Noah..

My little Ninja

Noah has earned his “silver & gold blocks” on his white belt.  Last will be to earn the “black block” before he promotes up to a white belt with a single yellow stripe through it..

I’m proud of his discipline and dedication (not that he has a choice- mommy does not play!) but he’s been committed to not giving me a hard time about going twice a week very early and at the end of long homeschool days.

….next I must consider sending him to school for the 2nd grade. I love my time with him, but know I am not as challenging and could possibly be holding him back.  Which schools would be a good fit for his needs, my time and our family budget? 

Sometimes, I love being…

a Mommy. 

I mean, I really LOVE being a Mommy and can feel it’s meaning.  Other times, I feel more like a worker-bee for three very different ungrateful little people…

This afternoon was one of my LOVE days. After my morning rush of home tours, we took our day to Piedmont Park. Someone (ok, it was me) had the great idea to bring bikes, forgetting the number of hills we’d encounter and I was the only one NOT on a bike (it did help me reach my 10k steps) AND that it was still 80 sunny degrees, but we stumbled on this adorable tiny shed/house-to which my 6yr old quickly said “I will make you one mommy. That’s something you would like…”  then he road off.  

This small gesture of recognizing my appreciation for the shed was awesome and just what I needed…

West End Merchants Coalition

Meet and Greet – March 31, 2016 / 6-8PMThursday, January 28th at 7:30 AM

Dog pile on mommy…

Moments like these make my fixer upper feel so good & warm even when it’s 28 degrees outside! #creating #memories   

I’m upset!!

Why can’t contractors ever do right? Why can’t projects move smoothly along until completion? I don’t understand why so much drama- it seems very simple when the process is written. WRITTEN, that is my mistake I should always have things put in writing!

So now I’m working with a contract who gave me one price in the beginning but that price has changed because the project is more than he thought?? WHAT? Really? Now I  don’t want to work with him at all. I will NOT have someone change the price midway. So I cut my nose -and leave the project half-finished.  My husband will just have to download some “do it yourself” videos and finish the job.  I guess I will not have a bathroom in 2weeks. *tears*

If you see my hair falling out…

it’s because I have been living without a master bathroom and WITH all the dust and dirt from drywall being torn down.

Now the biggest thorn in my side is finding floor tile for a good price. Why does it seem everyone else in the world can renovate on a “shoe string” budget and find AMAZING deals- except me?  Every time I visit a  freshly renovated bathroom they always say “this tile was “ONLY xyz- totaling under $200!”… here I am looking for black/white hex floor tile and seem to can’t find anything less than $60 for a box of 10 which is only 9sq ft… I need 80sq ft! I was considering settling for something cheaper but I will only be able to renovate my bathrooms ONCE- maybe twice (when my kids move out) and I can’t afford to buy one that will not fully meet my vision. I can’t settle- even if it means Starbucks is kicked to the curb and I probably need to drop the “hot spots” option on my cell.

I have less than 3wks until family come and it would be great to have this all put together. Take a look at the video of our progress- do you think we can pull it together in time?

What’s left? This week, drywall will be completed, electrical added and moved ….oh and I STILL need to purchase FLOOR TILE!!  which all seem to be “special order” … this is soooo frustrating..

 

..can’t stop buying toys..

I’ve been working on my front and side yard..to prepare for our West End Westview home tour on May 7th…not that my house is on the tour but it only makes sense,being in Real Estate sales, to have it in decent shape. Not to mention my location is very visible and even I’ve been ashamed to tell others where I live due to the lack of curb appeal.   It took a while but we almost have one side weeded and semi tilled..pictures next. I just wanted to show my new garden friends..birds on a teeter totter..I picked them up in downtown Decatur at a cute shop called “Blue Moon”..  love them!

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Why is it so hard to pull the trigger on 1 idea?

…JUST one?

I have been wrestling with the renovation of my home for 1 year now!! -What has been accomplished?-…Much of what you can’t see-and what you can looks(IS) half-finished. 

I think I am overloaded with information.  As a Real Estate agent, I’m constantly viewing home- DAILY-HOURLY- either in the field,on TV or in magazines. I see tons of “great ideas” and beautiful materials(like this LEATHER floor tile!-OMG). I have tons of online bookmarks,physical books, torn out magazine pages , and scrap books filled with bathroom, kitchen-home decor i.e. tiling, paint swatches, flooring material, counter tops …some “Green” renovation ideas, others very Lux… and I think I really need to get back to basics and find “What is right for MY family?”

Can we begin with paint?  Initially I was looking to go very Historic, craftsman color….I’m in a Bungalow-Craftsman home, right? So common sense, ‘do Historic’…? But really, that’s not me. LOVE the look in neighboring homes but I was not feeling the vibes AFTER I bought the paint (I wish my vibes would kick in BEFORE I carry heavy items!)  Then,  I considered going a bit more on the artistic side- color-color-color…wild,free and fun…but I guess this was me- in my 20’s…because again, I was horrified AFTER I painted a hall Olive green(and I LOVE this color…could be a bad  location).  So now, I’m going back to what usually attracts my eye…………although it seems SAFE. I can’t help but to think of NOW and future, because since this was such a chore, I know we’re not painting again until my kids go off to college!

What color? What style? What vibe?…  While on trip 200 to the paint supplies area of Home Depot, I notice that one of the swatches  had words on the top.. “Modern”, “Classic”, “Historic”,  “Country chic”, “World”,”Vintage,Antique” etc.. I grabbed every swatch that made me “feel good”… at the end I looked at them and came up with “Classic” , Modern and Vintage”… OK-I should have known this was my style- I DO know..just needed some color picking guidance to fit this!!!   So the colors I selected are a Mocha/or Latte brown, a gray, a soft mint, chalk-white, pale corn flower blue, Navy..  this time, it wasn’t very hard and a few days later-I still feel good about these colors.

Now, where will these colors go?  My bedroom  is already a soft pale blue (staying), my parlour is a soft tan/buff brown (staying) and my kitchen is a soft pale mint green (Not sure if this will stay or go but I like it and it may tie in to my classic Navy dining room-info on this later). I was thinking painting  my master bathroom Latte brown, hall gray, upstairs bathroom a soft mint green, guest bathroom chalk-white and navy. The rooms, halls and nooks  inbetween are still a bit unclear…

Ok. This has been  helpful. I think I’ve just made some decisions. Progress.  I’ll begin this paint project mid April- rain has been killing me.

Check out this tile. I’m looking to add these Flower Hex patterns to my bathrooms. I think this is such a classic look and item, it would add lasting value to my home.  I would hope that this is my “forever home” but even in that, when renovating I believe one should always keep in mind resale value. I understand decorating for your own personal style, taste and comfort -however, items that are fixtures should be selected  with the “what if I had to sell” mind set and “will this add value I can pull from later” . Too many sellers are now experiencing the crunch of the economy and have called me to their home to determine value and how fast it would sell…I’ll just say, sometimes there are too many personal preference renovations that we expect to gain from- but, your hexagon shaped arch entry to the kitchen is NOT necessarily someone elses “wow” factor and the buyer has already deducted the amount it will take to fix it from their offer price! 

On that note,I’m trying to do things right the first time.  Now,  time to hit the streets and sell some houses so I can begin on my bathroom renovation in a few weeks!

Brownstone home tour…

Nothing like kicking back and virtually touring well restored/renovated homes. I LOVE how they kept the original wood work in this house, while making it more modern and open.

Check it out HERE