the move to st paul

officially crossing the river to be a resident of st paul -- and live with my first ever boyfriend (ahem. fiance) and first ever puppa (aka: snoop dawg). oh, and i got to cross off the first item on my "to do" list:

• move into tim (and snoop's) house in st paul
• list my condo by september, 2014
• get it sold asap!

matthew, dad and tim were there to help me pack up. and in return, i soaked in my last day living in uptown by biking down to Jimmy John's in Calhoun Square to buy everyone lunch.

finishing touches

well it's officially september, and if you remember, my goal was to get it up on the market by september 1st -- before winter sets in and minnesota buyers flee back into their homes until spring. so it's a rush to the finish line as i continue moving my belongings to tim's house (box by box), cleaning every last inch, and staging it to really wow everyone who walks through it.

new cabinet hardware. check!

and speaking about staging...notice the cute owl perched next to my knife block? my grandma actually painted that little fella long ago, and i've kept him with me as i move from place to place.

why did i swap out my Urban Outfitters statement chandelier? well, i was told to de-personalize as much as possible during the staging process. aka: take down photos and make the place as neutral as possible so anyone who walks through could envision themselves living here.

so i found a budget-friendly option at Menards that really fit well with my color scheme and wrought iron door and cabinet hardware throughout my entire place.

eleven cabinet doors

dad's newly constructed custom cabinet fronts finally take their place on each of the corresponding original cabinets.

back in 2009 when i was still a newbie home owner, i had a cabinet specialist come over to assess the cabinets. he told me that the cabinets were in amazing shape and very sturdy, which was great news because that meant i wouldn't need to tear them down. but the doors were another story, so luckily for me dad constructed new ones.

the only thing left for these bad boys is to add the door hardware.
 

never-ending cabinets

i feel like we've been working on cabinets of all sorts for...forever! slow and steady. here's the latest progress on the new bathroom closet. i envision fluffy towels and pretty decor adorning these shelves. i still need to do a little touch-up paint to cover that raw wood.

oh, and today also marked the beginning of a 4-day (okay, four days over a week's time) solo journey of painting the kitchen cabinets -- prior to installing the brand new cabinet doors that dad so lovingly made for me -- we figured it would be easier without the drawers and doors! let the painting begin!

solo painting

today i painted solo, it was a rare occasion.

but i was pretty proud of myself! i got all the door hardware off (and then back on) and now the final remaining sections of trim and interior doors have a fresh, glistening coat of clean white paint.

the cabinet door matching game

some days you don't have anything to show for your work. because some days are just spent measuring & re-measuring and checking & double-checking to make sure you get it right. that was the type of day it was today.

italian walnut flooring

and so began the week of flooring. if you remember from my previous post, the bedroom project had 3 steps:

• step 1: clear out the room and remove doors, trim and outlet covers
• step 2: paint the walls
• step 3: install new flooring

with budget in mind, but also wanting to keep my sense of eclectic style, i decided on an italian walnut laminate that was available online and available for pickup at menards. so long cement floor!

and then dad, my superhero handyman, once again came to the rescue. he spent the week working and oh. emm. gee. am i giddy with the results (don't mind my wrinkled bedding). my only regret is not doing this sooner!