Morphing Fugly Into Fabulous! Won't You Join the Obsession?

The rain won't stop and I can't finish a project I wanted to show you all because New York State has now turned into the Amazon Rainforest without the heat. So...


The beautiful thing about this house is once we actually get the keys (and someone -*cough* town of Lagrange *cough*- stops dragging their feet on the appraisal for the last two loooong weeks) the contractors and mold busters (oh another side note...do you think the mold busters wear capes over their tyvek suits? Think I can special request them to??) will be in the house that same week cleaning and fixing and making the broke like new again. So, with that being said, the house will be a like-new blank slate ready for shiny new design and a sort of resurrection.  Ed and Cman are the destroyers; I, on the other hand, am left the task of design. Oh, sweet home design, how I love thee.  In my quest for all things gorgeous and inspirational, I have recently fell upon a splendid and quite addicting website called: Pinterest.com.  What is Pinterest you ask? Well, I'll tell you, BUT there is a disclaimer involved. 


*All subjects this chick points in the direction/usage of Pinterest must not hold her liable for drooling, excessive drooling, blindness or convulsions due to 24-7 computer usage searching for the perfect space, decrease in wallet worth, OCD behaviors, loss of computer memory due to JPEG storage, and drooling, etc.* 

*all images courtesy of pinterest.com*

I'm guessing because you all are very fart smellers, you figured out what Pinterest is. I could. spend. hours. on this site. I have become a member against my better judgment and I also have a folder full of oh! I'm going to do that! and Hey, Ed! Look! Oooooohh. Aren't those pictures gorgeous?? It will take us time to decide what exactly we are going to do in each room, but man, I want to do it all! A lime green door (inside only, of course)? yes, please! A set of gray painted cabinets with a white farmhouse sink? Por Favor! Seriously, that teal laundry room with the chandelier will probably make me want to do laundry everyday; and I might! So, while our new diggs may stay relatively humble on the outside for the time being, I expect anything but on the inside. We are down to the wire now in terms of 100000% proudly owning (read: becoming voluntary slaves to) this Red House #9.  

Oh, For The Love of Cohesion and All Things Stainless.

Ed and I maaaaaay have a slight addiction to the world of stainless steel and its gleaming personality. We also maaaaay have to keep ourselves in check when it comes to all things shiny and gray. We regularly have to remind ourselves to have a little fun with punches of color; the world isn’t drab and either are our personalities. Our house already has stainless appliances, but the rest of the kitchen leaves a lot left to be desired.  You see, the kitchen is by far our most favorite room in the house. We love to cook and entertain. We love create and congregate and don’t mind spending time in said beloved room, but we also don’t want the focal point of our home to be u.g.l.y (its mama ain’t got no alibi, its ugly).  When you walk into our house the first thing that catches ones eye is the kitchen at the end of the long hallway. Right now, as our alibi-less u.g.l.y. kitchen stands, it is covered in a green/blue and pale yellow tile pattern, evergreen colored countertop, a rusty red tile floor, and *cringe* non-matching cabinet doors.  Color cohesion? Hell, any cohesion?  I think not.  More like Christmas colors exploded while Jerry Garcia interpreted his psychedelic feelings in tile (oh, and yes, what you’re seeing is in fact wood flooring on the ceiling. And no, [not so] sorry to say, it’s not staying. No more crazy dance parties on that ceiling!!).

 Yea, I get dizzy just looking at it; you do too, right?  So, what are a couple of modern-loving sleek minimalists to do with such an u.g.l.y. duckling when working with a small budget?  Find the most expensive kitchen, fall in love with it, and try to replicate its gorgeousness of course. Sound impossible?  It kinda will be, but I have faith in us (and our handy helpers) that we can totally pull this off. Sharing the kitchen that is fueling our inspiration will not happen in this post, but let me assure you none of you will be disappointed.  Ok, maybe I’ll give you a little glimpse in to our crazy-we-can-do-anything-we’re-superhero’s-after-all train of thought because I’m a real sweetheart like that (stop rolling your eyes).  

Ohhhh, can’t you picture it now?? The gleaming gray, the shiny black, and cohesion.  No you can’t?  Why not?  Oh, right, because I’m being a tease. In addition to massive amounts of cohesion and less amounts of stainless, we plan on building in some major portions and also taking out some major portions.  Oh, and don’t worry, we have a really nice stove (as you can see above its missing) on our radar as well and yes, it’s stainless. 

Let’s Talk About Cents, Baby….

There is nothing more thrilling than the adrenaline rush of the chase and sticking it to the man. You see that beauty and you immediately hone in and make it your obsession; you have to have it in your possession; you want to make it yours. But that price tag makes you say– oh hell no! What? No one else out there enjoys chasing down the best deal possible like a cheetah hunting a gazelle?  Oh, you don’t know the fun you’re missing!! 

