We've now been in our Las Vegas home approximately two months, and we're making steady progress. Updating the staircase made a HUGE difference, and if you didn't see what $30 can do, hop over to my Facebook profile https://www.facebook.com/val.moody/ or Tik Tok @TomValMAD.
Now that we've got some semblance of hominess downstairs, it's time to make our primary bedroom into a cozy, relaxing space. The "before" was pretty drab and boring, but I knew I wanted to update downstairs first since that's where we spend most of our time.
I have in mind that I'd like to run a sage green throughout the house to keep with the more natural, lighter colors of our warm weather state. I resisted the urge to do yellow and purple, as I did in our home in South Carolina, assuming I'll probably redo the decor in a few years anyway.
I've wanted an accent wall behind the bed, and I knew I wanted that wall to be a sage color. After studying multiple options on Pinterest, I settled for this pattern, but opted to save over $200 and create the look myself. My only concern is that I hope I don't cover up this great pattern with the headboard too much.
In looking at the design, it appears to be 5 foot boards about 10 inches apart for each row. I measured our wall and determined I would need 12 boards for each row, and Lowe's has some 1x2x8. I wasn't happy about wasting 3 feet per board, but our store didn't stock the 10 foot length. At less than $2 per board, this still seems like a pretty reasonable cost for the project. I realize these are furring strips, but I'm okay with these since I will be using a paint that also has primer, and I didn't want to spend the extra for pre-primed wood.
As usual, I enlisted hubby's help for cutting. He's not always sure about my projects, but he normally goes along with my ideas and is always surprised in the end how much he likes what I come up with.
Pretty boring, but not for long!
First step was to "outline" the area. Our wall was surprisingly level, so that wasn't an issue. I opted to stop just above the baseboard rather than remove baseboard and go to the floor, so I didn't place a board at the bottom, especially since our king-size bed will block most of the bottom anyway.
From there, I started marking the spaces where each board would go. I forgot to get a photo, but one of the best time-saving steps I did was to cut a piece of the trim to six inches. I then used that piece to draw where each board should go and to ensure my measurements had everything centered. I placed the board horizontally butted against the first board, then marked the end of the 6-inch piece. I turned it vertically, and marked the edge so that I would know where to place the end and repeat the steps. At the end of this exercise, I could see where each board would go. I then alternated between nailing (using a nail gun and finishing nails) the top and bottom pieces.
Then on to caulking every side of the boards - yikes! Yes, it's time-consuming, and it makes the boards more permanent. I'm always changing things, so I was a bit concerned about the hassle of removing the boards with so much caulk attached. But the extra work really does give it a nicer, smoother look once painted. I only finished halfway before using up an entire tube, so I'll need to make another trip to Lowe's before I can finish. The extra trip is fine, though, since I've decided on the right color. When I bought the materials, I had planned to wait until the comforter I ordered arrived before making a decision, but I like the green in the fabric I chose for the headboard, and I think it will make the fabric stand out a bit. Click here or on the swatch below to view the fabric.
]]>
I've been painting walls for years, but never anything that tall. Tom and I learned a few things during those two days.
Don't Overestimate Your Ladder
Know the height of your ceilings so that you know exactly how tall you need. We way overestimated the height, and ended up renting almost twice as much ladder as we needed. You'd think that wouldn't be a big deal, but the taller the ladder, the heavier the ladder.
Yep - with just the two of us moving it, every time we had to move the ladder was a chore. Especially when I was cutting in around the windows. We had to be very careful not to lift the ladder too far back (that would knock down our ceiling fan) or lose control forward and crash through our high-mounted windows. Not to mention the fear every time Tom pulled the ladder back on his own and said, "I've got it." All I saw was the ladder leaning behind his head.
I actually did tell him, "If that thing falls on you because you wouldn't let me help, I'm not calling an ambulance. You can just lay there, and we'll watch TV around you." Silly man, trying to be all tough and macho.
