I’ve lived in this quaint little town house of mine, in the suburb of Catonsville, for 7 years now. It’s the longest I’ve ever lived in a house other than the one I grew up in. The neighborhood around me has changed, and so have I. I’m ready to move on to a newer, and more open floorplan of space.

I’ve spent the past few weeks staging and decluttering each room of my house in order for it to be ready to go on the market this week! With a low budget, I was still able to do a few minor upgrades to make the space look more inviting. This week, stay tuned for my home improvement blogs! I’ll be writing and taking pictures of projects that I’ve already done or are in the process of doing, in order to boost my chances of selling this house!

So let me just tell you about my day job! I work for Erickson, as a graphic designer, for The Erickson Tribune newspaper. Erickson is a retirement company with 21 communities throughout the country, and counting. The Erickson Tribune has recently started a column in the Neighborhood section that concentrates on tips to assist in the sale of your home. They provide a free service to residents only, who have decided to move into a community and need assistance with staging, decluttering, and selling their home. This service is called Erickson Realty and Moving Services. Even though I can’t use this service, the column has motivated me to apply their tips in order to succeed in selling my house!

My kitchen was once an eye sore. The cabinets were green and the walls were orange. When I first moved in, I made it a goal of mine to repaint the entire room. For the first weekend I had available, I spent the my time upgrading the look of my kitchen by painting the walls a soft mocha color and adding a crackle effect to all of the cabinets and drawers.

The handles were very stylish and I lucked out with how well they cleaned up! This project was very time consuming, but well worth it. My kitchen definitely has an artistic touch now, and I get lots of compliments.

I also added track lighting which helped to brighten up every corner of a long and narrow kitchen. Below is a list of fixtures that I found in various places, for under $50!

1. Tiella 4-Light Bronze fixed track, $49.98 at Lowe’s
2. Nadair Ceiling Fixture, $47.99 at Sears
3. Portfolio 4-Light Brushed Steel fixed track, $49.88 at Lowe’s
4. Portfolio 4-Light Brushed Steel Canopy-Sparta, $39.98 at Lowe’s
5. Beryll Quad spotlight, $39.99 at Ikea
6. Tostarp track light, $49.99 at Ikea

CATONSVILLE, MD – Erickson Retirement Communities, a Baltimore County-based company that develops and manages 20 retirement communities in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia, is ramping up its already eco-friendly operations. The company has launched its national Green Campaign, a coordinated effort that involves doing simple things that will have significant and lasting effects on the environment.

Read the full story

There have been many studies cited over the last few months about the importance of getting a good night sleep. There are also some myths out there about sleep. I thought I would reprint an article we did on sleep in our monthly newsletters, soon to be available electronically. So here it goes: Separating the Myths from Facts in sleep.  See if you know which of the items concerning sleeping are myths and which are facts. Read the full story

It’s cold, grey, and snowy today. I wrestled with a sore throat for 3 days that has now blown into a cold.  I spent the weekend helping my son and daughter in law pack for their move to a new home. Yes, they actually bought a previously owned home that is very, very nice. They got a deal on it as it is a “buyer’s market”. I ache in every part of my body from packing. Today I feel old and crochety. My mood matches the weather though I don’t think that has to Read the full story

I found the following, again on ResourceShelf, the launch of the new whitehouse.gov website. Launched on January 20th. Open communication for all with a blog. Here is the announcement courtesy of the new website. I encourage you all to visit.

Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov Read the full story