Did someone stage an intervention? and house staging tips

I am quickly learning that for one I would have never wanted to live ‘back in the day” or two, be Amish….being disconnected is terrible. We moved into out house last Tuesday and decided the next day which internet/cable provider we would go with and I placed a call to get our installation scheduled. We were scheduled to have everything set up in one week. It was a long week….thankfully I can get on the internet when Alex gets home from work but as far as my PBS addicted child we were lucky enough to hit the jackpot on DVDs at the library (thanks Grandma). So yesterday came and the installation man (our knight in shining armor) arrived only to tell us the house was ran with outdated wires and would be to be rerun before he could hook anything up?!? The next time they could come back to hook up after we switched cables….another week. So here we are the start of waiting another week to be “connected” again. This whole thing wouldn’t be as bad if it was at least in the upper 60’s but no, not ever close, we are excepting around 8 inches of snow tonight LOL. At this point our cabin fever is just comical.

 

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I have had a lot of people both here and on facebook as me about how we sold out house so quickly (in a market that was overrun with inventory and “cookie cutter developments'”) so I  thought i’d just write up some things that we did because there was a science behind it (thanks to a lot of internet research and a great realtor).

1. Depersonalize to an extreme – there was not ONE picture of Liam, us, family…anyone in our house. This was one of the most important tips. People want to walk in and picture themselves in the house, they don’t want to see you or have any feeling of someone living there before them.

          1a. Make lots of time to fill in said nail holes…oh and make sure you have the correct paint to touch up with :-)

2. Neutralize paint and decor. We got feedback from every showing we had on our home and the one thing that every person said was “great paint colors”.  Our living room, hallway, common areas, guest room, and master bath were all a warn tan (something like Sherwin Williams “whole wheat”). Our dining room and master bedroom was a dark sage green. Liam’s room was a very light blue which was the only room that has a non-neutral color. Our half bath downstairs was a chocolate brown and our guest bath was a light green. Our kitchen was a warm gold color with a rich dark red accent wall behind the appliances.

        2a. Although paint may seem like nothing to some people buyers cannot see past paint so just change it up from the start.

       2b. Blank wall are okay. I had a hard time with this until i lived with it and realized it gave such a clean feel to the house. Don’t worry about putting up other pictures if you take personal ones down.

3. We had stock cabinet in our house and added simple nickel knobs to them and boy, oh, boy did it make a difference. I just got the value pack at Target.

4. Rent a storage unity and take out 75% of your stuff. Liam lived on one box of toys for a few months while everything else was stored during the prep/on the market process.

     4a. Empty your closet except for your “nice” close and a few staples you wear all the time. My closet was PACKED (to say the least) and at the end I only had about 10% of it filled.

     4b. Maximize space by taking out a lot of furniture. In our guest room/office we used to have a full bed, dresser, chair, night stand, book shelf and desk. When the house went on the market we had the bed and desk (with nothing on it).

5.  Offer a home warranty. It close about $500, for us, but was a big selling point to buyers because it is a security net if anything was to happen.

6. Market with your asset, our yard was the biggest selling point for us and our realtor talked it up! Find what makes you stand out from your competition. We had seven other houses for sale in the same development as us and we pin pointed what made us different and went with it. When you are trying to sell in a “cookie cutter” suburban town you have got to make something stand out to set you apart from everyone else.

Please excuse the interruption…

…that was when we got a house ready to go on the market, sold a house, and moved 600 miles with a toddler and two cats all while surviving the first trimester of a second pregnancy :-) Ahhh….I am so happy we are DONE!

** I will come back to update with pictures later, my card reader cord is MIA at the moment**

Ok so where do i even begin to start telling this story, let’s just start by saying it has been a long and hard 10 weeks but in the end all turned out far better than we ever imagined.

* We sold our house in Indy in 6 days….. we are real estate rock stars as far as I am concerned!! We could not be more happy that all of our hard work (and Oh boy was there a lot of hard work) paid off!

* There is a really “funny” story to remember about getting out house ready to go on the market. I’d say 75% of our house was a tan color and the guy who had lived there before us left a huge 5 gallon bucket of tan paint along with a few other colors in the house, obviously we thought that was the tan that was used throughout the house. Well after a whole lot of spackling and touching up we realized it was the wrong color (about a shade too dark)! So after going to the hardware store and trying to get a paint match to the right color (we even had the codes for how to make the color) we could not get it right and ended up having to repaint two whole rooms two days before our professional pictures. Needless to say  we are not picking up a paint brush for this new house…helllllllooooo contracted help!

* Liam and I (and our two cats…fun 12 hour car ride let me tell you) made the big move two weeks ago. We all came to PA and got to see our house for the first time (oh did i mention that house we bought we had never seen in person until two weeks after we had an accepted offer…yeah) luckily, we all loved it! So for a week while Alex was back in Indy Liam and I stayed with my parents.

* This past Tuesday we moved into the new house (we are technically renting for two weeks until our closing). We are finally starting to get settled and slowly but surely unpacking everything (although I am fairly certain much will never get unpacked…don’t you just love acquired junk. I cannot wait until closing because we can paint, hang pictures, and swap appliances! I can’t wait!!

* Liam is having a blast running in circles around the downstairs. It is a difference floor plan than our old house so he has a big circle to run from room to room (over and over and over again). He is still adjusting to sleeping in a new place, which has been hard on all of us. Hopefully once we have his room all set up like his old one he will feel more comfortable and get back into his routine.

* Oh did i mention the day after we moved in we got 8 inches of snow! (hello…i thought it was spring, thinking I should be putting up the Christmas tree with this crazy weather!)

