Design Fluff

Makeover Update

2013-06-13T02:07:00.000-07:00

I don't have a lot to share with you this week because painting is literally still going on. We are painting over real wood panels and it's difficult because of the bumps and knots in the wood as well as the paint keeps bleeding through, despite using the best tape and sealing it with the base color.

I don't have a wide angle lense, not a nice one anyways, so here is a fish eye shot of the room. It's better than the 3ds photos I took last time.

As you can see we still have to put up chair rail, new flooring, decor, lighting and furniture. It all looks a hot mess right now but all is coming along in due time, so come back and see updates! We also are making over the dining room and you can see the Madeline chairs we got for our dining table from Restoration Hardware. They are actually a creamier color in person, perhaps the lighting is off since I took the pics at night. I really like it because they are raw wood which is a really nice trend in design right now.

See you next week!

First Time Home Buyer's 411

2013-06-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! This post is a long time coming. It's not for the average blog reader (It's so long) but for those preparing to buy their first house. I would have posted it earlier but for some reason couldn't find it. Let me tell ya I was little panicked to the point that I started to think I'd have to ask the NSA if they knew what I did with it. : D

Modern Living Room by Toronto Media and Bloggers The Marion House Book

We are attempting to buy our first home (update we already purchased the home but I started writing this months ago.) It can be a very confusing process. There are so many variables. It would have helped if we were more familiar with the process, so when the loops got thrown at us we were better prepared. By the time I publish this post we should be past all of this and the house should be ours, hopefully.

Even if you are not a first time homebuyer this may be of some help if you were clueless all the way through your first purchase. However, this was written for all of you property virgins out there!

This is long, but it's worth your time familiarizing yourself with this so you are not taken advantage of in the process and know a little more with what to expect to hopefully avoid any unpleasant circumstances midway through the buying process, like losing your home before you close on it.

Although this post will familiarize you with the process and give you most of what you need, every loan is different, there a lot of variables, so keep that in mind.

Eclectic Living Room by Bala Cynwyd Design-build Firms Design Manifest

Find a Lender and Negotiate Lower Closing Costs

This is your first step. Seriously, and I mean seriously, do not look for a house til you have lender shopped. Shopping for a lender first is muy importante! You need to find a lender who will give you a great interest rate (along with not charging you a bunch of junk fees, you will read about that below). Interest rates are at an all time low so there is no sense in not getting a great rate, especially if you have great credit. Letting a lender know that you are still looking for another lender may get them, and usually does, to negotiate on their fees. Yes, believe it or not, a lot of things are negotiable.

I negotiated 700 dollars worth of fees off of my closing costs simply by letting the lender know I was shopping else where but would still give her a chance if she could let go of some of the junk fees. You can't always negotiate based solely upon whining about how expensive things are. I know, I tried. You have to be straight up or you will be taken advantage of most likely.

I hate to say it but ignorance is bliss to the people who are getting your money!

Also, you do not want to get in the middle of falling in love with a home on the market, and then quickly try to find a lender to give you a great deal. This usually involves you realizing that you don't have much time to make a bid because the house already has bids (homes are selling fast in some places since the market has taken a slight up turn) and you may be tempted to go with a lender who doesn't give you the best deal, but has already approved you. Not that I would know about that, or anything *whistling*.

Believe me, this is no bueno.

Repeat after me, " I will not even look at a house until I have found an amazing lender first."

Just let them know that you haven't found a home yet, but you are looking to buy one, and you want to know how much home you can afford and what they will lend and what their interest rates will be on the amount you want to spend.

Eclectic Dining Room by Houston Interior Designers & Decorators A Waters

Get Prequalified

This step goes hand in hand with finding your lender. It's simpler than what it sounds, you choose the lender you want and fill out a form, or give them verbal information over the phone, sometimes you can fill it out online, and they will let you know how much you can afford, and are willing to lend, on a home based upon the info you give them. This does not usually involve any sort of credit check, and they do not verify the information. They are basing this solely upon the information you give them. Do not confuse this with being pre-approved for a loan.

If you prequalify, they will give you a letter and you will give this to your realtor when you are ready to make an offer on a home.

Do not guess at this, know what your credit is like and what you have in the bank. If this info changes slightly it can mean the difference between getting a loan and not getting one when it comes time.

** A lot of realty companies will not allow an offer to be made without a pre-qualification letter anyways. It just shows that you are serious about the home buying process. From what I understand, if you're buying a foreclosed home, the pre-qualification letter is a must.

Turn around time for a prequalification letter is usually 24 hours sometimes it's 48.

Eclectic Dining Room by Minneapolis Interior Designers & Decorators Martha O'Hara Interiors

Get Pre-Approved

You could go a step further than pre-qualifciation and get pre-approved. You give the lender your info and this time they verify all the information and they do a credit check This will strengthen your offer come bid time. You will look more serious to the seller, and getting pre-approved may just help you get a step up on the competition and get your bid accepted over the others.

Even getting pre-approved is not a guarantee you will get a loan. Some things can happen between the time it takes to get pre-approved and finding the right house. You could lose your job, your credit score could take a dip, the market could change.

BTW, this is not a time to take on more debt. You should not have ANY debts taken on til you completely close on the house. If you do, this could cost you a loan. Also, this is not a time to move money around. A Lender wants to see that you already have the money in your account before you buy the home. They will expect so much of it to come from you alone. If someone wants to gift you the money, let them do it AFTER closing time. They should not deposit ANYTHING in your bank account.

I'm not an expert. I'm just passing along what we have learned along the way. There are other scenarios that could cause a loan to fall through. If in doubt, ask your lender.

(When you do choose a home, make sure your lender gives you what is called a "good faith estimate." A good faith estimate shows you in writing what all of your fees are, aka closing costs, as well as down payment and your interest rate, so that there are no surprises come closing time.)

