Showing posts with label Craigslist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Craigslist. Show all posts

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Bye-bye Saint Louis!

It took a couple of days for the movers to pack up all our stuff and get our big furniture in the moving truck. After that, we had almost nothing left in the house except for the essential items like my special food and grooming products, Mom & Dad's toiletries and some clothes and stuff to be sold on Craigslist. They got rid of the washer and dryer, the hall tree, the patio furniture, the kitchen table, the double bed with all the nice bed linen. The house got pretty empty in just 2 days.
New city, new state, new life! On May 20th of last year we were able to fit everything we needed for 2 months in Mama's small SUV and we drove all the way (5 hours) to Chicago,IL, our new hometown. Bye-bye Saint Louis!!

Monday, July 7, 2008

Fixing up the house

My 3rd season is here again! Ok, let's carry on from where I left off, saying good-bye to Grandma C. After she left the house was so empty and I missed her a lot.
Daddy had to relocate from Saint Louis to Chicago in May 2007. That meant, selling our home and other things like furniture and appliances. Craigslist helped with that and Mama sold some good stuff for cheap just to get rid of it fast. Lucky buyers!
The house was built in 1929 so Mommy and Dad put a lot of work into it to make it look prettier since day one. Some neutral color tones was all the house needed to open up the space and make the rooms look bigger. When they first moved in, it had some crazy colors none of them liked. Mommy did most of the painting; all trims, doors, walls and Dad painted the ceilings and installed all the fixtures. I wasn't a resident then, and I'm glad I didn't have to deal with paint and polyurethane(on the hardwood floors) nasty and harmful vapors like they did. When I came to the house in November most of it was already looking good with the exception of the kitchen, basement, deck and front and back yards. During the months of March and April it was very chaotic in the house with all the ceramic tiles piled up, heavy bags of grout and drywall sheets. Grandma C and Mike, the handyman, helped us a lot. There was never a quiet or clean place for me to hang around. Mike finished doing the deck, which made me really happy! That was one the most dramatic change in the remodeling. Other good ones were the pantry and the attic. The kitchen required a total revamp which wouldn't give my parents the money back with the home sale. So they just painted all the cabinets and put cheap cabinet knobs but, it looked better than before. Daddy and Grandma C improved the curb appeal by planting a little evergreen spiral topiary in the middle of four little blue pine trees in the front yard. The back yard also received some TLC with 5 new white and red rose shrubs. We didn't get to see them in bloom because we moved out before that or maybe they died even before we moved out. I don't know why they put those dangerous bushes in my yard. They should sometimes remember I'm short and I can hurt myself with the thorns!
Below are some "before and after" picures of our home in Saint Louis.

House



Curb appeal( not really appealing, but better than before believe me)



Old front steps



New front steps ( New but wrong color, uh-oh)



Old living room



New living room



Old fireplace



New fireplace



Old dining room



New dining room



Old kitchen



New kitchen



Old pantry



New pantry



Old office



New office

border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220512422169454626" />

Old bedroom



New bedroom

border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5220513101877631410" />

Old bathroom



New bathroom



Old attic





New attic





And my favorite room in( or outside?) the house: The deck!

Old deck









New deck : YAY!!!