Steve and I had a great time in Florida for the holiday! We got to spend time with our good friend and their family in Gainesville, which is where I ate WAY too much. Delicious! Then we got to go to my grandma's river house to spend time with family and do some bass fishing. This side of my family consists of very successful landlords in Gainesville and Orlando, so Steve and I picked their brains for tips. It was great to see everyone!
Today I ventured out to the house to see what my little buddies had been up to while I was away. They were BUSY! The house is painted, the kitchen and one bathroom floors are tiled, the countertops are on, the light fixtures are up (for the most part) and the door molding and baseboards were being installed when I got there. It looks like a new house! I made a very big deal about all of their hard work in an attempt to encourage more hard work through positive reinforcement.
A fun surprise to me was that they needed more supplies from both Lowes and Home Depot! What a treat! This morning, I told Steve just to hold on to the credit card because I didn't expect to buy any more goodies. I guess I thought multiple trips to the hardware store for an entire week was enough...what a fool I am! Because of this, there are a few items I will have to go get tomorrow because I didn't have enough cash on me. I don't know how I would like a day without Home Depot or Lowes, so maybe I should just start buying things one at a time so I can really spread it out.
There is a guy who walks around Home Depot trying to sell their custom kitchen program. The first time he approached me I was trying to pick out the right kind of sand paper, and if you are in a Home Depot shirt, I will be asking you for help...that's a fact. NASCAR fans beware. As I saw him approaching, I immediately starting asking him about the sand paper and which kind I should get. He looked at me a little confused and offered me no help at all. I was the one confused here, he is wearing the appropriate t-shirt, he should be able to help me! Then he started in on his pitch, "So enough about sand paper, let me ask you a question. Have you considered remodeling your kitchen?" I had so many problems with his opening line, I didn't know where to start. But, before I could critique his sales pitch, I needed to know what kind of sand paper to get. I said, "Yeah, we are redoing a whole house, that's what I need the sand paper for." He got so excited, he thought he had a slam dunk sale. As he got into the second phase of his presentation, where he is supposed to show me to the customization computer, I burst the little guy's bubble. I explained that we are rehabbing a house for a rental and will not be designing a custom kitchen for it. Then he wanted to know about my personal kitchen. I told him I am very happy with it, and at that, he stormed off. I yelled after him, "Wait! What kind of sand paper am I supposed to get???" HD lesson 1: The Home Depot employees have different kinds of shirts. The ones with the small logo and do not require the employee to wear an apron and/or back brace, are salespeople and are to be avoided.
Well, today as I was looking for 3" screws in the sea of every shape and size screw, the kitchen guy approached me again. His starting line this time was, "Hey, I wanted to ask you....have you thought about remodeling your kitchen." I was not in the mood for this again so I quickly said, "we met last week and I still don't want a new kitchen." He gave me a dirty look and continued on his way. Maybe after this project is done, I will spend a week mentoring this poor boy on selling skills. His first lesson will be: Remain Friendly at ALL Times! Customers will remember you!
I didn't see any of my other regular helpers at Home Depot today, so fingers crossed, they will be working tomorrow!
We need your help with something. Steve and I are debating painting the kitchen cabinets. There are a few pictures below so you can form an opinion. If we paint, I think we need to change the cabinet handles and the hinges (because they match). If you think we should, what color should we paint them ??? I am cleaning them tomorrow to get the nicotine film off of them, so they should look a little better after that.
Notice you can no longer see the outline of the pictures that were hanging on the walls. Also the 2 smaller bedrooms have the same light fixture.
The closet looks totally different with just a coat of paint.
The family room in Dapper Tan with the wood floors exposed and no dropped ceiling. Such an improvement!
This bathroom really hasn't gotten any attention except for demo yet. We are waiting on the plumber.
Kitchen with the new countertops and tile floor. What do you think about the cabinets?
Here's a closer view of the countertops. They came out nice.
The carport and front of the house without the great wall of oppression. Thank you Steve. (notice the piece of rebar sticking out of ground from the wall though. I put a coke can on it so I wouldn't accidently walk into it. The wall is gone but not yet forgotten.
Front of the house with no dumpster and only a few garbage bags. My next project is pressure washing and cleaning out the flowerbeds. They still have to paint some on the outside. Also, no, I did not get a new car.
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