More "Before & After" pix

It's my favorite time.....

Yes, Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but I'm taking pictures today for my "Before & After" posts!! I love a good transformation!! Here are a few, more to come as we get much-needed furniture and things hung on the walls, window treatments, etc.

Merry Christmas!!

Duplex

We've been moving this past week into our new house and you know I couldn't go more than 7 days without a project! Switching gears, I am having a backsplash installed at the duplex and I'm so excited about how it turned out! Grout is still drying, but here is the basic idea:

I will post some "before & afters" this weekend of the new house. Stay tuned!!

It's not the end of the world......

It's Moving Day!!! This seems more like the Mayan end of the world to a toddler, so we started the morning off right with coloring and suckers. Try it, it's awesome.  

Maggie got a few new toys to make the transition a little easier. Still not sure about this new house......

I heart Pinterest

My latest inspiration came from my Pinterest friends:

Jack comes to visit!!

Maggie is hurling herself and red trike into the walls, which Jack doesn't seem to think is a good idea.....

Movin' on up.....to the eastside

We're in official packing mode!! Maggie has been a huge help.

The fireplace is almost there.......here's the before and (almost) after:

Rubber Gloves

The bedroom we once called Rubber Gloves is being painted!! One last look at this beauty......

What an angel

                      So happy cleaning - she will make some lucky man very happy in 40 years.

Color me happy!!

We are finally at the point where we are talking COLOR! I love how paint makes everything look better. Here are some of the samples on the walls:

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy turkey day!!!! No home improvement today (and we are THANKFUL for that ;-)

Tile Shopping vs.3

My name is Sara and I might be a tile addict. We're back to pick up our ordered samples. Maggie has now named the lions and wants to take them home.

W

We are taking advantage of some beautiful (ie: warm) weather for November and we are building a fence! And with that, clearing brush. I had this image of W of his Texas ranch clearing brush with secret service men standing around, talking to their wrists. It wasn't quite as glamorous at our ranch.

the boys using their auger to dig the holes 



the raw materials



That's me! Laying out the horizontal pieces

Tile Shopping vs. 2

In an effort to pick out a 3 backsplashes (2 for duplex and 1 for new house) we have been hitting the tile hotspots in Cincinnati. Here are some of the options I'm eyeing....(I love tile!!)

From tigers to lions!! Maggie and I went early-morning (note the hair do) tile shopping. Maggie was supposed to help me with backsplash tile, but she ended up spending most of her time with the marble lions. I'll put up the backsplash options later!

Appliances arrived today!!!

An oldie but goodie......

From the demolition on the duplex last October.

We're getting there......

Weekly trip over to the new house to come up with a plan for this barbie pink bathroom. I'm pulling down the lily pad wallpaper, but after that it's just lipstick on a pig. 

In my first house I could vacuum the entire floor without changing outlets. In the second place, I can open the window without leaving my bed.

Maggie thinks the neighbors at the new house have a park behind their house. Poor kid has neer seen a yard with a swingset.

We are officially ready for the burbs ;-)

Checking out the demo

Waitin' on tile

FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS

So after enlisting the entire family to help me choose the perfect wood stain, I was publicly shamed by Carpenter Steve. Apparently I am not proficient at following (or reading) directions. The stain should not be painted on (I blame Maggie's technique) like paint: it needs to be rubbed on with a cloth and wiped off within 60 seconds. My "new" project for this week is to again find the perfect wood stain. And start reading again.

My assistant is helping me choose a wood stain! (Full disclosure: she's painting water on the wood, somewhat safer than stain fumes and easier to get off little hands ;-) 

My remodeling & design assistant

Demolition has begun!

My philosophy on real estate

Here is it, my Jerry Maguire essay. Unsolicited I know.

The old adage of location, location, location is still truer than ever. Buy the worst house in the nicest neighborhood that you can. The nicest school district you can, in the safest area you can. 

Secondly, look past the superficial, the exterior. Go straight to the basement upon opening the door. Look at the foundation, the HVAC system, the plumbing stacks, the electric box. Then the roof, walk around the exterior of the house to look for water damage. These areas and systems can be wildly expensive to fix and could be detrimental to your wallet, not to mention the time and stress involved. As a self-confessed House Hunters-addict, I will never understand the buyers who walk in a house and say, “I don’t like that paint color” or “The house doesn’t face south”. Almost anything can be fixed in a house, with the exception of 2 things: the location and the foundation. Most walls can be moved, faucets changed, tiles glazed. But if the foundation is sliding down a hill, it doesn’t matter if the paints are all neutrals and the house is “modern enough”. Go for quality on the inside (I mean inside the walls and foundation). Good builder and pedigree, quality construction and updated systems. You can work with the rest and make it your own.

Note: This also applies to men.

I can just see Don Draper having a scotch by this fire. Needing ideas on how to fix this?!