It would have been funny to record us inching that ladder along the wall, Tom supporting it by leaning the bottom length agains his leg. Too bad we didn't have one more hand available to record our stupidity.
If we had known what we needed, we would have rented a smaller ladder that would have been easier to maneuver and less scary for the husband testosterone show.
"Professional" Rollers
While buying the paint, I thought, "This is a big job, so I should probably buy the 'professional' rollers to do it right." Well, that's fine, but I should have also read the package. Professional rollers come with professional instructions.
I was thoroughly confused when I rolled up the first bit of paint and found globs of something on my walls. I kept going, trying to figure out if the globs were dust that rolled into little balls, dried paint .... no idea what was making the mess.
Tom noticed that the roller looked like it was "shedding." I grabbed the package of rollers and then read that they needed to be rinsed in warm water and shaken out to remove excess fibers before painting. What? Why wouldn't they make them correctly before putting them in the bag?
The great thing about posting your projects on social media, is that many times you have pros within your audience. Thankfully, a real painter saw what we were trying to do, and he offered to loan us some paint poles. Sadly, the suggestion came after we were too far into the project to change our strategy. We had been painting small areas high up (basically as far as I could reach before moving the ladder), without realizing that wasn't the most effective strategy.
What we should have done was complete the cutting in, then gone back and painted vertical areas so that the paint would lay on the walls consistently without blotchy areas. We made it work, but we'll definitely use the vertical paint pole strategy next time.
]]>
We built our house in 2018, and I love the open feel of having our kitchen, dining and family area all in one big room. What I didn't consider, though, is what I would do with the big 2-story wall in our family room. This wall has been my source of frustration since the day we moved in, and I've tried several layouts and decor ideas .... none that really felt homey and "finished."
Enter Modsy. I don't want to work with a full-service decorator because I like doing most things myself - paint, window treatments, tile, etc. We built a house in Western Springs, IL, in 2006. Our decorator did absolutely everything for us, and we moved into a completely furnished and decorated house ... right down to labels on the jars and shelves in the pantry. That house never fully felt like mine.
I was fully involved with designing and decorating this house as it was being built, but I didn't do any of the work myself. Funny, genetics run strong because our youngest daughter, Emma, insisted she and I paint her room and bathroom rather than allow the painters to do it. I guess she's a little like her mama.
When I do the work myself, it makes my home feel more like mine. Silly, I know.
As for the family room walls, I just couldn't come up with an idea that made me happy. Yes, Pinterest gave me inspiration, but I didn't quite get it right.
I read several reviews about Modsy and a competitor Havenly. I decided to go with Modsy based on this review, and I'm so happy I did! Setting up the account, loading photos, and working with my designer (Jennifer), was so easy!
I have to admit I was a little impatient with excitement to wait the few days it took to view the initial design, but I'm absolutely thrilled with it and have begun working on making the changes.
I uploaded photos (they said to send photos, messy room and all!) on February 9, and by February 16, Jennifer provided two potential layouts of the room. I let her know I was less concerned about the furniture layout than I was with designing that wall. A week later, she sent two really great designs.
Design 1
White dots are links within Modsy to purchase the items.
Design 2
Design 2 was a little busy for me, so I chose Design 1 and began determining what I could do myself vs. what items I would need to purchase. I'm going to try to keep the redesign under $1,500. Let's see how I do! (Note: I originally wanted to see if I could do it for $1000, but that just wasn't going to be possible).
My first task was to determine the paint color. I took a swatch of the window panel fabric (Yep, I made those!) to The Home Depot. I really like the Marquee One Coat Paint, but this job should be even easier than normal painting because I'm painting over white walls. I considered going with a cheaper paint, but I like the look and ease of the Marquee. I always try three different shades on a wall before I paint. Samples are inexpensive, and I use a throw away brush for each color to keep things simple.
