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My Top 3 DIY Home Makeovers

House Hunters and other shows of the like can really camouflage all of the drama that goes down when purchasing a home. The saying that goes something like you will never get the house you absolutely want without building it yourself is absolutely true. If only there was a half bath, and a true mudroom are things that I MAY or may not have uttered a million times or more while we were house hunting.

Compromise is a real thing when it comes to purchasing a home and if you’ve been around this blog long enough you remember how difficult our home buying process was back in 2013. We went from building a home to scrambling for a resale when our old home sold and we had no definite date on when we could move into our new one. Talk about stressful, God willing and the creek don’t rise I don’t hope to buy another home and move any time soon.

If you are in the market to purchase a new home, locating the proper insurance to cover your investment is just as important as finding your perfect home. Outside of paperwork galore, and the sheer nosiness of underwriters there will be some things you need streamlined and using Esurance to locate competitive insurance quotes for you may just keep you sane in the process. If you are not currently looking, searching new rates periodically, especially at the end of the year is a good time to see if you can save money. Esurance is a good tool for evaluating your current rates on not just home insurance but auto as well.

After purchasing this home I embarked on making it my own by doing a few DIY home makeover projects on the areas that I just couldn’t stand to look at. As 2017 looms I’m making a list of other areas that need a little love and nothing really gets me excited about making a few changes like looking back at past DIY projects. Make sure you sign up on the email list so you don’t miss a post in 2017!

Here are a few of my favorite transformations to date!

Laundry Room

Addison’s Room

Screened Porch

From quote to claim, Esurance is working to help you make smarter, more efficient choices with your insurance. Using state-of-the-art technology, they offer a seamless online and mobile experience along with intuitive tools that help take the hassle out of insurance.

Thank you to Esurance for partnering with Unlikely Martha. I have been compensated for this post.

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Home

goodwill furniture find

A table in our kitchen nook was pretty much non existent for a few months. The chairs on our 8 year old Walmart special gave out on us a few months ago and instead of rushing out to get something new, I was patient and spent time looking on Craisglist and in thrift stores for something unique. I knew I wanted something not so cookie cutter. I had also seen a great marble coffee table that was screaming at me to take it home, but that will be for another day when my bank account agreed with it!

On a trip to Pier 1 to pick up furniture for our outdoor space I came across a round glass table, very similar to what I envisioned for the space. I initially wanted it with dark wood but unfortunately since it was clearance I was going to take what they had or carry on with an empty breakfast nook. Seeing as how I was a little tired of explaining to people why we didn’t have a table in our kitchen I decided to get it. A friend of mine told me to get some antique furniture from somewhere like antiquesworld.co.uk, and as much as I do like antique furniture, I didn’t feel like it would fit in at our house at the moment.

Table was marked down from $250 to $100. Yes please.

Loaded the table up into my car and it has sat in our nook for nearly 3 months with no chairs…..until yesterday.

I went into the Goodwill to drop some things off and decided to take a peek around the place. Stopped dead in my tracks when I saw this set.

The chairs were calling my name but I was ignoring the table that I didn’t need. I begged the manager to split the set for me.

Nope.

So I sat for nearly 20 minutes with the sold tag in my hand sniggling at all of the people coming in, stopping to look at it while I decided if I wanted to drop $70 for the set. After a few snaps and texts saying girl you better get that. I slid on over to the register.

They were mine and I couldn’t be happier. Noticed I said they, as in chairs cause the table is just a technicality. We’ll find something to do with it or sell it.

I have some big changes coming to the kitchen. I have scheduled myself to get out the paint brush and ladder and paint the walls white on June 29-30. Once the kitchen is white, I’ll make a decision on whether I am going to sand and re-stain the chairs or paint them.

There is a fifth chair but for now it is hanging out in my son’s room until it is needed in the kitchen.

Yes, I know this will be the third time painting the kitchen. The first and second times I was just practicing. I think I have finally found the aesthetic I want so I am looking forward to moving forward with my dreams of a modern/traditional/transitional farmhouse kitchen. You’ll see.

In case you don’t see the beauty in these chairs, they are called Windsor chairs and looking at these gives me a strong desire to paint them black. We’ll see. I love buying new furniture, it’s so exciting! I’ve actually come across a site which sells recycled plastic furniture and Plastic wood. We do need some new fence panels for the garden so I’ll probably be buying off this website soon.

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Have you ever found a great furniture find thrifting?

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Health

Olly Nutrition for tweenager growing pains + giveaway

This post has been written in partnership with Olly Nutrition. All opinions are mine

Growing pains abound around here in the literal and physical sense. On a regular basis, my son seems to forget that he is my child and does not belong to one of the other mothers at the school. The tweenager struggles and growing pains around here have caught me by surprise.

In the midst of his ill behavior he has also been complaining that his joints hurt. I thought growing pains were just an old people’s term, until my husband who is familiar with physiology due to his work informed me that growing pains are indeed a real thing.

