Is Your Home Prepared For Bad Weather?

May 6, 2016 by Angie 9 Comments

You might think that all that bad weather is behind us now. Summer is almost here! You’re probably right but we both know bad weather can arrive in any season at any time of the year. You shouldn’t just hope that everything is going to be okay. It might not be. Instead, you need to make sure that your home is prepared for the worst of the weather. On this post, I’m going to look at ways you can make sure you have your home prepared and your property is ready for the worst weather the elements can bring.

Checking Your Water Heater

It’s worth checking your water heater at least twice a year. By doing this, you can make sure that you catch a repair early. This is going to limit the cost of the repair by a huge amount. As well as that, when your water heater is damaged, it uses more energy. This means if the weather does take a turn and you’re using your heater a lot, it’s going to cost you a fortune. If your heater does need a repair, that can be arranged online. A company such as Pink Plumbing Co could arrange this for you but you may want to browse a few different companies online. That way, you can guarantee you’re getting the best deal.

Look At Your Windows

The next thing that you want to look at in your home is your windows. If these water between the glass? This likely means that the seal. When this happens your windows aren’t doing the job of keeping your home insulated. Instead, cold air will be seeping in, and warm air will be flowing out. Again, that’s going to make your energy bill a lot more expensive. You can get your windows replaced, or a cheaper option is to buy some thick curtains. If you want to save money, and it’s just one window, this is the best advice I can give.

Get A Smart Thermostat Control

If you get a thermostat control, you’ll have more, you guessed it, control, over the heating in your home. It’s a lot better than controlling it at your heater for a couple of reasons. First, the latest tech allows you to alter the temperature in each room. That means you’ll save on power because you won’t be using it as much. But you can also set it to the exact temperature that you want. You’ll be able to reach the optimum point of comfort in your home.

Portable Battery

Finally, we know the worst thing about bad weather don’t we? It tends to knock out the power leaving you with no electricity, and you’re stuck in the dark. Sure you can buy candles but you’ve still got nothing to do. Luckily, you can buy an emergency battery for your home. That will get you through a long power cut and out the other side without suffering in the dark singing.

I know, you’re probably thinking you don’t need to worry about any of this right now. But it’s better to do it when you don’t need it rather than wait until you do.

Is your home prepared?

This post does contain some affiliate links. Thank you so much for supporting this little blog of mine!

Angie

Angie is a coffee-fueled writer, artist-wanna-be, and over-worker who currently resides in a tiny fixer-upper near Salt Lake City with her boyfriend and 70lb rescue pittie. She works full time in Customer Service/Computers, part-time in retail and fashion, goes to school part-time on and off, maintains this and another couple of blogs, as well as volunteers with rescue dogs. In her free time, what little of it there is, she likes to read, play nerd games, craft and create art, and spend time with all of the awesome people in her life.

http://www.mysocalledchaos.com

Great Habits To Prevent Pests In Your Home

January 5, 2016 by Angie 32 Comments

One of the biggest concerns for homeowners is, without a doubt, pests. That’s why there is an entire industry dedicated to removing these unwanted inhabitants from your house. While there are some natural remedies that can help you ward off creepy crawlies, sometimes you just have to call for the cavalry.

Of course, prevention, as they say, is always better than cure. If you don’t allow yourself to get into a position where you can become overrun by these little beasts, you won’t need to pay for the pleasure. Getting ridden with bugs around your home can pose some serious problems, and give you a lot to think about. Not only will you have to find a way fend them off, you’ll also have to worry about how to get rid of bed bugs bites.

Rather than fall into the trap, here are some of the better preventative measures you can take now to make sure your home avoids infestation.

It Isn’t Just Food Pests Are Attracted To

You may obsess over making sure every last morsel of food is thrown away or correctly stored after use, and that is definitely a good starting point. As we know, pests are attracted to leftover food, especially sweet and starchy products. While it is a good idea to make sure you keep your kitchen clean and tidy at all times, it is only a starting point. In fact, there are many bugs that are equally attracted to damp atmospheres. Ants, to name one, instinctively seek out warm and damp places to live. Make sure your home is dry.

Clean Up Spillages Quickly

Whenever you have an accident, sometimes stress can get the better of you. You may wish to take some time out to inhibit your frustration before returning to the scene of the crime. This is a bad idea. It doesn’t take long for bugs around your area to sniff out spills and mess, and they’ll be around in a hot minute. Try to take care of all your mess as quickly as you can after the incident and you’ll stand in good stead for preventing unwanted guests.

Keep Fresh Food Sealed In The Fridge Or Pantry

Not all fresh produce is designed to be kept in the fridge. Tomatoes, for example, begin to lose flavour if kept at cooler temperatures. But what do you do about the things that want to be kept at room temperature? They are surely going to attract unwanted pests, right? You bet, so how do you store them safely and efficiently? Keeping them wrapped up, if possible, is the only way to get around this.

Wash Your Clothes Regularly

How many of us wait until the laundry hamper is full before deciding to tackle our washing? It makes sense to get the most bang for your buck, right? It’s just being economical. But leaving dirty clothes lying around your home could have attract creepy crawlies. Next time, don’t wait until the last minute to wash all your laundry. Instead, get it out of the way in batches. It’ll keep the pests away and also make the job seem like less of a mountain to climb.

Have you ever dealt with pests?

*This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Angie

http://www.mysocalledchaos.com

A Guide to Making House Buying Much Less Stressful

October 22, 2015 by Angie 25 Comments

Buying a house can be really stressful, whether you’re looking for one to live in or one to let. However, there are a few things you can do to make house buying much less stressful than usual. Read on to learn what to do:

Know Your Budget

When you know your budget, you can easily eliminate houses that you know you can’t afford. Working out a budget can take a bit of time, so make sure you set some time aside to come up with a maximum amount you’d be willing to pay for a house you wanted. Just remember, you shouldn’t reveal the maximum amount you’re willing to pay. You lower it so you can try to get a good deal. Haggling is the key to getting a good deal.