Eclectic Dining Room by Mill Valley Interior Designers & Decorators Jute Interior Design

Watch Your Credit Score

Make sure you do not buy a new car or make any other big purchases before you get in the house. Don't try to qualify for other loans. Just a credit check can cause a temporary dip. So, tread carefully around this time. If anything causes a credit dip to happen before everything goes through, the lender may pull out and even if they don't, something simple like a credit check could cause your credit to slightly dip, thereby affecting your interest rate!

I'm not a credit expert, so I can't advise you on every scenario that could cause this to happen, so ask a lender!

Traditional Exterior by Chagrin Falls Architects & Designers George Clemens Architecture, INC

Consider An Exclusive Buyer's Agent Instead of a Realtor

A Realtor is paid by a commission split with the broker. This comes from the seller, so it's not something you are paying out of pocket, so don't worry you aren't paying your Realtor.

Well, in a sense you are because your money is buying the home and without you buying the home, no one gets paid. But also consider the fact that there are Realtors that are not going to be honest with you. I'm not saying all Realtors are like this. The sad fact is that there are many that are, though. They may want you to buy the expensive house, they may push it on you, they tell you "you better hurry there are lots of offers being made", when in reality no one is looking at that house!

When I first started this post, months back, I wrote that we had fired one Realtor and seemed to have a decent one. However, I had to update this because we had to scratch the second Realtor off our list and start again. It's not always a guarantee that you are going to find someone ethical. Some Realtors will work for you and the seller! To avoid conflicts of interest or even just getting thrown under the bus by your realtor, consider an exclusive buyer's agent. Though, this won't completely protect you, it ups your odds.

The best thing to do would be to see if you can find an agent who would work for a flat based fee, which is not common and can be difficult, though not impossible. Just make sure you realize how much a typical agent makes off the commission split with the listing agent and compensate them accordingly. Of course you will also want a contract signed stating they will not make a commission and will work solely for you, yada yada. I would not sign an exclusivity contract with them, however. This could bind you with a sleezeball Realtor, and when you need to find someone new, they could take you to court.

You can read more here about what went wrong with our Realtors!

Contemporary Home Office by Other Metro Furniture and Accessories AVP ARCHITECT VIEW PRODUCTS BY IMASOTO

Expect a Good Faith Estimate

From your Lender when you find the house you want to bid on. A Good Faith Estimate will tell you what interest rate you qualify for, how much closing costs you will have, along with how much you need for escrow and your down payment. This way there are no surprises when closing time comes. Get the good faith estimate in writing. I think this is law now, but we did have a bank pre-approve us without giving us our Good Faith Estimate when we were lender shopping.

This is where you will find out how many junk fees they are going to add on. If you already have several quotes from a Lender, then at least you will know who will approve you, for how much, and what the interest rates are. If one wants to charge an outrageous amount in junk fees, go to one of the other ones. Speak up and ask them to reduce the junk fees!

via

Expect To Pay A lot More Than A Down Payment

You are going to pay closing costs, what it costs for everyone like underwriters and title companies to close the home and transfer it to you, the new owner. Expect to pay 3-5 percent of the purchase price of your home towards closing.

You will also have to put money in escrow to pay the homeowner's insurance as well as the property taxes on the home. Your Lender usually will not let you pay it yourself. Depending on the Lender, they will collect a few months worth to a year of property taxes and homeowner's insurance at closing. What? You thought all of those thousands upon thousands of dollars you had saved up were going solely down on your house thereby taking a huge chunk off what you have to pay off the principal of the loan? Ahahahahahaha! Yeah, us too! It doesn't work that way unfortunately.

Traditional Kitchen by Washington Architects & Designers Neumann Lewis Buchanan Architects

Contract Time

When you are ready to bid on a home, your Realtor will draw up a contract first. Before signing the contract make sure that your Realtor includes a financing contingency and an inspection contingency. A good Realtor will never try to steer you away from this. The only time they may do this is if you are a cash buyer (you don't need a loan) and are willing to accept the home as is no matter what, this would make your offer stronger.

However, most people want the contingencies in the contract. This is common and you should ask for them. This protects you and allows you out of the contract in case something shows up during inspection and you don't want to go through with the purchase, or if despite your best efforts to obtain financing, the Lender simply can't finance you. This protects your earnest money deposit.

Traditional Kitchen by Flemington Architects & Designers Pickell Architecture

Don't Overbid for your home

I'm not saying you can't over bid but don't over bid! What I mean by that is some people love a home so much they may overbid a little so they get their offer accepted over the other bids on the home, if there are any, that is. This is fine, but make sure it's not going to go over the price of appraisal.

If the house goes for more than it is appraised for then your lender could back out and you could lose the house in the middle of closing! That's a little tricky considering you have to bid and get under contract before you get the appraisal. The appraisal is something you may pay for and should be included in the closing costs on your good faith estimate. Sometimes when that happens, the seller may go in and do some repairs and spiffing up to bring up the value of the home so the sale will go through, but not always. Tread carefully! You will need to ask your Realtor's advice on this and make sure they don't think you are overbidding.

Of course they want you to overbid so far, so their commission goes up, but they don't want to lose the sale or they don't get paid. Even your Realtor doesn't want you to overbid by too much.

Traditional Kitchen by Charlotte Interior Designers & Decorators Carolina Design Associates, LLC

Earnest Money Deposit

At some point after you go under contract on the house your Realtor will ask for an Earnest Money Deposit. This money shows the seller that you are serious about buying the house. The money will be applied to your down payment at closing.

There is no set amount that you put down with Earnest Money. They typically ask 1-3 percent of the purchase price of the house, but every case is different and it's between you and the seller. You may be the one deciding how much you put down. However, tread carefully, if you decide to back out without legal reasons that are spelled out in your contract via contingencies, the seller gets to keep your deposit.

