Notes from A Cottage Industry

Happiness is passing your real estate broker licensing tests!

High five me, I've got both the national and Washington state broker's exam behind me!

First off, lets talk test taking for the ...ehem...mature gals (and guys) out there...I am not quite sure what happens to us as we age, but I promise you I was a decent student at one point in life, (do the 1970's count?) and I do consider myself as a person with a high level of common sense, and good strong work ethic. In my past jobs, I was always one to catch on quickly to new software programs and trainings, and I am not lazy, by any means. My experience this go round was very much in-one-ear-and-out-the-other. I'd read a page, and then not have a clue what I had read. I would feel like I grasped a chapter, and then fail a practice quiz. My self confidence took a beating.

Studying appraisals, metes and bounds, plats, easements, and appurtenances (huh?) are a far cry from flea markets and home decor, and to be honest with you, I had serious doubts as to whether I was actually going to be able to retain anything long term, let alone long enough to pass the tests, but miracles happen every day, and low and behold, I made it through.

I took the test a little over a week ago. (Here in Washington, the questions for state and national are mixed into a single test; 100 national questions, 30 state related questions, and 5 they are just "trying out" to see just how much they can jack you up.)  I passed the Washington state one, (Yay!) and missed the national passing rate by two points.

Two points.

I was devastated, but, after I calmed down, I figured it must mean I retained some things, and it was better than failing by a huge amount. I signed up the next day to re-take the national test three days later, being told that there were ten versions of the test, so you would get a different version if you needed to take it multiple times, which is common.

Taking this test once was difficult enough for me, (and my pocketbook) and now, looking forward to taking it a second time was caused me to break out in a complete sweat, but there was no turning back now. It had to get done.

I was completely and totally stunned when I sat down to retake the test and discovered it was the identical test. 

(A gift directly from God!)

At first, I thought maybe it was just a few questions, but then my unsure wait-can-it-really-be-hopefulness turned to giddy-tapping-my-toes-at-my-testing-cubical-desk-all-out-euphoria.

I tried not to get cocky with myself as I navigated through the retake of the national test, as I would hit questions I had researched after my first failed-by-two-points attempt. I completed the test with over an hour to spare, so I went back and reviewed my answers thoroughly.

(I wasn't about to miss victory by two points again....)

I passed just fine on the second attempt, and I have been doing a happy dance inside my head ever since. I start my new career on May seventh, just one week from today.

 

Weekly words to live by.

Weekly words to live by.

Flip fops and lemon drops, because girls just wanna have sun. (and cocktails!)

I recently (over the course of a couple of weeks, during breaks from studying for you-know-what) created a basket that I donated as a silent auction item for an upcoming breast cancer fundraiser in mid May, and I thought I'd share it today.

The theme for my basket was "Flip Flops and Lemon Drops", a fun girl's-night-in summer martini party basket. I somehow forgot to take a decent picture of the basket as a whole before I left the house to meet my friend to drop off the donation, so this lousy photo I took on the Starbucks table will have to do.

The basket included lots of fun goodies to decorate the bar area, patio, and fun little prezzies for guests. It was so fun to put together, with these darling flip flops from my local Dollar Tree. (I simply tied the yellow and white striped ribbon to the toe divider, and they looked like a million bucks!) and a "Chill" banner I made...

Yard flamingos I found last summer at a thrift store, (...exactly lie the ones I had bought at World Market!) and a canning jar filled with fake lemons (again, from the Dollar Tree!)

Thrifted martini glasses (with my homemade martini charms on them) silly flamingo straws rounded things out, and I even managed to score a fabulous white enamel tub to hold it all.

Yellow shred from the Dollar Tree, and some cutie-patootie handmade signs for the table, as well as a lemon drop martini recipe, and the basket was set to go.

I had a great time creating this basket, and knowing it's going for such a good cause, with a fantastic organization made it all the better. If you live locally in the Portland area, consider getting tickets for the Pink Sistas "Pink in the Gorge" event. More information can be found right here. 

I'm (finally) back on the home improvement bandwagon.

(Anyway, it feels like I am!)....with two (small-ish-but-with-big-impact!) home projects busted out in the last seven days. A couple of days before I took on painting the brick on the fireplace, I used my study breaks to paint the inside of my front door.

(Okay, I think it was me avoiding the studying thing...)

You might remember that before I had the exterior of my cottage painted, I got a new front door. Choosing a door color was quite the dilemma, and I am still happy with the apple-ish green I selected, but, I never painted the inside of the door.