Know Exactly What You Want to Do with the Property

When you know what you want to do with the property once you have it, you know what you’re looking for. Would you like an extension? Do you want to let it out? It should be suitable and have potential for everything you want to do. You may need to see past a few things and use your imagination vividly, so make sure you have a list or something to keep you focused.

Find the Right Estate Agents

The right estate agents can make house buying an absolute breeze. They should communicate with you often and clearly, understanding your needs. They should also have a range of properties suited to you and your budget. Check Hetheringtons for more information and to get an idea of what you should look for.

Speak to Somebody You Trust

Buying a house is stressful for so many reasons. Making an offer is stressful, because you don’t want to make one too high and get ripped off, or too low and insult the seller. You don’t want your offer to get rejected. You don’t want to be hit with a ridiculous counter offer. There are so many things running through your head at once, it’s as if you can’t focus until you know what is going on with the house. To help sort your thoughts and feelings out, speak to somebody that you trust. This might be a family member or friend. Somebody who has been through this before ideally!

Focus on Something Else

Focus on something else for a while – something that deserves your undivided attention. Go and exercise, read a book…just do something to keep your mind off it. You can’t control the outcome, so there’s no point dwelling on it when you can’t do anything. It’s up to the seller to respond now, so try to relax and think about something else until it happens.

Hopefully, this post will make house buying much less stressful for you. It can give you a headache; after all, it’s one of the most important things you’ll do in your life. Just try not to worry. Worrying is a wasted emotion! Leave your thoughts below. Thanks for reading!

This post may contain affiliate links.

Angie

http://www.mysocalledchaos.com

Confessions of a New Home Owner Pt. 4

August 28, 2015 by Angie 43 Comments

How are things with my house going? Well, it’s been a few weeks since I last updated you on my new home and confessed about it (see parts one, two, and three for more information about my house) so I figured it was time for an update!

I confess… I spent a good amount of time working on it trying to get it in some kind of show-able shape before my house warming party which ended up scheduled earlier than I planned so it would coincide with Josh being in town from Canada.

I confess… The week before the party found me agonizing over which curtains to choose. I couldn’t find any that fit quite right, and anything I liked was super expensive. I thought about forgoing the curtains for now, but I didn’t want to have ugly blankets hanging over my windows for the party and I needed some kind of covering for them.

I confess… I finally found some that will do. I went with white sheers underneath some dark teal thermal curtains, and I got them from Walmart (ugh I hate shopping there) so they only cost like $4-$7 a panel. When you have four whole windows to do that still adds up, but not as badly as buying sets other places. I spent about $20 per window instead of the $40+ per window at IKEA or worse other places…

I confess… When I got them out of the bag they were so creased! Having only a few days til the party, and still having to work early in the morning, I tossed them in the wash and then dryer to see if it would sort it out. It didn’t. I was up until Midnight ironing 16 panels of fabric so I could hang them before going to bed.

I confess… My mother and sister had already hung the main curtain rods, so I just added a second smaller curtain rod for the sheers and these cute little curtain tiebacks that I found on Amazon.

I confess… I have one window I couldn’t reach, even with a ladder. Thank goodness Josh is tall and was willing to help me hang the curtain rod and the curtains before the party. Here he is doing his yoga pose on the stairs (yes, that’s a ladder lying down below him-but he swears this one was more fun) as he hangs them. Thanks Joshy. Man I miss him. You can also see how the finished curtains look in this picture too.

I confess… I also managed to finally decide on a color for my kitchen accents. I went with Turquish by Sherwin Williams. It looks darker on the swatch so I almost went a shade lighter, but I’m so happy I decided that things always looked lighter in the house and decided to just get the dark one. It turns out I LOVE this color in there.

I confess… I picked up these towels before the paint color, but look how perfect? I since bought this tablecloth from Amazon as well, and it matches pretty well!

I confess… I have these shelves in my kitchen that can’t be moved because they hide a pipe. So I painted them the accent color, painted a strip of chalkboard paint down the side of it, and then used grey chevron contact paper to line the shelves. What do you think?

I confess… I also have this giant portable dishwasher that sits in front of the shelves. I really wanted to not have these cute shelves I put all that work into blocked, but unfortunately there’s just nowhere else to put it, bummer.

I confess… I finally got my bedroom put together too. I had to run to IKEA to get new parts that somehow got lost in the move, but I managed to get it all rebuilt and haul my mattress downstairs on my own. Not too shabby.

I confess… As expected, I’ve had a bit of a difficult time adjusting to sleeping in the basement. It has this weird smell to it… I have no idea where the smell comes from, other than the main drain to the house is just on the other side of it’s wall so maybe that’s it? Ugh. I’ve started lighting a candle or incense a few hours before bed to help.

I confess… The air has been crazy smokey here due to the wildfires. I snapped this photo before work, and while pretty, it’s hard to breathe.

I confess… Smoke aside, my housewarming party went really well. I liked everyone who showed up and had a great time loving on friends and dogs. Especially a BABY CORGI. Seriously. That killed me. I’m dead. It was the cutest thing in the world.

I confess… I was pretty hungover the next day, but still managed to make it up and all the way to Tremonton for Josh’s family BBQ. It was great because his friends from France came into town and I was finally able to meet them and practice my suffering French. The practicing was pretty no good… I also think I scared the husband trying to tell him about beers and hookers in French… It was a great time though.

I confess… I have to admit that after a weekend where my house was filled with people, and where I was at other people’s houses filled with people, my house seemed extra empty and alone. I managed to get myself mega anxious about it for two nights.

