Until we actually arrived at the house! The doorways were even narrower than we had expected. This is not a good thing to learn when you plan to move all of your personal belongings into the basement of an old house. In the end, Corey removed both doors and the weatherstripping in order to get my beautiful harvest table in to the house. At one point, I heard Corey tell the movers "We need to get this inside- it's the ONLY piece of furniture that she really cares about!" While this was happening, I waited in another room and paced back and forth. The movers warned us that it wasn't going to fit easily but we managed to get it through the narrow opening with only a minor "battle wound" (below) which we can probably stain. It was a tough day but we did get through it and are very happy to finally be home!
A house is never as you expect when you take possession and my sellers had a difficult time removing all their belongings so we had to clear the house out (and CLEAN!!!) before we could even begin the renos.
And on to the rest of the moving day details: Remember the Craigslist Moving Challenge I had posted about?
FOR SALE:
Flokati Rug
Teak Nesting Tables
Black End Table
Brass Lamps
Black Tiered Table
SOLD:
Coffee Table
Big Red Painting
Triple Convex Mirror
Foot Stool
Small BBQ
Outdoor Bistro Set
Chrome Sputnik Lamp
DONATED:
Pink Umbra Chair
Clothes
Shoes
Dog Items
Dishes
All donations were made to the RLP Shelter Foundation, which you can read about in this post. Donations are still being welcomed until May 11th.
Outdoor Bistro Set
Chrome Sputnik Lamp
DONATED:
Pink Umbra Chair
Clothes
Shoes
Dog Items
Dishes
All donations were made to the RLP Shelter Foundation, which you can read about in this post. Donations are still being welcomed until May 11th.
TOTAL PROFIT:
$660
So, how did we do on our challenge? We ended up keeping a few items on the "for sale" list because I decided to repurpose them here. Still, we had no major items like sofas so I think we did pretty well.
We had hired Door 2 Door Movers for the big day. They had affordable rates, great testimonials and reviews and (most importantly) they were a referral. I work by referral and I find that I automatically have a deeper level of trust with a professional (whether lawyer, mover or veterinarian) if they have been referred to me by someone whom I trust.
Overall, I found them to be professional and courteous. They were all nice guys and they worked hard throughout our long move and asked questions when they were in doubt about where our things should be placed in the new house. Not once did I feel like I didn't trust them- Honestly, I liked all three. They also did not hold our belongings hostage (like I've seen other companies do) while they renegotiated our rate. We had an hourly agreement from the start so there was no dispute about the final total. They also had a huge truck and packed our things (including our giant mirror) pretty carefully. They actually went above and beyond in many areas. I would use them again.. The one minor critique would be that I wish they had a GPS in their truck. They got a little lost while driving to our house... and we all know that every 30 minutes counts when you pay by the hour. Still, it was a good experience overall and they were lighthearted even when things weren't going our way.
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| I paused during our move to snap this quick picture outside our new house. |
Overall, I found them to be professional and courteous. They were all nice guys and they worked hard throughout our long move and asked questions when they were in doubt about where our things should be placed in the new house. Not once did I feel like I didn't trust them- Honestly, I liked all three. They also did not hold our belongings hostage (like I've seen other companies do) while they renegotiated our rate. We had an hourly agreement from the start so there was no dispute about the final total. They also had a huge truck and packed our things (including our giant mirror) pretty carefully. They actually went above and beyond in many areas. I would use them again.. The one minor critique would be that I wish they had a GPS in their truck. They got a little lost while driving to our house... and we all know that every 30 minutes counts when you pay by the hour. Still, it was a good experience overall and they were lighthearted even when things weren't going our way.
I promise to upload a tour of the new house "before" the renovations by the end of the week. We've just been busy cleaning, ripping up carpet... you know, the usual! Overall, it has been hard work but, like the song says, we got by with a little help from our friends: My mom has actually been helping every day since the move (and the weekend leading up to it) and we are very grateful!
Also pitching in have been my brother (Who picked up the heavy iron clawfoot tub with Corey and carried it to the upstairs bathroom. It's so heavy that I keep checking to make sure it hasn't fallen through the floor... yikes!) and my dear friend Bonnie who brought food and cleaning supplies and rolled up her sleeves with my mom to try to make our house liveable. She didn't even flinch when I sobbed while scrubbing the floors... You see, my dirtiest little secret is that dirt grosses me out to the point of tears. I don't even know why but I do know that it's ridiculous! Oh well, many more tears to come as we work our way through the house. haha. We are very luck to have such a strong support system because this house is not going to be finished overnight!
Another moment which almost sent me to tears again was when we decided to start ripping up the laminate in the living room to get a quick peek at the hardwood floors we assumed were there...
Also pitching in have been my brother (Who picked up the heavy iron clawfoot tub with Corey and carried it to the upstairs bathroom. It's so heavy that I keep checking to make sure it hasn't fallen through the floor... yikes!) and my dear friend Bonnie who brought food and cleaning supplies and rolled up her sleeves with my mom to try to make our house liveable. She didn't even flinch when I sobbed while scrubbing the floors... You see, my dirtiest little secret is that dirt grosses me out to the point of tears. I don't even know why but I do know that it's ridiculous! Oh well, many more tears to come as we work our way through the house. haha. We are very luck to have such a strong support system because this house is not going to be finished overnight!
Another moment which almost sent me to tears again was when we decided to start ripping up the laminate in the living room to get a quick peek at the hardwood floors we assumed were there...
We lifted the laminate gently, expecting to see hardwood but instead finding... particle board subfloor! How upsetting and disappointing... especially since we had already been arranging floor refinishing!
Luckily, Corey is a home reno detective and he decided to pry up some of the subfloor. Like buried treasure, we found hardwood underneath! Now, we're in the process of ripping the carpet upstairs and all the laminate downstairs to prep for the floor specialists on Monday!
I know I said we'd do the floors ourselves (and you know we're trying to save as much money as possible) but I am taking the advice of a client and friend of mine who is a more experienced do-it-yourself-er. She says that finishing floors is one of the few jobs that she would leave for the professionals. Since floors are really one of the first things people notice about your home, I decided that she was right so I searched for affordable options. I'll post all about our floors soon: Like with everything else in an old house, we have already encountered unforeseen challenges.
I'll end this post with a little video clip of Barkley. While he hasn't loved watching us pack, we've enjoyed some fun moments. Last weekend, we uncovered some finger puppets I had from when I worked at camp... I LOVE finger puppets! Anyway, I thought I'd use an annoying squeaky voice to make the unicorn talk to him. Apparently we learned that Barkley does not play well with unicorns. Either that, or it's his way of telling me not to use that stupid voice ever again... Actually, it may be the latter.
We are missing Barkley BIG time right now because he's staying at his "grandma's" until our floors are ready and our yard is safe. We missed his 7th birthday on Friday and Corey and I both felt so guilty. We had promised him a yard for his birthday and he still hasn't seen it!
We are missing Barkley BIG time right now because he's staying at his "grandma's" until our floors are ready and our yard is safe. We missed his 7th birthday on Friday and Corey and I both felt so guilty. We had promised him a yard for his birthday and he still hasn't seen it!
