What a difference a week makes!

We're rolling now! We have moved on to what I consider the Fun Stuff (paint) and installing our treasures from Home Depot.

We painted the ceilings Swiss Coffee, and the walls a color called Terracotta Sand. Our tenant came in and said it was an "unusual" color and she wasn't sure she liked it. Tan? Unusual? Consider the source, this is the woman who lived in it with the wood paneling and thought it was pretty nice.

I would not normally paint an entire house the same tan color, but since this for a renter, it is the smartest solution, as it will be easier to repair damage, and is so neutral. I do like the color, but those of you that know me, know that I love color and lots of it. But the Main House is my canvas for that!

We've also figured out that Warren is not the best painter, and it should remain my task. He is certainly helpful when ceilings are on the list, but does better with the tasks including measuring, drilling, hanging, etc. But we both love working on what we are calling "instant gratification" projects now. It is a huge difference!

We are also having a good time, here is Warren doing the "Thriller" dance. We finally asked our tenants to turn down/off the Death Metal, as it was making us angry and stressed out. We dealt with it most of the day and then the mom came in and asked me if it was bothering us, and I guess the grimace I made and the sarcastic chuckle told her that Yes, it was irritating, so she had them turn it down, telling her son and his friends that it "wasn't our thing". MJ is so much better, and we are the owners of this house...and they are inconveniencing us by being so ill-prepared for a cross-country move, and forcing us to rent back to them for free. Yes, free. On the last day of negotiations it came back to us that unless we were willing to take a hit in the form of letting them rent back no-charge, the deal was going to fall through. So here we are.

For a better idea of what we are dealing with, here are some photos of the property. It has been cleaned up, and more than half of the crap has been taken to the dump. So multiply what you see by 2 or 3, and that's what we walked into on Day One. When you hear people say they got to see "how the other half lives" in this case, WE are the other half.

Warren has been laying down our new tile flooring, in the kitchen and bath, in preparation for the new cabinets to be hung. He does not have the body type for a flooring person, as he is so far from the ground to begin with, but he's excited about the floor and his new skill set!

Warren's Dad came over on Sunday to help hang the upper cabinets, and it went amazingly well! They agreed on all the measurements and process, which if you've ever had dinner with Warren and his Dad (or brother for that matter) you know that it's almost never a situation where all are in agreement. They look great, and we only have to return one due to being cracked. But that's a lower cabinet, and we can't install those until we dig up the gas line outside the house and reconnect it so that we can hook up the stove. Here is Warren doing the digging. I told him "the world needs ditch diggers too".....

Here is a rough version of what the kitchen in the back house will look like. Compare it to the "before" version:

All I can say is that We Got Skills.


And our new wood flooring was installed! Our neighbor Willy in Costa Mesa works with wood flooring and came with his boss and laid down the floors in the bedroom and

living room. No more drywall dust being kicked up! The work space is much cleaner, and this was probably the most major improvement to date. The change was so drastic! I was walking toward the back house behind the friend of the son of our tenant who is there helping them sort through their crap, and he walked slightly past the front door, did a double take, stopped backed up and exclaimed "Oh My God!!!" So it's making an impression. Even our tenant who was unsure of my paint color (please lady, I have a degree in Interior Design and I paint for a living) said that now that the floor is in she loves the paint. Duh. I have a PLAN. That's how I work. Off a plan, in every aspect of my life!

We are going to Kitten-proof the back house and get it as livable as possible, and move in on sunday night. We have to be out of our condo then, we think, we may have a few extra days, but we can't wait to have the tenants out and get crackin' on the Main House!