It surprises me that I rarely choose the sample I like best while in the store. At the store, I chose a lighter shade just to have a third color. Now that I see them on my wall, I like the lighter shade much better than the other two. The sample I thought I would like best was the Poseidon (top left), but I like the Superior Blue (bottom) much better. From the kitchen, the top samples look almost black.
Paint swatches - Clockwise: Poseidon, Deep Breath and Superior Blue
Our little beagle boy, Bear, is now two years old. During his first year of life, he decided our furniture and baseboard made great chew toys. I tried Jalapenos on the baseboard, and that only made him like them more. I tried the spray deterrent on the furniture, but you have to spray a few times per day to keep it effective.
I spent last year redoing most of the furniture, and I found that I really enjoyed upholstery work. Good thing. My daughter, Abbie, came home from college for the holidays, and she brought her puppy, Rae, along with. Rae proceeded to chew up everything all over again just like Bear before her!!
Bear, Missy and Winnie. Innocent, huh?
The photo above is just a sampling of what our busy boy could accomplish when left alone. At least he grew out of that phase!
Follow along to see if I'm able to stay under budget, and to see if my work ends up close to the suggested design. I'll add tips and tutorials when I think I can be helpful to anyone else wanting to take on similar projects.
And please comment below any suggestions or words of encouragement! If this works out, I'm going to tackle some more rooms that need updating!
]]>
If you watch HGTV at all or read about renovating homes, you know you want to start with a house that has great bones. Great bones means the house is structurally sound with a layout that can be restructured to meet the needs of a modern family with modern needs. This house has great bones! We're not sure what year it was built, but it's old enough to have stood the test of time. Fortunately, cosmetic updates can go a long way in making the home feel modern and contemporary.
Our goal is to not only update the cosmetic feel of the home, but to add features that make the home more livable and comfortable so that every inch is utilized to its fullest.
Here are some of the new features:
We're touching up the basement for even more family space:
We'd love to add a roof to the deck similar to this photo, but we're going to have to see how the budget looks as we get near the end of the project.
The solid concrete bricks and steel beams in the basement show this house was built back when builders took their time to construct a house with permanence in mind. There are no signs the basement has ever had water, and we checked carefully after several recent rains - this house does not take in water anywhere we looked. In fact, the thick concrete floor doesn't even show cracks. No cracks in the floor are unheard of in construction today.
The windows will all be replaced for not only beautiful aesthetics, but with energy efficiency in mind. A house with all new windows - yay!
We struggled with which wall to place a TV, but eventually realized the perfect placement is on the northwest wall. This placement allows the TV to be seen from any point within the living area, guaranteeing no one will miss a great football play or the hottest news on Entertainment Tonight.
This layout shows the front entrance door moved to the middle of the wall, a plan we scrapped after realizing the door would simply chop up the living area rather than add to the ambience.
With such an open space, it's the perfect area for any chef-wannabe or a busy family that simply needs to toss in a few frozen pizzas. And look at that island - over 32 square feet of solid quartz! That's right - the island will be 8 feet long by 4 feet wide with the sink in the middle and a built in dishwasher on the right-hand side.
Of course, a new kitchen must have all new appliances. The stainless steel finish of the Amana appliances adds to the clean, modern look of the home. The new homeowner will be the first to use the appliances, including a 1.6 cubic foot over-the-range microwave.
The island has two facings of cabinets, so that's almost 16 feet of cabinet/drawer storage! The kitchen-facing side under the island has six feet of cabinets and drawers, the other two feet was needed for the dishwasher. The bar stool-side of the island has a lengthy eight feet of cabinet space.
And did you say "Walk-in Pantry?" Absolutely! This new kitchen will have a roomy walk-in pantry - a rare find in a house this size.
The previous owners added on a large owner's suite (30 x 11 in the bedroom alone), and we're taking it to the next level. We're updating the area, but leaving the dimensions as they are. A walk-in closet gives the new owners ample space to store shoes, clothes and maybe even hide some Christmas gifts.