This may not seem fair, but when a seller takes their home off the market they are taking a big risk and they need to know you are going to go through with the sale. Your earnest money deposit helps show you are willing to go through with the contract and if you back out for no good reason, then the seller is compensated for time and money lost.

Just make sure you have that money ready to send out ON TIME when they are ready for it! Usually you will wire the money from your bank account. Your Realtor will let you know. Do everything promptly! Time is of the essence!

Inspection

According to your contract you will have a certain amount of time to have the home inspected. Get this done with a reputable company from Angie's list. It's worth the tiny amount of money you have to pay to be a member. You can get "word of mouth" reviews from other paying members. If you have to have an inspection and know the house is in good shape but are running short on cash, you could always do a 4 point inspection for about 100 bucks to satisfy the Insurance company.

Traditional Hall by Newport Beach Home Builders Spinnaker Development

Filling out Papers

Be prepared once you've won the bid on the home to start filling out a truck load of papers for your Lender. What everyone fills out can vary, depending on the type of loan from what I understand. Your lender is going to ask for w2's for so many years back, bank statements, and all kinds stuff. Fill them out timely, it's rough, but it's worth it in the end. You are on a schedule according to your contract to close at a specific time. Time is of the essence!

Traditional Hall by Dallas Home Builders Ellen Grasso & Sons, LLC

Getting Final Approval

After all the necessary papers are filled, things go to an underwriter and who knows where else, but eventually you will get final approval for the home. You thought you were already approved for the house when you got your pre-approval? Unfortunately, no. There are so many things that can go wrong with your credit and such by the time everything is over, that it's possible you may not receive final approval. That is why I stress to you to be on time with filling out papers, be thorough, and do not touch your credit or move money around in your account during this time!

It's Closing Time

Well you were approved for the home and now all you have to do is send your closing costs over and sign the final papers. By now the title company and your Lender are working hand in hand to make all of this happen. Make sure to ask your Lender all the information you need to know, that is what their job is to help you know what is going on and what to expect. Do not, and I mean do not, solely rely on what the title company tells you, we did this and it got us into trouble. Whatever they tell you, back it up with your lender first.

Mediterranean Exterior by Burlingame Photographers Dennis Mayer, Photographer

Linking Up Here

Secret for Amazing Lighting: Pink Light Bulbs

2013-06-03T14:58:00.001-07:00

The most important thing to me in a home is lighting. You can make the whole atmosphere of a home go from blah to wow with a few changes. One change that I really like is using pink light bulbs to really create a cozy and skin flattering atmosphere. You can use them anywhere but try especially to use them for bed and bathrooms because of how it flatters your skin tone.. hubba, hubba. : D

It will NOT turn your home pink it will just make a more flattering and cozy atmosphere, so no worries. You can find these online just google "soft pink light bulb" or at your local hardware store like Lowe's or ACE hardware.

I'd love to show you an example in my own house but I just moved in and none of the rooms are set up yet and all of them need a makeover! We are currently making over our sunroom so be sure to come back and see the weekly updates.Sorry for the fuzzy pics but I should be using my DSLR for the next batch.

Linking up here

Sun Room Makover Update

2013-05-30T15:58:00.001-07:00

We hit a painting snag. Ricky and I know how to paint the perfect stripe on smooth walls, however these very uneven wood walls we are painting over in our sunroom have proven to be a pain in the buttock, the left one.

On top of that my camera's battery is somewhere within a million boxes in the living room so we had to use the kid's 3DS for update pics, obviously the 3Ds isn't the best device to use for photos, so sorry for the poor photo quality. Hopefully I'll find my camera battery soon so I can take a proper photo!

Warning!

DO NOT forget to wear a bra when snapping your 3DS XL shut! You may clamp your nipple in the process. Just sayin'......

Why yes, that is a bunch of unpacked boxes in my dining room. Thank you for noticing. : p

I had hoped to show the whole room painted but we are trying new tape and having to repaint things, so we are behind on everything.

Hopefully, next week I"ll show you the whole room painted and the week after that hopefully the moulding put up with window updates.

If your new here, here is some art I bought for the sunroom makeover.

Hopefully visually crisp photos next week!
Now if you will excuse me I"m going to the ER to have my nipple sewn back on.

Gender Neutral Nursery Design

2013-05-24T23:34:00.001-07:00

Some alternatives to the mirror, which is from One King's Lane, is the carved Lotus mirror and the carved floral mirror below.

The chandelier is pretty expensive at 1,268 dollars, but you can shop an alternative, the Camilla, at Pottery Barn for 449 dollars, seen below.

baskets
rug
crib
artwork
gold clip lamp
organic swaddling cloth
glider
sheep rocker
chandelier

Linking up with these lovely ladies HERE

Sunroom Makeover in Progress

2013-05-22T12:36:00.000-07:00

We are working on a makeover in our sun room since that is where we will be spending most of our time.

It will probably be a several week makeover but I will post updates regularly. Here is a very small hint on what to expect.

This is from the Boutique on Matchbook Magazine. Yes, I bought this print and received it in the mail today! I love it!

More to come within a week!

Restoration Hardware's Harmon Pendant Alternatives

2013-05-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

"Ricky" and I are planning our kitchen updates. We spent last night checking out some ideas from Restoration Hardware. One of those lights is the Harmon Pendant.

This transitional fixture might be perfect with it's shiny sleekness juxtaposed against the traditional wood shelving and white cabinets I have planned. They are temporarily on sale but regularly priced from 379-529 dollars and have a 11", 15", and 19".

Here is the Harmon, I believe, on Houzz:

Contemporary Kitchen by Jacksonville Beach Interior Designer kmh design, inc.

