Paint-by-Sticky Note

The most important thing my husband and I have discovered is that painting an entire townhouse takes forever! WOW! We had no idea how long it took to paint. We have done single rooms before, but never an entire dwelling. We thought we would cruise through this with our new Graco Magnum X5 Paint Sprayer. We thought we'd be able to spray all the paints. Not quite.

Our first paint was Zinsser B-I-N®. It turns out there is something called a "Flash Point". This is the temperature at which a substance ignites. Yes, that means it bursts into flame. No, don't worry, we read the instructions and found out that Zinsser B-I-N® has a flash point lower than our sprayer can handle. We hand rolled that.

We talked to a professional painter (Doubles as our drywall guy) and he said that we'd never be able to control the over spray of the actual wall color and would have to roll and not spray it. We had already bought the roller accessory (That is an awesome product!), so we were not too upset. It might set us back a day or two, but how could it possibly take that long?

Again, WOW!

So here's how it is going (Still painting as I am writing this). We had already ripped all the flooring up. We covered the glass of the windows (Not the window trim). We were a little stumped by the 3 arched windows and how to cover those until our painter gave us a trick. Best trick for that, put up the plastic and put the tape on so it hits the plastic, the window and the trim. Then cut away the tape that is left on the trim! Speeds up the process so you don't have to be so careful with the tape. A lifesaver with round windows!

I then cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. Prior to the Zinsser going down I washed all the floor trim with TSP (Trisodium phosphate). This is a two step process. Two buckets, one with TSP and one with water. You're not supposed to let the TSP mixture dry on the surface so you have to wipe it off with water. So I wiped it twice. I then cleaned all the rest of the trim.

Next the guys were able to power spray the ceilings and closets. Then the guys power sprayed the trim. This was a huge time saver. Do the trim first and you don't have to tape twice.

This is where the sticky notes came out. So that Matt and I were on the same page we put up notes, on each wall, what color it would be. It was a lot easier to calculate the amount of paint we would need if we could see what color went where.

Sticky notes worked so well for that, that their roll expanded. We've had a total of five different people working on painting our house. I found a way to communicate with everyone using everyone's favorite notes.

As I was cleaning the trim, I would come across areas the previous owner had patched, but never primed. I marked those with a sticky note. I found places that needed to be filled in and sanded. I marked those with a different color note. It worked out better than I expected. The guys knew exactly what to do where. After everything got filled and sanded - both colors of notes were primed. No one had to stand around and squint at the walls trying to find the place to prime or sand.

Matt and I got lessons on how to "Cut lines" by hand with out using tape. We tried and were unimpressed by our efforts so, I started taping. Matt has gotten much better at cutting than I have so we now use a combination of both methods. He also has trouble cutting the floor trim, so all of that is taped. As we are still learning how to cut we are making mistakes that will need to be touched up; We are marking those with sticky notes. Then we can touch up everything of that color at once and not have to slow scan everything multiple times. Huge time-saver.

After all that Matt rolled with the pressure roller. You can cover a HUGE amount of space fairly quickly. Even though we got paint and primer in one we knew we'd still use two coats so we didn't have to fret about coverage.The one thing Matt wished we'd done is buy wider tape. We knew this, but forgot in the chaos.

We did need another gallon of one of our highlight colors when we changed our minds about a room. Huge mess-saver tip - take a photo of the top of your paint cans when you purchase them. Then when you need another gallon anyone can go to the store to pick it up, just forward the right pic to them on their cell phone. No messy paint can lid to carry around.

Budget Savers!
We bought a middle of the road paint that got good reviews in Consumer Reports, Glidden® Duo at Home Depot. We had a Home Depot "Mover's Coupon". This gave us 10% off the entire purchase (Up to $2,000. Two weeks later it was Labor Day weekend. Home Depot happened to offer a rebate on our exact paint. We took our receipts into the store and the lovely cashier returned our paint and re-rung it up so we could get the rebate. It was huge - $40 per 5 gallon bucket and $10 per single gallon bucket. We had 3 5 gallons and 12 single gallons. You feel free to do the math!