I knew I wanted a color, but still wanted to keep it neutral. I was after something that would go with my mocha buffalo check ceiling-to-floor curtains, while not looking like I was trying to create a faux wood look, if that makes sense. Every time I would think about painting the inside of the door, I would rethink...er...overthink things to the point that I would put the project off again. At one point I actually purchased two small jars of Annie Sloan paint to mix together to get  a color to match my curtains, and then postponed the project some more.

Last week I decided to go for it, and mixed up my paint colors to the desired tone.(I remembered to take a "before picture after I started...)

It was an easy project, and before I knew it, I had my first coat of paint on the door. Mildly panicked that I may have made a mistake in color, I added a second coat. Later, when it had dried, I aded the Annie Sloan white glaze to lighten things up, and add a more vintage look to the door.  

I would have gone just a few shades lighter if I had it to do over, but I am still pretty happy with the way the door came out. Definitely a night-and-day improvement over the bare-Home-Depot stock white door! (Ralph thought I had gotten us a new front door! Ha!)

Whatcha think?

Instant gratification found in less than a quart of paint.

...and in less than an hour of actual work-time, I might add.

I have a substantially long laundry list of home projects that have been on my to-to list, and in the back of my mind for some time now. This past weekend, I decided to tackle a couple of them during study breaks.

(Are you sick to death of hearing me yammer on about "studying" and real estate?! Trust me, I am sick of studying for this test...but, oh! Soooo excited for the job opportunity that awaits me!)

Anyway.

Today I am thrilled to be back here, online, with all of my internet friends, blogging, and sharing a project with you! Both projects I completed this weekend were in my living room, and both involved nothing but time, and a bit of paint.

So...Do you remember my living room? I've shown it to you guys before, here. Oh, and here, at Christmas time. (Probably more posts, but I didn't see them just now...)

I have always, since day one here, thought the 1950's brick on my fireplace and the exterior of my cottage were about the most hideous brick any mason ever dreamed up. Two years ago (has it really been that long?!) when I had the house painters come back and paint my exterior bricks, a thought came to me that I didn't have to keep living with such unattractive orange-y-red brick on my interior fireplace until I could afford to replace the entire thing. I could paint it...or white wash it (or German Smear it, as HGTV's Fixer-Upper has educated all of us DIYer's about.)

Like so many things, it remained only a thought. (Please ignore all of the random messy stuff on the floor. I was in mid-process of figuring the project out...)

The reason it remained only a thought was fear. Mmm hmm, fear stopped me from attempting to whitewash the ugly bricks about half a dozen times. (I know, your thinking, "What is worse than the orange-y red brick look? Pretty sure nothing." but there you have it.)

Well, Saturday I decided to throw caution to the wind, and just do it. Once I made the first paint brush dab of white paint on those bricks, there was no turning back for me. At first I thought I could get away with a light whitewashing, as I said, but that only seemed to make the unattractive definition of the 1950's brick more pronounced.

 

Not the look I was going for.

Another coat of white, and a bit later, a third light coat for good measure, and I was in fixer-upper heaven, I tell you. I finished up with white caulking where the bricks met the wall, and then stained and waxed my board on top, which I then (finally, after a year) attached to the mantle-top with my trusty nail-gun.

It made quite an impact, and left me wondering (as I do with most things I fear, or dread) what I had been so afraid of.

I put the room back together and then spent the entire remainder of the evening admiring the new brighter appearance of the fireplace wall. Do you have a home project you are afraid to start, whether it is because you may not like it, or because you may be in over your head? What do you do when you hit these kinds of stumbling blocks? Please...Share with me! 

Weekly words to live by.

Weekly words to live by.

Reinvented vintage wheeled laundry basket turned bar cart.

I scored a vintage folding-wheeled laundry basket (minus the old fabric laundry basket that hung in the center) at the Monticello Yard Sale a couple of weeks ago, even though at the time I had no idea what I would do with it.

I got it home and then had a mild case of buyers remorse, as I looked at the wheeled contraption and drew a blank. I left it opened up in the garage, and kept going out and looking at it during study breaks, drawing a total blank each time, until it occurred to me that I just might be able to adda  shelf up on the top, and use the rods that held the fabric laundry bag as supports.

I tried several different pieces of wood, and then an old cupboard door, none of which fit or looked right. Then I tried a hinged shutter I had stashed in the corner of my wood pieces. I uses this shutter as a backdrop for my etsy photos mainly.

Bingo.

It was a tight fit, but I got it in there, and it. was. fabulous.