The bathroom needs some work, though. We'll replace the single vanity that's a bit close to the shower with an elegant marble-topped double vanity to give both parents the space they need to get ready for the day. The double vanity will be moved away from the shower to allow easy access without feeling crowded, yet still close enough to reach for a towel if needed. We'll also add a glass shower door to replace the current shower curtain to ensure a spa-like atmosphere.
The updated laundry room will feel clean, fresh and organized. New windows leading to the exterior as well as new windows to the crawl space contribute to the unblemished feel of this tidy space. The freshly painted cabinets removed from the kitchen will line one wall in the laundry room to provide space for folding and straightening up. The laundry tub and faucets will be new, refreshing a tired space.
And that fireplace .... wait til you see it! We have no idea why such a gorgeous stone fireplace was relegated to the basement, but you'll easily pass the winters snuggled into this updated and comfy space.
Finally, a large storage area at the foot of the staircase allows you to tuck away necessities needed on a seasonal basis. Holiday decor, family memories, and other items you may have a hard time parting with can find a home within your home via this area.
We'll add to this post as we progress. Meanwhile, you can watch our progress through other posts as they are written. We hope you enjoy the journey with us, and maybe learn from our mistakes along the way.
Here's a link to the post that tells about Tom and me, Val Moody. And for our history and why we took on this crazy project, click here.
If you're interested in learning about how we built income that allows us the time freedom and financial independence to rehab a house without pressure, download our 60-page E-book at no cost. We're looking for people to work with, and our business could be for you.
Here's how to download our E-book for free:
So the work upstairs is at a bit of a standstill for now. We need Connor and crew to replace the windows in every room before we can paint, and we need them to take down the wall in the kitchen and install the cabinets before we can do any further work.
To keep things moving along, Tom and I began working on the basement, which has incredible potential. I spent a few hours vacuuming out all of the cobwebs from the ceiling rafters and basically giving a deep clean to the laundry area. There is a lot of space down there, and we're moving the kitchen cabinets that we took down into the basement to provide a nice folding area.
While cleaning, I couldn't figure out the purpose for this black "box." Tom came down and started poking around and realized the black "door" opens to the outside. We don't really know why it's there, but we're assuming it was a way to get coal into the basement for heat. Who knows for sure?
I agin went back to Pinterest for ideas on how to make the laundry area a place where someone would actually want to spend some time cleaning clothes, folding and staying organized. We don't want to cover up the innerworkings of the home with drywall or a drop ceiling, but we do want it to feel warm and cozy. After viewing multiple photos of painted rafters, I decided to do the same.
I love spray paint. I know it sounds concerning, but there are few "tools" that can provide immediate gratification in making something look clean and new. Plus, I hate seeing brush strokes. Spray paint gives you a clean finish and brightens up everything it covers. But spray paint in an enclosed area with pilot lights is not a safe environment!
I started painting, then realized I could potentially blow up the place, so I called Tom down to the basement to help me turn off the pilot light to the water heater. I sprayed a corner, then thought about the boiler heather that sits next to the water heater. "Hmmmm ..... that one probably has a pilot light also," my smart self considered. Time to go get Tom again to help turn this one off as well.
After consulting Siri and YouTube, we determined which valve would most likely turn off the gas to the heating system, and I thought it would be safe to begin painting again. A few sprays, and I was spooked. Deciding to place safety ahead of getting the ceiling painted "on schedule," I went upstairs to find something to do. It was after 5 pm, so an unreasonable time to call the heating contractor I had talked to earlier about taking out the radiator in the kitchen. A call to him the next morning assured me that by turning off the gas source to both the water heater and the boiler heater, I would be safe to finish spray painting the ceiling in the basement.
I bought 6 cans of Krylon Fusion paint at Lowes. The first few seconds of spray seemed to come out clear. In fact, many times when using a new can, I double-checked the label to make sure it was white paint in the can. One of the spray nozzles also broke off when I was trying to take off the lid, so that can will be returned to Lowes.