I confess… I also manage to creep myself out on the regular. You can’t hear anything in the basement. The house is super well built so even when someone walks around upstairs you can’t hear it (which is kind of nice actually) and the A/C unit I bought for the bedroom is as loud as a jet engine. So I lie in bed thinking about all the things that could be happening upstairs that I don’t hear… Like break ins. And I freak myself out. It’s an anxiety thing. I’m really going to get a dog.

I confess… I’m serious. I think I’ll go adopt a dog this weekend…

What are you up to this weekend?

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Angie

http://www.mysocalledchaos.com

12 DIY Bathroom Projects I’m Dying to Try

August 12, 2015 by Angie Leave a Comment

You may remember when I first started looking at houses I shared a list of the 15 DIY Kitchen Projects I was dying to try in my new home. Things have changed a bit since actually buying a house and having a different space to work with, so I may update that one eventually. However, today I’d like to share some Bathroom projects I want to try.

My house has two bathrooms currently, one upstairs that is mostly updated (though they did a terrible job when they did it) and a downstairs bathroom which I’m afraid might be a lost cause. It’s so awful I don’t even know how to fix it, but I’ll talk about that at another time. For now, here are some projects I’ve collected for you from Pinterest, enjoy!

12 DIY Bathroom Projects I'm Dying to Try

1. These Window Box Bathroom Storage Bins would be perfect for holding towels and other things in a bathroom with limited space. They’re small, and they’d fit against the wall or cupboards somewhere to help conserve floor space.

2. Neither of my bathrooms have toilet paper roll holders. I bought a free standing one, but I’m kind of liking this toilet paper roll holder with a shelf tutorial. It’s not only adorable, but it would be useful too!

3. I found this super basic 2 minute tutorial for a magnetic strip that holds things like bobby pins or tweezers. I’m forever losing all of those things, so this would be handy! It’s not cute, but I think it would be super easy to make it cute with some thin fabric or washi tape, don’t you think?

4. I totally adore these mason jar bathroom organizers. And how easy is strapping a few mason jars to a board and filling it with your bathroom things like sponges, makeup brushes, Q-tips, etc.?

5. If you have the floor space (I don’t, at least not upstairs) an old ladder is a super cute towel holder!

6. Bathroom mirrors can be super boring, but not when you frame your mirror! Adding some simple molding, an old picture frame, or some mosaic tile around your bathroom mirror will add a lot of charm to that part of your bathroom.

7. Two things you can never get enough of in a bathroom is mirrors and storage. How about building your own bathroom mirror storage case? It gives you a nice full length(ish) mirror to admire your outfits in, PLUS the added benefit of storage behind it. Brilliant!

8. You can totally snag this FREE pattern for this soft knit bath mat from Coco Knits. Cute!

9. This narrow rope shelf is totally doable, and adorable too! Plus, you can totally adjust the lengths and widths as needed for your space!

10. I didn’t even think about using the space above the door by installing an above door shelf. Usefull!

11. This DIY magazine storage takes up almost no space, and looks so easy to install! It’s cute too.

12. Uh, did you know you can turn a drawer into a bathroom shelf and that it’s easy? SO cute.

What projects do you want to do or have you done in your bathroom?

Angie

http://www.mysocalledchaos.com

Confessions of a New Homeowner Part 3: Moving Woes

August 7, 2015 by Angie 2 Comments

I confess… I’m exhausted. No joke-I’ve worked on the house a ton still and I’m not sleeping well yet in the new space. It’ll get there, but it’ll take some time… Also, I’m ready for Fall now. I want pumpkins and cool air and Halloween.

I confess… I’m lucky for all the help I’ve had. Moving day rolled around and I was a mess. I’d been up and packing for 36 hours straight when my little sister called me to see how I was doing. I started crying, and then I threw up. I’m too old to go without sleep. So my mom called in sick to work and beat the boys to my apartment so she could help me just throw the rest of the stuff in boxes. Then my brothers and my grandpa showed up and helped me move. I couldn’t have done it without them. Now if only I could find the bolts and screws to put my bed back together…

I confess… Appliances have been an interesting experience. I’d started out looking for used appliances and after a lot of hunting and looking at (gross) used appliances, I decided to just buy new and get the warranty. I knew I needed a front-loading washer and dryer due to the fact that they’re up on a platform in the bathroom (and I’m too short to reach all the way in top loaders even when they’re on the regular ground!) and I wanted a fridge with ice and water-since I already have a waterline hooked up. So I found myself at Home Depot while they were having a 10% off sale and a 6-months no interest promotion, and I bought myself this Samsung side-by-side refrigerator and also a Samsung front-loading washer and it’s matching dryer. The dryer sings to me.

I confess… I had no idea that you had to measure things like doorways. I just thought doorways were pretty standard. I was so wrong-and I paid dearly for it. After waiting a week for delivery, and then all day (because they were late), the delivery men showed up and started measuring. The fridge would go through the front door, but not the back door or the door to the kitchen. There was no way around it and it had to go back and I had to start the process of fridge shopping all over. I finally decided on this Whirlpool side-by-side,

I confess… While the washer and dryer did fit (barely-it was touch and go there trying to get past the water heater) they were also unuseable at first. Home Depot sold me a crappy dryer vent and the delivery guy said I needed to go back and get a flexible one. Also, since my drain for the washer is up in the wall, and the washer door only opens one way, the drain hose from the washer doesn’t reach at all…

I confess… Once again, my family is amazing. My grandfather came over to help me get my washer and dryer up and running, which involved helping me hook up the dryer vent and also helping me jimmy-rig the hose for the washer by caulking it to a second hose and taping it up (ghetto, but at least it works now!). He also helped me clean up my kitchen a bit (now I can’t find anything haha!) and while doing so, realized that the waterline wasn’t hooked up at all-they’d just stuck the hose in there and faked it!

