage your home, you don’t necessarily need to hire a professional staging person. Although, you may find it helpful. Luckily Joe’s parents had some furniture to lend us and his mom got to be the personal shopper for staging. I’ll try to give as many details as I can.
Lemon Coconut Muffin Bars
Happy Easter, Happy Spring
I found this recipe in our staging cookbook that we used for house showing decor. It’s the Better Homes and Gardens annual recipes 2003 cookbook. We picked it purely for the colors and photos, but hey, I’ve already made two recipes from it! I put a different spin on it to serve up for Sunday. Easter has always been my favorite holiday, and I’m so excited! If you’re looking for a good spring recipe, I would highly recommend this one. (Unless we’re going to the same family function.) It’s fairly easy, and there’s even a surprise filling inside. Hope you enjoy!
Ingredients
Behind the Scenes
Elbow Grease
It was truly March Madness for us – A month for the record books. We put an offer on a house, had it contingently accepted, had to make a mad dash to sell a house, and a bunch of aftermath that we’re currently weeding through. There were many, many things that needed to take place in order for everything to fall exactly into place. There was probably some divine intervention, because whatever took place was of superhuman effort. Good thing we know some pretty super humans 🙂
This is a sampling of what we needed to do. The majority of our work was taping, mudding, prepping walls, painting walls, shampooing carpet, getting everything into boxes and out of the house, repainting coats of paint and generally polishing and deep cleaning every square inch. Joe’s house cleaned up pretty nicely! But few of us got to be behind the scenes. Lemme tell you, it wasn’t so pretty. But it was all worth it in the end.
To-Do Lists
House is Sold
It’s (Almost) Official
The Sign Santa finally came around and left us a little present in the front yard. Just in time to update it to “SOLD” – Joe accepted an offer!
He was SO happy to hear it.
Big News Tues
Yep. We are dreaming big and relocating. The idea has been brewing for a year or so, and the planning has happened behind the scenes. But everything kind of came together in the last few days, so no matter how much planning you do, you can never be 100% ready for any big decision in life. That’s what I’m telling myself at least! We put in an offer. And they accepted. Contingent upon Joe’s current house selling. Cross your fingers!
“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” – Nelson Mandela
Making a Customized Picture Frame
Most people, like it or not, will get a homemade craft from me at some point. I love giving birthday presents! If you’re in a pinch to make a friend a fun birthday gift too, this might be a neat idea for you.