Monday, September 29, 2014

Real Estate Monday: Forest Hills

How'd you like to be my neighbor? Well, not directly next door, but down the street a little is this [now] adorable house that's been completely renovated. Edgewood Acres is such a cute neighborhood, where almost every house is unique and kept up to a T. My mom and I use to walk by this house, however, and complain about how ugly it was and how it just didn't fit. Now it doesn't even look like the same house! Inside it was completely gutted and redone, along with new landscaping outside, a freshly paved driveway, and a new garage. So in the true spirit of Redesignation, here's 310 Castlegate Rd. Pittsburgh, Pa 15221. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 full/ 2 half bath house listed at $209,900.

The deck is connected to a walk-out basement and has a built-in fire pit perfect for entertaining.

I told Jim, the renovator/homeowner, I was proud of him for not doing the "typical" flipped house kitchen with the dark cabinets/ cheap granite. This looks light and fresh, and I like the extra molding on the cabinets. There's room for stools at the island, and probably a 6 foot dining table for an eat- in kitchen (not pictured here). There's also a half bath off the kitchen on the way down to the basement. 

The living room, which would greatly benefit by being staged, is actually much bigger than it looks in this pic. 

Master en-suite bathroom. 

Master bedroom. 

The ultimate man-cave/finished basement. There's two rooms like this equal in size, then a cold storage room, plus plenty of closets and a half bath. 


***UPDATE***
Unless I go into labor before hand :), I volunteered to do an open house for THIS Sunday October 5th, from 1-3. Stop by and say hi, and introduce yourself.  

Monday, September 15, 2014

Real Estate Monday: Coraopolis

I read an recent statistic somewhere about inventory being low, housing prices higher, and, therefore, homes that are priced right get snapped up instantly and often with multiple offers. The take home? I guess if you're on the fence about whether to list your home right now, this is a good reason to do so.
Anyways, onto my Real Estate Monday pick. This is a friend's house, and I'm happy to showcase it because I find it adorable. It's a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house with great curb appeal (something I'll be talking more about this week), listed for $155,000.

1222 Vance Ave, Coraopolis, PA 15108

 See what I mean about curb appeal? Nice, manicured lawn, beautiful stone-front exterior, lovely color scheme. That looks like a move-in ready house without even knowing what's on the inside.
 The kitchen looks like you have ample space to move around and entertain at the same time.
 Here's a perfectly staged dining room... not hard to imagine your own family eating here. 

 Super roomy master with a pop of color. Looks bright and sunny, who wouldn't want to wake up in here? 
 These next two rooms are just so sweet. I love that they're clearly kid's rooms here, but completely neutral if you took the decor out, thus a truly move-in ready house even if you didn't have little ones.
 I'm such a sucker for stripes. 

And to wrap it up, a picture-perfect back yard. 

Just another little plug [I hope you don't mind that I'm doing this], the owner of this house is also a superb cake maker (is that even the word for it?)- she baked the most fabulous cupcakes for the opening of our store years ago. Maybe she'll bake you a welcome home cake if you buy her house? 
You can check out here facebook page here, or just salivate over a couple pictures I stole off her page. 


Saturday, September 6, 2014

Fall Wreath For The Front Door

Despite the fact that I'm totally not ready for fall, I've been itching to get a start on a fall wreath. I've never been into wreaths before, but for some reason, I'm really digging them this year. I know I don't want the fake floral look, so I've been perusing the web for some inspiration. I think I've settled on attempting this one below.

 Now here's the shocker: I'm not a crafter. I repeat. NOT A CRAFTER! I own no glue gun, no supplies, I have little patience for little projects- I like big things for some reason. But I'm going to try. And this one looks simple enough for a first-timer. 
What I really like is the versatility of this wreath. It's just spray painted acorns, but I could change out the color of either the acorns or the ribbon for each season. I might start with a turquoise ribbon, and transfer to the orange for October. 
Have you made your own wreath? Or know a good go-to place to buy them? 
Also, not complaining about the plethora of pumpkin candles in the store. This one is my favorite so far bought at Home Goods. I hate that store. And by hate, I mean I walk in to return something and walk out with five things I didn't know I needed. Ugh.