I confess… We ran another water hose (I now know how to do it) but the water pressure is really bad in it, and I think I’m going to have to get a plumber to look at it. Dang.

I confess… Now that I’m all moved in and back to the regular work schedule, I’m realizing that things are going to take much longer than I thought. I think you have lofty pipe dreams when you think “I’m just going to move in and fix stuff every day until it’s done!” but then you get home from work and you’re tired and exhausted so all you do is eat whatever you don’t have to cook (because you still haven’t found your pans) and go to bed at 7pm. Wait, that’s just me?

In any case, I’m coming to the realization that everything I wanted done before the housewarming party wont be done. Luckily I’m pretty sure my friends will understand that my house is a total work in progres..

I confess… The walk through with my old landlord went pretty well. There wasn’t much she found that she was unhappy about, but most of it was there when we moved in. I doubt I’ll get much of the deposit back since it’s been 7 years, but she said she was sending something.

I confess… My realtor is still following up with the previous owners about the AC. The day he said he was going to speak with their listing agent they showed up at my house and left me a bunch of paperwork on things in the house (like the furnace, jetted tub, etc.), and they left me a note saying how sorry they were for the big pile of garbage they left and that they thought the next neighborhood cleanup day (when the city comes around to collect large or weird garbage from your curb) was on August 31st and they’d come help me move stuff if I wanted… Nice, but they still did not leave the AC. WTF people.

I confess… I still have pretty roses coming up in my yard. Guess I need to learn how to prune them before Winter.

I confess… I’m feeling very poor. I’ve been charging lots of things and eating out too much (since my kitchen is not in order yet) so my budgeting has been bad. I need to get a hang of that before I actually have to start paying my mortgage.

I confess… I want a dog. Living alone is a little spooky and I think it’s time I start thinking about getting a little companion that helps me feel safer. My yard isn’t fenced yet, and wont be for a while, which would mean I’d have to walk the dog regularly and take it to the dog park instead of just playing with it in the yard. This could be good for me exercise wise though.

I confess… I should probably wait until I get some of my house in order before bringing another living thing into it… And I’m thinking maybe I should try fostering first before making the big commitment to keeping a pooch forever. Good thing I volunteer with an awesome rescue!

What do you have to confess this week?

Linking up with:

Angie

http://www.mysocalledchaos.com

Confessions of a New Homeowner Part 2: Updates on The New House

July 31, 2015 by Angie 3 Comments

You may have caught my first round of new homeowner confessions when I was freaking out. That was exactly two weeks ago after just getting the keys to my new home and being able access it for the first time. A TON has happened since then, and I’ve had a LOT of help.

Confessions of a New Homeowner Part 2: Updates on The New House

I confess… The previous homeowners left the place in quite a state. That’s one of the reasons I was freaking out when I first got the keys and was able to get in there. There were giant holes in the walls, the place smelled like sour meat, they didn’t leave the portable A/C they were required to leave, the door was hanging wide open (they didn’t lock it at all), and there was a giant pile of crap they’d left me in the back yard. They’d also almost completely killed the grass in the back yard between the time I looked at the home and the time I gained access. I pretty much hate them, and each project has me cursing their names. What jerks.

I confess… I’ve grown too weary of chasing down my realtor to see about the A/C unit. I’m just giving up I think… Though part of me feels like I should call the cops or something, since they were required to leave it and the fact that they took it should count as theft. I’ll admit that I don’t really need it now (I’ve forked over the money to buy an A/C for myself because it’s hot and I couldn’t wait!) but that I’d like to get them simply out of principle.

Hampton Bay 1-Light Outdoor Black Wall Light

I confess… One of the first things I did at my new place was start thinking about all the updates I had to do, and one of the first ones I did was porch lights. They had an old ugly motion detector light on the front, and a hole with wires hanging out the back… These little lights I got at Home Depot for about $16 each, so I felt like it wasn’t a terrible investment-and they add a lot of character. So the Sunday after I gained access to the house my dad stopped by on his way out of town (for work) and helped me install a couple new lights, and also my new A/C. He also helped me fix the front door so it would lock properly. My dad is so great.

I confess… He’s working six-twelves right now, but he said as soon as he’s done with this job he’ll come down and help me install some new flooring. They self-installed some laminate in the kitchen and did a terrible job-there are giant gaps in between boards, the boards aren’t secured so they slide around, and they never water-proofed or protected the flooring against water damage.

Shayla sanding down spackle while the dogs keep her company.

I confess… My mom and my sister have been amazing. Not only did they rush down when I was freaking out to make me feel better, but they then came down again the following Sunday night to help me start making the place liveable. They slept on the floor of my new house with me for two nights while we painted, primed, scraped, patched, and fixed the place up. Plus we had puppy helpers. So cute!

I confess… I didn’t get enough before shots, but I did get a few. I wish I’d gotten more and taken them with my good camera so you could see just how bad some things were. These people didn’t really take care of the place at all. It looks like they tried to do some fixes on their own, but every fix they did was done really poorly.

I confess… It’s amazing how much a coat of paint can change a room. This house is tiny with a cottage/bungalow feel, but I don’t know how they survived with ugly stark white walls over their ten years there. It had no character. Maybe they were just cheap-I had no idea how much paint cost-it was so expensive! Above is a few shots of the living room.

Living Room After - Sherwin Williams Sea Salt on the walls with Snowbound on the trim.

I confess… I went with Sherwin Williams Sea Salt for the walls on the living room, and the two-tone look with the molding in Sherwin Williams Snowbound. I’m in love with it. It makes the room feel ENTIRELY different.

