bozPROJECT: 407 Page Road

Chapter 3

2007-12-28T07:31:00.003-06:00

And so we move on in our fairy tale...not exactly a fairy tale, since it has as much truth as we could dig up throughout this home's history...

That birthday party was the first time the bozTEAM was lucky enough to see the Page Road Ranch. She was in great shape and wore her 53 years very well. But things had changed since her youth, facilitated by years of each new family making adjustments.

Her 8 ft ceilings felt 'low' - their height (or lack of) accentuated by crown molding added in the 1980's.
Her window frames were heavy with paint built up over the years.
Her floors, once smooth and flowing throughout the home, were chopped up with transitions. There were changes in height from layers built up beneath...changes in materials reflecting the trends of years past

Aside from the need for a general 'facelift', there were hidden, more serious changes needed below the surface to make this home last another 100 years.

It's not clear what happened that day at the birthday party. But somehow, the house won the hearts of the bozTEAM. She let them know that she needed to be restored. They couldn't get her out of their minds. Several months later, as if by some twist of fate, there came an opportunity to work their renovation magic on the special home. And they did.

Throughout the next several months, the bozTEAM would embark on the journey chronicled in the archives of this blog. There were happy days and trying days throughout the process; but every day moved 407 Page closer to the rejuvenated beauty she has become.

Now, with a stunning new master suite; expanded living spaces; renewed systems; upgraded fixtures and the soft touch of an architect and designer; she is ready to welcome another family to her warm interiors for their happily ever after...

Chapter 2

2007-12-24T07:51:00.004-06:00

You may have tuned in for Chapter One of our Fairy Tale Come True. If not, please go back one blog entry and catch up here...

...One day the kids had all grown up and the sprawling 3400 square foot home had become too large. The family moved away. But not before leaving an imprint on this home of the warmth and love they shared here.

Throughout their stay at 407 Page Road, they did some remodeling to make modern upgrades like a real master bedroom with bath. They turned the small fourth bedroom at the end of the hall into a large master bath. They were one of the first in the neighborhood to have marble counter tops on their DOUBLE vanities. What luxury! They even installed a steam shower. And carpet! Luxurious plush carpet covered the hardwoods of the den.

The next owners made some of the largest changes. There were big plans for the place. In the earlier of their renovations, they painted over the fir paneling in the den and let the light in with new windows in the sunroom. They later covered the den floors with "Terrazzo" tile and the sunroom floors with ceramic tile.

The pink tiles of the hall bath were covered with white. In fact, white was the color of the day! The interior doors were replaced with white, paneled doors. The kitchen cabinets were replaced with white, raised panel doors. They added white corian counters. White shelving was built in to the den, surrounding the fireplace. All changes that gave this family comfort in their private and family areas of the home.

Of course, there were some minor changes too. Over the years, as the kids matured, they changed the wallpaper in their bath from flowers to jukeboxes to a Chinese inspired toile print.

Unfortunately for the well-intentioned family, they resided in and remodeled the home in the 1980's - a dark time for design. All their best intentions were clouded by the sinister forces of the 1980's that convinced them that hollow core doors, imitation brass fixtures, crown molding and large white tiles would last for generations to come.

As the times changed, so did the families who lived in the home. This time, only for a few years at a time. There were two different owners before 2004.

In this year, the Davis family moved in and a chain of events ensued, including Mr. Davis' marriage to the lovely Mrs. Davis. There was music and laughter and good cheer in the house for those years until 2007. Your narrator was even a fortunate party guest, blessed with the opportunity to taste one of Mr. Davis' finely crafted martinis at a daughter's birthday party...

Happy Endings

2007-12-22T13:01:00.002-06:00

All good stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. So do all good renovations.

The beginning of our fairy tale home on Page Road was a very well-loved, often remodeled rambling ranch with a great floor plan and greater potential...

Chapter One:
Once Upon a Time in the not-so-far-away land of the Highlands of BelleMeade, there was built a sturdy brick home that sat on almost an acre, tucked behind a beautiful hedge of boxwood.

The home's owner was a modest and conservative man - an accountant. He was young and in love and about to start a family.

He wanted his family to have a place to grow. So he built this home with a large yard and many rooms. And to ensure that his family would have a place to gather and enjoy their blessings, he never finished the garage that was in the original plans. Instead, he built a large bonus room for the children that would grow through the years in this home. He lined the walls in the finest wood paneling,covered the floor in the latest plush carpet, and made plans to add a bathroom.

He never got around to adding the bathroom. Instead, be added a small accounting office just off the bonus room, where he could foster his growing business and continue to provide for his family.

For years his family grew and prospered in this magnificent home. Eventually, the children grew up and moved away. Eventually, the man and his wife moved away, too. But the memories of the good times they had in this lovely home remain a part of the place at 407 Page Road.

The Art of Fine Living

2007-11-19T07:47:00.004-06:00

So last night was a bit of closure. Most of the punch list completed, we held our first-showing-open-house-art-opening. Over 100 people came through the house to enjoy food, drinks and the amazing art of several local artists. The art included

the sculpture of Daniel Lai,
furniture by Zev Goering and Kurt McKeithan,
the realistic paintings of Don Murphree
the abstract paintings of Chris Young and Geppe Hernandez
and samples of the amazing tile artistry of Heather Edwards (MinaTile)

The caterers, Once Upon a Time, did a superb job of creating a 1950's buffet which included pigs in a blanket, cream puffs, chocolate strawberries, skewered meat and chees snacks, hot crab dip and more.

And then there were the martinis. Christy, the bartended made sure all our guests were well taken care of throughout the evening with a wide array of traditional and flavored martinis.

These events are always a little awkward for us, because the home is on display for the first time. We take it a little personally, but we also welcome all the comments. We need to know what we can do better next time and what we have done right this time.

We were fortunate to have some previous owners come through the house. Some were taken aback by the modern design of the home. Others were loved it. One most generous commenter mentioned that we have done justice to the home's past, while bringing it into the present. Exactly what we hoped to do.

Although the punch list will continue for a few more weeks as we get the place perfect; it's ready for it's new people to come walk through, fall in love and make it a home again. So check it out at www.AreYouReadyNashville. com or on the MLS #928316. The lock box will be in place today and let the showings begin.

afterPARTY

2007-11-12T20:50:00.001-06:00

The last week of renovations is now. There will be some minor final touches after this week, for sure. The punch list never ends. But 407 Page Road is mostly put back together (better than ever) and ready to sell.

The appraiser came by last week and passed his judgment on the place - $1,125,000. An that's how it came to be that we decided to list for $1,100,000.

It's important, when this much time and care goes into a project, to finish it off in style. Certainly, Page Road deserves a send-off that comes full circle to its roots in the 1950's - a Martini Party! And there will be caterers...with a full assortment of finger foods befitting such an event.

