I love my house. I love my house. I love my house.

This last week I decided to be positive about my house. It's not my house's fault it's an 82 year old house and it's not my house's fault I want out of this neighborhood. Houses need maintenance, even brand new ones. All things considered, (mainly the amount of money we've invested in this house over the last nine years), this house has been very good to us even when we've been forced to neglect it because of our budget.

It's still true I'm tired of working so hard on a house we need to leave but it is a cute house. I fell in love with it when we bought it and someone else will love it even more after seeing all the work we've done to leave it better than when we found it.

On Friday my love for my house was boosted by the women from Menagerie Redesign.    

Growing up I used to babysit for Julie's kids, she owns Menagerie with a few other women. Her home was always full of great colors and beautiful things. Her great room and kitchen could also hold my entire home, roof and all. The house I grew up in was a little full of carcinogens and trauma plus a sofa which looked like autumn. If autumn threw up.

Being at Julie's house I always told myself I wanted to live in a home where everything had a place and there were nice things to look at and maybe less pathogens.

When the ladies from Menagerie asked if they could come and help me get my house ready for sale, I hesitated because I live in a very small house and things don't always flow together very cohesively because I am both poor and not very talented at putting all my things together into a pulled together look. Like say, my sister in law can.

Julie's twin sister, Jean, is someone I consider my personal Oprah. She's like my second mother who consistently knows how to do all the things I am not very good at doing. Like, making life long friends or not over reacting to my in laws or talking on the phone without medication. I've learned a lot from her but some things, are just impossible to teach.

When I told Jean I wanted to have Menagerie into my house, but I was feeling a little embarassed of my house. She told me to shut up and take the help, your house is cute! She said it and I didn't really believe her because, as you may have noticed, I have been a little tied down with low house self esteem.

Last week I spent hours and hours clearing out my house. Moving half the kids toys and Logan's vast collection of things he doesn't even know he owns yet he NEEDS to own these things once he sees that he owns them into the PODS on our driveway. I washed windows and got rid of everything we don't need and some of the things we do need.

And when they came into my house they had great things to say. They loved my columns.

They loved the large dining room and the wall of windows.

When I showed them the bathroom they gasped in appreciation and I have to tell you, I love the work we did in the bathroom. I'm proud of it. Logan pulled it off better than I ever could have imagined. But hearing these women who's taste I admire and have aspired to have my whole life loving my bathroom....it was rewarding and melted my cold dead heart toward this house.

I showed them Maddie's room and they said "adorable" and "great closet space". I showed them our room and they admired the beams Logan and his brother made.

We spent a lot of time in the kitchen because the kitchen is like a living hell.

We all agreed on the good bones of the room. The two walls of windows, the very tall and newly finished ceiling. We also all agreed on the heinousness of the cabinets and the mismatched appliances. I showed them the paint chip Logan thought would look good in the kitchen, and they agreed with his choice so that Logan's head will now grow another 20% and he'll forevermore call himself "The King Of Color". Nice.

They ended up convincing me that it would be foolish not to have the cabinet doors and drawer fronts replaced because the man who does our drywall finishing also makes cabinets on the side and offered to replace all our doors for just $300. 

After painting this weekend, I hoped maybe the cabinets would look okay and I could go ahead with my April 2nd list date. But, there's a reason these women are professionals.

Painting the walls was the most rewarding job we've done in this house in the last 9 months. We used very nice Benjamin Moore paint and I'm now an expensive paint convert. Using this paint was like painting with fabric. The coverage was so nice and cutting in, which usually makes me unbecomingly grumpy, was like a vacation. I said 352 times, "I love this paint!" Until Logan threatened to leave the rolling for me too.The paint looks amazing (check out that straight edge at the ceiling....no tape people! I rule!), but just imagine how lovely crisp clean cabinets will look. The kitchen is the only room in this house which makes me cringe at this point and for such a minimal investment, it just doesn't make sense to leave it undone.

As a final omen, last night as we prepared our taxes we found a freelance check of Logan's misplaced with our tax information in the exact amount the cabinets will cost.

So yeah, the house wins again. The house isn't listed but I feel in control of everything here. I am feeling friendly towards our house and I'm hoping this means the house will reward me by not making me repair anything.

I worked really hard last week. I moved 75 small boxes of stuff into the POD and moved furniture and cleared the attic and threw away 8 boxes of trash from the basement. I made it through our 'must do' list and now there are just 3 items on it.

Let's all pray the cabinet guy isn't terribly busy, that painting the cabinets doesn't kill me and that Menagerie will come to my new house to help me make a realistic list of improvements so that in another 10 years I'm not working my ass off to give my house away.

They do that too. They don't call it that, they call it "Design Consultation" but they might want to think about adding a new category to their offerings. "Don't sit on your ass for 9 years only to realize you could have spent $300 and 40 hours of your time making your kitchen nice."