What I gleaned from his highly technical definition of what causes “growing pains,” is during a time of rapid growth it is essential to properly fuel the body to ensure strong and healthy bones.

Recently Olly vitamins sent over a few of their expertly blended children’s vitamins that essentially address certain needs of the body. I’m sure he doesn’t get enough calcium, because he doesn’t drink milk so I thought it good to start him with “Growing Bones.”

….and because I am hawking sugar intake around here like a mad woman I noticed that each variety has different ingredients and most of the sugar included is either cane sugar or is naturally derived from vegetables like beets.

They are all naturally flavored and Addi has decided she wants to take the cherry flavored ones. This particular flavor tackles building immunity and seeing that she is the one guaranteed to get sick at least 4 times a year, she made a wise choice.

The composition of the other two varieties are as follows

Olly is hosting a fun giveaway for the chance to win the following. Click the photo to enter!

A year supply of your choice of two OLLY Kids Wellness Boosts
$250 gift card to Tea Collection to keep them suited up in style.
$500 gift card to Target for all the gadgets and gear needed to keep their day action-packed.
$100 gift card to Starbucks so you can keep up as their trusty sidekick.
And a year supply of method cleaning products so you can transform their super world back into your home.

Olly is not only expertly blended for the needs of the babies, they also have options for adults to include “Beauty”,”Sleep”, “Calm” and “Balanced Belly.”

Be sure to visit Olly online, on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to learn more.

Now if only these vitamins could fix his tweenager attitudinal growing pains.

Do you consistently give your children vitamins? Any growing pains going on at your house?!

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Living

getting the most of out home buying season with Owners

Buying and selling a house at the same time has to be one of the most challenging things to do in a lifetime, especially in a weird market. You may have already found some Castle Oaks homes that you like the look of, but that doesn’t mean that buying will not be a stressful process. For those of you that have been hanging around since 2013 you probably remember all of the stress I was under while we were selling and looking to build/purchase a new home.

Home buying season is upon us and if trial and error, tears and anger qualifies one as an expert on a topic than I am well versed in the struggles that come with purchasing a home. There are so many things to be aware of when purchasing and one of the major tips I have is to do your research to make sure you are getting the best deal all around. If you are look into purchase a home for the first time or a family home and live in the Brabham area of Australia, it is also just as important to do your research into the type of home you want to purchase. You should also be aware that there are plenty of legal struggles surrounding housing sales I’d consider looking into Conveyancing Quotes comparison sites that’ll make sure you get the best deal and great support through the buying process.

Now that it is easy to gain access to some of the tools real estate agents use to find homes it is easy and imperative to become involved in your home buying process. I can’t stress this enough. I’m sure I was a little more involved than desired but I ended up with what I wanted.

I was often sending homes to our agent because I knew she was busy and I couldn’t stand to think about missing out on a great deal because she was working with another client or busy. In essence taking this approach can mean that in hindsight you did all of the work on finding your home and still be responsible for paying the agent a commission. I’ve discovered a new, better option for those of us who really want to own our home buying and selling experience- Owners.com.

This top 10 U.S. online brokerage offers innovative services to home buyers and sellers. Sellers are able to list their home for a flat fee of only $695 (including MLS exposure) which means on a $300K transaction, that savings is $8,305 (up to 1.5% back) when buying a home (saving approximately $4.5k on $300k transaction)*.

This new choice in end-to-end real estate services allows you to keep a portion of the commissions for doing a portion of the work yourselves. Just think about where you could put the money you save! Update a bathroom or kitchen, open a college fund, or take a vacation!

As Owners.com branches into Atlanta they discovered that 78% of buyers in this market are impressed with the idea of not having to pay for services they don’t use, which in terms of the current market trends means a boost in using these new options to buy and sell.

According to the same survey by Owners.com, home buyers in Atlanta are significantly more likely to say they prefer ‘move-in’ ready (79%) to a ‘fixer-upper ’ (21%). Using their website allows you to search for a wide-range of home styles within your budget, including those listed For Sale by Owner. The buyers rebate will give you a chunk of change to tackle improvements for those who seek a fixer-upper!

Owners.com offers home buyers the option to search for homes that are not only For Sale by Owner (FSBO) but MLS listed properties as well. You can easily search by zip code, neighborhood, school district or city and put the power of the home buying process into your own hands.

Here’s a property listing in Sandy Springs for instance with a lot to offer!

I’ll be back to talk about how Owners.com helps sellers in the near future. In the meantime, if you are looking to step into home ownership for the first or third time Owners.com is definitely worth looking into. Thank goodness I’m done with this process but I send you all love, support and Owners.com to help you along your way!

*Buyers can receive a rebate Based on an average home price of $300,000 (U.S. Census. Jan-Sep. 2015) and average buyer agent commission rebate of 1.5%. Some limitations apply. Rebate not available on all properties or For-Sale-By-Owner listings. See Owners.com for details.

This discussion has been sponsored by Owners.com. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

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