Exactly what I was looking for!

Then, I scrounged around my junk a bit more and came across an old metal filing basket, complete with the original rubber gripper supports underneath, and it too was a perfect fit.

Meant to be.

I could hardly wait to get it down to Camas Antiques, where I placed it in my small case, and decked it out with bar items. (Of course it could be equally fabulous as a garden cart, or in the corner of a home office, or...well, you get it.) In my set up, I discovered that vintage tool box trays also make great wine or champagne serving trays too...)

Whatcha think?

Clever little gift wrap trick.

A pretty gift wrap job doesn't have to have a huge bow, and printed gift wrap to be memorable. I wrapped a housewarming gift a couple of weeks ago, and I decided to add a great quote to the package.

And it was super easy.

I simply found a quote that I liked, (I always search for quotes and song lyrics on Pinterest. I typed in "new home quotes" in the search bar, and up came a huge assortment of quotes!) then, typed and printed the quote out. I used a dollar store glue stick to attach it to my package, which I had wrapped in my signature brown kraft paper. I also printed and cut out a small tag, which I added to the gift with a length of baker's twine.

See how easy that was?

Next time you need to wrap a gift, and you'd like to add a personal touch, try searching out a quote that would fit with the person, or the event, and then give this easy-peasy gift wrap idea a try.

...Y'all gonna make me lose my mind, up in here, up in here.

(**I actually do not typically listen to rap, except at occasional stop lights when my window is down and the car next to me has it going on, but those chorus lyrics really hit home with me this week.)

Up until yesterday I have been just about completely MIA, up to my eyeballs in real estate books, webinars, and online quizes. I have come closer (more than once) to losing my mind entirely during this s l o w process of reading, memorizing, and grasping all of the information in my books than I thought imaginable.

Tears have been shed, and Davina at the tech support number for my online school knows my voice, but I am no quitter, and I'm still hangin' in there.

(Won't you be glad when it's over, so you can stop reading whiny posts from me?)

To add to my always exciting home-life drama, I have Ralph home with a pretty bad man-cold, so...pray for me.

Anyway.

I hope you saw my late-in-the-evening second post last night. I introduced a new feature to my blog, called humble Abodes, and think it's going to be a lot of fun! (if you missed it, it is the post before this one. You can also find it here.)

Okay, back to module twenty of Real Estate Basics and Beyond...(as I thump my desk top with my pointer fingers, and rap lightly under my breath, "...gonna make me lose my cool, up in here, up in here...")

Humble Abode of the Month: April 2018.

Hello, happy Easter, and April Fools Day, and also, I am excited to welcome you to my first installment of my newest blog feature, Humble Abode of the Month!

I am quite sure that many of you already know (or feel like you know!) Cindy Kihn Santiago, of the "My Romantic Home" blog. Cindy and I go way back to the early days of blogging (Around 2006, maybe?) where we met online, and began sharing blogging tips and tricks with each other. A few years later, we got the chance to meet in person, when the other Tracey and I were showing our junk at the Alameda Antiques Market.

Cindy has always had such a gift for showcasing feminine, romantic home decor, and swoon-worthy tablescapes (even her baking reflects her romantic nature!) so I knew she had to be my first guest when I decided to add this blog post feature to my site. Let's pop in for a tour, and enjoy all of her eye candy and ideas on this first day of April, which happens to be Easter Sunday, shall we?

Cindy is an executive assistant in the bay area of northern California, where she lives in an open concept apartment, which happens to be her favorite part about it. From the moment you see the wreath on her front door, you feel welcome...

 

You can see by her tablescape and mimosa bar set up that Cindy is most definitely the hostess with the mostess!

With a backdrop of white walls, and neutral flooring, Cindy's signature French blue and white color scheme, with touches of pinks in various shades flows effortlessly throughout her entire home, creating a warm, and welcome feel. 

Unexpected surprises like the blue shutters on the sides of the mirror above her sofa add a pop of subdued color, and warmth to her living room...

 

Cindy's romantic style has been published in Romantic Country Magazine, Romantic Homes Magazine, Woman’s Day (for her seashell wreath she created), the front page of the Home and Garden section of the San Jose Mercury News, and various international home decor magazines. She can be found online at:

instagram: Cindy95131

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cindy.kihnsantiago

Thank you so very much Cindy, for sharing your home, with all of it's inspiring ideas, and charming details!

Weekly words to live by.

Hope you are enjoying a blessed Easter Sunday, my friends. I have an additional post coming later today that you will most certainly enjoy!  Check back later!!