But who wants to come to an open house just to see the house? And this is no ordinary house. It's a work of art. It should be filled with art, as well...Our Martini Party will also be an Art Opening, featuring:

The photography of Kristin Barlowe
Abstract paintings by Chris Young
Hyper-Realistic paintings by Don Murphree
Sculpture by Daniel Lai
Furniture by Kurt McKeithan and Zev Goering

So mosey on down to the restored bozRANCH at 407 Page Road (37205) on Sunday, November 18th from 3 - 6PM. You can rustle up a cool beverage, a fine piece of art, and maybe even a new home.

Before and After

2007-10-23T06:12:00.003-05:00

There are so many pictures, this might be a little challenging. But you have been very patient (for that matter, so have we as this project has been delayed for over a month). I am going to try this morning to find some representative before and after shots now that we are almost there.

An update on where we are first...the floors need to be stained and a few minor punch list items need to be completed. I suspect the four days of rain in the forecast will delay the floors further. I'm not sure why, but it tends to happen. Something about humidity. That's the excuse anyway.

View from front door after the vaulting began and when complete. The walnut floor stain will warm this large space up even more. That's next.

There were no befores of the stairs, since it was just a closet in the hallway back then. Now - all we need is a railing and some poly.

Three levels, a bad mantel, painted paneling and WALLS has transformed to a wide open family area. The hickory cabinets are the bozTEAM homage to the fir paneling of the past. And look how much the massive header allowed us to open up the sunroom!

Hard to show a before of something that wasn't there. The shower, complete with light show, foot massager and a PHONE sits right over that small window in the before pic. The good news - it's modular. So if you ever decide to move the master downstairs, the shower can come with you.

Sorry, no before of the master tub. It moved from downstairs to up. One of my all time favorite recycling projects!

More later! Hope you enjoyed the preview.

What Now???

2007-10-18T07:20:00.003-05:00

You think I'm talking about what project next? Nope. Talking about what damn little nitpick-y detail is going to go wrong and cause another infernal delay in the wrapping up of the remodel.

I don't spend much time at the house during the punch list, so I hear this stuff second hand but where do I start?

Let's start with doors (or lack of them). I'll start by saying it's just STUPID to have me measure for and order doors. I'm good at a lot of things. Shopping in even one of those things. Apparently shopping for doors is not. Lesson learned. Just when I thought I knew it all.

I walked through that frickin' door order with everybody and their brother before placing the order. Maybe that's the problem. Should've talked to a sister or two. Learned how to measure (ok, thought I learned how to measure); learned how to tell if a door is right- or left-handled; learned about split jambs and louvered door code requirements...you get the idea.

Then I placed the order.

Then the drywall guys ripped all the jambs out of the existing rooms and I changed the order (to prehung, of course).

Then Home Depot didn't change the order in the system like they told me they did. They still made me wait three weeks AS IF they changed the order. And when they order came it was wrong.

Then they made right and changed the order and I waited another 3 weeks for the right doors. That turned out to be not ALL the right doors.

Then the framers/roofers/handymen/save-my-ass guys worked their magic and made the most of what we had and got doors almost everywhere.

Then here we sit needing another bifold that we don't have time to special order and the two louvered doors that never came. And for some reason, I am so paralyzed by all the other nitpick-y punchlist things that have been lumped on my plate because everybody else's plate is overflowing (or broken because they got so pissed they just threw it at a wall to get some aggression out. It's pretty cathartic - the sound of breaking china that you threw at a wall.) that I can't bring myself to just go out to the house, remeasure and sit down with lifesaver Roger at Home Depot and try again to get a door for every doorway.

Good. Got that out of my system. Now for the bright side. The doors are the purtiest things ever. They are lovely birch solid core finish grade doors that really look great. A far cry from the bad hollow core raised panel doors we started with.

bad hollow core raised panel door we started with

pretty new shiny solid core birch 1954 appropriate door we end with

They're gonna look even better if I can find a painter who can slick 'em up real nice with polyurethane without ruining any other paint job...or floors. But that's another blog.

Gettin' Ready...

2007-10-01T17:43:00.002-05:00

To round up some buyers for this ranch! She's almost purty enough to put on the market. Although we've definitely got some scrubbin' and spit shinin' to do before people come trompin' through (ok, if we're being honest, it's not spit - it's some really fantastic 'green' cleaning fluid).

This week is finishing up trim and fixtures. Then we start the cleaning spree. The landscaping project begins in earnest on Saturday. Expect some sneak preview pictures of the details by next week.

Here's a few from last week:

Now do you see why I keep calling the master bedroom the 'roller skating rink'. It's big enough for roller sports, for sure.

The hall bath turned out pretty special. Unfortunately, I got this tiny little mirror and the electricians hung the light WAY UP HIGH. So now what? Lower light or bigger mirror?

I'm a big fan of the modern master potty. I know, I know...Who gets excited about these things when there are things like the Bertazzoni oven or the George Kovacs chandeliers around? I think the throne is just as important, don't you?

That's GARBAGE!

2007-09-17T17:40:00.004-05:00

And I mean literally! Piles of garbage. A fourth dumpster. Planned on only two. That's what happens when you plan on keeping most of the plaster. But you find out you can't because of the shape it's in.

So how do you be GREEN when there is SO MUCH TRASH? After all, part of our bozTEAM mission is to recycle; to use green materials where possible; and to reduce waste everywhere.

We started by donating. Most of the old cabinets went to Debbie's daughter's new home.

Most of the cabinets went to Rachael. She has the cutest little new home that now has some spectacular, white cabinets from the Davis kitchen.
The light fixtures went to Debbie and many of the workers.
The fridge went to Lance and Robert.
Stove - Dee. After all, her daddy bought it, she should keep it.

Then we salvaged. Although the exchange rate is definitely in favor of the salvage yard...this is about being green, not making green.

The doors
The sinks and faucets
The knobs and hinges
Vent covers
Columns

Then we gave away as bonuses. WHAT? BONUSES? I'll explain.

On occasion, we hire day workers. These guys get all the dirty work - cleanup, packing the dumpster, tearing out trim, demolition, yard work... And the charge really low rates - about $10/hour.

They also get to take any scrap metal with them when they go. They strip casings from old wire, take unrecycled electrical boxes, salvage old gutters and old copper pipe that is not being reused. They do a lot of work to prep this metal for recycling and then they turn it in for cash.

This works out well for everyone. Our workers are happy to do the yucky jobs for their $10/hour plus. And the plus usually adds up to about $50 more per person per day. And we get to recycle all that metal. So that's how the gutters and electrical scrap and plumbing, etc are recycled.

In construction materials, we also try to do our part:

buying certified wood when we can
purchasing from Habitat for Humanity store and salvage yards
using recycled materials (in tile and countertops, these are becoming increasingly available)

But despite all this effort, we still fill the dumpsters. Any ideas? We'd love to cut even more waste.