Ok, well buckle your seatbelts because in an effort to include all of you in on a few gazelle hunting, money saving, you won’t believe your eyes – and your fat wallet tips, I figured I’d share how Ed and I save our cents when shopping for big (and not so big) ticket items we refuse to pay retail price for. Actually, the words ‘retail price’ aren’t even words in our vocabulary and 99% of the time, we won’t purchase whatever it is we’re looking to unless we have some sort of a savings. Call us cheap, but I like to refer to us as fart smellers (smart fellers…no? not funny? It was in my head).

This house is by far the biggest, most expensive purchase Ed and I both have ever made. Sure we’ve purchased new cars (on the cheap mind you – yea, 0% interest, free extras, and paying under invoice) and furniture, but nothing to the extent of a home. See, even when buying our home we went frugal. I know, it’s a house, how can we buy a house frugally? Well, I’ll tell you how.  We pre-qualified on one salary. We shopped in the lower end of our budget. We waited for the lowest possible interest rate and locked in. We waited for a deal that couldn’t be beat and pounced with an offer lower than asking. It was like shopping for a house with big. fat. coupons. We made the kill and are proud of ourselves that we stuck to our guns and got what we wanted. It’s just too bad Ebates doesn’t give cash back on real estate.

This house (as I previously mentioned) is going to need love and a lot of it. The attic is filed with mold – as is the one full bathroom, the rec room has some, and garage, too. The heating system has pipe breakage and the once gorgeous hardwood floors, bathroom, and kitchen need a ‘What Not to Wear’ makeover by my Dad’s famed girlfriend Carmindy.

 However, with all of the love we are prepared to give, we are not prepared to give all of the cents out of our wallet (well, what’s left anyway).  So, enter online shopping at its best being mastered by the highly-skilled-coupon-stalking-retail-price-slashing-cash-back-maven: yours truly.  Yep, so far we have purchased some items that may look as if we spent upwards of hundreds of dollars, but no way, Jose. Not this chick. What’s that?? You’re all looking for examples?  Right-o. Ready?

Example #1: Fontaine High Arc Brushed Nickel Kitchen Faucet w/ Pullout Side Spray

Retail price is in the range of $150+ plus tax and shipping. Enter Overstock.com and their $1 shipping and NO tax. They had this puppy for an outstanding price of $99. PLUS I received 5% cash back on my purchase through ebates.com.  That’s right. Put back an extra $4.95 into our wallets, and this $150 faucet cost us approximately $96. Savings: $54.00

Example #2: Martha Stewart Collection Bedding, Poppy 6 Piece Set

Isn't it gorgeous?! Retail price is $250. Enter a sale at Macy's.com, plus a gift card plus Ebates.com cash back, and a dab of free shipping. The sale price was $99. I had a gift card for $50. Ebates offered 2.5% cash back and Macy's free shipping. Score! Total spent: $56.50. Savings: $208.50. 

Now I know I mention coupons and trust me, I use them. Solely relying on sales or websites like Overstock isn’t always the best way to get an awesome deal. I use retailmenot.com a lot and usually their coupons work best. I also use google.com/bing.com for coupons and/or finding additional sales on other sites I may have missed. Ebates.com is a Mecca of cash back goodness and it’s legit. I have received 3 checks so far from Ebates totaling $43.88 in cash back just by shopping through their site. Plus they also offer up any new and exciting coupons that can be used in addition to the cash back.  As far as brick and mortar stores are concerned – two words: Clearance Aisle. Ok, and Home Goods, and Outlet Centers. There’s a science – not a cool science like Marilyn & Tyler & Ed study, but a science nonetheless – to money saving. And much like science, it is literally so much fun to see results from the hard work invested, especially when it directly hits you in the wallet. I wasn’t kidding when I say that Ed and I don’t buy anything unless it’s a good deal – even groceries and clothes and presents. We’re currently on the hunt for the best possible deal on appliances. So far, nothing outstanding, but our sniffers are on it.  Anyone know of any super-dee-duper sales that they want to share?  Any inside scoops? Mmmm scoops …. Ice cream… 

The New Kids On the Block

And yes, while that's a total throw back to the days of Donnie Wahlburg, Tiger Beat magazine, and oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh - (you got the) the right stuff (it's stuck in your head now, right?? yea, sorry about that), the title comes with absolute truth. See, Ed and I have finally ended our long journey weeding through heaps of homes to find the right fit for all of us. The list of homes we toured ranged from the realms of beauty, to mediocrity, and well, to down right icky (think rotting turquoise siding and mold ridden basements). That is until a newly listed home was brought to our attention on a Friday afternoon in February. We hemmed and hawed about going to see it because honestly, it wasn't really our "style", but went to see it on Saturday nonetheless. Before we went to see the "not really our style home" we went to check out another potential home that was honestly nothing short of incredible.

