A Journey to Fix up My House and Make it Saleable... or Rentable
That's what I want to do, only Bigger! And alone - just me! But with your help, if you want! Not physical or financial - you (dear readers and viewers) would be my motivators, my cheering squad and my Idea people, too.
Welcome to my journal and my journey to fix up my house!
As of August 12, 2009, the Laundry Room has been worked on!
The Albatross...
I've known for some time I wanted ... no, needed... to move out of my house. With my sons going and gone, it's just too big and too much work, even though it's only 1000 square feet.
What I have been wanting to do is ditch the house and find a smaller place, with no yard -- or - better yet - buy a small RV and hit the road for awhile, and then if that doesn't work out, or once I get bored, find a smaller place to live.
But there is this albatross of my own making around my neck. My house.
Room by Room
Worked on so far - Laundry Room.
(Still to be given their own Lens: Bathroom, Family Room - for now, they're on the Main Page only!)...
- Fixing up My Laundry Room
- This is where I started (August 11, 2009). One tiny step for mekind....
- The Outside - Fixing Up My Yard
- This is the Lens that shows the Outside -- more pictures ...
Most likely this will be the last area to be done. Why? Because it's the Outside -- the roof needs to be done, but not badly - so Spring or Summer of 2010. - Fixing Up My Kitchen
- This is the lens for my kitchen AND pantry - with the details on what needs to be done, what is being done and how...
- Fixing Up My Living Room
- The first room people enter -- second impression (after the outside)... this tiny room will need some serious staging help after it's cleaned up.
- Fixing up my Master Bedroom
- My Master Bedroom is Master by 1960's standards -- but I have some ideas once my 18 year old gets off to school......
- Fixing Up My Second Bedroom
- The second bedroom may not need as much work -- but it needs some.. see what it needs...
- Fixing up My 3rd bedroom - guest room - office
- A tiny room, but with many possibilities --this needs a tidying up but most of the work is in the presentation!
Monthly To Do List
Sort stuff from one room by "Trash", "Keep" "Give or Sell"
Throw out stuff nobody wants, not good enough for Goodwill
Make HUGE pile to sell at yard sale or on E-bay.
Let relatives have first dibs
Sort keep furniture from yard sale - Goodwill
Wash clothes for Goodwill
Take stuff to Goodwill
To Do List
Cleaning wise
Well, I know these things have to be done! They are separate from the repairs and such listed on each of the rooms - but I want to make a To Do list to make sure this is also addressed and clear as stuff I know needs to be done.
And then I will go lie down.
- Along with the sticky list -- Clean clean clean, room by room (I'm already starting!)
Help on cleaning and sorting because -
as you will see
I am not the world's best housekeeper -- probably not the worst..sooo many things I'd rather be doing, but.. it's time to clean house and sort things out!
These are some GREAT lenses == now I just need to follow through on the HELP they offer!
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Housework - Make it Fast, Make it Fun
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"Housework" and "fun" don't seem like two words that go well together, but cleaning house doesn't have to be a dreaded chore that takes forever. There are ways to make it easier, faster, and even ways to make it fun. Before you get started on your s...
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Five Fast and Easy House Cleaning Tips
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I like to have a clean and neat house, but I don't want to spend hours keeping it that way. I have come up with some quick and easy ways to keep my house clean and tidy with a minimum of effort and time. You will find five of my strategies here. Let...
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Eliminate Chaos The 10 Step Process to Organize Your Home & Life
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I recognize that I have too much stuff, a portion of it belonging to my late husband and I'm just clueless what to do with it. Being a single parent with a full-time job and running my own business, there isn't enough time in the day to accomplish ev...
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How to have a successful Garage or Yard Sale
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I love garage sales and am a bit of a fanatic when it comes to hosting my own. I have one every year to get rid of my old stuff. Here are my best garage sale rules and tips.
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How to Organize your Life
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Do you run around all day, only to find at the end of the day that you haven't achieved what you planned to get done? Is your "stuff" taking over your home? Do you pay for a storage unit to keep things that are too valuable to throw aw...
Corner edge where I fight with weeds on a regular basis - and lose
The Outdoors
I need to do these thing cheaply ... see why I would rather go do something fun?
The total cost of this as I see it is way over my budget, so they'll be some creative trimming done here... (mostly the last item can't be done - I have no garage, a down point).
Partial shot of front yard and driveway...
Some of the Kitchen - Dining area
The Kitchen
So much needs to be done that I made a lens for it and the Pantry too - The Kitchen and Pantry Lens is here
It has a little walk in pantry off of it which needs to be redone totally - it used to be my laundry room, but when I made my Garage into a Family Room, the Laundry Room went over there.
Obviously needs to be cleaned out and thoroughly cleaned.