Project Punch List

2007-09-04T16:14:00.003-05:00

FINALLY! We are at a point where we are no longer beholden to the inspectors (or our contractor in some cases) for progress. We can actually accomplish something - even many things - without having to stop and wait for someone to come check things out.

The drywall is done. And last week we made lots of phone calls and guess what...

The cabinets are installed (including the bar)
The countertops are being framed in today (concrete requires the frame before the pour, you know)
The tile is mostly done
The painting is mostly done (except touchups where drywall touchups are required)
The electrical outlets are on the way
The front and back porch are scheduled
The floors are in
The HVAC is partially on (one of three systems, anyway)

It's time to finish this project and get this house sold.
So I should be really happy, right?
Sure. Except, it's also the point in the project when all the little things are piled up into the punch list from HELL!

That punch list will likely be the topic of many of the upcoming blogs. If you are a young flipper, it's agood time to get a feel for what crawls out of the woodwork to slow down the fastest moving part of the project.

If you just tune in because you love it when I get fiesty...fasten your seat belt. I feel a bunch of arguments about tiny details that we shouldn't really care about coming on.

If you only read because you want to see if the bozTEAM finally folds under the pressure of hundreds of thousands of $'s worth of loans - it's your time! Cause the pressure is ON! We are hoping that September is the last of the loan payments - but if the punch list drags on, so does the loan.

More soon.

WRITER'S BLOCK

2007-08-22T19:48:00.003-05:00

NOT feeling particularly creative today. I think I will let the pictures do the talking for me (I know, rare. Don't get used to it):

The living room:

Is it a bedroom? or is it a roller skating rink?

So that's what a hickory cabinet looks like!

Just wait 'til next week, when we can show you the entire kitchen...and maybe a bathroom with tile, concrete countertops and some flooring.

A Shout Out to Subs

2007-08-13T14:57:00.002-05:00

When there's not many things I am capable of helping with on the current project and I'd rather search for the vacation spot we are going to after this one is done...it's a good time to give a shout out to the subs we work with on the bozPROJECTS.

Not just to the subs. Roger, our General, needs a shout, too. I give Rog a hard time...

...because he's the brother of a close friend

...because he occasionally 'cheats' on me with other Realtors

...because he is still in the process of learning the difference between residential remodels and real estate 'flips' for profit

...because he cuts out as early as possible on Friday for a cold one

...because of our standing agreement that all work comes to a complete halt when there's a race at Bristol

The truth is, I love him like a brother and would lay myself in front of a moving bus if it would help him out. Don't EVER tell him I said so, though. He would think I'd gone soft and the pointy shoes wouldn't be nearly as effective.

Yeah, I love me some Roger. But this here tribute is more about the dozens of other folks who actually get the work DONE at our projects. (I'm sure you've figured out by now that rule # 1 of flipping is DO NOT do something yourself when you can pay someone else to do it better and faster.) boz's and my time are much more valuable with scheduling, sourcing, errands and just general spoiling of the real workers. So here's to them:

DEE: The boss of the framers. Dee does more complex algorithmic calculations to make something fit somewhere on any given day than most HP Financial Calculators could do in a lifetime.
CHRIS: Dee's #2. No one cuts a sexier swath than shirtless Chris in his beer belly glory on a roof barking out orders to the framing and roofing crew. With his trusty fan, 'little buddy'; Chris makes framing in 100 degree weather bearable and makes some pretty complex calculations himself.

NEPHEW, COCK HEAD TED, NEWPORT NOODLE, TACO AND MORE: AKA...the brawn. Man, are these guys fast. And good. And more power to 'em for sweating their asses off on our 120 degree roof during the hottest two weeks of the summer. That's why boz and I try real hard to have a cold snack or bevvie waiting for them after work on Fridays.
Hat's off to CHRIS and RODNEY. These electricians had to fight through 50 year old studs, plaster board and brick to rewire this entire house. They managed to keep enough power on to work the fans that did their part to dry the leaks through the tarp and that later at least tried to cool all the other workers and themselves when the mercury rose. And apologies also...because after they worked so hard to save what plasterboard we could, we ended up taking it all out when the drywallers began. We promise next time...easier access, earlier.

And let's not forget LANCE, the plumber. Lance not only does his plumbing right (he basically replaced the entire system in a week - not including the break for Bonnaroo, where he couldn't find any workers); he also sports a mean plumber's crack on those really hot days when the shirt came off and he forgot the belt. And then there's tolerance...he had to work on that shower that seems like it requires a rocket scientist, not just a plumber.

Then there's RICKY and MIKE: Contractors in their own right, they are helping locate subs on this job and another. And boy, are we lucky we met them. Cause they have really come through with some fabulous painters. Yep, the ones who had to paint the outside twice! And equally fabulous drywallers (is that a word)! And we have yet to meet the tilers and gutterers. But we are looking forward to it.Additionally, some subs are less like subs and more like artists. I am referring to the cabinet guys: KURT and JONATHAN. Kurt created the most spectacular bath vanities. He honored the 50's heritage of the house with the birch materials and the design. Jonathan, our Amish kitchen cabinet miracle worker, managed to fill a massive kitchen with the most beautiful hickory cabinets. No small feat, when you consider the difficulty with working with hickory, which creates a loss of about 30% of the material if not done with extreme care.

And last, but certainly not least, there are ROBERT, DOUG and CHUCK. We have not gotten to see nearly enough of them on this project, because they have been tied up on the other. But they did come through for the early demo, framing and securing and transporting and supervising of day labor for the weekend and pre-party downtime when clean-up can occur.There are more - so many more. And there cannot be enough thanks to all of them for getting us this far in the project. They will get their credit and thanks throughout the job, during the Friday afternoon beer and at the after party. But for now, get back to work!

That's what we get for thinking

2007-08-09T06:13:00.002-05:00

...We're finally able to leave the job site to the contractors and take a few days off...

...We should give up some of the control and trust our 'people'...

...We are so close to the end of the project we can almost see it and taste it...

What happens when we get complacent?

We walk in to what was supposed to be a little demo of a few badly damaged walls of plasterboard in preparation for the drywall going up...

Our drywall sub avoids us and asks our contractor (in Spanish, as if I cannot translate), "Are they mad?"...

I am so shocked that my anger reaction is crushed by the sheer weight of the 100 tons of plasterboard that are strewn throughout my GUTTED home!

Let me back up a bit...In ANY project, we do this 'wrestling match' between what choices to make throughout the process. In this house, one of our first conversations was about removing all the plaster board. We wanted to - which is good because it makes it easier for me to deal with the current state of things without feeling the need to take my own life in despair.

We decided not to. That decision was frustrating to the electricians. It probably added about $700 to their time and many loud expletives as they tried to fish wires.

Then somebody else came in and makes that decision for us - two months after we were waffling on it ourselves.

It's not that I am mad. I know the end result will be better. It's that I feel betrayed. It was our decision to make. Nobody called.