Ready to have a Bonfire with the Vanities that I didn't like

Saving money is a high priority with our renovation. First we needed a  complete list of renovations.

1. Clean EVERYTHING. Think "Cat Owner who never cleaned"
2. Rip out all carpet. Think "Owner before last had a dog, followed by a cat owner, with a cat who marked"
3. Repair Drywall. Previous roof had improperly installed flange and had a teeny tiny leak for 7 years. Approx. 1.5 foot square near the top of the cathedral ceiling.
4. Gut Master Bathroom. Think "Built with tile on drywall in shower".
5. Paint all floors with Zinsser (For pet odor).
6. Paint all walls.
7. Lay tile floors.
8. Have carpet installed.
9. Plumb and finish Master Bathroom.
10. Replace dated and dingy lighting.
11. Install new Kitchen Sink, Garbage Disposal & Dishwasher.
12. MOVE IN
13. Renovate Main Bathroom
14. Next year - Renovate Kitchen.

THAT'S ALL

We turned to Craig's List as our first stop to see what good stuff we could get "slightly used" or "new and never used".

Matt is a "Master Finder" if you want to purchase anything, Matt can find it. Cars for example, we have flown to Oklahoma City and driven back a used car. Matt has flown to Vermont and driven back a used truck. He has found almost everything we've ever needed or wanted for a great price. So he starts hunting.

The first find was a shower surround. The Master Bath is getting a shower only. The Main Bath will have a jetted tub and shower. We found a "New in Box" on CL for $100. It's currently at Lowe's for $245. They had opened the box and slightly damaged the top edge of a side panel. We are putting tile up around the top so it won't impede that at all.

We purchased the base new as it comes separate. That was $169.

The next find was our Master Bathroom Vanity, kind of. Matt was in negotiations with someone who had the base cabinet in the style and color I wanted (I have very specific designs on that vanity). I didn't like the marble top he was selling with it. The total was going to be $800 for both. $500 for just the base. After Matt told him when we were picking it up he agreed, but said if anyone came along who wanted the two together, he'd sell it to them instead. UGH! Well, they did. Back to square one.

The next find was our Main Bath Vanity. It was down on our list, but if something came up we were jumping on it. We jumped. Matt found a Custom Built 69" vanity with a Caesarstone top (Desert Limestone color), 2 Kohler Drop-in sink basins (Portrait Style) with faucets included.  All for $500! The sink basins alone were nearly $300 each. The catch... We had to disassemble it from the owner's house. We brought our tools and in about an hour and a half we had it out. We got to keep everything back to the shut off valves. It's beautiful for the main bathroom. 

Yes, the drawers under the sink cabinets are REAL!

Matt has looked all over CL and can't find MY vanity. Yes, it's mine. He would go for something that looks nice, but we decided that the look I'm going for is good so we're going to work hard to get it (At the right price). We needed a baseline for the price so we went to Bailey's in North Judson, IN. The total price for the custom cabinet and top was around $1500. That didn't include faucets. We REALLY had to beat that. All the on-line/storefront options were at least $1000 without faucets and with tops I didn't like. We went to a factory outlet to see what tops actually cost and even with the option of using a remnant it was still $750.

We were starting to wonder what to do since we couldn't pick tile either until we knew what top we were going to get. A week later BAM there it was. A clearing house in Des Plaines, Illinois posted 3 vanities (On Craig's List) in the style I wanted. Matt found them and hour after they were listed ranging in price from $350-800. The catch - All 3 were damaged. They were already closed when he found them, so to make sure we got one Matt decided to be there close to when they opened. He was the only one there at 8:15am and had his choice. We chose the $350 dollar one. They were eager to get rid of them and Matt had cash and a truck so we got it for $300.

Now, what's wrong with it... It seems it needs a little wood glue. We're going to push the seems back together and glue. Also, the marble top (In a color I hate) is cracked. There's 1 crack near the bowl and 1 through the faucet hole. We're going to use some clear silicone to seal it up and use it until later when we can afford the top I want. We're going for a brown & white color scheme for the Master Bathroom.

 

We still have plenty more to do, and this took an entire day so we didn't get an work done on the townhouse ourselves. My parents worked their hearts out while we were out. They are wonderful!

