Before/After

Removing Wallpaper

Upon the recommendation of the listing agent, we made an appointment to have A Stager come to the house. I dreaded the idea, as I took a lot of pride in making my home beautiful and I enjoyed interior design. I didn’t want to hear the list of items she would have for me to do. Luckily, I had begun to distance myself from the house as I was exploring all the ideas I had for the next house. So, I was thinking of it in the practical sense of dollars and cents. I also was thinking of all the work that lay ahead in the next house and I didn’t relish doing work on the old house.

She came with a post-it pad and informed me that the post-it meant the items needed to be removed. The first thing she tagged was the entry wallpaper, and most of all the wallpaper in the house: in the master bedroom, the guest bedroom, the guest bath and the powderroom. OH NOOOO! Then, she tagged various pieces of furniture: two bookshelves, the piano, the ornamental birdcage, the grandfather clock, the bar cart. OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

A dear friend who is a photographer, offered to take photos of the house. This way, we would always have photos of the way our home looked. We truly loved our home. But, the reality is that once you put your house on the market it no longer is your home and you must make every effort to market it to the best of your ability to get the most money for the property.

So, began the transformation…

Action Item #1: Do all necessary repairs.

Action Item #2: Remove the wallpaper.
OMGosh-That is an awful job. Perhaps I was doing it wrong, or perhaps it was the fault of my honey for not sizing the wallpaper when he installed it all those many years ago. But, after a long, hot day with the steamer in the small powderroom and only getting 1/2 of the room done as it came down in bits and pieces, I swore that I would never ever install wallpaper again.

Action Item #3: Box up all the clutter.
This is when you are glad that your husband has a SUV. “Can you stop by the liquor store and get some boxes?” As you clean out all the buffets, cabinets, shelves, closets, storage areas and unnecessary clutter and box it up.

Gone are all the family photos and cherished childhood mementos; for the goal is that the potential buyer envisions themselves in the house. So, the items get packed up and the boxes begin to stack up. Before long, it no longer resembles your cherished family home and you look forward to getting out, as you feel unwelcome in your own house.

We are closing on the foreclosure first. We will clear out the bulk, all 22 years of items that have accumulated. We will move out, keeping just enough furniture behind to allow the potential buyer to see each room’s assets. Then, the house will be listed.

As we approach the week of the inspection on the new property we are living in a turmoil of projects. There are boxes piled up, rooms torn apart, and items grouped together ready to take to the new house upon closing.

We are anxious for the inspection to be done and to hear everything is sound. We will be forging ahead.

The Beginning

The journey began long before, as we toyed with the idea of moving out of the cherished home where we raised our two children. We explored many different ideas as we approached the stage where the mortgage on the house was going to be paid off:  #1-obtaining a cottage, #2-downsizing to a patio home, #3-buying a second property down south. I think it’s common as the children grow into adulthood; you begin a journey of your own. Suddenly, that incredible position you held as caretaker, proprietor of all things involving your children changes as they become independent and begin their individual journey.

I entirely enjoyed the position of a stay-at-home mom, raising my two kids. It was the only thing I ever wanted to do. I think that is why I was so discontent when the job came to an end and it was apparent that I had to reinvent my role. I’m still working on that. But, that’s another subject altogether.

There were many factors that eliminated the options we explored:
#1-obtaining a cottage:
We realized the cost of the cottage vs. the amount of days we would be able to enjoy said cottage didn’t add up to being a sound investment. We had already invested in a boat at one time and sold it after several summers where we found we really didn’t have the time to enjoy it as much as we thought we would. We had an in-ground pool at the house and it seemed unlikely that on the few hot days that we would enjoy in Upstate New York that we would want to be at the cottage instead of the pool.

#2-downsizing to a patio home:
As they began to pop up all over we were drawn to the idea of a patio home. We spent many Sunday afternoons touring the model homes and toying with the idea. After we did the math and realized that we’d be making a substantial investment in a newer, yet smaller footprint we scraped the idea altogether. As it was our home was just 2,000 square feet and we really didn’t want to go smaller. What we fantasized was resizing our square feet. There were rooms we didn’t use: like the living room, the finished basement; and areas we desired: a mudroom, a first floor laundry, larger closets,  a master bedroom that would accommodate a King-size bed, a larger kitchen and a sunroom.

#3-buying a second property down south:
Like most Northerners, the journey down South during the Winter months is a much appreciated escape. On each journey to a sunny destination, I would explore the real estate available and I spent months researching and dreaming of a property in that area. Adding up the cost of the property, utilities, and HOA fees, factoring in the reality that we would not really be the ability to enjoy the property that often, and considering renting it out and all the hassles that lie within that…we opted out.

So, it began we drew up a Wish List. If we found a property in our area that had all the items on our Wish List; then, we would move. On Christmas Day 2015,  I found a quiet moment to peruse my favorite site and scope out the Real Estate listings. I discovered that property. A Christmas Miracle. It was a foreclosure property, on one of our favorite streets. It was a 3,380 square foot
Single family home, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. We called the listing agent the next day and set up a walk through at 4:30p.m. . The minute we saw it, viewing it with the light of our cell phones, we knew it was ‘The One’ for us. Even though, “Laura Ashley threw up in it.” a phrase I began to use to describe the house;  as there was floral wallpaper and borders throughout. There was also blue countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms, and pink carpeting. There also was everything on our Wish List.

Suddenly, it occurred to us that our family was going to grow from a family of 4, to 6 with the children’s eventual spouses, to more once our future grandchildren arrive. Am I the only 52-year old that relishes the idea of my future grandchildren? I don’t want to rush things; as my children are 19 and 21; but, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I look forward to those days. So, it began, our incredible journey to selling the home we loved for 22 years and taking on the challenge of a new project.