OK. I take it back. I AM MAD. I am paying a contractor a significant sum of money to manage this project. The one day boz needs a break from the site, the contractor was asked to be there. He went in and out. No call. No opportunity for us to make this decision, at least tipped off by our partner.

Our subs - These are new folks we are working with. There is potential for many, many more jobs together. Yet no call to come over when the work begins. And I don't recall ever having a conversation about how much this demo work will cost. Certainly never signed anything that said it was happening to this extent.

I slept on it and had a chance to calm down and work out in my head that this makes the finished product much nicer and in my heart I wanted it to happen anyway. Now I am just mad that they

removed three door frames that I now have to pay to replace
broke a window so badly that it will need to be rebuilt
put about $10,000 worth of appliances in jeopardy by not protecting them with cover

And I am more mad that this means no more breaks for us, as we clearly need to be there to affect these decision that are going to cost us so dearly.

Comic Relief

2007-08-03T12:34:00.002-05:00

...or is it? Well, let's see. It's definitely comic. Something straight out of the Simpsons. Relief? I don't think that's coming until this project is completed.

"What can she be referring to?" You ask.

Take a look for yourself.

The picture doesn't do the horror of the paint colors justice. I'm happy to clue you in on the not so comic adventure.

It all started on the Thursday before I was going to take an impromptu weekend away on a beach in North Carolina. Sounds fun, right. It was supposed to be fun. But serious, too. You see, I needed a little time away to escape the two concurrent bozPROJECTS at a stage where there is little I can do anyway.

But I also really wanted to spend some time with a very ill Grandma.

Before that could happen, on this fated Thursday, Kelly and I had to pick paint colors. (Kelly is my all-time favorite-extremely-talented-and amazingly-willing-to-put-up-with-my-crap-designer.) We picked a nice grey/brown base color to anchor the house to the earth - Rock Shell. And an equally nice and very progressive grey that tends toward blue/green tones for the siding. And finally, a slightly experimental mustard yellow for horizontal accents. We painted a swatch, loved it, ordered the paint and I left for the beach.

Not too painful so far. Until the painters ran out of paint and I got a call from boz. "We went to get more Rock Shell for the brick and the colors don't match. Turns out the paint 'newbie' mixed the wrong batch for our first 10 gallons and the real Rock Shell isn't even close." So, handle it.

To handle it, they decide the 10 gallons already on the house are ok and they go back and get more of the wrong formula to finish the brick. Problem solved, right? So far, so good. Crisis averted.

The rest is a bit of a blur to me. You see, I am still in NC...Not so much relaxing on a beach as trying to fit short trips in to visit my grandmother, while someone at the other bozPROJECT house is creating on ongoing email tirade (which I have to access and respond to throughout the four days on a cell phone with a stylus for a typing tool). So the paint colors seem to be the least of my problems. THAT IS UNTIL I RETURN HOME AND SEE THEM!

At some point while I am typing furiously (with a stylus, on a cell phone - I'm still bitter) in response to the insensitive and unprofessional emails; someone at the job site HAS seen the trim color go up on the house. And I'm not sure why, at that point, any one of the many people on that job site didn't say, "Oh my God! Stop painting! It's horrible!"

I'm not positive what was going through their minds. Here are some possible options:

1) "Goodness, Kimble has some really progressive taste in colors. I'm not sure I get it, but since she is ALWAYS picking things that are cartoon-like and the houses ALWAYS seem to sell; we should trust her judgment. Keep painting."
2) "Oh dear, Kimble really is a wiz at marketing. While the rest of the world knows the US 'Human' real estate market is going a little soft, she is going to corner the US 'Cartoon' real estate market! We just might have another Springfield on our hands here - Lisa and Bart will just love that playset out back."

Nope, not sure what happened. But I know that $4000 into a $5000 painting job, I got home from the trip and put a stop to the painting until we could sort this out.

So now the painters are having a bit of a deja-vu moment as the cover all the mustard color around the windows with a more subtle, contrast color. Once that issue is fixed, the paint company will make right the Rock Shell and the same painters will have another deja-vu moment as they spray the brick with something more like a grey-ish brown and less like the color of the MIDNIGHT SKY!

Thank goodness the painting contractor, the designer and the paint suppliers are so accommodating. Thank goodness for cucumber mask to soothe the red circles under my eyes. And lucky me to have yet another expensive life lesson to remind myself why vacations never really end up 'relaxing' when a project is going on. I need to remain a control freak, clearly.

bozBLOWOUT!

2007-06-22T08:33:00.002-05:00

This is NOT just your everyday ordinary party! After all, this is no ordinary house.

"What" you ask, "is a bozBLOWOUT exactly?"

Well, it's pretty simple. It's the 'before' party. Yep, as the word 'before' implies...there will be another party 'after'. But that's a blog entry for another day.

The 'before' party is where we celebrate the beginning of the end of the bozPROJECT - when the framing is complete and the finish is in sight.

Since the real 'beginning' of this project was the lovely 1950's ranch that captured the hearts and wallets of the bozTEAM; it is only fitting that we celebrate the launch of this project with martinis and cocktail snacks.

This is your chance to see how things started for this lovely, and now 'raised' ranch home. You can see the torn out, stripped down version of the latest bozPROJECT.

Whether you are an aspiring renovator, who wants to review the plans, see the design boards, talk to the designers, contractors, and all the people who have been or will be working on this project...

Or maybe you are an annoyed neighbor, who is just dying to see what all the noise is about...

Or perhaps, you are a Realtor, who wants to see the next great thing (that does not have a Tuscan kitchen) to come on to the Belle Meade market...

Or maybe you can create a 19 x 19 kitchen full of custom cabinets and you want to sell them to us for a mere $6000 (Ok, I can dream)...

Or you used to live in this house and you are really darn curious why we tore a perfectly good house apart...

Or you are our banker and you want to see where all your money is going...

Whoever you are, at the 'before' party you can take a last look at the basket weave tiles that could not be saved. You can take a first look at the amazing retro textured media room carpet. You can marvel at the 10 x 12, his/hers master closet with washer and dryer.

And maybe...you can fall in love with your future home. After all, no matter how attached the bozTEAM becomes to the modern, custom kitchen, the remarkable master suite and the secluded, wooded lot - we still plan to sell this ranch in late July. Which, BTW, will be when we hold the 'after' party.

Details of the 'before' party:

DATE: Sunday, July 22, 2007
PLACE: 407 Page Rd, Nashville, TN 37205
TIME: 2 PM - 5 PM
RSVP: with a comment on this blog post

2007-06-07T17:51:00.002-05:00

It's official. There is a massive master bedroom suite on top of our ranch. Not really our ranch. Although I am becoming attached, part of this process is about remembering that we are doing this for someone else to call home. (The nice thing about this particular ranch is that, no matter how in love with it I become, I can't afford to buy it - so it's not hard to keep a distance.)