I have no doubt they will be awesome but am looking at cheaper options because we are on a small budget.

What do you think about these options?.....

The Chadwick 1 Light by Landmark is nice 14" of shiny curviness at $218.00 on Amazon for New and $154 for used. This seems to mimick the look of the Harmon the closest of the lights.

This is the Emery Traditional 1 Light Pendant Light In Imperial Silver by Quoizel it's 249 dollars at a comparable 13.50 inches. I definitely like the silver on this one as opposed to the other 2 above.

Here's the Emery in "action" but it's the mini version:

Last but not least, I think this is my favorite so far.......

This is the Jamie Young Pendant in St. Charles Large Mercury Glass some places have it for 196 for the large version which is only 9.75 inches diameter.

Here is the Jamie Young Pendant in "action."

This is via Garden Webb from user Michelle16. I think she chose beautifully!

Here is one more shot and you can see the rest at Garden Webb

Of course I have to take in account if anyone's head will be bumping into it in my tiny kitchen. Usually a pendant is reserved to go over something, like an island, but my kitchen is too small for an island, or anything, really. I really want some sort of pretty pendants, though, so I'm not following any rules so nanny nanny boo boo!

Ok, last light, realty, this time. I just happen to like it, though it doesn't look like the Harmon.

It's the same light as above except it's in Celadon green seeded glass:

Linking up with these lovely ladies: HERE

Biocide Room Shocker Review

2013-05-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! I just moved into my house over the last few days and it stinks! It's not a moldy smell, or even a something crawled up in here and died, smell. It's more like straight up thrift shop in here. It's just old smell.

Speaking of thrift shop, we've been singing that song for 3 days straight while moving. We can't get it out of our heads. I even sing it before bed time.

I'm pretty sure my husband and I could have made our own cover. " I'm gonna pop some tags, I've got 20 dollars in my pocket, then I cluck like a chicken to the tune, this is crazy awesome!" Yeah, I always edit any bad words out with my own.

You can see the official video on youtube

Anyways, I'm getting distracted. I googled what to do to get rid of old house smell and Apartment Therapy had an article on using something called, Room Shocker. They weren't sure if it worked or not but suggested it wouldn't hurt to try at 25 dollars a can. I jumped up and bought 6 right away.

This company claims that it can get rid of any smell in your house. ANY smell. I also read somewhere that they used these to get homes ready to move back into for families affected by Hurricane Katrina. I have no idea how true that is, as it was a comment somewhere on the web.

We bought 6 of them and let me tell you, we followed directions to the T as it seemed like the reviews were by people who just didn't read the directions, and this stuff did NOT work for us. In all fairness there were reviews on Apt. Therapy and Amazon, that swore by it's effectiveness. There were also reviews on Amazon, that indicated it did not work.

Some of the things you have to do to ensure it's effectiveness is make sure it's above a certain temperature which I think was 50 degrees, block the light from coming in the house (we used blankets), eliminate drafts and turn off central air or heat, etc...

So, now I'm hoping I don't get hassle about getting my moolah back! That moolah can go towards something more useful in our new home, like some art, or curtains or something.

I need to find something that rids the house of the smell and not just mask it, which is what Room Shocker claims to do.

Until then, I'll be using lots of windows to air the house out and natural products with essential oils.

Linking Up Here

Look 4 Less: Capri 1 Light Pendant & DIY

2013-05-12T21:03:00.001-07:00

I'm shopping for light fixtures and ran across this:

Home Decorators Capri 1 Light Pendant is 22"Hx10"D at 184 dollars.

Shades of Light Pendant is 15"Hx6"W at 99 dollars.

Or, to me it looks like you can diy one with this:

I haven't tried this yet, so feel free to add whatever to make it work.

Step 1: Purchase a Glass Jug (maybe something without a handle)

via Label Peelers

Step 2: Cut the bottom off the jug:

via The Bella Files on Glass Cutting

Step3: Add Light Pendant and Chain

via Pottery Barn

Maybe one of these:

Portfolio accessory kit

via Lowe's

You could add one large chain link to the chain to keep it from slipping through the jug.

Summer Lovin'

2013-05-09T11:09:00.001-07:00

I'm browsing Matchbook magazine's boutique.

I'm in the mood for Summer! I'm loving black and white stripes with the addition of emerald green and a little coral.

Spiffing Up A Plain Jane Home: No Porch Issue

2013-05-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

If you're new to the blog, you do not know that we bought a house recently, almost.

I'm leaving so much out but buying it has been sheer torture, but it's hopefully, crossing my fingers, throwing salt over my shoulder with a 4 leaf clover in my pocket, hunched over in a corner and timidly peering over my shoulder with one eye squinted because I'm waiting for one more thing to go wrong, praying to Jesus (which is the only thing I did which works), finally over. : D

One of the things I've been looking at in a home is something older, (older homes tend to evade the cookie cutter factor that I'm not very fond of), something with a nice sized yard, and something with character to the exterior of the home.

Well, because of circumstances beyond our control, and me just wanting to get the agony of it all over with, we ended up settling for a plain Jane house.

BTW....if your name is Jane, I absolutely do not find that a plain name at all, it's actually one of my favorite names, and far from boring in my mind, but the phrase is quite common in American culture. Why, I don't quite know.

While I love our house and actually prefer a project, it is rather plain and without a porch, unless you count a 3 by 5 ft plot of cement in front of your door a porch. A porch is something I could have really worked with to bring in some wow factor to this box on a lot.

Which don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for our box on a lot!

One of the solutions we decided on was to build a pergola to the side of the house. Pergolas do not have to stay at the back of your house. Think front or side when replacing a non-existent porch. This solves our "no porch" issue, brings character to the house, and adds value to the home in one fell swoop.

