Real estate re-do: Master bedroom

Fabulous art, statement bed, a beni and some wallpaper......you don't need much more than that!


*I jumped the gun :) here is the pic of the master bedroom from the mls listing:

We got the new rug and some new art, pics next week!

Happy hump day

Real estate re-do:kitchen

Did you have a great weekend?

We sure did, although Monday morning came way too early! Stanley was off this weekend so we took our two older boys to see the new Lego movie on Saturday. It was Stanley's first time going to a movie with the boys. The movie was really good and we had a blast.

We've been talking a lot lately about replacing our area rug in the living room. It has red lipstick and nail polish on one side, courtesy of our three year old, which is hidden under the couch but means that we can't rotate the rug. Our front door opens right into our living room and the foot traffic on that side has almost worn a path in the rug. I've known for a while now that it needs to be replaced but lets be honest, 9x12+ rugs are expensive! The one we have now was a carpet remnant that we had bound, it's about a 10x13.5 and only cost around $200. I think we'll be doing the remnant thing again just in a darker color. I'd love to get something vintage but there is no way we can afford $1000+ for a rug in such a high traffic area. Anyway, like I said we've been toying with the idea for a while but what happened yesterday solidified that idea. Right as we got to church we noticed that Isaac had something black smeared all over one knee of his khakis (I don't know how we put him in the car and didn't notice it). Neither of us had any idea where it came from but it looked like kohl eyeliner to me. When we got home I checked the bathroom and all of my makeup was in the drawer, which he can't get in to. We also found black stuff on the hardwood floor and the rug in the living room, small dots of it all over. I cleaned for almost an hour last night and there's no getting it all off, so I'm going to look at some remnants tonight. I'll keep you updated!

Ok, back to our mid mod gem of a house:

              This kitchen could be soooooo good! It has a lot of space and a great layout!


There is an awkward open space in between the wall and lower cabinets below (there is one above too to the left of the door) but there is a simple fix.

Since the lower cabinets would be painted, just add some open storage for cookbooks etc. and paint it too, like this:

                                                                           image 

I would rip out the drop ceiling and fluorescent lights along with all of the upper cabinets and the island. The lower cabinets look like they are in good condition so I would just paint them. Add hardwood floors, new countertop and subway tile, new appliances and hardware and a built in banquette and you've got a brand new space!

Next time: Master bedroom!

Happy Monday :)

Thank you and a real estate re-do

Thanks for the support peeps, you're the best!

I had a hard time writing that last post because I seriously LOVE blogging (and reading

blogs). It's kind of an internal struggle for me and I just came to the point where I

 was spending too much time invested in my blog/others blogs/pinterest etc. instead of in

 my family and myself. It really made me stop and think about what am I teaching my boys

 by doing that. Not anything good, that's for sure!

Kati from so happy home made a great point too:

 "Doesn't it feel like so many blogs/bloggers are pushing you to buy something new, or to

constantly produce new looks/vignettes/trends, etc.? It's hard to keep up with the pace being set on social media et al."

It's so true!!

So, thank you my dear readers for your emails and comments and general awesomeness!

 Obviously it's been a while since I've done a proper post because I can hardly figure this all out anymore, sorry the text is all screwy! Ok, moving on.  :)

I love real estate. If we weren't so busy on Sundays I would go to open houses every 

week. I'm that crazy lady who likes to drive slowly by awesome houses at night just to 

sneak a peek through the lighted windows!! When we lived downtown Stanley and I would 

go on evening walks in the summer. His goal was to get out of the house for a while and get 

some exercise, mine was to snoop. Our new neighborhood is less than spectacular in the 

awesome house department but I still look online. It's a habit I've gotten in to after buying 

(twice) and selling our house(s). When I look through the listings I can't help but 

think about what I would do if it were my house. A friend once told me that she never saw the

 potential in our current house like I did, so I understand that it's a hard thing. 

I saw this vintage gem a few weeks ago and automatically the wheels were turning, so 

whether or not this is helpful for anyone it sure is fun!


This is a great split level house, 4 bedroom, two bath, great neighborhood, huge yard, 

a little over 2300 sq ft., AC, SS and a heated attached garage-listed at $199,000. This would

 be a great family home!

So, if I had a $320,00(ish) budget this is what I would do:

New exterior paint and a little landscaping would do wonders for this house! I would also probably remove the iron railing at the bottom of the landing. It's not really needed and removing it would really open up the front entrance.

Easy, beautiful and timeless!



Let's go inside now.....

You can see that there is some mid mod tile in the entryway and as long as it isn't an awful color I'd keep it. Paint out that paneling, throw down a rug and a basket for shoes and you're done!

Upstairs there is an open concept living and dining room. Since the carpet looks to be pretty old I'd rip it up and install hardwoods in the living, dining, hallway, bedrooms and kitchen (which is off to the left of the dining room). I would paint the entire upstairs a creamy white, all windows would have bamboo roman shades and I'd add some built ins in the living room most likely with closed doors on the bottom and shelves on top.

Last but not least, the dining room.

Come back next week to see the rest of this house, next up is the kitchen.

Have a great weekend!