Decorating 911 Call

Everything was set for the following day, we had 200 miles to travel with one stop being Tile Outlet. The only problems, what colors are going in which rooms AND what was ACTUALLY going to be tiled. No problem... Time to panic!

It was 4'Oclock and we were talking about the expedition we had planned for the following day. Then Matt brought up the question that sent us spiraling into panic. Do you want to tile a walkway from the foyer to the kitchen? I started worrying that would make the living room look too small. Would the walkway be wide enough. Where do we stop the tile and pick up carpet for the bedroom? Do we tile the dining room now? We are not remodeling the kitchen for a while so do we hope they still have the tile when we're ready for that?

And the biggest question - What color tile do we get?

This was too much. I called for back-up - My friend Kim. Matt and I love her style and trust her judgement. She heard the panic in my voice and took pity on us coming to our rescue. I can make decisions if I have parameters, but I didn't know what they were. We walked her though the entire place and she took it one step at a time. She asked if we wanted to lay the tile "On Point" or "Square". I asked, "What's 'On Point'?" I give her credit, she didn't laugh. Of course I knew what it was, I just didn't know that's what it was called. I started out firmly in the "Square" camp, using a brick pattern. Once she pointed out how much grout you could see when it's laid "Square", I jumped camps over to the "On Point" side.  Although she couldn't tell us an exact tile color she gave us the tips to matching it to the room. She said there was definitely enough room to tile the heavy traffic area and we could buy all the tile now and tile the kitchen when it was time.

While she was there she also modified our color palette slightly with alternate shades of one's we had picked out as our "White" (Actually light cream) would look blue in the daylight. These are things I hadn't known. She helped us pick out the main colors and highlights for each room. When we were done, she had successfully talked us off our ledge. We actually felt capable of tackling our tile decisions.

If you are having trouble with your decorating ideas, I hope you have a "Kim" in your life you can call. She was a life-saver!

Here's the bathroom tile we picked.

I cropped the photo, sorry it looks weird.

Here's the foyer/walkway/dining/kitchen tile

Each tile has different shades.

As the Color Wheel Turns

All of our former homes have had one style, "One Color". One color on every wall. We've always wanted to change that, but it never seemed to work out. Since the place will be empty and we're tearing out all the floors, it is the perfect time to paint.

I visit my friends and their homes are beautifully decorated. We are downsizing, but i know it's possible to do this on a budget so here's our opportunity. I'm going to make our new house a home if it kills me. I keep apologizing to my husband in hopes that I don't take him down with me.

I believe this starts with one piece and a color palette to match it. I had no idea how much trouble this would cause. The one piece was easy. Our couches are an dark orange-brown color and I already had all the Valspar color books so we picked out 5 to 6 colors, white to dark brown. We looked up paints on Consumer Reports and decided to go with a "Best Value" for the price paint, Glidden.

This is where i almost take Matt down. I know you can color-match paint. We have done this ourselves to match paint on things around our house. But once, a long time ago I asked to have a paint chip matched for a different brand of paint and the guy at the desk told me that it wouldn't look the same. I have believed this ever since. Looking back, I'm thinking that he didn't know how, but this has scarred me ever since. I told Matt that i thought we should pick colors from the Glidden display. He stared at me wide-eyed with a blank look. I could almost see the hours we spent debating the original colors flash before his eyes. He is amazing. He only questioned the logic behind my argument and then proceeded to look for the Glidden colors that came close to what we decided on. What we found would work, but I wasn't really happy with it.

The "Gentle Fawn" was giving me fits. I didn't really like it. Several days later I conceded and said we should go back to the colors we originally picked. He never pressured me, he just waited. I apologized and now we love our colors. We didn't originally pick out a blue so we may stick with the Rich Navy from Glidden, but we haven't been back to the store to check Valspar's blues.

Check out our new palette at pinterest.com/kimandginger/my-color-palette/

Complications of Buying a House in 2013

My husband and I are not your average couple. We tend to do things differently than most people we know. My husband is a man of action. I am very grateful for this as I tend to be on the side of inaction. I find it hard to make a decision if there are too many choices (Just wait until you read about us picking out a color palette). Matt and I came to the decision we needed to sell and get into something less costly back in February. We started working on that immediately. We didn’t need to think about it. God had been leading us that way for a while so when he finally talked to me about it, I was so relieved, I immediately agreed.

