Days 34 - 38

We are now just a few mere days away from listing Sugar Pine! We are so excited and so TIRED! At this point, I literally don't remember what day of the week it is...looking forward to a brain & body break very soon!!!!

Days 34-38 have been FULL of work. I spent most of my time finishing up the painting inside and outside, sprucing up the blah concrete front porch with some fabulous porch paint (gotta have the most curb appeal possible!) as well as cleaning the existing tile floors in the living room and kitchen that we are keeping. And by cleaning, I mean scrubbing, scrubbing, scrubbing, and scrubbing some more....and then scrubbing some more. My arms are now jello.

Dirtiest. Floor. Ever.

Amongst a host of other things, Dave has laid the new wood flooring in the entry way and laundry room, finished hanging the last of the light fixtures, installed the toilet, hung the crown molding and installed the appliances. Love seeing it all come together! Our plumber came and installed the faucets and hooked up all the new pipes. And our tile guy finished the floors in the master bath...

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Hanging the last light fixture...whoop whoop!

We have a few more things to mark off our list and then time to pack up, clean up, and stage the house, one of my favorite parts of the process...then off to Deerwood we go to try and knock it out before the end of the year!

"A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work."

- Colin Powell

Days 28 - 33

The Challenge is still ongoing! I punked out the past few days as far as the blog goes - but gotten so much done at our Sugar Pine Challenge! Instead of going into extreme detail about everythinggggg we've done (which could get tedious...and boring!), here's a few pics of our progress.

What a difference the new windows made...all 9 of 'em! They not only look beautiful, they add value. Can you imagine having all brand new windows in your home? I can't...and would love it!

 

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New front door

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The "so-so" tile that we kept in the kitchen actually doesn't look bad since painting the god-awful wallpaper and border (Yes, you CAN paint over both! Definite time saver!) and re-doing the cabinetry. And, I absolutely love the chandelier ($25.00 marked down from $99.99!). The scale is perfect for the space and the round shade adds a bit of coziness to the eat-in-kitchen. The new granite counter tops definitely add value and a bit of contrast in the kitchen...overall, pretty happy with the transformation!

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Love this chandelier!

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The bathrooms aren't scary, nasty dungeons any longer! David framed out the existing mirrors ($$$ saver!) and I painted the vanities. More granite installed as well as beadboard (more added value!). Dave put a fresh coat of epoxy in the showers, making them look better than new, so the bathroom revivals are a-coming along nicely!

 

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So happy with the carpet a well as the installer. Probably gonna be giving him more work in the future...gotta love adding more contractors to our list!

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We've decided to hire out the small amount of tiling we need done in the bathroom so we can finish sooner...plus it's not a big budget buster on this house. Tiling is pretty time intensive so it will be worth it to spend a couple hundred bucks on labor and materials rather than push our list date back any farther.

Today was our monthly Port City REIA event! We met a few more peeps and were really encouraged and uplifted by some that saw The Beauty. It's nice to hear that people see the value in your work...even down to the small details. Yayyyy for THAT!

Made a final list of To-Do's...very excited to get all these marked off and know another one is done! Well, until it sells at least... :)

Oh, before I forget! We are up to 8 showings at The Beauty...any day now that offer will arriveeeeee...

And another thing - the Deerwood partnership is a no-go. We couldn't make it work...that's okay though, we will just push on through to get it on the market as soon as Sugar Pine is complete!

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."

- Bill Cosby

Days 24, 25, 26, & 27

Sunday (Day 24) - I spent the day painting the master bath and Dave prepped the GROSS tubs and surrounds for a fresh coat of epoxy. He also knocked out hanging a few lights and other odds and ends...

Monday (Day 25) - We resigned ourselves to go grocery shopping because we had ZILCH to eat in the house and we are having to really stretch our monies, so no eating out for awhile. The towing company was supposed to stop by and drop off a check for the damages to Dave's truck as well as mount a new tire but didn't show...

We spent the rest of the day answering emails, making phone calls, and discussing a possible partnership on Deerwood with business friend of our's. We are realizing that we really need to get it on the market ASAP because we have had this one awhile - but since we are still at Sugar Pine as well as the with holidays approaching, time is running out. He has a crew of guys that can knock out the final to-do's (our last contractor bailed on us before finishing the job). He's mulling it over and supposed to be getting back with us in a few days...

Tuesday (Day 26) - Election day! After submitting my ballot at the polls, we headed to Lowes and Home Depot for a few things. Once we got to our Challenge, Dave went to work installing the new hinges and hanging the cabinet doors. I worked on painting the kitchen walls and touching up the cabinet doors. Before calling it a night, Dave applied the new coat of epoxy to hall bath shower. Take a look at the before and afters! We are so happy with how it turned out! Bye-bye nasty!

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Wednesday (Day 27) - Today we went to Home Depot and picked up all the new windows. Once we got to Sugar Pine, we had to spend a few hours sanding and repainting some of the kitchen cabinet doors...so frustrating! Some of the previous paint coats did not do too well and stains/old gunk kept bleeding through. It's all good now though, will post pics when we get the handles put on! I spent the rest of the day painting the 2nd coat on the kitchen walls and Dave went on to install 3 of the 9 windows before we called it a night. The new windows look beeeeautiful! Carpet installers are scheduled to come first thing tomorrow (yippee!)...we are getting closer to the finish line!

My apologies for being rather quick with this entry! I'm exhausted from working late every night so my creative juices are rather un-juicy these days :) Heading off to bed now...Looking forward to tomorrow and the progress it will bring.

“My meaning simply is, that whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do well; that whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely; that in great aims and in small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest.”
― Charles Dickens

Days 21, 22, & 23

Thursday (Day 21) - It sucked.

Spent the morning paying bills and working on the books (yuck!). After this we headed to Dave's shop to grab a few things. Long story short, we discovered some of his stuff had been stolen. And if that wasn't frustrating enough, his trucks that he keeps parked there until he gets time to work on them were being used as trash cans by some local kids that hang out up there. To avoid any other damage, we called a towing company to get them towed to our house and on the way home, the tow truck driver managed to crunch in the side of Dave's truck and blow out his tire. Handling this took the rest of the day and we didn't even get to go work. Yep, Thursday sucked...

Friday (Day 22) - I spent the day painting and caulking the bedrooms. Dave hung most of the new lights, sprayed the cabinet doors/drawers again, and started the texture treatment in the hall bath. One of our close friends showed up for a brief chat...it was a nice break! Overall very productive day!

Saturday (Day 23) - Today we started out at The Beauty mowing, edging, and cleaning up the yard. We had 1 young couple who are currently renting come check out the house - but we are figuring they probably aren't ready to buy right now. Up to 7 showings now...

After this we headed to our Challenge. We painted the master bedroom and Dave hung the new ceiling fan as well as continued working on texturing the hall bathroom walls. Got a bit of a start in the master bath before calling it a night...

Tomorrow is technically the "last" day of our 24 Day Challenge...my wonderfully encouraging Mom pointed out that there were a couple days over the past few weeks that we weren't able to go to our Challenge for one reason or another so these shouldn't count against us. I'm in agreement! :))) Regardless, we are hustling as fast as we can and will continue to push until she's done! Windows should arrive on Tuesday and carpet installed (hopefully) in the early part of the week...

"Let no feeling of discouragement prey upon you, and in the end you
are sure to succeed.”
- Abraham Lincoln

...1 day and counting..