kainensmom's Profile

My husband and I (plus baby and dog) have been house shopping for the past few months now and have seen it all! If you're expecting a lot of young families to come through the house, then there's really nothing wrong with toys and a room that is clearly for a kid. Think about new tract developments and their show houses: the living spaces are fairly neutral but they will stage smaller bedrooms for kids, even making them overtly gender specific and this mural is beautiful! Heck, I'd be prone to keeping it even if I didn't have a child, would make a fun craft room or office. Plus if the rest of the house has a plain, fresh coat of paint, the idea of having to paint one room isn't going to scare most serious people away. Set aside a couple of extra gallons of the paint you use in the main living areas and let your agent know it. Bedrooms are usually the rooms people will paint anyway.

As for keeping the place up for showings, really the clear presence of children isn't frightening, it's the clutter. We've seen living rooms that had piles (really, PILES) of toys in the living room and all we could see was that mess! There's no easy answer with little kids, you unfortunately have to be the clean meanie until the house is sold, no 2 or 5 year old I've ever seen can keep a room clean for more than 30 seconds. My best advice is invest in a decent sized storage bench or ottoman for the living room. In a pinch a room littered with toys can be throw into a single bin in less than five minutes.

My son is 1, still breast feeding and he co-sleeps. We live in a studio (closing on a house soon!) and letting him spaz out in the crib literally three feet from us was unrealistic- no one would get any sleep! We'll have a tough time transitioning to a separate bed, we know, but if your daughter can go to sleep in her crib she should be able to stay there through the night. We've already had to break some bad habits- right around 9 mo. he started waking 3-5 times a night and it was because I would immediately scoop him up at the first fuss and feed or comfort him back to sleep. So I slowly cut out the feedings in trade for rocking and the rocking in trade for back rubs... you get the idea. Strange as this sounds, the process usually means more tossing and turning for everyone at first but with a few days the results are remarkable- at least that's what I've found. Make double sure that she's getting as much sleep and is good and full before bedtime too. Consistency is always the key! Be strong and a nightmare of a week could turn into months of blissful full nights. :)

I love grey but, man, this is in need of some contrast- badly. A new door would be great (though they're pricey), something with ultra clean lines and glass- definitely need some glass. Either in the door itself or a floor to ceiling window to one side. Go dark with your garage door- a good cleaning and carefully applied layer of paint would be cheap and make a world of difference. Something more of a charcoal. Your eye will pick up the difference in 'texture' caused by the contrast but the garage won't come screaming out at you. If you want to avoid painting the entire house over, an orange door is a great 'mod' option to pair with the grey. For a more mid century look I'd go with a set of low and wide, rectangular, staggered stairs with planters integrated- a set that meanders it's way to the front door. Not sure how much of that grey river rock you're dealing with, but breaking it up with some hardy clumps of grass (the non-mowing kind) would go miles to soften the house up. That tree also looks like it needs a good trim. :)

This is a great idea and something I've been doing to my own paperbacks and worn out hardbacks for years. Absolutely consider the value of the book before you invest in the material. I've also skipped the board altogether. When I want to reinforce the strength of a favorite paperback (because I read and reread books over and over again), I've used archival quality glue and line the inside cover with stiff card stock and the outside with lightweight book cloth or decorative paper. It won't last forever but it does let you continue to handle the book for a bit longer plus you can have some fun drawing or printing on the outer cover to make your own cover art.