Then came “The Plan” – We could go the traditional route and sell our house while trying to buy another and take walk through Mordor to get to Mount Doom (LOTR reference) that is our current banking and mortgage system OR we could be creative. We got creative. After much discussion and several phone calls, Matt (My husband) found someone to “Invest” in us. They provide the money in cash for the purchase and in a year we take out a mortgage and give them their investment plus a 12-percent profit. That gives us a year to sell our house and fix up whatever we buy. If after a year our current house is not sold, then we move out and they sell the new one for the profit, less what we put into it.

We found a real estate agent and gave her our specs:

• REO (Most likely)
• House
• 3 Bedrooms
• Decent kitchen (Matt’s judgment call)
• Yard for our dog
• 1700 square feet or more
• Good neighborhood
• Closer to my job (I am currently 63 miles away, yes, that’s one-way)

That’s not very restrictive, and thought we could find something quick. We were so wrong. You would not believe the junk that’s out there. There was a house that had all the duct work, electric lines and plumbing removed forcibly from the drywall, now hole, covered walls. We bid on at least 8 properties. Several we were outbid on. Several were countered by the banks at THE SAME list price. We bid on one that had termites. We rescinded as soon as we found out. We were actually the high bidder on one and were, accidentally passed up by the bank’s asset manager. Everything was selling for list price or more and needed massive work done on top of that.

The beginning of June we had just about given up when Matt went in another direction. What follows is what we actually got.

• REO (Most likely) – SHORT SALE
• House – TOWNHOUSE
• 3 Bedrooms – 2 Bedrooms and a Loft
• Decent kitchen (Matt’s judgment call) - YES
• Yard for our dog – You did see “Townhouse” above, right?
• 1700 square feet or more – 1598 sq. feet
• Good neighborhood - YES
• Closer to my job – YES

We are FINALLY closing this week! We are praying that the bank doesn't do anything crazy. We have heard Short Sale horror stories. Yet this is only the beginning. The next steps: remodel, move in, sell our current house, DOWNSIZE EVERYTHING, except the cat and the dog. It's going to be a wild ride. I can't wait!

The Lessons We Forgot

There are so many things we forgot

The life lessons I should never have forgotten are too numerous to count. The ones I intend to cover here can be broken down to three:

1. Never spend more than you make
2. Bigger isn't always better
3. "If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else"

That last one was a quote from Dave Ramsey. My husband and I learned that one early on in our marriage, but had forgotten it until now.

We took the Financial Peace University course at our church a couple of years into our marriage. We loved it and jumped on board. We started budgeting and stopped using credit cards. This drastically altered our marriage in wonderful ways. We got our spending under control and paid off the credit cards and were able to help worthy causes, then life happened.

In 2009 we were having breakfast in our suburban home when we looked out the kitchen window to see police surrounding our neighbors house. The neighborhood had started on a downward slope and we could not see it getting better. We decided to sell the house while it still had value. We loved that house, we had completely over-improved it beyond what the market could bear. At the time we didn't care because they were things we liked, whole-house tankless hot water heater, two-stage furnace and a/c, ventless fireplace, and the list goes on.

We sold our house in February in about 2 weeks. They were willing to close in April. We saw tons of houses. We saw tons of horrible houses. We went through three real estate agents. We were a couple of weeks from closing and we didn't have any place to live. We panicked and bought a house we ended up hating. It had some of the things we wanted, but too much of everything.

We had no idea how much work 2.3 acres was to keep up. We had no idea how much 8 flower beds were to keep up. We had a house that had 3600 square feet of living space and had no idea how much it took to clean it. Worst of all, we had no idea how much money this would take. We, once again, have credit card debt. We have been sucked dry.

That is where you find us today. We have made the decision to "Super-Downsize". We are selling our house and buying a townhouse. We will be remodeling on a budget. We will be selling, donating or otherwise ridding ourselves of stuff. We'd love for you to join us on this journey.