I confess… It was SO difficult to paint over where the stairs are. In the middle of painting we called my grandfather to ask if he had a tall ladder we could borrow and he rushed over with one so we could reach some awkward spaces. It still didn’t help with some of the spaces, so he built some makeshift scaffolding over the space so we could stand on it or put things on it.

I confess… The scaffolding had about a foot on one side where it rested, but only about two inches on the other… When that shifts and you have a giant bucket of paint sitting on the wood-bad things happen. My sister accidentally dropped an entire bowl of paint down my stairs!

I confess… The painting of my stair carpet resulted in a lot of tears. All three of us were going on very little sleep, so my sister was bawling because she felt bad and I was bawling because I couldn’t afford to replace the carpet that was now painted white. Luckily my mom kept a cool head and after an hour of scrubbing with hot soapy water and running the carpet cleaner over it, we managed to get most of it out.

Painting the kitchen with Behr Planetary Silver and stripping the old paint off cupboard hinges.

I confess… For the kitchen I chose Behr Planetary Silver. I don’t know what inspired me to go with a grey, but I sure love the two-toned look with the silver-grey and the Snowbound trim. I still have a lot to paint in the kitchen. I also bought some pretty grey and white chevron style non-slip cupboard liners that I’ll be able to put in when I finish all the painting.

I confess… The kitchen cabinets are kind of weird. Over the sink there are the original built-in solid wood cabinets that probably came with the house in the 1950s, but somewhere along the line they’ve replaced the cabinets along the wall and under the sink with a cheaper version. The replaced cabinets all have newer hinges on them, but the original ones had the original hinges with about 60 years worth of paint over it… It took two whole days to get the hinges off so we could paint. They’d been painted over so many times that I had to buy a paint stripper, apply it, let it sit 15 minutes before scraping whatever I could get off, and then repeat-for two days. I did finally get them off, and am currently in the process of painting them and getting new hardware for them.

I confess… In the kitchen there was a random hole in the ceiling that the previous owners had literally stuffed with plastic grocery sacks. Just, what? What is wrong with these people? I pulled the grocery sacks out and a bunch of heat rushed down. We imagine that they must have used the hole to put in insulation in part of the attic space, but then been way too lazy to fix it-they just tried to plug it up so that the heat stayed in. Above you’ll see how they had it on the left, and on the right how I started fixing it.

I confess… I’m learning how to patch walls like a pro. We bought mesh panels and mesh tape, and a giant tub of Joint Compound and I have patched so many holes and cracks in the walls/ceilings that it’s crazy. But it makes such a difference!

Fixing the hole between the door frame and the wall with Joint Compound.

I confess… One thing I was aware of from the moment I put in the offer was the jagged hole between the wall and door frame in the bedroom. This door separates the bedroom from the downstairs bathroom (worst bathroom ever) and it appears as if they’d cut their own door frame. It was all jagged and wavy, and they’d just left the whole there without doing anything to patch it. So my momma helped me nail in a new board that was missing from the frame, and we broke out the joint compound and we started patching the door up. It’s dried kind of cracking, so I think I need to sand it down and put another layer on it.

I confess… The bedroom walls were bad too. There was paint peeling everywhere (it appears they’d painted directly over drywall without primer or anything) and the molding along the one wall was damaged. I pried up the molding and voila, found a small piece of mold. We cut the moldy section of the wall out and tossed the old molding there. We also spent hours hand scraping the peeling paint off the walls.

Bedroom painted with Sherwin Williams Refresh on the walls and Snowbound for the trim.

I confess… My mom and sister seriously are the best family anyone could ask for. They both had Monday off, and even though I had to work they went to my house and painted my bedroom! I came home to an almost complete painting job that has saved me SO much time!

I confess… I originally bought Sherwin Williams Refresh to use to update the accents in the kitchen (which are already a similar-but darker-color) and ended up hating it in the Kitchen. So I was glad that when it was done in the bedroom I LOVED it there. I’d hate to waste paint or be stuck with a color I hate. It looked great with the Snowbound trim/accents as well.

Shayla painting the downstairs bathroom white, and getting covered in paint.

I confess… In an effort to make me hate my downstairs bathroom less, (it looked like this originally) my mom and sister helped me paint it mostly white. It’s going to need an entire overhall at some point… It’s the most bizarre thing. The main drain is up in the wall, so they’ve installed a pump in the floor and have pipes and wires running everywhere. I think that it’s because of all the pipes and wires and the pump that they built the weird platforms and fake walls to hide it… Except they didn’t do a great job at that either-they made sliding cupboard doors that are uneven and terrible, and the platforms kind of slide around. They didn’t even have the shower secured into the wall, it can move around… But making it white helps a little.

I confess… My baby sister is pretty much the smaller, blonder, more adorable version of me. Isn’t she cute?

I confess… I am becoming extremely handy. I’m learning how to do so many things on my own, including patching walls and hooking things up. I’m also going to make an attempt to change my headlight on my car this weekend (I’m too house poor to take my car in lol) and I need to switch out a few electrical outlets that my dad explained how to do. I am woman, hear me roar.

I confess… I still have SO much more to do before the house is actually liveable… I mean I’m currently bunkered down in the one room of the house that’s mostly done (the living room) with my couches, TV, boxes/bags piled everywhere, and my mattress on the floor. It’s crazy! Also, about 90% of everything I own is locked in the garage currently-it’s been crazy.

Here is my upcoming home improvement to-do list, at least those things I know of off the top of my head so far.

Finish painting cupboards and around them.
Hang cupboard doors.
Place liner in cupboards.

Finish patching the holes and painting the walls in the kitchen.
Figure out the kitchen table situation-my table is too big for the kitchen. lol
Re-caulk around the sink.
Figure out if I want to keep the accent color in the kitchen.
- If yes, touch it up/repaint it.
- If no, figure out what color to paint it instead.