Anyway, this massive master bedroom has been framed up and is just waiting for it's occupants. Those 50's architects would be really proud of the master shower that the bozTEAM refers to affectionately as the 'spaceship'. And, it's mobile. So if the master bedroom ever has to relocate downstairs, the shower can go with it. How 'bout that???

So, how large is 'massive'? Well, the cabinet maker, upon entering the master closet, said, "It's roughly the size of my bedroom!" And it has a window. After all, hy not have natural light in the closet?

bozTEAM Debbie pointed to a barren area of the master bath and asked if it was a sitting area. Nope, it's going to be the coffee bar. There's an entire sitting room just off the bedroom - no need to have one in the bathroom, too.

We tried to be really true to 50's style. But I have to admit, we caved on one or two modern luxuries...like the washer/dryer in the master closet. Who wants to carry their laundry up and down stairs? Not if we can help it.

WOW!

2007-05-24T16:45:00.002-05:00

That's all I have to say at this point...wow. I know, it's not often that I am mostly speechless. I drove up to Page Rd yesterday and this is what I saw.

I swear it was just moments ago when this was what I saw:

Kinda daunting seeing the sky through your bedroom. Mostly better now that there is a floor above it.

I have to admit, I was a little yucked out by the shirtless framer guys doing their thing. Now I am just glad they did their thing so fast and so well. Good to know there is some quality framing going under and behind the fabulous travertine tile; the textured, somewhat retro carpet and the unbelievable Kovacs lighting that we have chosen for the 1200+ sf. master' habitat' upstairs.

Murphy's Law

2007-05-17T18:17:00.003-05:00

And then there was no roof....
And then the rain came....
And then the tarp leaked...
And then I remembered that in a remodel anything that can go wrong, often does.

No turning back

2007-05-14T07:06:00.003-05:00

Take one last look. This unassuming outside is about to change.
TODAY THE ROOF IS RAISED! What does that mean?

It means all those things that were just lines on paper or on a computer screen start to take shape.

It means that progress takes on a whole new meaning, as things move faster - after all, you gotta get the roof back on or things get wet!

It means that Rachel and Ronnie's (the bankers) eyebrows raise a little as the checks we are writing get MUCH bigger and occur much more frequently.

It means there is no turning back.

OK, all that's great, but what that really means is there's lots to do. We don't just get to think about finishes. We have to decide on them once and for all and actually buy them.

This is not a time for waffling, indecisiveness, hesitation or trepidation. This is where we show what we are made of and BUILD THIS THING RIGHT!

THING???This ain't no thing. This is someone's HOME! Now it's time to really make it come together. Everything has to be done with speed and with care and with skill (and with style that only Kelly Coty and the folks at Prix de Solde can help with).

So, this is the tipping point where we move faster and smarter and use the momentum that has built up to propel us to DONE! And you can see it soon, 'cause it also means it's almost time for the 'BEFORE' Party. Blog in and find out more soon.

Chocolate for Breakfast

2007-05-02T07:23:00.001-05:00

There comes a point in the bozPROJECT when

The walls that are going to be removed are removed
The floors that are going are gone
The ceilings that are going to be vaulted are exposed
The wallpaper is scraped
The raised panel 1980's MDF vanities are OUT
The only way you can tell there was a kitchen or bath is by the plumbing rough ins that were not destroyed
The plans are decided
The second dumpster is almost packed full

In short, the 'un'doing is done and the 're'doing has not yet begun .

It's a scary time, this place in the project. Not as scary for the contractors who have control of the laborers who have control of the 'putting back together'. Scarier for those of us who sit on the sidelines of the bozPROJECT and can do nothing now but help to clean up the debris, write checks, pick paint colors and wait for things to take shape again.

Call it the control freak in me, but this is the time where I feel most useless. I am not capable of installing the lam beam that will hold up the ceiling between the newly opened-up den and sunroom. I can't rewire the place. It would be silly for me to try and install drywall when the professionals can do it faster and smoother and better than I could ever hope to.

So, in this stressful time in the project, when the house looks like an explosion in a plasterboard factory, there are two things that I am exceptionally good at that I will do:

I will sit here and eat chocolate for breakfast AND I will plan the launch party for the bozPROJECT!

"WHAT? A PARTY?" You ask.

Why, of course, a party! We had to wait until the damage was done before we could share the bozPROJECT beginnings with the world.

You actually get TWO parties. Before and After. BEFORE is coming soon - probably after the roof gets torn off to make room for the new 'monster' master BR. AFTER is sometime in June or early July. Who wants to bring the martinis?

Taking Shape

2007-04-30T21:06:00.003-05:00

bozDAD sent the first of the interior renderings today. Things are definitely taking shape.

The shape of the living room ceiling is 'vaulted'.
The shape of the dining room ceiling is 'trey'.
The shape of the kitchen is open and airy and bright.
The shape of the fireplace is hidden by the bookshelf that I do not agree with.

But what I like most is the shape of the people. Especially the bullfighter in the kitchen and the see-thru guy at the front window.

Surprise!

2007-04-29T18:04:00.003-05:00

It looks like a perfectly good bathroom. But it's really small. And we have four - so there are bathrooms to spare. And it is clearly not original, since there is evidence of bad 1980's remodeling. (By bad, I am not referring to the craftsmanship; since every piece of work in this house was done to exacting standards that make me ask, "Why can't we just continue remodeling in East Nashville where you can tear something out with your hands instead of using crews of workers 'round the clock?" No, by bad, I am once again referring to NOT RANCH.)

So anyway...although it is a perfectly good bathroom; we can afford to experiment with removing the shower and turning it into a half bath. After all, it makes more sense to sacrifice a full bath in a hallway just outside the den. It's not like anyone is going to roam down the 30+ ft hallway to take a shower in a stall that measures less than 3 feet wide when they can uses one of the other two showers right next to the bedrooms.

And, while we're talking about long walks...what about the long walk from any of the bedrooms to the laundry room a mere 60 - 70 feet away? That's silly. Maybe we can make room for a laundry room on THIS side of the house of we clear half of this bath out.

That was our thought process - a week ago. On day one, we managed to get about 4 tiles off the shower wall (We are not lazy. Those tiles are set in 2 inches of concrete, wire and other substances I cannot even begin to understand.) On day two we got a sledgehammer. That's helpful if you have someone who can really swing it the way it needs to be swung to actually 'hammer' anything. Then it was time to write another check - because 'it's only money' and hire someone who actually can swing a sledgehammer. And a week later we are down to subfloor. and...

SURPRISE! Sometime over the past 53 years there was a leak. And that leak caused a drip (or many drips) that ate away at the wood below the shower. (See picture 2 above) So now we get to write another check, rebuild that subfloor, repair that damage. Lucky we build in that 9% contingency fund in the budget. The contingency fund is a little tidbit that might help you out if you decide to stop just reading about remodeling for fun and profit and actually pick up a sledgehammer yourself. Because every day is another surprise.