Maybe that's too specific. I don't know.

Comments

[AmyinMotown]

I am a sucker for old bungalow/Craftsman homes (my historic resveration friend in shuddering AND DOESN'T KNOW WHY right now because I know I got that wrong). The column are so charming and your house clearly has tons of character. I think our living room is the same color as your dining room: Ralph Lauren Khaki? And our living room molding looks to be the same color as your living room. Photos on my blog from December.

I admire your home improvement hard work! We are laaazzzyyyy people and don't do what we should, and my current freakout is that we're going to need a new roof and new gutters. Soon. Thank you Mich Legislature for the tax break--it may help. Yikes. We jut had to shell out $143 for a new furnace switch.

[melissataurus]

Can I ask what color green that is in your living room? It looks like a beautiful apple-ish sort of color...

I love your house. I live in Maryland where there are lots and lots of craftsman/bungalow 20s style homes. Unfortunately, given the area (metro Washington DC) the prices are in the high 400s for 2/3 bdrms 1.5/2 baths. Really.

The kitchen is lovely too.

[Kate]

Just reading that makes me tired! You must be worn out, but look at the great job you did - Wow!

[Susan]

I am also having a strange renewed love affair with my house, now that the For Sale sign is in the yard and all the crap in the closets has gone to Goodwill and the tables are cleared of extra papers.

Last night I made Wade swear an oath that we will NOT let our next house fall into disarray, that we will touch up the paint regularly and keep the junk from piling up everywhere. And he looked at me like I was drunk or insane. Which I probably was, both.

It's the house's fault, though.

[Peggasus]

Oh, absolutely spend the $300 for the cabinet fronts; the cost will be returned many times over. People are VERY picky about the kitchen. Even changing over the hardware has a big effect, and it doesn't have to be expensive.

Yay for you for finding Benjamin Moore paints, they really are the best, and the only thing any reputable painters use. They are definitely worth the extra $10 per gallon.

We close on our Chicagoland house a week from today, and I can't wait to have that check in my hot little hands. I have done what you have done in the last year too.

Your house looks lovely, and I wish you a quick sale at or over asking price!

[CursingMama]

We made the same error in our first house too. When I think of how long I lived with an ugly, non-functioning kitchen and know that the new people have no idea - it sometimes makes me sick. GAH!
Good luck with the last bit of work -

[Womanwithkids]

I love your house. And the colors? The color in the dining room is great, so dramatic and sharp. {sigh} I want to go home and paint now...

[GetSheila]

I was going to gush about how cute your house is and oh my gosh how can you beat to leave it...until I remembered The Neighbors.

And the toilet on the curb.

And other horror stories.

Hope it sells fast and you enjoy your new digs.

[GetSheila]

Damn. BEAR to leave it. I hate typos.

[CallistaWolf]

Man, if you're embarrassed by your house, I'm downright mortified by mine. Your house looks marvelous and I bet it sells fast because everyone else is going to think it looks marvelous too.

[Lena Lotsey]

"...asked if they could come and help me get my house ready for sale."

Hating you a teensy bit. My house = gaping hole in my soul.

Enough about me though! Love the kitchen paint. And I would ABSOLUTELY reface the cabs and put off listing a week - especially at that awesome price.

And did your realtor recommend you change Max's room to an office? Because ours said the exact opposite because then people wonder "if it's big enough for a bedroom". I don't know if I agree with her though.

House is beautiful Melissa. You should be proud.

(/disjointed comment complete with assvice)

[MelissaS]

Maybe some people like toilets in their neighbor's yards.

I switched the office just because Logan's computer was shoved into our room and took away from the look of it.

It is a small room and it's off the kitchen. It fit a dresser, a twin size bed and we could have done wall shelves for toys.

Lena, your house looks amazing.

[slouching mom]

I was about to tell you how cute the house is, and it is that, but then I reconsidered because I don't want to hinder your progress through the Five Stages of Disengaging From The Home You're Selling by giving you a case of seller's remorse.

See how much I care about you?

[maiareads]

I have always contended (and told you a few times) that I really love your house. Your style sense rocks, love the colors you choose and the character it has. Someone is going to walk in and love it to peices.

[Shan]

you guys finding a check that covers your cabinet expense reinforces my belief in a higher power. just sayin... :)

[cce]

I hope you'll get Menagerie over to your new house long before you decide to sell it b/c it seems sad to get design help only when you're not going to be around to enjoy it. (I'm a landscape architect and have always felt funny about people finally spending money on their garden only to sell the place.) And your cutting in skills are admirable. I suck at that and must always use tape and then find the tape pulls the paint off the ceiling and then I have to paint the ceiling again and must tape off the walls which then removes the paint from the walls and pretty soon I'm just painting and taping in circles.