Backsplash behind the stove-my mom pulled down their ghetto tin foil that they’d pasted up against the wall and painted instead.

Repaint the monstrosity that is the yellow bathroom with red accents…
Clean up their caulking mess in the said bathroom.
Replace the faucet because it doesn’t actually reach the sink properly.
Eventually I also need to figure out why the jets in the bathtub don’t work…

Finish painting my bedroom.
Spray for bugs-there are SO many spiders!
Figure out how to hook up the washer and dryer properly.
Unpack at least my clothing.
Figure out what to do with the closet (which looks like this).
Figure out what to do with the ugly downstairs bathroom.
Replace the counters because they are cracked and broken.
Paint the hallway.
Find curtains for the living room and the bedroom.
Try and bring my poor yard back to life.

Whew, I’ve got a lot of work cut out for me.

Linking up with:

Angie

http://www.mysocalledchaos.com

Top Tips for a First Time Home Buyer

July 23, 2015 by Angie 35 Comments

Save, Save, Save!

Seriously. Start saving the minute you think you might want to start looking for a house. Better yet, even if you’re not ready to start looking, start saving. Cancel unnecessary subscriptions, stop buying things you don’t need, and start squirreling money away. You’ll want as much money in the bank when you go into it as soon as you can. It took my entire savings account plus cashing out a bunch of stock just to cover my down payment and closing costs.

On top of that, there are so many more expenses you’re not expecting. For example, to paint my house I probably spent about $200 on paint and supplies, and that was with all the supplies the previous owners left me in the garage and what my mom brought down. If I’d had to buy all of those things I’d probably have spent upwards of $350 or so. That’s not including the stuff I had to buy to fix drywall, molding, door frames, the A/C units I had to install, etc. It adds up really fast.

Keep Your Credit in Check

This one can be difficult to get a hold on if you’re not sure what affects your credit exactly, and it can vary based on the loan you want to receive. I didn’t know, but luckily I had a little help. If you’re even thinking about buying a home, start with these NOW:

Have a few open credit cards. I know this seems counter-intuitive but having no credit cards really looks bad on your credit report. Have at least three credit cards approved and open in your name. If you don’t have any, go out and get a couple-but make sure you get them at least a few months before you get approved for a loan so it doesn’t’ look like you’re just shopping for loans.

Use your credit card for all purchases. Make sure it’s stuff you actually need and planned on buying with cash/check/debit, then pay down the credit cards with that actual money every month. Don’t pay them entirely off, always leave about $30-$50 bucks on your open line of credit. Empty cards look badly too, so it’s better to have a little bit (but not much more than a minimum payment or so) than nothing at all.

Start paying down old debts. If you have a car payment, school loans, or other old debt lying around, start putting a little extra towards it so you’re not swimming in debts with the credit cards and house payments.

Get Pre-Approved For a Loan-Then Figure Out How Much You ACTUALLY Can Afford

Don’t start looking at houses until you know how much you can actually get approved for-you may be bummed to find out you can’t afford ones you’ve fallen in love with. Then take what your lender approves you for and make sure it’s actually doable. My lender approved me for up to $200k and my realtor started sending me houses in the $180k-$190k range to look at due to this fact, turns out they’d be more than half my monthly income each month in mortgage + fees + taxes + PMI, etc.

I then called my lender back and got an actual idea of what I could spend. He sent me an estimate of what each price range would run me, and I was able to figure out that I should stay around $140k for a house, or $110k for anything that had an additional HOA payment.

Work with a Mortgage Company that Makes You Feel Like a Priority

When I decided to apply for a home loan I decided to go with a company I’d heard ads for on my favorite radio station. I just decided to email them one day and inquire about the possible option of buying a house-I wasn’t sure I was seriously going to do it or not, but I shot them an email on a Saturday afternoon out of the blue.

I received a phone call first thing the following Monday (March 23rd) morning, by Monday afternoon I was pre-approved, by Tuesday I had a Realtor sending me houses to look at. On Wednesday my mortgage guy confirmed that I couldn’t afford any of the houses the Realtor had sent me, by Thursday I had a new list of houses. By the 25th I’d seen five houses, but hadn’t loved any of them. On April 2nd I saw two (almost three) homes and decided on one, and I was Under Contract by Friday, April 3rd. I received my first underwriting documents on April 9th to sign. My mortgage company was super speedy!

Find a Realtor You Trust/If You Hate Your Realtor SWITCH

I really wish I’d switched. I went with a Realtor that was suggested to me by my mortgage guy and at first I thought he was great. But then over time I started to really dislike how I had to chase him down for answers and how he dodged my questions. I wish I’d just switched to another realtor when my friend suggested hers part way through-because it was too stressful being angry at him all the time!

For example, the first time I tried to close on a house he went out of town and didn’t even tell me he’d be gone. I just got a “I’m in South Carolina” when I tried to get inspector information from him.

After a couple months of looking he started trying to push me into buying something I didn’t want. Like a condo that was basically an apartment-the exact thing I told him I did NOT want to live in when I first started looking at houses. He also didn’t respect my price limit on some of the homes he showed me-instead urging me to just go for things I didn’t want for prices I couldn’t really afford.

Then finally, I am actually closing on a house and he said he was getting the sellers to fix some things but refused to provide a list of things they were fixing. I emailed him every day asking for it and got “I’m out of town” AGAIN! He promised his assistant would send it-and she never did. I don’t know if he lied about asking her to do so or if she was just incompentent but it was really frustrating. He finally said (word for word exactly as he typed it “I don’t have it in front of me but there were some rain gutter issues they repaired, handrail that was loose, some electrical and GFCI fixes. They DONT need to repair anything but I convinced them to do a few items.” I felt it was pretty rude, and hey-when I moved in they did NOT fix a damned thing he said they were going to. FAIL.