I did have to laugh after the first can or two that I applied. I keep my long hair in a messy bun 90% of the time. At some point, I realized that I had protected my eyes with safety goggles and my hands with gloves, but the hair hadn't been on my protection radar. Sure enough, when I looked in the mirror upstairs, my bun had smudged against the ceiling and turned my auburn tresses white. I didn't have my hooded jacket with me, so I reached for the closest hair protection - a Lowe's plastic shopping bag. Yep, plop it on my head, tie the handles at the back at my neck, and I was good to go. Tom laughed and wanted to take a photo, but I didn't want him to slow down my progress. Now, though, I wish I had that photo.
I applied the five working cans of paint that I had, and the result was splotchy. I could have left the ceiling as it was, because it definitely was an improvement, but I really want the area to look nice for the new owners. I'm going to purchase my go to spray paint from The Home Depot today and see if the second coat using this paint gives me the result I'm looking for.
]]>To make a long story short, Ellen contacted the selling realtor, and worked things out. The sellers had accepted another offer with a financing contingency. Because our offer was for cash (and probably a higher dollar value), the sellers ended up declining the first offer and accepting ours. Most real estate contracts allow a 5-day attorney review period where you can "get out of" the offer, especially if there are contingencies.
609 E. 12th Street, Lockport, IL
The house as it looked the day we bought it.
We closed on the house at 2:30 pm May 13, 2021. We walked out the door of the title company around 4 pm and went straight to the house where we immediately got to work taking down the kitchen cabinets and removing the pantry. Tom, who was never known as being "handy," thoroughly enjoyed himself and was thrilled to use a crow bar and a sledge hammer. Who knew?
Tom knocking a hole through the kitchen wall. Looks like his best Jack Nicholson impression .... "Here's Johnny!"
We got a lot done that day, and continued working on the house each day.
Here's what the kitchen looked like before we started demoing.
Kitchen photos. Note pantry on right of last photo.
Our first challenge was what to do with the layout of the kitchen, family room, dining room area. With windows on every wall, and the fact that we took out the wall where the previous owners placed their TV (against the kitchen wall), we wanted to make the home comfortable and functional. I'm a numbers person. I try to make decisions solely by numbers rather than emotion. Yes, I'd love to do all these really great upgrades, but we need to make this a profitable venture. It doesn't make sense to spend a ton of money making a really nice house that you then can't sell for a profit. So deciding where to put our budget dollars is key to making this work.
We determined we had 3 main points to spend the majority of our budget:
The challenge was to make the family room functional with TV placement while not disrupting the exterior look of the house. This kept me awake for hours that first night.
I found an online software HomeByMe that allows me to layout the house and then move walls, windows, etc. I can even add furniture! Playing with the layout allowed me to see that if we removed one set of windows on the side of the family room that faces a neighbor, we then have a wall for the TV to be visible from pretty much everywhere within the living area. Mission accomplished!
Initial idea for family room layout
We considered moving the door to the middle of the front of the house, but then decided that would break up the flow of the living/dining area. We didn't want people walking in and running right into the sofa. By keeping the door in the corner, you open the door to the full effect of the open concept living space.
Here's what the pantry looked like after that first night. We started removing the screws that held the upper kitchen cabinets to the wall, but we weren't certain why they didn't come down, so we left that job for the next day.
Pantry removed
We figured out how to take down the cabinets (many were screwed together) by placing a crow bar underneath and pulling the cabinet away from the wall. Taking down kitchen cabinets was much easier than I thought. Then Tom got started on removing the wood paneling and using his trusty sledge hammer to attack the dry wall. Because this is a load-bearing wall, we didn't want to do anything other than cosmetic work so that Connor and his guys could use their expertise to secure the column and make sure the wall didn't crash down around us.