[superblondgirl]

I'm so glad you're feeling better about the whole thing, and the house does look awesome- try to enjoy it while you wait for it to sell (fast! Sell fast, little house!!). Definitely when you buy a new place get Menagerie over to help out, why not? Then you'll get to really, really enjoy all your hard work and the gorgeousness.

Oh, and your sister-in-law? Can I borrow her? Because the pink and green are my favorite colors, and she does lovely things with them and I am SO JEALOUS of her house's cuteness!!

[Dee]

Will you post before and after pictures once Menagerie has done their magic? I'd loved to see what they do.

Your house looks great. Congrats.

[bgirl]

After all the work you've done, I truly hope your new house is "move in ready." Looks great!

[kara]

I love your house, it really looks beautiful. If I was going to be moving to the Detroit area (which I am not as my job will be keeping me firmly in SW Ohio for the next several years) then I would totally buy your house. I love Craftsman style houses... and there are not a lot of them here.

Your efforts have inspired me to do a lot of the renovations/improvements on my own house that I have been putting off for a while. So far many rooms have been painted, the kitchen countertops have been replaced, the landscaping has been done, and I am waiting for the next long weekend when I will rip out the grotty carpet in the family room and install lovely (and eco-friendly) compressed bamboo flooring.

Cheers!

[MelissaS]

the next house won't be move in ready because we can never afford move in ready, especially not in the neighborhood we're trying to sneak into.

[Gullebarn]

Wow! I don't know why you are so worried about the house selling. It looks great. The colors are great -- lots of character, those built-ins and moldings are fabulous! There is nothing worse than plain old white sheetrocked walls.

[MelissaS]

I didn't show you the down sides. The low ceilinged basement, the rusty shed, the lack of landscaping, the old roof, gutters, siding and furnace.

I'm nervous because this is Michigan where there is a surplus of homes and lack of people to buy them with all the layoffs and poor job market.

I'm also nervous because our profit is going to be nothing so if we don't get asking, we owe.

Hopefully someone will fall in love and be able to make it a better house than it is right now.

[kdstetson]

You have a great sense of design and color. So many people are afraid to use strong color opting instead for washed-out "safe" colors with little or no character. It looks great! Share the color names with us! I would especially like to know the shade of brown you chose. Brown can be so difficult. My sister repainted 3 times because each shade was too red.

[andrea from the fishbowl]

Your house is totally sweet. It's amazing how much a coat of paint, scratch that, a REALLY COOL SHADE of paint will make all the difference in the world.

I need something for our dining room. One thing through... I have promised myself that when it's time to paint I will not take the DIY approach. We had professional painters come in when our living room was done and they did such an amazing job I swore I'd never go back to doing it myself.

I'm a smart girl. I can hold a paintbrush. But for some reason it looks like crap by the time I get done with whatever it is I'm supposed to be painting.

[Jessica]

I've gotta tell ya, Melissa -- I think your house is adorable! You've made such great use of color and design elements. I don't think you give yourself anywhere NEAR enough credit!

[tanyetta]

beautiful!

[rhonda]

I am so rooting for you - i'm exhausted just reading your life the past couple weeks.
Your home looks great!
Someone, and it only takes one will fall in love with your bungalow.
Menagerie is a fun find! I printed their brochure~

[Sumo]

I enjoy reading other people's house woes, kind of the same way I enjoy watching videos of guys getting kicked in the nads. It's funny when it's not happening to me. From all the nightmarish stories, I had kind of pictured a house in shambles (like our last one), but your place looks great! You two should be really proud of what you've accomplished.

I'd like to add that I always feel a little bad for someone who puts a ton of effort into fixing up their place to sell it, just from the standpoint that they did all that work then don't get to enjoy it. I know there are all kinds of good reasons that those things don't get done earlier, but it still makes me a little sorry for the person.

Good luck with the finishing and eventual sale!

[MelissaS]

Yeah, I guess I should have been clearer along the process. I like the house, there's always been a lot to love.

I hate the neighborhood and it's time for us to have a different space.

Before doing that, we have to put all this time and money into our house (normal maintenance stuff anyone who owns a house has to do at one time or another and then remodeling stuff we knew we had to do when we bought it).

It's made me cranky toward the house and made me focus less on how it is a cute house and has always had tons and tons of potential.

Ideally, this neighborhood would magically become what we want and magically it would be in the school district we want.

Then we'd spend the money we're going to spend on a new mortgage finishing the attic into a master suite/office and creating a family room off the kitchen.

Hopefully someone has vision, a love of the craftsman style, a desire to live 3 blocks from downtown and wants to have it all at our very reasonable asking price.

Is that so much to ask?