Home and Leisure Show!

 

 

March 15th and 16th marks the 14th annual Home and Leisure Show hosted by the Eagan Civic Arena! The show hours are Friday from 3-7 P.M. and Saturday 9A.M. to 3P.M. Over 80 Vendors will be there to showcase their products and services! Admission is free! So if you are looking for your next home related purchase, or you just want to get a feel for the latest trends, this is your event! for more details click here.

My DIY Project- Creating a Playroom

My husband and I are converting a little used room in our home to a playroom for our daughter.  At 15 months old, our very active little girl's "stuff" has taken over every corner of our home.  She has learned to put away her things with some prompting so the time may be right to give her an organized space to contain some of her fun. 

Due to our crazy schedules, we had one day last weekend to get started and now this upcoming weekend to finish.  The room is a carpeted 11 x 12 room with no closet or overhead lighting.  It has two windows and French doors opening up to the hallway. 

First, we (I am using the term we loosely, as my husband did all of this part of the project) emptied the room and pulled up the carpet and the baseboard trim.  We sealed the subfloor to take care of any residual effects from our pets.  Below is a picture of the room right now. 

After a couple of days of shopping around, we purchased new flooring.  Just three or four arguments later, we decided to go with a wood laminate flooring. This is an inexpensive option that is should be easy to clean up spills.  For under $300 for the materials, we would be fine upgrading in the future as our needs for the room change.   

I'll let you know how it goes this weekend with pictures of the finished room.

Renovation Savings with Remodel Card

I was fortunate to have a chance to sit down with the owners of the Remodel Card to find out if my clients could benefit from their service. Olov Strole and Chad Commers provide contractor-style discounts on home improvement products for homeowners using their Remodel Card. As this article in the Star Tribune mentions, tough economic times mean more homeowners are interested in remodeling projects but have less access to credit or home equity. I also find many of my clients purchasing vacant or foreclosed homes have projects they want to do right after purchasing the home.


Olov and Chad explained that their buying service called Remodel Card allows members to purchase products at reduced prices from two dozen retailers. Many of my clients are doing just one project at a time, such as new flooring or new appliances. They explained that the average savings on projects so far has been an average of 29%. Here is our conversation on YouTube.  They have a discount right now on the membership so if you ae considering a project, check it out now.