December 2008 Archives
Wishing you and yours a very happy and, in the words of Josie,
"a vewy tool" [very cool] Christmas!
Thursday was our pre-production meeting with the Designed to Sell team. Our makeover is scheduled to start January 12th and the final decisions on what rooms to be made over were decided this week.
Before I tell you about the rooms they've chosen, let me first describe the experience and all of the prep leading up to it. Ever the procrastinators, Bill and I spent Monday through Wednesday doing some major cleaning and light repairs around the house. Touching up paint here and there, filling old nail holes, scrubbing baseboards, de-cluttering a little, and more. Lest you think we weren't taking this seriously, you should know that we waited until the last minute because most of those things would have had to be done again if we'd done them any earlier. Such is the life with 2 kids, 2 dogs, and 1 cat. Things don't stay clean or de-cluttered for long.
Wednesday was a very, very, very long day. I woke up with lots of coffee and energy to make sure the house was spotless. The more I cleaned, the more I realized how much more needed to be done. Yikes. Bill and I finally trudged off to bed around 3:30am. I woke at 6:30am on Thursday to make sure the floors were mopped and to vacuum the carpets one more time once the kids were awake. Bill and Josie took Maddie off to school while I waited for the team to arrive at 9am.
Our only knowledge to this point was that the "design team" would be visiting our house to go over some more paperwork, and to decide the rooms they'd do for the show. We had no idea what to expect outside of that.
At 9am sharp the producer that we'd met last January showed up and waited outside in her car for about 10 minutes until more of the team came. Of course it was not only raining, but absolutely pouring. So much for mopping the floors. By the end, about 10 people were walking in and out of our house and mud was everywhere.
In all, we had the producer, the two on-air carpenters, the on-air designer, a production assistant, a design assistant, a photographer and one or two various others that I couldn't keep track of. It was a little surreal to see the on-air talent in person. I was a little agog at first, but I hope it didn't show.
The group came in and I offered them coffee and then expected to show them the rooms again (the producer had been given a tour of the house when she visited before) but instead I was told they could take it from there. So I went into the office and kept myself busy (or tried to) while a large group of people walked around my house, inspecting every room, and whispering to one another. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW NERVE-RACKING THAT IS? I think I'm still getting over the little stomach ulcer I developed that day.
Bill and Josie got back after a few minutes and the three of us just hung out in the kitchen, Bill and I filling out some final paperwork and forms while trying not to obviously listen in to the things the team was saying to one another. Of course, at this point the dogs have realized that there's a lot going on inside the house that they want to see so they start barking and going nuts. Especially when the team was standing in our screened porch. At one point Daisy jumped up and tried to jump through the window, pushing in the screen so that it landed on one of the carpenters. Argh.
About halfway through the visit, we were told what rooms they'd decided to redo:
Master Bedroom - Our master bedroom has been one of the rooms that fell last on our list of rooms to fix up in the house. It has been more of a storage area than anything else during our time in this house. It just made more sense to fix up rooms that people would see when they visited. That being the case, the room has some really wonderful stucco (popcorn-type) walls that actually hurt you when you lean up against them. A lovely hand-me-down from the previous owners. We also have one too many pieces of furniture in an already small room, but where else were we going to put them and we needed the extra storage space anyway.
Screened-In Porch - We have a lovely screened-in porch on the back of our house, just off the kitchen and back deck, which has always been a nice perk. Not many other houses in our neighborhood have one, so we've been told it's a selling point as well. Again, with a lack of storage, we've often used that space to hold our bikes and the girls outdoor toys and such. We don't have a garage, and taking them back and forth from the shed at the back of the yard has always been a hassle. For the visit, we put all of that away except for our patio table and chairs. We know it has potential to be a great space, but we just haven't had the time or energy to give it the attention it deserves. A few screens need to be replaced (thanks, Daisy) and some other cosmetic changes.
Den/Playroom - This is the room off our living room, with the fireplace. We used it as a living room when the kids were babies, but as they grew (and the amount of toys increased) we just decided to give it to the girls as a playroom/guest bedroom. It literally is full of toys now, but has been a great play area for them these past few years. The best part is that I've been able to put all the toys in there and close the doors when they're not in use. Out of sight. Again, this is a room we know has lots of potential. We've got some old bookcases in there with only a fraction of the book collections of Bill and I. We've only used the fireplace a handful of times since we've lived in the house (not really needed in Atlanta weather) so it has just been ignored. We overheard the designer and carpenters mentioning making some built-in bookcases on either side of the fireplace. Awesome! And of course, we already know that the "angle" they'll be taking when they show the room is that buyers don't want to see a bunch of toys instead of a nice room that utilizes a fireplace.
At one point the producer asked us about flooring and if we were considering replacing the carpets (in horrible condition from the previous owners, and only worsened by the addition of kids and dogs). We had already discussed that it would need to be done before we sold the house. She told us that if we could pay for the carpet, then they would install it for us as part of the design. There were talks back and forth between the designer and producer about flooring vs. carpet. In the end, they decided they would try to get carpeting donated for the bedroom, and otherwise they would buy more wood flooring (similar to what we currently have in the living room) and we would reimburse them for the cost. It's about getting the most out of the show's $2,000 budget as possible. Us taking care of the floors allows them more money to do other projects.
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The whole group came and were gone in about an hour and half. Afterwards, Bill and I just sat back and crashed. We were exhausted, both physically from too little sleep, and mentally from the stress of getting everything prepared for professional eyes to scrutinize. The only bad part about this whole experience is that we already KNOW we should have done some of these changes to the rooms. We're fully aware that we should have made better use of the back porch, or that our bedroom shouldn't have stucco walls, or that we shouldn't use an entire den just for our kids toys. We know that. It's just been a matter of time, energy, money, and well... life. Design-wise a nice den with a fireplace is great, but reality-wise a place where our kids can go to play with all of their toys is even better. It's been a whirlwind couple of years for us with getting married, buying a house and having two kids back to back. We're hoping that gets conveyed in the show. I know there have been times that I've watched Designed to Sell episodes and wondered to myself, Why didn't those people change of paint that earlier? Didn't they realize? Why did they live with it like that for so long? Now I see and fully understand the other side of the coin.
In all, we're pretty happy with the rooms they've chosen. We were hoping one of our bathrooms would be chosen for a makeover since both need to be renovated, but the producer mentioned that they'd done a lot of bathroom makeovers recently and wanted to focus on other rooms that all people might not have in their houses, like our den or porch. Understandable, but that leaves us with two bathrooms to renovate in less than 4 weeks. Yes, it turns out that the open house they host at the end of the show taping is a real open house. For some reason I'd always assumed it was staged. Nope, we do actually have the opportunity to show our house and possibly sell it (fingers crossed) so that means fixing up the other rooms in time to show the entire house when the show is finished. Did I mention we have less than 4 weeks? And all during the holidays? My stomach is starting to turn...
Oh, and we also have to deal with the fact that we're going to be on TV! I love the whole makeover idea but despise that I'll have to be on film. I honestly don't like pictures of myself and definitely don't like myself in videos. Perfect timing, too, since we'll be in our best shape (sarcasm) after all the holidays cookies and pies and yummy food two weeks prior. My stomach is starting to turn again...
I told Bill that while it's exciting, I kind of wish the episode would air and no one would see it. It won't air until about 6 months after filmiing so maybe people would just forget about it by then... As if.
It's been a really stressful week for Bill and I and it seems like it will be getting more so in the coming weeks. Wish us luck that we can get everything done (and keep our sanity) before January 12th.