Our other initial consideration was how we were going to improve the look of the ugly deck on the front of the house. I spent a lot of time on Pinterest during the early phase looking for ideas that would make major improvements for the least impact on our budget. I also have a few Facebook groups I belong to with some very creative women. I posted a photo of the house within one of the groups, and many suggested adding a roof to the front deck. Tom and I both love this suggestion, so we asked Connor, our contractor, to work up a quote as to what it would cost to add the roof. We'll keep you posted as to whether or not the roof idea is affordable.
]]>My dad, George A. Bertrand, Jr., was a good man. No, actually, he was a great man. Could he be gruff or short-tempered at times? Sure. Was he demanding and hard on my brother and me as kids? You betcha.
But I always knew that if I needed help with something, Dad would be there. My call for assistance typically would begin with calling Mom, who would then check with Dad, and then they'd always come through. Have a question about cars or real estate? Immediately call Dad. So that's probably what prompted this little venture.
My dad was well-known in our hometown of Ridgecrest, CA. He was very generous and enjoyed helping. In fact, after he passed, story after story came out of how he had helped people that we didn't even know about. For many, when Dad heard they may have fallen on hard times, he paid off back taxes or mortgages and provided rent free housing for those in need. He had fallen on hard times himself in his younger years, and friends had helped him out. He liked returning that favor when he could.
My parents built several successful businesses, mostly related to the development of vacant land. They had the equipment and the know-how to add the water, electrical and sewer lines where needed, along with paving streets and adding sidewalks.
I love real estate also, but more so home remodeling. I have a lot of energy, probably more than is all that healthy. When I'm frustrated or stressed, it's best to loosen that energy on "projects." In the past, my projects began with making window treatments and later led to painting the entire interior of our house (it was over 5,000 square feet) with the assistance of my youngest daughter, Emma. Mind you, Emma was a whopping ten years old at the time that we took on house painting.
Years later, when the kids were in high school and we decided to down-size, we built a smaller home, and I began painting furniture. But then we added our beagle pup, Bear, to our family; who decided our upholstered furniture made great chew toys. So I learned how to reupholster.
After my dad passed, I found comfort (or maybe distraction) ripping apart chairs and sofas and then piecing them back together with new fabric. Breathing life into discarded pieces somehow made me feel better.
February of 2021, my husband, Tom, and I flew down to Redington Shores, Florida, for a much-needed break and to start looking around for a beach house to purchase after our youngest graduates from high school in 2022. For the history as to why this area appealed to us, take a look at "A little Background and History." While touring a house on the intracoastal, it occurred to me that we could sell our home in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and put that money into a Florida home now rather than wait. I put a call into our property manager, and he agreed that it was a great time to sell the house that we had been renting to tenants since May of 2020. Due to the shortage of inventory (not many people want to sell their homes during a pandemic), homes were selling at top market prices.
We put the house on the market late Wednesday night March 17, and we had two contracts by Sunday. We even increased the list price $10,000 more than what we had planned due to closings we saw come in the week prior to listing. The closing was scheduled for May due to the tenant lease, and if we had waited another month to list the house, we probably would have gotten at least another $10,000 because prices continued to soar.
2084 Bancroft Lane, Mount Pleasant, SC
Once we made the decision to sell the Carolina house, we began looking at small homes to rehab in Florida. When Tom and I were first engaged, we bought a home in Redington Shores, a small beach town between Clearwater and Saint Petersburg. We liked the area, so I began looking for something under $200,000 that needed work and that would be a good investment.
I learned about "wholesale realtors." I didn't know such a market existed, but basically, there are companies that find distressed properties and sell them to investors. The wholesalers work out a deal with the property owner, then they offer the deal to investors. The transaction is then deemed a double closing - on the date of closing, the owner sells to the wholesaler, and the wholesaler sells to the investor. The wholesaler is basically paid a finder's fee to find a home for the investor to purchase.
