Another investment property

So one day before Lillie turned 12 weeks old, we closed on a foreclosure property in the Fenton suburb of St. Louis. This will be a long term flip for us. We'll do as much work as we can before we move our things into it and then we will continue tackling renovations as we live there. It's a great family home and we got a deal on it. We paid approximately 59% of what the house originally sold for three years ago!

We started work on November 1st. This truly is a cosmetic flip. There are no walls to be moved, no plumbing, electrical, or hvac to be updated, and nothing structural to repair. We've spent the past 10 days or so painting, cleaning, replacing light fixtures, and changing out faucets and bathroom hardware. Oh, and the toilet in the half bath downstairs could not be salvaged! Let's just say that the previous owners went to town on it when they found out they were being foreclosed on!


Standing in the family room looking into the breakfast room and kitchen.

The same view, only reversed. Standing in the kitchen looking into the breakfast room and family room.
A little butlers pantry or serving area in the hall between the kitchen and dining room. I can see turning this into the downstairs diaper changing area!

Close up of the cabinets, backsplash, and countertops. One of our to-do renovations is to switch out the countertops with natural stone.

Slot for the fridge and nook above.

As you enter the house from the garage, this area is on the right. I can see unloading all the groceries on here as I bring them in from the car. As it stands right now, since our garage is detached where we currently live, bringing in the groceries is a much more difficult task than it will be in the new house!

Small living room or office off the entryway

Dining room opposite the living room. There is a nice coffered ceiling in there.

Finally, the "bonus room" upstairs between all the bedrooms. Since we're coming from a house with only one living area, I have no idea what we'll put in here!
Oh, and the reason it sat on the market for as long as it did....No deck and one heck of a drop off! Thankfully, we'll be putting a deck on in the spring and the lot next door is for sale so while we won't have much of a back yard, we'll make do with a side yard.


So that's what we've been up to! My parents and sister have been a huge help! Whether it's my mom taking Lillie for the day or my sister coming over to paint after class or my dad helping us install the new ceiling fan, we couldn't have done this without their help! Everything truly does change once you have a child :)

Three months!

Happy 3 months Lillie!

Her stats: 13 lbs, 7 oz and 24 inches long

She is one ounce shy of doubling her birth weight, something that usually happens at the 6 month point! I just can't believe how fast she is growing and gaining weight! She was in newborn clothes for 6 weeks and then proceeded to go through her 3 month clothes in another 6 weeks! For a baby that started out in the 20th percentile for weight, she sure is catching up fast!

We had our genetics appointment at Children's Hospital last Thursday (that's how we found out her weight and length because her next appointment with the pediatrician isn't until 4 months) and found out more about how we will proceed with her galactosemia. When she starts solid foods, she'll be able to handle rice cereal and fruits and veggies just fine. However, when she progresses to table foods, she won't be able to have anything with lactose or galactose in it. This basically includes anything made with milk or a milk by-product. I don't see it being a huge inconvenience for us. It's going to be harder to remind others (like grandparents who want to slip her a spoonful of ice cream) of her limitations.

Then at one year old, we do something called a galactose challenge. We gradually introduce milk products into her diet for two weeks and then her levels are checked. If we time it right around her birthday, she can have cake and ice cream on the big day. Most babies do just fine and are able to be on a regular diet going forward. In fact, the dietician that we work with said she sees about 20 cases a year and she's never had a baby fail the challenge.

Her blood was drawn again and we are waiting for the results. She has been on soy formula since October 23rd and they are hoping to see that the build up of galactose that was in her system has been broken down and burned off as energy. Keep your fingers crossed!

Bathroom....Check!

We're finally moving on to the next project! I'm happy to say that after 4 months of blood, sweat, and many tears, we are done with our master bathroom renovation. Below are several before and afters. Next on the agenda: baseboards in the hallway and 2 bedrooms as well as painting the nursery.

Bathroom update

I wanted to wait until we were completely done with the bathroom remodel to post again, but we have made a lot of progress in the past ten days and Roger put in a request that I update our blog with that progress. This is for you Roger!

Our vanity: It's the 60" double sink vanity from the Ambella Verona collection. The faucets are Price Pfister and the light fixtures are from Delta. We went with a paint color called Lucy Blue from Valspar.

Moving on, here is our shower now with the two heads. The handshower on the left is adjustable along that rod and it can also be removed and used for giving Harvey his bath (which he experienced for the first time in the new shower a few days ago!).

We have a toilet! No more trips downstairs in the middle of the night!
Close up of the floor and the offset pinwheel pattern.
Small details like the new oil rubbed bronze vent cover and a sample piece of the baseboards that will be going down.
For as much as we have accomplished, there are still some loose ends to tie up. On the to do list still is:

Frameless shower doors installed (they're on order and should be installed within a week)

Baseboards

Mirrors above vanity

Towel bars, toilet paper holder, towel hook installed

Rehang door

Paint outside of clawfoot tub and install new bronze hardware

and little stuff like outlet covers, etc.