While these houses are far from plain it helps to get a visual.....

Traditional Patio by Millbrook Architect Crisp Architects

Traditional Patio by Menlo Park Architect Ana Williamson Architect

Traditional Exterior by Boston General Contractor Woodmeister Master Builders

Traditional Patio by Hinsdale Design-build Normandy Remodeling

Contemporary Exterior by Alexandria Architect Moore Architects, PC

Traditional Patio by Frederick Interior Designer JB Interiors, Inc.

Contemporary Exterior by Portland Interior Designer Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

Traditional Landscape by Far Hills Landscape Architect Deborah Cerbone Associates, Inc.

Mother's Day Gifts Under 50 Dollars

2013-04-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

Here's my favorite Mother's Day gifts so far. These are on my own personal list.

I found these all on one page on Layla Grace.

Spiffing Up A Plain Jane Home: Shutters And Window Boxes

2013-04-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Several days ago, I did part one in the series of spiffin up a plain home with awnings. Today, I'm going to concentrate on shutters and window boxes! I love them! First off, if your house is rather plain, you really should consider awnings. They add some architectural detail to an otherwise boring house.

Traditional Exterior by New Port Richey Architect Bud Dietrich, AIA

Contemporary Exterior by Minneapolis Design-build Orfield Remodeling, Inc

Awnings are not cheap. Window boxes are relatively inexpensive and you can always Google how to DIY one yourself!

They should match the window frame plus any trim. If there are shutters then add 4-6 inches on.

Sometimes I like them a little longer than the frame. Longer window boxes tend to draw the eye in more and the look can be very lush with the right plants, like the one below.

Traditional Exterior by Vancouver Landscape Architect Pot Incorporated

Traditional Exterior by Minneapolis Design-build Great Neighborhood Homes

Traditional Exterior by Chicago General Contractor Greenside Design Build LLC

If you already have shutters, try a nice bold contrasting coat of paint to make them pop! Finish them off with flowers and plants that color contrast the window boxes.

Traditional Exterior by Tarrytown Landscape Architect Westover Landscape Design, Inc.

Tropical Exterior by Other Metro Architect Barefoot Design Group, LLC

Traditional Exterior by Beaufort Design-build WaterMark Coastal Homes, LLC

Oh No She Didn't! Two Bloggers And The Same Post

2013-04-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

If you have been blogging long enough, more than likely you have ran into someone who posted on the same topic as you or their post was very similar. Off and on, in the DIY blogging world or the design blogging world, I will notice that someone in a comments section will think they are doing the blog's author a favor and kindly point them in the direction of another blog who supposedly stole their post or project.

When I have run into these, I almost always will go over and look for myself. What I find usually is not what was thought they saw but someone who happened to have the same idea yet the post was written in their own words. There was no plagiarism going on!

Via White Kitchens House Beautiful

One thing that we all have to keep in mind is that no one has the monopoly on a certain idea. I can write about white kitchens and guess what? There will be 500 other bloggers writing about the same topic. And the odds are that some are going to write the same week I do, even less may even post within a day or 2 of when I do. But it does happen often! It's even very likely that we may use some of the same inspiration photos. After all, Pinterest makes sure we all get to see a lot of the same inspiration images. Let's face it, a lot of us have the same tastes! How many posts have you read on Chevron over the years?

My Chevron Pillow DIY. This pillow cover will look much nicer with a larger pillow in it.

Granted if they copied your post word for word, well that would be a whole other enchilada.

I think we are doing each other a great disservice by judging or jumping to conclusions about another blogger's intentions. I can say with perfect confidence that I don't steal posts, but this happens to me literally all the time. There are how many design/diy/craft blogs out there? Thousands upon thousands? Millions? I don't know the exact number but I know there are a lot of them and I know that I will have a post in draft and work on it as I have the time, and very often someone will beat me to the punch and write something very similar to what I am already working on. The more I post the more I see it.

I can say it's happened to me more times than not, actually.

The most recent time it happened is just this past week when Centsational Girl wrote a post on Homebuying Tips, I believe. I haven't read the post yet, but I did see the title of the post when it was posted. Well, guess what I have in draft? First Time Homebuyer's 411. I've learned so much the last few months in house hunting, that my husband and I thought it would make a good post. However, we've been working on this for quite awhile, and I didn't want to post it til I was done with the process.

It's OK! We all will very frequently have the same ideas. It's all rather innocent. And to be honest, I like reading more than one blogger's tips on a subject I'm interested in!

One time I was gold leafing a chair with my Krylon gold leaf paint pen and getting ready to post about it, the very same day, Jenny, from a Little Green Notebook, posted a coffee table that she had gold leafed with the same paint pen. Her table had very similar features to my chair legs.

My shame, the UGLY chair. Aka, my Doug chair. Those who use to watch TLC's Trading Spaces back in the day will know what I mean.

I was just getting ready to post this! I froze. I was thinking, "Oh no! What if someone thinks I copied her?" I was 2 seconds away from NOT posting it and deleting the whole project. In hindsight, I should have scrapped it because my chair was UGLY! Her table turned out great, though. She's really an amazing stylist and DIY'er.

The "iconic" paint pen.

One last example, recently I was writing a post on Jonathan Adler coming to JC Penny and all of a sudden, another blogger on my reading list posted the same topic! Did either of us know the other was already working on the idea? No. No harm, no foul!

Let me point out that doesn't mean that you can't find information on another blog and share that news with your own readers! Of course you can! Just make sure to put it in your own words!

There were many other times that I did delete a post because someone else beat me to it. Finally, it happened so much that I realized there is no way to avoid it, if it was happening to me, then surely other bloggers knew this happened too, and I just let myself relax a little on it.