Also, they didn’t leave the A/C they promised to leave, and after they moved out he said he’d follow up on it and then just started ignoring my emails. I mean, I closed, so he must have figured he’d gotten paid and it didn’t matter anymore to follow through or keep in contact. I will never use him again, or recommend his services.

Be Your Own Advocate

No matter how much you like your mortgage guy or Realtor, you aren’t going to be their only client, and that means that sometimes you’re going to feel like you’re not getting the attention you deserve. This is where you really need to be your own advocate. Email, call, text, whatever you have to do to get things done. You’re going to have to be pushy to get stuff handled.

Figure Out What You Actually Want & Expect it to Change a Little
Do you want to live in a condo/townhouse? These have hefty HOA fees technically and you still share walls, but hey-you never have to shovel your own sidewalks in the winter or mow your own lawn. There are benefits to both, you just have to know what is important for you. When you first start looking at houses, figure out what your deal breakers are, and then go from there. As you look at more and more houses, what you want will change significantly-but you’ll always have those deal breakers to fall back on.

Research the Areas You Want to Look In

When I started looking I knew that I wouldn’t be able to live where I’ve been living. My rental is super cheap for the part of the city I’m in (it’s kind of a yuppie area) and houses on my street go for upwards of $500k. I figured I’d have to go further away from the city, but I had a wide range of options for smaller towns just outside the city. There were a few I didn’t know much about, but the houses were cheap and they were so close to the city that I started looking… They were rougher neighborhoods but people had been moving into them to gentrify the area. Two days after I put in an offer on one of these houses a drug/gang murder happened a block away from it… I’m pretty glad I didn’t actually end up living there.

Make Sure Your Boss Is On Board

Chances are there are going to be a lot of times you either need to leave work early, or come in late, or even take the day off throughout the whole process, so make sure your boss is aware of what is happening and is okay with a little fluctuation while you work on it. There were times I had to leave early to look at houses, or come in late because I was dropping off the earnest money, or signing papers, etc. I’m really lucky I work for such a great company and my managers were so understanding.

Take an Unbiased Friend With You to Look at Houses

You will need someone who’s not just going to go “Oh pretty! Get it!” at everything you love-you need someone who can point out the flaws of a place when you’re caught up on one thing you really want about it. I was already Under Contract on the first home I planned to buy when I took Shawn out to look at the property, and since we didn’t have keys we only looked at the outside and peeked in the windows. He brought all sorts of things like windows that wont open (they had broken cranks that you could clearly see), holes in the trim of the roof, the fence falling down in one area, etc. to my attention. This caused more stress, but I’d rather know these things than find them out when I’m living there. Which leads me to…

Get an Inspection

Inspections are a part of the process that are highly recommended (if your real estate agent doesn’t insist you get one-they might not have your back as much as you think) and in my opinion completely necessary. An inspector is a third party person who looks over the property and will find every little thing wrong with the place and provide a report to you and your Realtor. If I hadn’t pushed for an inspection on the first place I put an offer in on-I’d be in a world of hurt right now. The inspection showed that while it looked great cosmetically, it needed a new everthing-roof, plumbing, water heater, furnace, foundation, etc. It was so bad… And the door had been kicked in so it recommended drug testing-ouch.

I can’t stress it enough-ALWAYS get an inspection done by a good inspector, it’s worth the money. Pay attention to price of inspections too. You can find someone to do an inspection for $60 but it might not be a very good one… I paid $290 for my inspection, and there were only a few tiny things that needed to be fixed-but my inspector was amazing. He walked me through the house and showed me everything he thought I should know about, and then he offered me a bunch of ideas on how to fix things or what not to do when fixing them. I couldn’t recommend him enough and if you’re in Utah and need a good realtor let me know, I’d be happy to give you his contact information!

Be Prepared for Buyer’s Remorse

No matter how much you love the place you buy, the minute it sinks in that you own it and are going to have to take care of it, and that you paid that much money-you’ll feel a little buyer’s remorse. It’s natural. The first time I had access to my house after I signed the closing papers ended with me calling my mother in tears and telling her I’d made a huge mistake. Luckily she was awesome and rushed down to look at it with me. She was able to help me see what was not such a big deal and explain how easily we could fix things.

Find a Friend Who’s Been Through It

I’m not going to lie-buying a house was one of the most terrifying experiences I’ve ever had. It’s likely the biggest purchase you’ll ever make, and especially if you’re buying a used/old home there are all sorts of fears about what could go wrong. If it weren’t for friends who’d been through the process already (shout out to Kristina and Callie, and also my awesome manager Michael) and who talked me down when I was freaking out, I don’t know that I would have done it.

And hey, if you need to talk to someone who’s just been through it, feel free to comment or email me. I’m here for you. 😉

Have you bought a house before?

Angie

http://www.mysocalledchaos.com

New Homeowner Confessions & Freak Outs (aka Confessions of a New Homeowner Part 1)

July 17, 2015 by Angie 50 Comments

I confess… Buying my first home has been a trying experience. Since I started looking for a home in March, I have put in four offers on homes. One fell through due to a terrible inspection (we’re talking EVERYTHING wrong with the place except the paint!), one fell through for not being FHA approved, one fell through because they accepted another offer instead, and finally the last one was successful.

I put in an offer on this last house about 12 hours after the listing was put up. By the next day it had an additional 5 offers put in on it. They called us, since we were the first offer, and told me that if I’d take it for full asking price-it was mine. I accepted.