I met with Mike Slanga, of New Western Properties, and he explained the concept to me. When New Western had a property that met my criteria, I received an email that detailed the cost of the property, the repairs New Western thought the home needed, and the comparable properties that could help determine what the property could be worth after repairs.
The email went out to the full list of investors that could potentially be interested in the property. It's crazy, but these homes are selling within minutes - sight unseen. I flew down to look at some of the sold properties so that I could see for myself that the homes actually existed, and I wanted to see if I would have been happy if I had bought one of them. The transactions are definitely legit, but I needed to learn the area better so that I could make a solid decision to purchase before someone else snatched up a good deal. While looking at properties, I met Riley Sheehan of Net Worth Realtors. He is also a wholesale broker with an email that comes out when they have properties for sale.
Somewhere in there, Abbie, our eldest daughter, decided she wanted to move to the area to work in a beach restaurant while continuing to earn her bachelor's degree online. Prior to the pandemic, online college was something kids joked about and didn't really take seriously. The pandemic changed many of our perceptions about life and mobility, though, so Tom and I were open to Abbie's decision.
We took a family vacation at the end of March down to Florida to look around some more. Tom and I planned to look at properties while the kids hung out at the beach. We invited my mom along. My parent's 58th wedding anniversary would have been March 23. I flew out to California to be with my mom on that very hard day, and then she came back with me to Chicago. She's always wanted a home on the water, and I thought Florida would be a good get away for her.
For four days, the three of us drove all over the Pinellas County and Tampa area during the day. Our mornings and evenings were spent at dinner and sightseeing with our kids, and we enjoyed the time together. Mom smiled and laughed more than I had seen in the prior three months.
We came back to Illinois, and I continued to watch wholesale properties that would come on the market. We specifically wanted to be in the Dunedin area or North Saint Petersburg where a lot of rehabbing was already taking place.
We also kept an eye on properties close to home in Illinois. I had alerts set up to let me know when houses with our criteria came on the market, but those houses sold equally fast. Countless times, we would look at a house the day it became available, then put in an offer only to find out the house had sold before our offer was even submitted.
So it basically became a race to see which location would offer the best deal. We looked at a home in April in Lockport, IL. As we walked out and discussed an offer with Tom's cousin, Ellen Lange, our realtor; my phone pinged that the house had sold. What? Keep reading the next post to see what happened ....
]]>I graduated in 1990 from California State University Fullerton with a degree in Communications, Journalism emphasis. While in college, I worked as an administrative assistant at The Home Depot between my journalism and public relations internships. That’s probably where my love for home renovation began, but who can know for sure. So that’s enough about me for now.
Let’s hop into what I’m currently working on, and we’ll see if that has some interest for you.
I’ve been looking for a house to renovate in Florida. Yes, I still live in Illinois, but my husband, Tom, and I discovered Redington Shores, FL; in 1998, shortly before our wedding in 1999. Tom and I had been sent by our nutrition distribution company Reliv International, to Florida to identify and train new distributors in the Tampa area. I found Reliv when I was 28-years-old and worked for The Home Depot as a project manager. The products absolutely changed my life by helping level out a blood sugar issue I had dealt with since I was a teenager. Tom found Reliv in his late 20's as well, and we met on a cruise in the Bahamas, all paid for by Reliv. The life we have together as a result of building our Reliv businesses is much more than I could have imagined. You can read our story here. In fact, if you'd like to read the full story, you can download our book for free. Just enter code FREE at checkout. Without Reliv, our rehab projects wouldn't be possible.
While staying in a condo on the beach in 1998, we walked past a run-down looking beach house for sale. “Who would buy that dump?” Tom questioned as we walked past. “Let’s take a look,” I suggested. The look he gave me was way beyond, “Are you kidding?” I was not.