Trust me, if this hasn't happened to you yet, it will. The more blogs in your niche that you read, the more linky parties you participate in, and the more blogs that you have on your reading list, the more likely it is that you too, will find other bloggers blogging about something you just posted or were getting ready to post.

I just put my own spin on my own ideas and I put it out there. If someone else happened to do it too, then that's OK, cause it's going to happen.

We are not in competition with each other. Blogging is about community. Isn't it so nice just sharing what you love and finding someone that loves the same thing and chatting over it for a short time? I find it refreshing to see someone post similarly to me but they bring something different to the table.   It makes it interesting and it's inspiring.

I think we have a community of ethical bloggers in the DIY/ design world. Let's give each other credit and not tear each other apart.

BTW, I don't remember the people who participated in the commenting. I'm not singling anyone out!

Linking up Here
http://itssoverycheri.com/2013/04/21/its-party-time-4-21-2013/ http://www.threemangoseeds.blogspot.com/

A Realtor Nightmare And How Not to Get Thrown Under the Bus by Your Realtor!

2013-04-20T04:54:00.002-07:00

I've been working the last several weeks on a few different home buying posts, as I learn and as I've had the time, for first time homebuyers. They are lengthy but it's necessary to convey the information needed to 1st time home buyers so they are not thrown under the bus by dishonest people.

As a first time homebuyer you should familiarize yourself with some basics to protect yourself from your Realtor. Don't get me wrong there are ethical people out there but because you never know if you are working with one, you should protect yourself with knowledge!

Our Story

We started our hunt with 3 homes to choose from.

House number 1 was a ranch house with mediterranean features. It needed updating and minor repairs but had brick floors and

an acre of land with a big pond that had fish (and possibly an alligator according to my best friend, Ethel)!

Contemporary Exterior by Mineral Wells Architect Amy Hopkins Designs

These are not the houses but are souped up versions of the original that I found on houzz. They are there for visual effect. ;)

House number 2 was a cabin type home.
It wasn't my type of house but it had 2 acres and was so new and pristine on the inside.

Traditional Exterior by Minneapolis Interior Designer Michelle Fries, BeDe Design, LLC

Not the original cabin but he plays one on TV.

The 3rd house was a BEAUTIFUL, 2 story, white, 1920's home, with newer wood siding and beautiful updated windows with muntins! It was in an upscale neighborhood and was at the top of our price range. There wasn't much of a yard, however.

Traditional Exterior by Naperville Architect JB Architecture Group, Inc.

Our first Realtor showed us house number 2 first, aka, the mold house. As she was going through the home she smelled strong mold and continued showing my husband the home without mentioning it. It wasn't until I came out of the car (I wasn't feeling too well) and approached the house, that I realized there was a serious mold issue. I was immediately alarmed and told my husband to leave the house, there is a mold issue. At that point she decided to admit that she too had smelled it and it was bothering her.

Traditional Exterior by Minneapolis Interior Designer Michelle Fries, BeDe Design, LLC

The fact that she was willing to risk our health so she could make a sale, should had tipped us off that she wasn't on the up and up. However, we gave her the benefit of the doubt and continued on to house number 3, our dream home!

The pictures I'm using to convey an image of the houses we looked at remind me of Lifetime Movie Network actors, the actors are far better looking than the actual person the movie was based on.

Traditional Exterior by Naperville Architect JB Architecture Group, Inc.

This home showed so beautifully online and let me say we were quite surprised to see that someone, after the home was listed, obviously wasn't too happy and had come in to this BEAUTIFUlL home and just took a sledge hammer or something to it.

I've heard internet stories of owners who have been foreclosed upon and they will literally trash their home to get back at the bank. I'm not sure if that is what happened here but something happened! There were holes knocked in the walls, the downstairs restroom was stripped, and the wall between the bathroom and garage was partially tore down! I could not believe what happened with the home!

Foreclosure Rage: An act of anger and revenge. The act of chopping your home up with an ax or sledge hammer in little bitty pieces because your home was foreclosed upon.

I won't say the things that were said or unsaid by the Realtor lady that bothered me during the walk-through, but the final straw was how terrible the home looked and none of this damage was done when the home was listed nor did they bother updating the photos on the listing to show the new damage.

She came up behind me and said, "you better hurry, there are many other offers or interest in this one." I'm not sure which it was that she said. I felt very upset at this point because it seemed like she was being dishonest. In hindsight, I almost wish we had went with the house and just renovated it but we decided to go on eventually to the cheapest house, house number 1, and we got rid of our Realtor.

BTW, the house sat there for a while before it was finally purchased.

Our New Realtor

second verse same as the first........

This guy seemed great. He was an investor so he would point out potential issues with the homes we were looking at. He even offered to sell us one of his properties a few times. Take that however you want to. The problem was that weeks had gone by and we could never seem to land a house. Every time we went to look at a home it became unavailable as soon as we looked at it, including house number 1 that we settled upon.

Well, according to our Realtor they became unavailable. Now this was may have been true, there were times the house showed under contract online, so it was confirmed sometimes. After all, the market had made a small upturn and houses where I'm at were/are selling pretty fast. However, there were other times the homes didn't seem to be under contract and I started wondering if he were in fact lying to us at times. Why? I couldn't be sure, but maybe to steer us to be desperate enough to buy a house from him. I honestly can't be sure. This is only speculation.

We finally found a cool mid-century modern home with an amazingly large solar heated swimming pool. This home was special to me. It reminded me a lot of my childhood home and evoked comforting memories. We started the contract process. I told my husband to tell the Realtor to put a financing and inspection contingency in our contract. If you are a first time home buyer, this is very smart and quite common. What this does is give you an out if the house has too many issues show up during inspection, or it gives you an out if something happens and the Lender ends up not being able to finance you.