Sanity?

2007-04-26T07:45:00.002-05:00

Living Room/Dining Room Before and After

So, you take one perfectly good living room/dining room combo, add a boz, a Robert and three day laborers and you get THIS! I get it! It makes perfect sense, right? Right.

Who needs the one (or two, depending on if you are convinced the columns placed just inches from the wall actually create a second room) room that absolutely nothing really needs to be done to? We can't have THAT!

We have a loan to burn through. So instead, let's tear out the plasterboard ceiling...(On a side note, did you know that plasterboard might as well be cement if you consider it's weight and dustiness? See those particles lit up like little stars in the after picture - plasterboard remnants and a little bit of insulation. There will be health repercussions, I am sure.)...and let's rewire everything west of the dining room...and then let's fabricate a partition of some sort on the ceiling of the dining room so it can actually be a separate dining area and so that we conceal the strange roof line that changes in the middle of the room (which, by the way, we exposed because we decided there was merit to tearing out a perfectly good ceiling)...and then let's put it all back together with a vaulted ceiling.

Do sane people wake up in the morning and think these things up? I am not sure. Because apparently I don't know any sane people! At least not among the architect, the contractor, the subs and the bozTEAM!

Will anyone appreciate that we no longer have 8 ft ceilings in the first two rooms you enter in the house? I am not sure about that either. After all, I am only 5 ft 2 on a good posture day and the ceiling height seemed ok to me.

Sitehound

2007-04-21T13:14:00.001-05:00

This is Lebowski - as in 'The Big'. And Django Runhard is on the right. I guess you could call them the bozDOGs. As you can see, they're 'site' hounds. Lebowski fancies himself a bit of a supervisor and he's not quite sure why the plans do not include a dog door. We'll have to work on that. The plans do include quite a few goodies, though. Including a modern ranch kitchen with an island that never ends and none of the former, raised panel cabinets.

Yep, you read right...no raised panels. And no uppers - or at least, not many and not traditional. Nice, clean modern lines...expanded views of the huge back yard and patio area...a greenhouse area behind the sink. (This is something just have to see to understand. I assure you it will not be reminiscent of the thing at Grandma's house with the macramé planter hanging in it.)

Anyway, that's enough design tidbits for now. You will just have to blog in later to learn more. Kudos to Dr. Boz for a job well done on the plans, though. And nice catch on the dog door, Lebowski. Maybe next time.

What a tool!

2007-04-17T15:31:00.003-05:00

There are certain things in life that I can excuse...
1) It's ok if you don't wave when I let you cut in front of me in traffic.
2) I can even live with you eating the last of the fig newtons. (Now, if it were the last piece of chocolate, we might fight!)
3) I can handle it if you make it all the way to the front of the concession line at the theater and are still deciding what snacks/drinks you want to order.
4) It won't kill me if your cell phone rings in the middle of a meeting/movie/wedding (although that might piss the bride off a little).

Yes, there are certain annoyances in life that I can tolerate. However, I cannot and will not ever tolerate someone MISPLACING MY PAINTERS TOOL! OK, so it's not MY painter's tool; it's boz's. And yes, boz can sometimes be a tool. But there may be some question about which I am more fond of, boz or the tool.

Until this most recent tool came into my life; I had the older, less sophisticated version - the black, Hyde 5 in 1 tool. It was a spreader. It was a scraper. It was a putty knife. It was a crack patcher. It was a paint remover. It did its job quite well and was one of the most satisfying, space defying tools I have ever used. But last month, boz brought home the new tool. The shiny, new, red 15 in 1. Yep, you heard me - a whole 10 more uses than the older version and a cushy handle for a safer, stronger grip. A technological marvel in a similar space saving package that replaced my old friend.

This may be my best friend on the job. After all, how many friends do you have that can pry off molding for you? Take out screws and nails? Remove putty and wallpaper? Patch holes? Open a paint can for you? Spread paint? Clean paint rollers and brushes? Set nails? I haven't even figured out all 15 uses yet! AND it opens a beer for you when the work is done!

You can probably find a friend to do all that. But for a one time fee of $10? Not likely! And this tool doesn't actually drink any of your beer! Or borrow money and not pay it back... No, this tool is loyal and dependable and inexpensive and strong and versatile. And for a few long hours last week; this tool was also MISSING!!!

At first, there was disbelief. Maybe I misplaced it. I often do silly things like that. So I searched all the possible places I would have put it. No tool.

Then there was denial. "OK, I will just use this big putty blade to scrape wallpaper, it will work fine." Not a chance. The blade was not nearly as solid. And - TRAGEDY - no bottle opener!

Then, there was bargaining. I was making deals like, "Take my electric sander instead! I would gladly hand sand than give up this tool forever!"

Next, guilt. "What must I have done that caused this to happen?" Certainly I either actually lost the thing or did something terrible to make the universe conspire against me to misplace it!

And then it happened...Anger! Of course it was not me. Who used this tool last? The girls. They were over here the day before scraping wallpaper. How could they? Don't they know better than to misplace a girl's 15 in 1 tool? I called Dawn Marie. No answer. I called Debbie.

"Have either of you seen my 15 in 1 tool?"
"I think Dawn Marie was using it."
I could hear DM in the background, "Oh, that thing was great!"

What??? Did I hear correctly? 'Great'? Anger swelled up in my head like a storm. I lost rational thinking. "Great? YOU HAVE NO IDEA! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH IT?"
"It's on the bench."
"No," I snapped. "Not on the bench."
This went on for awhile and then I hung up. I looked more - still no tool. I continued trying to accomplish my wallpaper removal task with the sorry-excuse-for-a-replacement-putty-knife and the depression sank in.

All those times we shared, that tool and I. How it will be missed. I can't possibly replace it with just any old tool. And then the phone call came.

"Did you find the tool yet?"
"No."
"I am sure I left it exactly where I found it. Check the toolbox."
"I already checked every tool box in this house. IT'S NOT THERE." As the depression had firmly taken hold at this point, this comment did not come out as a scream, but more of a whimper.
"Did you check the toolbox by the guest bathroom?"
Toolbox by the guest bathroom? What toolbox by the guest bathroom? The tears started to dry from my eyes. Clouds started to clear from the sky. I heard birds chirping in the background as I made my way through the expansive ranch house to the guest bath.

There, at the end of the long hall, behind a trash can used to haul debris from the gutted bath to the dumpster, was a toolbox I had never seen before. A tiered, gray box that contained sandpaper, a small prybar, some wrenches...and there, beside the clamps, beneath the ray of sunshine that miraculously illuminated it, was the 15 in 1 tool!

"It's here! I found it. You found it." Turns out, it was where she found it. Where boz left it. (After all, we established that technically this is his tool, not mine.) In a place where I never would have found it because I did not know that place existed. And now, I am reunited with my tool.