This home was historic, and HUGE, and had original hand-carved woodworking, shale shingles and a turret. It had maid’s quarters and secret stairways, original fireplaces (living room and basement) and two sets of double front doors that weighed about 700lbs a piece, both with the original hardware. Needless to say Ed, my father, and I were in historic home heaven. The home was built in 1847 (oh if walls could talk) and oozed ageless beauty. However, the almost 3,000 sq ft, three-floor home in need of some TLC proved to be a bigger bite than Ed and I knew we could chew. So we bid adieu to this magnificent historic lovely and carried on to find a home that would better suit us as a family. 

There were a few other homes we looked at prior to the historic beauty that we thought may be promising; we actually put an offer in on this one (totally cute, right?).

This house had us at hello. There were 3 bedrooms and 1 bath. The master bedroom was a loft.  The back yard was fenced in and Ed was enamored with the garage. It was an inviting cape; reminiscent of the build of house Ed grew up in, in Woodstock and I grew up in, in Wappingers. The floors gleamed and the natural light could warm even the darkest of souls. However, no dice on that house as our offer was beat out by a more aggressive, deeper-pocketed individual; it was back to the drawing board.

The next house we set foot in was, well, it was a hot freakin’ mess.  Yes, I would aptly name this house the Lindsay Lohan of homes.  Oh. Dear. Lord. Remember how I mentioned earlier in the post about rotting turquoise siding?  I meant it.  Wanna see? I know you all do because like Ms. I-didn’t-do-it Lohan, this house was a train wreck you just can’t but help stare at and pity it. It doesn’t look so bad from the pictures, but like a Picasso, its ok from a distance, but once up close...

 This home barely had windows which meant dungeon dark. Ever single hornet/yellow jacket on earth had made its nest on the front porch and in the window sills and frame. It was a 3 bedroom, 1 icky bathroom home with asbestos ceiling tiles and holes punched (drunkenly) in the entryway walls and ceiling. The kitchen was a mish-mosh of I don’t know what they were thinking and plastic made-to-look-like-floor-tiles glued to the ceiling (of which 30% had fallen down or were falling down). The back section of the home was, well, Ms. Lohan at her worst. Turquoise? Really? The house was rotting out before our very eyes. The gutters were falling and the rotted wood around the windows screamed “termite paradise”; they were crumbling just by looking at them. The real kicker was this: they were asking $150,000 for this home. Yes, like Ms. Lohan, the sellers were looking to get paid an exorbitant amount of cash for lackluster talents and relevancy (or in the case of this house lackluster anything). So, we moved on.

After feeling much like the bedtime story of Goldie Locks and the Three Bears, Ed and I were getting a little frustrated. No historic home or Ms. Lohan-esk hot mess felt right. That was until we went to visit the “not really our style” home that had only be listed for a mere 24 hours.  When we arrived at this home, both Ed and I were pleasantly surprised with its charm. After we agreed that trudging through a billion feet of snow was worth it, we had a moment. That moment wasn’t smoochy or a hug or even a high-five, nope it was a moment of being on the same page. About Katie Butler. When Ed looked at me and I said to him “well, it’s red, and man, wouldn’t Katie love that!” we knew it was a definite contender.  

Upon our approach to the newly listed crib, the screen door was missing its glass and its handle. The heat hadn’t been on in the home for a couple of years and the pipes had burst in seven places. The hardwood floors were a mess and the light fixtures were less than ideal (15 ceiling fans and counting).  The kitchen was Jerry Garcia psychedelic with some crazy tile pattern and the pink and avocado bathroom was a mess – not quite Lohan level, but close. As we meandered around the home, it began to feel like a home we could all comfortably settle into. It had every amenity we listed on our “wish list”: a fireplace, 3 bedrooms, a garage, a deck, a fenced in yard for Stella and Cman, and space to allow Silver Spade to practice.  We spent a lot of time that day looking around and getting a feel for what we could do with this essentially blank slate.


This crib was the perfect concoction of “the hard work will pay off” and a feeling of home that we decided to put in an offer. As we sat in our real estate agents office and signed our lives away only after an hour of seeing the house, we are overwhelmed and overjoyed all at the same time.  Our offer was accepted three days later and I witnessed Ed nearly have a heart attack.

Will this crib be a giant pain in our ass in the coming months (hopefully not years) to come? Yep. Will this crib be in a constant state of update? Yep. Will this crib drain us both in our wallets and physical energy? Kinda. Hey! Don’t you remember?? We have a 13 year old – isn’t physical labor what kids are for?  Will this crib be ours and be given the love it deserves? Yes. And in return this crib will also afford us love for our family. Wow, I think I just wrote vows to our home.

So, in an effort to document and share with everyone our ever evolving improvements on our first crib, we started this red house nine. Well, that’s not the only reason. We’re also so totally psyched to be The New Kids on the Block that we couldn’t possibly contain our excitement to only ourselves – we want to share!