We bought the house for $285,000 in November of 1998. We spent most of our winter at the beach house, ultimately enclosing the back deck (who thought building a deck to overlook a street was a good idea?), and updating the bathrooms. We probably should have done more with the kitchen, but we never really cooked much anyway. That first year, we mostly went out for dinner (I almost developed a taste for seafood), then came home and spent the rest of the evening playing Yahtzee while “Law and Order” aired on our TV.
The best part of the beach house, though, was the sunsets. Every night at around 5:30 pm, we’d grab a glass of wine and sit on our deck overlooking the gulf.
View from our deck at 17610 Lee Ave in Redington Shores
A public walkway ran next to our house, and the city had placed a small bench along the walkway. Residents and snowbirds (what the locals called the visitors from northern states and Canada) flocked to the beach at the same time to watch the sunset. Our half lab/half shar pei, Libby, sat at our feet. In fact, Libby was so popular with the beachgoers that many dubbed the bench next to our deck “Libby’s bench.” It was a peaceful and tranquil way to spend an evening and end a beautiful warm day.
LIbby couldn't be with us at our wedding on Coronado Island, so this picture was at the sign-in table
Second to the sunsets was leaving the sliding glass doors on the front of the house open to hear the waves break as we went to sleep. Because our beach house was raised with the garage beneath, we never worried about break ins or feared for our safety in any way. The house was only about 1200 square feet with two bathrooms and two bedrooms, but it felt like a mansion to us back then. It was all the space we needed for the two of us.
We were married January 17, 1999, on Coronado Island, CA. Coronado Island is accessed via a long bridge over the Pacific Ocean from San Diego. The largest building on the island is Hotel del Coronado, a historic structure that was originally wired for electricity by Thomas Edison. Yep, that Thomas Edison. We were married in the courtyard, then left the next day for our honeymoon in Aruba and Bonaire. We completed our scuba certification months earlier in Crystal Springs, FL, about an hour north of Reddington Shores. Aruba was a fun-filled adventure with casinos, incredible restaurants, shopping and scuba excursions. Bonaire, on the other hand, was strictly for scuba enthusiasts. Unless you’re a fan of diving or reading a book on the beach, Bonaire would not be your ideal vacation spot. We loved it!
In April of 1999, I became pregnant with our first child. We were ecstatic, and couldn’t believe we were going to have a baby. I was 32-years-old and Tom was 40. Our son was due January 14, 2000. Tom’s parents came to stay with us for Mother’s Day weekend that May, and we informed them of our news while sitting in the living room of our beach house. So many memorable times in that house. We sent my parents in California a fun gift package to announce the news to them.
I lost track of the number of times people patted my pregnant belly during those months and asked, “Are you worried about delivering during Y2K?” Most of 1999, people speculated what might happen when all electronics switched over to the new century. Of course, worries were overblown and the world didn’t end. Nothing much happened at all that New Year’s Eve.
Tommy, our son, was born January 17, 2000. Our 1-year wedding anniversary. Tommy’s birth makes it easy to figure out how many years Tom and I have been married. What year is it? Now add 1 to the last two digits, and that’s how long we’ve been married.
Tommy and Daddy Bear, his favorite baby toy. Yes, he still has him today.
Tommy was born in Hinsdale, IL, just a few miles from our home in Burr Ridge, where we lived at the time. Tom owned a townhouse when we became engaged, and once we found out we were going to have a baby, we wanted a home with a backyard to raise our family. The beach house was our first “fixer upper,” and our home in Burr Ridge became our second. We purchased the home from the bank at a discount because it needed some cosmetic updating. We started out painting the rooms ourselves (I was cautious due to the pregnancy), and I wanted to feel like the house was ours by doing the work ourselves. We hired help, however, during my 7th month. I had been wallpapering a bathroom and sat down to reach in to finish a tight spot between the vanity cabinet and the toilet. After perfecting the last piece, I tried to stand up and found that I was stuck. I couldn’t lean forward, and I couldn’t put my hands down behind me, so I had to call for Tom to help me. That’s when we realized we needed some help.
]]>