Old House Tour

old house header runaway house

Old House, New Owners

Well here’s a blast from the past! A friend of ours who is house hunting stumbled upon this little property. Look familiar? Fun to see what they changed and what they left the same.

Continue Reading

DIY Concrete Trash Station

DIY concrete slab pour trash cans after header

DIY Outdoor Trash Station

Do you have any problem spots in your home routine? Like the trash station outside? Nobody likes taking out the garbage, but here’s a hack that’s made this chore a little less dreadful around here.

Continue Reading

Hardware: Modern Bathroom Vanity, Sink & Shower Ideas

Bathroom Hardware Header

 

Time for Ideas

It’s never too early to start thinking about the finishing touches, right? But honestly, we need to start ordering what we want, so we need to decide on styles we like. We’ve picked out most of our tile, so that’s all taken care of. The hardware is taking its cues from the tile color. For the bathroom entrance, I’m in charge. For all things shower, Joe’s the man.

Continue Reading

5 Tips for Staging your House

setting the stage banner

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

 

staging layout drawing

Continue Reading

House is Sold

sold sign

 

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!

 

Joe signing house offer

He was SO happy to hear it.

Continue Reading

Good Things Come in 3’s (Part 3 of 3)

zucchini banana bread

 

Zucchini Banana Bread 3 Ways

I had a baking party not long ago and whipped up a bunch of bread. Ever since I tested my hand baking bread, I’ve wanted to expand my bread skills. I had a few types I wanted to try and just about enough zucchini for an army, thanks to my parents’ compulsive garden giving. I manage to wind up with a bag of vegetables after every visit. Thanks guys! But what to do with them all?

how to make zucchini bread banana bread recipe

Continue Reading

YardWork

backyard cleanup

Putting the Yard to Work

At last! You may remember that we put in irrigation a couple months back. And we did reseed the back lawn as well. But that’s about it. It already looks better, but was in a pretty sad state. We always brainstorm such great plans for the back, but they never seem to come to fruition. The back is primarily the hangout for bonfires, hammock nights, and the bunnies’ playground. Yard work is now underway! (I know, I know. Summer’s almost over. shhhh. Don’t tell the lawn.)

backyard clean up

Continue Reading

Snowboard Ramps

backyardboarding

Snow Day = Joe Day

Does anything make this kid happier than an afternoon of snowboarding? I honestly don’t think so. It was so gorgeous Sunday afternoon (yesterday). We needed to be outside. No photo retouching necessary. So. Much. Sunlight.

Continue Reading