There will be some damage control. After all, I alienated my friends and business partners with my reaction to the missing tool. But surely they will understand when the trusty tool opens a beer for them in an act of apology.

History Mystery

2007-04-07T07:54:00.002-05:00

One of the benefits of any bozPROJECT is the thrill of discovering the history of the home. The problem - we do not have time to go to the county records and do our sleuthing the old fashioned way. Instead, we piece things together from the found objects between floorboards, in cabinets, in the attic...wherever we discover them.

"So," you ask, "what have you found so far?

Well, thanks for asking. We have found a little. A picture of the most recent owner, some false eyelashes, dental floss, riding tack, an award for years of service. What can one deduce from this? The previous owner is an eighty year old-ish male, respected in his profession, who enjoys riding. And his Dentist would be so proud! The eyelashes, I cannot explain.

To be fair, I already know the previous owner. Albeit, I only know him as a brief acquaintance. But I do know enough to know that the eyelashes probably belong to someone else.

"How did you know him?" You may be asking yourself.

Good question. Actually, how we knew him says a lot about how we find these investments in the first place. (You didn't think we just picked up a Scene or Tennessean one day and picked this house out of the 'lineup', did you?)

I got a call from my dear friend and fellow Realtor, Dee Davis, some months ago asking for advice on staging and pricing her father's home. I get a lot of those calls. I always say the same thing, "Tough to figure unless I can actually come by, do a walkthrough, calculate a little..."

We did the walkthrough and the math and we came up with a few interesting conclusions. They could sell it as is. For about a $15,000 investment in staging they could do a mini makeover that would make the house worth $50,000 more in profit for Dad. For about $150,000 investment, they could make the house worth $400,000 more in profit for Dad.

Dad was up for the staging, but not the massive renovation. Long story, short...Turns out the bozTEAM was up for the massive renovation. And Dad got to sell the house as is.

And he was nice enough to sell it to us at what he, we and the bank all feel is a fair price. And he was also nice enough to extend the financing deadline beyond what we originally planned while the bank made sure it was a fair price.

"So what?" You ask. "Sounds like he was nice."

Well, Sherlock, that's just the surface. If you are going to be a real detective, you need to dig deeper...

Check out Dee's last name again - Davis. That's Dee's maiden name. (Bachelors - take heed - not married, ironwoman...but that's another blog).

When I first walked into Dee's Dad's house, before I knew him; they had not yet packed or moved. So there were pictures - pictures of family. And just left of the front door was a beautifully painted portrait of a certain Mr. Davis. I recognized him from the news, from local magazines. A regular celebrity. A celebrity who was voted 'The person you least want sitting across the courtroom from you'. Maclin Davis. Of Waller, Lansden, Dortch and ...

When I walked into the house, I knew I wanted to buy it and restore it to it's original ranch-ness. As this house is telling me to buy it, my gut is telling me to buy it RIGHT, "Because, you do not want to screw up a legal transaction with Maclin Davis."

Maybe I was being silly to be scared. Maclin is so sweet. Heck, prior to closing, I was lucky enough to hear him and his lovely wife, Joan, play a piano tune and sing at a party. We even shared a martini - gin, dirty, stirred as not to bruise the gin...of course. But always in the back of my mind was , "Don't mess up."

And then, at the closing table, I realized I was not the only one scared. My banker took a look down at the name on the documents and winced, too. turns out he had seen that name before - on divorce papers. Yikes! Now that's scary!

But all that is behind us now. The papers are signed, the massive debt is officially our responsibility to spend wisely and payoff quickly, and I am lucky to have learned a little bit more about Maclin Davis from items found at the house.

In honor of Maclin, the house now has a name. All great estates need a name. This house deserves to be called an estate because it sprawls on almost an acre in the BelleMeade area. And this estate's name is Macnolia. A fine, southern name to honor a fine, southern gentleman!

We do not have time to learn about other past owners yet. We are busy taking down wallpaper and testing paint colors at the moment. That's where you come in...let us know who else lived in 407 Page and what you can find out about them. And if you are creative enough (I can go to the online tax records and look up my names on my own, thank you very much); there may be a prize in it for you. Yep, a prize! Something fabulous from among the treasures we did up at this old house. So blog us your stories about the past Page proprietors!

What does an architect see?

2007-04-04T16:33:00.002-05:00

I don't know, but apparently it is from the front of the house between 45-60 degrees. Plans coming soon!

Peeling Back the Layers

2007-04-04T06:56:00.003-05:00

Now tell me, please somebody...Why would anyone cover this floor with THAT? These are the layers that we uncover as we embark on these renovation journeys. This morning, I thought I would share a layer or two with you. Let's start with the guest bath. Under the lovely 1980's raised panel, wood and melamine vanity there used to be quite a different vanity. Hard to tell what, but it was the same footprint. We determined this by the tile below. It was never under the vanity. Each vanity had a small, built in wall cabinet above it - evidenced by the holes in the wall below the 8ft mirror.

And, oh, the tile! Under the quite common 1980's ceramic there is a treasure. Flat, impeccably installed, basketweave blue.

What to do with the tile? We cannot match it. Trusts me, I spent three solid days trying.

The new, more modern vanities will not cover the bare space below the current vanity. We will probably add a new layer. Shame, really. But we promise to make the new tile something spectacular. And we will always have the memories of this. Not to mention, it would be impossible to remove. Everything in this house was installed with the utmost skill and care. Which means this particular tile is embedded in about three inches of solid concrete. Not just your everyday, average concrete, but concrete harder than boz's own hard head! So the tile will stay below whatever we choose to add to the next layer.

And then there is the wallpaper. Top layer: A pale oriental toile scene. Expertly installed, once again. Below it, a child's print - clearly from the 80's. Bright, primary colored jukeboxes set on a black and white spotted ground. Nuff said. Then the next layer - green foil paper. 1970's? 1960's? My favorite so far. And finally, the 1954 fabric wallpaper with delicate, widely spaced flowers. We saved a few bits for the scrapbook.

Another layer - the tub surround. Ah, yes, the tub surround. A stunning plastic substance of some sort. I believe it was fabricated to look like stone (albeit, an unnatural brown/grey colored stone with very symmetrical veins. They were solid panels when last I saw them. Now, nothing more than broken shards in the hall on the way to the tightly packed dumpster.

There you have it. The layers peeled. We now have a blank canvas on which to paint our new masterpiece. And a blister. I also have a huge blister from wielding the wallpaper removal trowel.

Progress is relative....