I confess… My neighbors have a huge half pipe skateboard ramp in their back yard. Also, nearly every time I’ve been over there they’ve been outside drinking beers. At least they’ll never complain about parties right? lol

I confess… I closed on my home a week ago. However, the owners had requested as part of the offer an extra week to move out of the home and I agreed. I will never do that again-the waiting was terrible and I’m convinced that the previous owners were complete jerks. They didn’t leave the A/C as they promised, but instead they left a nice big mess to clean up.

I confess… I got the keys yesterday and an email saying the previous owners were entirely out of the home so I headed straight over to have a look at it.

The front door was wide open. The house smelled like sour meat upstairs and cat pee downstairs. There were all sorts of holes in the walls and other things I’d never seen since the previous tenants had so much junk everywhere… They had piles of crap just hiding all of the issues before. Here are some photos from the listing:

The living room photo from the listing-filled with crap.

Second bedroom from the listing-so much junk!

I confess… It was exactly then that I lost sight of the potential I’d seen when I first put in an offer. All I saw were the holes-were they made by water damage? Termites? I saw the crappy carpet, and the “upgrades” they’d tried to do but failed at… Seriously, they cut their own door and it’s anything but straight. They straight-up ripped holes in the closet wall so they could get to the storage behind easier. They laid laminate flooring in the kitchen with 2 inch gaps filled with nastyness (no covers, no filler, nothing) in between the floor boards. There was a hole in the kitchen with plastic bags stuffed in it. Just… What?

I confess… I thought I’d made a huge mistake. I texted Yoshi and explained how all their crap had covered up the problems. He suggested I fill it with my own crap to hide them. lol

I called my mom and burst into tears. I’d made a huge mistake. I’d bought an awful house that needed more work than I thought it would, and on top of it something was probably dead in the wall because WHY THE HELL DOES MY HOUSE SMELL LIKE SOUR MEAT?

I confess… My daddy called me from Wyoming and talked me down. He kept telling me it was all “lipstick on a pig” and that the inspector had said it had good bones, a good roof, good plumbing/wiring, etc. He reminded me that I bought my home for 140k but it appraised for 145k so I’d already made money. He told me his coworker lived three blocks from my new house, and when he told him how much I bought it for the guy was astounded. He said “Nothing in Sugar House goes for under 200k! Her lot is worth 200k!”

He reminded me that even though he’s working six-twelves (six twelve hour days) for the next six weeks, when this job ended he’d have some time to come and help me fix things. He reminded me that he can tear out carpet, break down walls, install appliances and light fixtures… He reminded me tha whatever he couldn’t do, we had family members that could. “Need tile? We can call Uncle Dan, Cody, or Chris!” or “Need a new door? Call your grandpa, he’ll come over and help.”

I confess… My sweet mother grabbed my awesome sister and hopped in the car right then to drive the hour+ during rush hour, when they both had to work super early (like be to work at 5AM) the next day, to come down and make me feel better.

They arrived with a carpet cleaner and two bags of cleaning supplies, paint, and smell-good stuffs (Febreze, Lysol, etc.) They picked me up at my apartment and we drove over to the house. They walked through the house with me and told me all the things they loved, and they reminded me of the potential the place had. They’d say “Oh that’s an easy fix, we’ll just pick up some putty and it’ll take us 10 minutes to cover that hole.” or “This carpet really isn’t bad, I say worry about the carpet later and let’s start on some of the other little things we can repair.”

They stayed until 10PM making me feel better, bought me dinner, and then drove the hour plus home so they could get up for work early. They are amazing-I’m so lucky to have them!

I confess… Buying a house has been the most stressful experience of my life. I’m still afraid. I’m afraid it wont feel like home. I’m afraid I wont have the skills to do all that I need to do. But, I’m a homeowner. This place is mine and I’ll make it mine.

Any tips for a first-time homeowner?

Linking up with:

Angie

http://www.mysocalledchaos.com

3 Ways to Make Your Home EVEN BETTER

May 27, 2015 by Angie 9 Comments

You’ve got the Shangri-La of semi-detached homes. Your living room is bathed in the kind of terracotta hue usually reserved for sultan’s palaces. Your bedroom has more finery than a shop made of silk. And you own enough luxury items to make a gameshow jealous.

But there’s still something missing from your home. There’s still a little bit more potential you could wring out of those bricks and mortar before your masterpiece is complete.

If you can’t quite put your finger on what those improvements might be, try a few of these.

Orangery is the new conservatory

The conservatory has forever been a middle class dream. A quick wander through any suburbia will show you that. But they’re not the only option for your home. For a unique look to your home, why not invest in an orangery? Orangery styles vary from home to home but you can guarantee that any style you choose will be pretty snazzy.

But what is an orangery? Essentially it’s a conservatory that will give you a more enclosed feeling, allowing you to lounge in privacy.

What’s more, this simple addition could add thousands of pounds to the value of your home. So nab one today.

Alter that attic

Until you convert your attic, it’s little more than a creepy empty space between your rooms and roof. It’s probably covered in dusty boxes. One or two of those boxes might contain a horrible looking doll. Who knows when that doll will attack! Basically, your unconverted attic is a horror movie waiting to happen.

But if you convert that attic into another room, you’ll have extra space, added value to your house price and more insulation.

You can do whatever you like with your attic – just don’t make it pure horror show.

Find your focus

Focal points are ace ideas for every room in your home, drawing the eye and giving your space a centre that’ll complement everything else.

What will constitute an ace focal point depends on which room you’re refurbishing. Your living room could do with a cool ornament or coffee table, your hall might suit a classy bookcase and your garden might require a stunning water feature.

It’s a fine balancing act between finding something that’ll catch the eye and plopping something garish in your home, but that’s a part of the fun. Experiment with different styles and furnishings , and find a great centre for your home. It’ll finally make it complete.

This post was written by John Paul in line with my disclosure policy.

Angie

http://www.mysocalledchaos.com