I'd love to change it into a bathroom connected to the Master Bedroom.. that would solve a lot of problems but would cost a bit. If I'm going to rent -- I won't do that. Sorry renters!
Bathroom -- can't get in to take much more - shower on the left...
Bathroom
Second most valuable room in the house
I hate baths, I never use them, I'm a shower person. And the bath is teeny tiny, probably 6 x 5 if that.
So, when I had the bathroom redone 4 years ago, I had the swing door replaced with a sliding door and the bathtub replaced with a shower.
Another reason to put a small bathroom in the master bedroom, and make sure it has a tub, no matter how small it is.
But if I rent, then this won't be an issue...
- Paint
- Replace lighting over the mirror
- New toilet seat
Living Room - somehow it looks better in person...
Living Room
OK Size but those windows...
So, I think they should just be left as is.
You can visit the lense for the Living Room to see more pictures and comments on what needs to be done.
- Refinish the very nice original wooden floors (here and all through the house).
- Paint the walls a nice off white.
- Patch the ceiling and any marks in the walls
Another view of the living room..not much better, is it?
Some information on things I need to do
Here's a little research, done for me by you.. I really like the piece on Renewing the wood floor... I might try it.. I have all winter!-
Renewing Our Hardwood Floor
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This is going to be a lens about what my husband did to renew our hardwood floor. My husband refuses to pay anyone to do anything. He figures that he can pretty much figure out anything himself, especially when you take a close look at some of the pe...
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Kitchen Countertops
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Kitchen Countertop choices appear to be never ending. If you are in the early stages of planning a remodeling of your kitchen I'm sure you have found this out. You will find new technologies and the resulting countertop materials have not made your s...
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How To Professionally Pressure Clean Homes & Buildings
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Click HERE to see all of my Lenses If You're Into Health Like I Am.. Have You Ever Thought About Starting a Business From Home That Falls Into This Same Category? (If So Click HERE) Or Maybe You're Already Trying...
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Countertops - Kitchen Remodeling
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When remodeling your kitchen, countertops should be on the top of your list. After all, aside from your refrigerator, your kitchen counters are used most frequently. With so many materials, colors, and styles to choose from, selecting the right count...
Master Bedroom Photo
Master Bedroom - just part of it - I'll shoot again when the teen is gone..it's an invasion of privacy right now!
um, well
- Refinish the floors
- Closets need walls
- Paint the walls
Hallway
- Electrical wiring in the halls don't work.. never have, I've had an electrician in twice... they work and then they stop.
- Refinish the wooden flooring
- The floor is warped here, have it looked at...
- Doors for the end of the hallway... where the heater and water are.
Second Bedroom Photo.
Second Bedroom -- there's more to it but here's the color.
- Refinish wood floors
- Closets need walls
- Paint walls an offwhite color
- Decide about the door.
3rd Bedroom Photo
Guest Room - 3rd Bedroom
This room is so tiny
- Closet - needs walls
- Paint walls
- Refinish flooring
Family Room Photo
Family Room - office - teenage hang out - awful wall color!
formerly the Garage
I used to have an office elsewhere, now this is also my office.
I'll make a separate lens for this soon!
- Paint the walls! I did this spongy thing and liked the dark look, but it needs a light color paint on the walls.
- There is a huge hole on one of the walls, it has to be fixed.
- Patch the hole on the wall where our pet gerbil (may he rest in peace) decided to make a home. when he escaped once (we caught him, he's not in there) .
- Have carpet professionally cleaned.
- Make the window bigger-- the window is tiny - I think I did this because my son's father had a habit of poking about too much when he came to gather our son for a visit . A bigger window out would give the room a less cozy/claustrophobic look (depending on your interpretation).
Laundry Room Photo
Laundry Room
off the Family Room
This is a huge storage room or a small laundry room. I keep my bedroom bureau in there since there's no room in the bedroom.
If renting, I'll leave the washer and dryer.
- Clean out
- Paint - it's the same color as the Family Room
Some things I thought might come in handy...
Improvements Most Likely to Help If I'm Selling
Which Improvements are Most Likely to Get the Changes that Will Most Help Me Sell The House?
No changes, just cleaning up and organizing
That would be the best "investment"0 points
Put in that carport in back
a house without a garage is like a.... well, you need a carport.0 points
http://gardenshedsonline.com.au/catalog/Carports-2-1.html
You Definitely need a carport. They are great fro resale value.0 points
Some words of encouragement? A lense to suggest?
Park it here, just don't clutter me!
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Reply
- Ramkitten Ramkitten Jul 24, 2009 @ 10:34 pm
- I think this a great idea, and I look forward to seeing how things go AND how to how great they're going to look. I'm lensrolling this and featuring it on my own home remodel lens.
by DAnnieB
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