Tomorrow I will take a shower

for the first time in 6 weeks.

It sounds worse than it is because in reality, we've been bathing in the bathtub since our master bathroom renovation kicked off around the middle of March. I can't tell you how excited I am to use our new shower. The only reason I'm not in there now is because I'm waiting for the tile and grout to hard cure.

Let's recap shall we....

Bathroom Before - I had actually painted part of the bathroom a very pale green and hung 2" white blinds to help make the bathroom more "liveable" while we figured out what we wanted to do and to save for the renovations. The lime green on wall next to the vanity was the previous owner's color of choice for the bathroom.

Renovations begin - we removed that half wall next to the vanity and extended the shower wall out by about 8 inches. We removed the hardwood floors which were not original to the house and served of no historical value. Under the 198o's hardwoods, we found the original hardwoods, but opted not to salvage them. You can see the plywood starting to go down to act as an additional subfloor for the travertine.

Framing out of the shower. We decided to do a corner bench to store product and to also serve as a place to sit or prop a leg up on while shaving in the shower. Projects that you don't see include the installation of 1/2" hardibacker on the shower walls, pouring of the mud shower pan, and the additional plumbing for a second shower head.

And the finished product!!! We installed 12" by 18" travertine tiles in a brick pattern along the walls with an accent tile at about eye level. Around the perimeter, we installed a bullnose travertine border. The floor is made up of 2" square tiles and the bench and shower curb use 1" tiles. We are using Delta fixtues in a bronze finish. Only one of the shower heads has been installed at this point as we are waiting for the cover to go over the diverter value that will allow us to use the second shower head. We ordered (and have sitting in the basement) the handheld shower head that will go on the other side. It has a bar that mounts to the tile which will allow you to position the shower head at a variety of heights.

Close up of the accent tile.

Shower bench and shower floor and a preview of the floor. We are using an offset pinwheel pattern which incorporates 18" square tile as well as 6" square tile. We have a frameless shower door on order so we'll be using a shower curtain for the time being.

And in other news, remember this scene from a few months ago...

Well, I spent an entire weekend back in April trimming everything back and installing about 300 square feet of weed fabric. Two yards of mulch and a flat of annuals later and things are starting to shape up!

Oh and if you need to get a hold of me and I don't seem to be answering my phone, I'm in the shower!!!

Jewelry update

Ever since getting pregnant and realizing that flipping houses would be put on hold for a few months, I've really started focusing on growing my jewelry business. Working out of my home would really be a great luxury to have once the baby comes when you look at the alternative of taking the baby to a construction site! In order to improve business, I've been focusing on two goals - continuing to update my website with new pieces and better photographs and getting my jewelry into local boutiques.

While I work to find someone to update my site, I'm excited to announce that over 30 of my pieces from the Celebrate Wedding section will be sold in a local bridal boutique! I'll have six bridal collections and four bridesmaid collections on display along with a selection of earrings. The bridal boutique is set to open late May so when it does, I'll be sure to include the information on my website under a new section for Retailers.

In addition to selling my bridal jewelry in bridal boutiques, I'm really trying to get my foot in the door with a children's boutique to sell the Celebrate Family line. There are so many additional pieces that I've made in the past 6 months that haven't even posted to my site - things like Christening necklaces, name bracelets, and family necklaces and bracelets.

Mother charm necklace with birthstones reprensenting her four children: April, March, December, and September.

Mother's name bracelet for her daughter Brooke born in July.
Family bracelet with four birthstones represented: August, February, November, and May.
Mother's pearl name bracelet for her son Scott born in August.
May mother and her three children represented: September, June (Alexandrite), and October.
Mother's double name bracelet for her daugther Emma born in February and Anna born in October.

It's very difficult trying to establish relationships with boutiques simply because they may not be looking for a line of jewelry to carry or they may feel like they already have significant jewelry representation in their store and there is no need to add to it so wish me luck!

Pet Jewelry!

Jennifer from Soulard Pet Sitters (who we use to watch Harvey when we're gone) contacted me about designing some pet jewelry for a fundraiser/silent auction that Pets in the City is having later this month. Having a larger dog, it never would have occurred to me that there was such a need for pet jewelry! This is what I came up - doggie charms that clip onto their collar and matching owner bracelets!

Because we won't know who the eventual winner of the auction will be ahead of time, I went with charms for the doggies. As another option, doggie necklaces are available and are custom made based on the size of the doggie's neck. Additionally, matching owner necklaces and earrings are available!

Isn't this a riot! I think they are so cute and can't believe I never thought of this before. Many thanks to Jennifer and Soulard Pet Sitters and Pets in the City. You can read more about the Heartland Weimaraner Rescue Fundraiser on April 26th here.

These items will be available on my website soon!