* I only have internet access once Alex gets home from work and we can “tether” off his phone (technology is crazy!) until Wednesday when we get our TV and internet!!!! Seriously, we are counting down the hours, it has been a long week of no internet or PBS. So once the internet is up and running I will be back to blogging, wahoooo!!!!

* I am going to do a post of a house tour soon so that I have a documentation of the “before” pictures.

* Liam is doing well, he is 17 months old now and his favorite thing to do all day is run, he simply just runs laps all day. We are still dealing with some crazy picky eating habits but he is taking a gummy vitamin (peds recc) so it makes me feel a little more at ease during this phase.

* I am currently 13 weeks along with #2, we find out what it is May 16th and are super excited to know! This pregnancy has been a lot different than with Liam. I am still pretty sick but dealing okay during the day as long as i eat (a lot). I went to the doctors last week and got to see the baby, who was even more active than Liam was! Scary thought LOL!! My official due day is October 3 but the baby is measuring October 1, I am hoping for a late September birthday :-) All i crave this time is soft serve ice cream with sprinkles …mmmmm now i want some and I was never an ice cream person before! I cannot fathom even looking at McDonalds or even a bag from any fast food place…which is so different than with Liam because I ate it almost everyday!

Announcing October Baby #2

We are so excited to announce that we are expecting another October baby!! Baby number 2 is due to arrive 10/3!!!

 

….and here is the new home we will be growing into :-)

Moving is no fun!

We are still here, alive, and well just BUSY! Wow, moving is no fun! So besides a ton of appointments here is what we have been up to….

Alex celebrated his 27th birthday on the 8th.

Liam is now 16 month old and climbing  is still his favorite thing.

 

Obviously, he is a wonderful helper when it comes to packing …..

 

We were getting out carpets cleaned this day and he had to take his nap in his high chair, that goodness it reclines so much!

 

Last weekend we traveled to Pennsylvania and found a house! Liam did AMAZING in the car! We drove through the  night to PA and he slept the whole way and on the way back we drove half way and stopped to stay with friends in Pittsburg and then drove the rest of the way in the morning. Liam slept 3 of the 11 hours and didn’t make a peep during the time he was awake. He rocks!

 

Yesterday we celebrated my birthday, the battery in my camera died so i don’t have a picture of Liam and I, only this cell phone picture of my key lime pie cupcakes.

 

Going home!

It's where I learned about living
It's where I learned about love
It's where I learned about working hard
And having a little was just enough

    
It's where I learned about Jesus
And knowing where I stand
You can take it or leave it, this is me
This is who I am

Give me a tin roof
A front porch and a gravel road
And that's home to me
It feels like home to me

Little Big Town, Boondocks Lyrics

On 1/26 we got he news that we were going home. After almost three years on living in Indiana Alex got the offer he had been waiting for, a position at the Gatorade plant in our home town. While I am heartbroken to be leaving my friends and scared about the huge adjustment it will be, I know that growing up around family will be so good for Liam (and we will get regular date nights!!). We are beyond excited and extremely blessed to be given this opportunity. The move will be relatively soon and will probably be fast, within a month or so.

There is already a house we have fallen in love with and are so excited to see it in person soon. It is the perfect size and gives us room to grow and we can have a play room and sewing room….woohoo!!

Liam Lately : 15 Months

*Getting better everyday using a fork and spoon to feed himself.

*Loves pancakes, french toast, yogurt, fruit strips, graham crackers (cinnamon are his favorite), any and every fruit (a while banana with breakfast and a whole pear with dinner or lunch), grilled cheese, yogurt melts and french fries. He loves juice, his favorite is a grape apple and carrot blend.

*Ooooh the climbing….this is what we do ALL day … climb. He grew so much this month that he can take a running start and leap onto the recliner without having to climb on it….oy!

*Every once in a while the climbing will lead to some relaxing.

 

*Licking the bowl of muddy buddies…mmmm powder sugar.

 

Oh yeah more climbing

  

*24.5 pounds (45%tile)  32.75 inches (89%tile) ….so what is why nothing fits him anymore….

 

*Wears a size 4 diaper or a cloth diaper on largest setting. Sleeps 7-7 for the most part with one 2-hour nap per day. Loves to be out and about, likes to go to the fabric store with me to see “his ladies”. Loves Sesame Street, Dinosaur Train, Sid the Science Kid, and Chuggington. His favorite toys are his Chuck Trucks (the race car is his favorite), trains, mega blocks (which he can built up by himself now), and his inflatable bouncy ball. Is very particular with books, he will sit though us reading his Sesame Street Nursery Rhymes book over and over again but only a few others (Dinosaur Train book and First Words).

 

*At 15 months he finally got to sleep with bumper in his crib. After dealing with a lot of sleeping problems since he was 12 months old and head bump on the crib that we could hear through the floor we put his bumpers in and he has slept awesome ever since! He likes to put his feet up on them and put his back up against them while he sleeps.

Iced In

Ice storms are not something that Alex and I grew up experiencing and today was a first for us. We got iced in and learned that we are not fans!  

It started last night around 6pm and went all night long. This morning we woke, luckily with power, to a solid half inch of ice covering everything. There are literally pictures people have posted on news facebook page of them ice skating (with skates on) down streets. Luckily, Alex was able to stay home with us today. They had to close the plant because they could not get supply trucks in for any to work.

For a few hours we got a break before the big ice storm hit….eye yiyi. Around 4pm the sleet got so loud we had to turn the volume up on the tv to hear it! It is suppose to go the majority of the night then turn into snow and we are likely going to get 3 inches of snow on top of the inches of ice we already have. Oy……

Hopefully we will all be home safe and sound again tomorrow.

   

Liam did enjoy his grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner, a perfect dinner for being iced in!