These pictures of my "houses" remind me of the Lifetime Movie Network actors, the actors are always way more attractive than the actual person the movie was based upon.

Contemporary Exterior by New York Architect Eisner Design LLC

He told us that we could not put a financing or home inspection contingency in our contract. He stated this would cause us to lose the home because the seller would not even want to mess with us! This is obviously a lie but also very bad advice! No contingency = the possibility of losing your earnest money deposit or forcing you to spend all of your cold hard cash on the house should financing fall through. It's very easy for financing to fall through, too!

Are there times when no contingency in the contract is good? In other words could the Realtor had made an honest mistake? The absence of a financing and inspection contingency in the contract is for someone willing to accept the home as is and that has the money to buy it in cold hard cash, period. This will make your offer more lucrative to the seller.

Our Realtor never asked us if we had the cash to purchase this home should financing fall through. So, he risked financial ruin for us at the most or at the least he risked a small fortune in losing our earnest money deposit.

This was absolutely not his risk to take! On top of that, he outright lied and said the seller wouldn't mess with us if we wanted a contingency. He obviously thought we were too stupid to know this since we were first time home buyers. It is common knowledge that if you are buying a home you automatically ask for those 2 contingencies to be included in the contract. So much so, that our current Realtor didn't even ask us if we wanted it, he already included it.

This angered me cause I had done some of the research already and knew that no contingency in the contract was a bad thing.
I told my husband loud enough so the Realtor could hear, no contingency, no house. I won't buy one without it.

My husband took me to look at the house and while we were out we found out that the listing agent had supposedly given us 30 minutes to put in our highest bid and we missed it so we lost the house!

He may or may not have been telling us the truth about that, but I've never heard of anyone being given that time frame to bid. I was so upset with myself because I already had become emotionally attached to the home. I blamed myself for losing the house.

Traditional Exterior by Coronado Architect Christian Rice Architects, Inc.

By this time we looked at dozens of homes and a lot of time had passed. I was exhausted by the home search. I was so scared of the house getting taken before I could even get a bid on it. I told my Realtor to put in a bid and get a contract ready on a house that I found online. I told him I would look at it during the inspection period. This was really stupid I guess, but I was exhausted and if you had seen how many houses we lost you might have understood.

This didn't work out because now days had gone by and the Realtor finally got back to us and told us he had been out of town for business. We tried again and this time he was out of town for pleasure.

I was kind of happy and upset at the same time. I was upset cause no matter how hard we tried to get a home they just kept slipping through our hands or our Realtor was too busy for us. I was happy cause this allowed me to find a new home that was available and it was so cute! It was in a nice neighborhood and the whole neighborhood was lined with red brick streets!

Taditional Exterior by Mill Valley Architect Mahoney Architects & Interiors

The final straw with him was when he told us we could not bid on the home. It was unavailable, and that there was a waiting period of weeks before we would be able to even put a bid on it. He said the listing agent themselves had said this to him and that he was going out of town (again) so he would not be able to help us for awhile, and thanked us for our patience!

I told my husband to speak with the listing agent himself and see if the home was available, just for peace of mind, and to our surprise the listing agent had quite the opposite story to tell on this home. It was very available, and it was available now! My husband asked about a waiting period, and she told him, "there is no waiting period now, nor was there ever!"

Our Realtor needed a fire extinguisher cause his PANTS WERE ON FIRE!

I was so upset. My mind was swimming with the weeks upon weeks we wasted with this man. I had wondered why he would do all of this. What could possibly be his motivation to do all of this?

We decided we would just immediately stop all contact with this man and start all over. Eventually we found a house, it wasn't any dream house, it was plain and simple, but seemed to have the least issues, so closing would be faster than most homes we looked at already. The neighborhood was awesome, so we took it. We called a Realtor, he showed it, he made a contract, we signed it. No craziness, things just got done.

By the time we were finished with 2 less than ethical Realtors, I will not lie, I was less than trusting of our new Realtor. I had wondered if he lied about there being other bids on the home so we would increase our asking price therefore increase his commission, but what can I say, the way things are done in the real-estate game there is no way to be 100 percent sure if that is being done, and unfortunately there have been Realtors who have admitted this does happen, whether on the listing agents behalf or the Realtors. Either way, it's a tricky game in buying a home.

One last piece of advice that I can offer you is to find an exclusive buyer's agent. They are suppose to work for you and you alone so that there are no conflicts of interest. You thought your Realtor was already working for you and you alone? Haven't you been reading anything I've written so far? ;)

This doesn't guarantee that you will have a 100 percent honest Realtor but it is suppose to help up your odds in getting fair representation. I think the only way to get a 100 percent fair representation is to find a trusted family or friend ,who is a Realtor, or find one that will do a flat rate fee. This way you don't have to worry they may fudge on the details about there being other bids on the home so they can increase their net worth.

Let me add that there really are honest Realtors out there, and a lot of them work a lot harder for their money than average people realize. So, you may have a harder time finding someone willing to work for a flat rate, but it's not impossible.

Linking HERE.

http://itssoverycheri.com/2013/04/21/its-party-time-4-21-2013/

Narrow Hallways

2013-04-16T01:29:00.000-07:00

One of the secrets to a well designed home is to make use of all the space you have. You don't have to renovate, just learn to decorate with what you have. Some of the best designs come from homeowners working with the quirks of their home.

A lot of people neglect narrow hallways, not knowing really what to do with them. Don't let the fact that it's narrow, cause you to neglect the space. Decorating a narrow hallway can be the finishing touches to a well feathered nest.

via Apartment Therapy

deniot.com

Andreea in Brussels

Living Etc...

Sometimes, the best way to decorate a small space is to put all of the design into the floor, wall, and ceiling. Another words, leave out the photos and console tables, instead choose flooring in an interesting design. Moldings on the wall lend to the architectural detail, and choosing an interesting light fixture can finish off the space.

