If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
HOME FOR SALE
Our house has been on the market for over a year. Every time we leave home for anything, the house must be tidy and presentable. If we go to the grocery store, or Wal-Mart, or even to the park for Noble to play for an hour or so, the house must be presentable. For a while this was fun, but not anymore. We are tired of vacuuming, dusting, arranging, cleaning, mopping, making sure the toilet lids are down and smelling and sniffing to make sure that everything is in order before we leave. Last week we had a showing with an entire days notice! Jennifer and I did Spring cleaning. Moved every stick of furniture, cleaned baseboards, walls, windows, vacuumed corners up and down and we were pleased and tired. No feedback from the realtor. That was OK. We figured our house wasn't their cup of tea.
A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN IT'S PLACE
Monday we began a serious clean of the garage. Our cars are not allowed in the garage. They have never been inside it, so they don't even know that it exists! Everything from Round Top had been thrown in the garage and I do mean everything. The boxes of smalls that didn't sell, the furniture that didn't sell, all of the supplies that we took - paint, cleaner, tape, pencils, pens, sandpaper, paint brushes, broom, duster. All of those endless items that you think you might need and more, just in case. The cats could barely walk around the mess, much less us! We sorted, and tossed. We dusted and rearranged. We were relentless. The furniture was stacked along the sides. We redid our work area and Rick's tool bench. We put up hooks and nails to get as much off of the floor as we could. We were almost finished. The showing service called. How can we say no? These people may be "the ones!" A realtor wanted to show our house in one hour and thirty minutes. Jennifer hit the inside and I tried my best to make the garage presentable. It really needed another day of work. But we moved like the wind, and the house and garage were as good as they were going to get.
We piled in the car - dirty and sweaty and tired and headed to Sonic for our diet drinks with a splash of vanilla - our treat when the house is shown.
This realtor decided that it was important for her to provide feedback.
BRAVE BLOGGERS
Most bloggers provide photos of their homes on their blogs. It's so much fun to see where that blogger lives and works. To me, that takes a lot of bravery to put yourself out there for others to see. We have not posted photos. There are areas of our home that I don't like - the paneled living room, the humongous brick fireplace (ugh), the paneled game room. I wanted to paint them, my other half did not. I relented... At the same time, there are areas of our home that I love - Jennifer's room and updated bathroom, the guest room, Noble's room is a work in progress - always!, the master bedroom is painted in BMs Ice Cube Silver and white and our updated bathroom. The kitchen has been updated, but not by us. The cabinets are cherry and they are ok, but I'd much rather have white ones. We have a red dining room - perhaps outdated, but I love the red. It makes me happy. The room where we live has bead board on the lower part and the top part is painted yellow. Maybe not a current color - but it's a happy space and has lots of light. I'm still not confident enough to post photos. If I have an empty space, I have a need to fill it. We have already "cleaned out" and taken three loads to a storage unit - but I seem to fill the spaces again. No one would call me a minimalist! And that's ok - this is who I am and what I like.
MEANWHILE, BACK TO THE REALTOR
The realtor's feedback made me sad and mad, all at the same time. "Lovely curb appeal. Very clean but feels like a museum of the past. These clients did not like all the cats".
Don't you just love it when someone gives you a compliment and then flings out the stinger?
She's right. We do have good curb appeal. The sidewalk leading to the front door curves and offers a welcoming look. I love plants and flowers, so the beds are full of pretties to see and enjoy. The front porch is small, but it too, has flowers to make it brighter and to say, "Hi! Come on in!"
And the house was clean - Jennifer saw to that! She's good that way.
But - a museum of the past? I'm not even certain what that means. The paint colors? The furniture? The accessories? The floor coverings? The texture on the walls? What?!?
And the cats? Well, just to be clear, they don't come with the house - they are a part of our family and are not for sale!
I was always taught that if you can't say something nice...don't say anything at all. There are so many other things this woman could have said. "This house doesn't fit the style my clients like". That would have been sufficient. Although there have only been a couple of negative feedback responses in the last year, Jennifer and I asked Rick not to share any more with us - we've had enough! =)
ROUND TOP LEFTOVERS
The leftover furniture from Round Top is moving out! Three items have sold on Craig's List this week. Rick wanted to know if were were going to sell stuff from inside the house once the garage is cleared! Men! We've been married almost 37 years - you'd think that by now he would know me!! The stacks in the garage are diminishing and everything is almost all put back where it belongs. Whew - that was hard work. But Round Top was still fun and now we can find what we want and we know where everything is - well at least one of us does. Rick has no idea where anything is!
IT'S FRIDAY - HAPPY WEEKEND!
Hope that all of you have a great day and a fun weekend and that you have the opportunity to do something you love.
Noble has his last soccer game tomorrow...he was so sad after practice on Tuesday that he laid down on the bleacher bench and held on tight and cried. "More soccer. Play soccer. Kick soccer ball". It was so sad. Bless his little heart!
This is Noble James on his first day of soccer. (And horrors - you can see part of my sofa and my Ikea pillows!!! My psyche may be permanently damaged since you can see part of our museum from the past!)
No, his team is not the Rice Krispies, they are actually the Rockets. Their blue team shirts hadn't arrived yet, so Jennifer used this one and turned it inside out. He loves walking in his cleats and hearing them click on the floors. He has been good for soccer and soccer has been good for him. Even if the first goal he made at the first game was for the opposite team! =) We didn't care because it didn't matter - Noble was actually playing soccer! We jumped up and down! We clapped and we yelled, "Run Noble! Run!! Yea!!! Good job, Noble!!!"
We did that because words are powerful. I wish we would all remember that.
Bye y'all - this was Paula ~
P.S. I am not a minimalist with words either! ;) If you actually read to the end - thank you very much!