Spiffing Up a Plain Jane Home: Awnings

2013-04-12T22:27:00.001-07:00

Have a plain jane home? Awnings can be the perfect solution!

Traditional Entry by New Orleans Architect Bockman + Forbes Design

Traditional Landscape by New York Landscape Architect Susan Cohan, APLD

Traditional Exterior by Austin Architect Tim Cuppett Architects

Traditional Patio by Los Angeles Interior Designer Sue Firestone

Exterior by Dunlap Artist And Artisan The Metal Shoppe, Custom Metal Design, Fabrication

Traditional Exterior by Jenkintown Architect Asher Associates Architects

Spaces by North Hollywood Specialty Contractors Calshades and Awnings, Inc

A Lovely Pink Poplin Dress for Spring

2013-04-06T12:41:00.001-07:00

Just for fun. A tribute to one of my favorite shows, ABC's "Once Upon aTime."`

I love this watermelon pink poplin dress from E-Shakti! If you remember from my last review, they asked me to review a sample and my best friend "Ethel" was more than happy to volunteer. They asked again if I would like to review something from their new spring/summer line, and when I saw this amazing dress, I was more than happy to.

This time we chose Ethel's daughter to model the dress, and she looks so lovely and is a natural at it!

What I love about this company is you can choose the length, neckline, and sleeves. You can choose to keep pockets, or have them removed, and even can have embroidery removed from the dress if it comes with it. Sizing is custom or standard, it's totally up to you!

This time we went with standard sizing, and I think we miscalculated the size just slightly. If we had gone up a size, the collar would have laid flat, which is totally on us.

E-Shakti gets an A+ for this dress!

Tip: If you are curvy up top, go for custom size.

Trending: Flamingos

2013-04-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

SpringKorn Cusion Cover via IKEA

Contemporary Wallpaper by Other Metro Design Kist

Tory Burch Flamingo Chiffon Scarf via Shop Bop

Tory Burch Flamingo iphone case via Nordstrom

Lonny Mag

Southern Living July Edition, 2011

Tropical Pillows by Brooklyn Furniture And Accessories West Elm

Contemporary Artwork by Other Metro The Animal Print Shop

Jonathan Adler Is Now At jcp!

2013-04-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

If you keep up somewhat with the economical woes facing many retail giants, you probably have already heard that JCPenny aka jcp is seriously struggling and rumored to be on the verge of closing many stores and perhaps even disappearing from the retail scene altogether.

Apparently, they tried to revamp themselves by deeply discounting merchandise permanently, instead of keeping the steeply discounted sales they were known for. This backfired and sales fell even more putting them on the brink of retail suicide. Well, it was kind of suicide.

I don't really shop there but every once in a great while. I found it so sad, though, that something I've grown up with is joining the growing list of retailers failing and disappearing from the public eye due to the troubled economy!

JCPenny is fighting back, though and bringing names such as Martha Stewart and JONATHAN ADLER to their line! I love Jonathan Adler, but his designs are not, for the most part, in my price range. And when I say for the most part, I"m saying maybe I can afford a few of his plates for the table or something.;) This makes it 10 times more exciting that he's at jcp!

Here are some of my picks from his Happy Chic Line........

Btw...I see a lot more visits to jcp in the future. I hope they expand this line and follow suit by bringing in more relevant designers at much more affordable prices!

Last Minute Easter Round Up

2013-03-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Wheat Grass Centerpiece +Washi Eggs via Centsationalgirl!

via Stylizimo

colour dipped marshmallows via idlewife

Crochet Easter Egg Holder via LVLY

Pink and Gold Home Office

2013-03-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

I have such a color crush on pink, white, and gold this year. Well, it actually started last year. Add in black and white and I love it so much more!

You can view where the items in this board are sourced from here at my Olioboards. if you'd like.

I just started using the service this week, so if you are on Olioboards then feel free to follow along and I'll follow you back!

Yellow Doors

2013-03-26T16:21:00.002-07:00

With every house we have look at, I always scope out it's potential to see if it can handle a yellow front door. I, for some reason, really fancy a bold yellow door with brass or contrasting hardware.

Sometimes a bold color on your front door can take your home from just ok.....to wow!

I found this UH-MAZING door on the blog live like you.

Traditional Entry from houzz

Traditional Exterior houzz

What about you? Do you favor a traditional door or lean more to a bold entry?

There are some amazing doors across the internet that I really wanted to share but they are from photographer sites, and a lot of times they don't appreciate their images being shared. I try to stick to blogs and such that generally benefit from a link to their site and appreciate it.

Pink and Green Whimsy Mood Board

2013-03-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

I'm still here! We moved to our temporary residence until we close on a house, so I haven't had time to post. Here is a mood board I've been playing around with for fun.

You can go to Olioboard, where I created it, and see where the items were sourced from.

For the items not listed on Olioboard, they were sourced from One Kings Lane.

Linking up here

How To Measure For Flooring And Square Footage

2013-03-11T00:30:00.000-07:00

If you are trying to figure out how much wood flooring you will need for any given room, the formula is simple. Simply measure the length and width of your room, then multiply them together, that is your square footage. Then, from there you will have to add on waste. From what I've read, waste is 5-10 percent of your square footage, but if you are putting your flooring down in a diagonal pattern, you will waste 15 percent. So, diagonal is out if you are trying to be economical.

Home Depot wood flooring

So, for example, if you have a 13x20 foot room then you do this:

13x20= 260 (square ft).

10 percent of 260 is 26. (is your waste)

.10 X 260 = 26

Add your waste and square footage which is 286.

260 + 26 = 286

So, for that room you will need to order 286 square ft of wood flooring.

I realize this is simple math, but some people forget.