2007-04-03T21:10:00.003-05:00

While great strides have been made in the last few days, there is always more to be done. For all the wallpaper that goes down, walls must be smoothed and prepped for paint. When tile is taken down, new will follow. It's sort of like Newton's Law of Renovation: for every action (removing wallpaper) there is an equal and opposite reaction (cleaning the walls and painting).

bozPROGRESS

2007-04-02T07:08:00.002-05:00

Progress takes on a whole new meaning when you are doing a renovation with a construction loan. The loan progresses, whether you want it to or not. In fact, we already got our first payment statement, not two weeks after we closed. Progress is relative, for sure.

Example: Certainly, boz and Robert made considerable progress completely gutting the steam shower in the old master bath. (Don't worry - it will go back bigger and better than ever.) We three girls made some good progress tearing up the old (new...not matching all the other old...at a higher level than every other floor in the house...stained the wrong color) hardwoods in the den. boz and Robert also made progress: tearing out crown molding everywhere, repairing plaster at ceilings, removing bathroom floors (and, oh, by the way, exposing the basket weave tile set in 2 inch concrete in the hall bath that, although in excellent condition, does not cover the entire floor, could not possibly be matched in the shower enclosure and may not be saved), removing vanities, mirrors and more in bathrooms. There is definitely progress. Even this weekend, boz and I completed wallpaper removal in the hall bath and most of the same in the old master.

But progress comes at a price. In our case the price is the mess. Because the dumpster arrived a day later than anticipated and after much of the progress occurred; it is not quite loaded. But the den is (loaded with cabinets and vanities and mirrors and wood flooring). And the old master is (loaded with carpet and molding and tile remnants). And the hall is (loaded with tile and plywood and showe surround paneling). Which brings us to this week's challenge. Packing that dumpster like the trunk of the car on a family roadtrip. Our first official expense this week will be hiring a team of workers to help with that. There are volumes of tile and mortar and molding and trim and carpet and tack strips and I could go on and on. Time to move 'em out and clear this space for the finishing touches.

Yep, you read right. At least two guest bedrooms are ready for paint choices. Any ideas? I'll be picking out some favorites and testing over the next week. By this weekend, you may see a finished room or two. And here we are, week two, without even a full set of plans. Progress is relative.

unfinished bozNESS

2007-03-28T15:10:00.002-05:00

It's so fun to demo! We get to take out all that pent up frustration from the long and arduous loan qualification process on the stuff that doesn't stay in the house. In this house, that means boz spends two or three days planning what stays and what goes and hands us all our marching orders. Then he shows up every day and gets things started and we pitch in when we can and finish things up.

OK, that's how it's supposed to go. But really, what's the likelihood that the three girls on the bozTEAM will actually FINISH anything. Oh, sure, we had some big fun tearing out the replacement hardwoods in the den. Once Debbie and I figured out to work from the same side of the floorboards as the staples, we were in a groove. Dawn Marie stepped in to 'finish' up when we could no longer lift our arms to wield hammer and crow bar...Only to find a layer of linoleum (it tried to look like a buff and gold terrazo flooring, but there is a significant difference between terrazo and this substance).

So I ruined the best chisel (heard about that one from boz, of course) trying to make some progress on the removal of that second layer...didn't get five inches into the project when I gave up.

This wasn't really giving up, just giving in to the realization that there was probably labor more skilled than me to complete the task. I figured this out only after several shallow gashes into the pine hardwoods underneath.

It has become clear that this den was once a pine-paneled, pine-floored lodge with brick fireplace. Unfortunately, unless we hear from our million dollar future homeowner, that will not be what this room turns into. We may be able to save the flooring, but the paneling will GO!

So, on to the hallway and the wallpaper. I think you call this 'wallpaper'. It's really more like wall fabric. Very ranch appropriate grasscloth...sad to see it go, really. But it was clearly decades old, faded and dingy with age; and the raised texture had flattened. The good news is, this was porous and came off with just a heavy application of warm water. The bad news is, we didn't have a ladder at the site yet; so this little 5ft2 gal was standing on a bench trying to reach the 8 ft height of the paper in vain. I made it to the bottom of the crown molding and, with the help of my slightly taller business partner, Dawn Marie, we got most of the wallpaper out of the hall.

AMAZING the difference removing a dark, textured fabric from the wall makes in the width of a long, ranch hallway (and removal of crown molding/chair rail, thanks again to our most diligent worker, boz). But, alas, it took the 6 ft 1 wonder to get the remnants completely removed.

We are now a week into the project. We three girls recovered from our sore muscles after one weekend of demo. And boz and Robert are finishing what we started. Or, to be fair...finishing what they started and what we pitched in on. We still have our marching orders to tear out the remaining wallpaper in the bathrooms this weekend. There's a good chance we will get started on that, too.

What's your passion for this ranch's fashion?

2007-03-22T15:18:00.002-05:00

So you want to know what it's like to 'flip' a house? At least that's why I think you are here. Well, I can't tell you what it's like for everyone, but for me it's a passion.

First, I don't really like the term flip. It sounds so..dispassionate. What we (Boz of bozTEAM is my husband and the 'he' of 'we' who will be referred to often) do is absolutely based on the passion that we have for these old homes. In the decision-making process that is such a huge part of every restoration, that passion sometimes translates to fighting...about color choices, finishes, etc...but only because we feel so strongly that the finished product needs to do justice to the house's origins. And sometimes one or both of 'we' also feels strongly it needs to be 'my' way. There will be name-calling.

It's about time this ranch gets the passion it deserves. After all, there is something to be said for these huge rooms, for the convenience of one level living (not for long, since this is technically becoming a 'raised ranch'). This particular ranch has all that and some...challenges...so maybe you can help. You want to know what it's like to remodel a ranch, get off your
keister and get on your keyboard and help us with some decisions. OK, in reality, we will probably still do what we want; but we would love to hear what you want anyway.

So, here is challenge #1:
How retro do we remodel a ranch in Belle Meade Highlands? After all, we want the place to sell...fast. Can the market in this area handle a house that does not have crown molding a Tuscan kitchen and those ridiculous shutters that don't even work? Can Belle Meade buyers stand for cork floors and concrete counter tops and clear story windows? Or do we play it safe?

If you are frustrated with the current traditional trends in Belle Meade homes, we want to hear from you...

If you can't stand to see this ranch loose it's 4 inch crown moldings and raised panel doors that I can only imagine were added in some 1980's renovation; we also want to hear from you...

And you'll be hearing from us soon. For now, the plans are being drawn, the rooms are being laid out and we've only just begum to sink the funds into this latest labor of love.

2007-03-20T11:44:00.002-05:00

2007-03-14T16:53:00.002-05:00

RANCH DRESSING
The poor ranch - so misunderstood...so neglected since it's heyday in the 1950's...

The minute we walked into this expansive Belle Meade Highlands home, we knew it was time to change all that. We had found the next bozPROJECT. That was several months ago. Since then, we have poured over spreadsheets...spent our days with contractors, appraisers and financiers...spent our nights dreaming up the finishes and fixtures. Our goal:

"If we knew then (1954) what we know now, how would we dress this ranch?" What fabulous light fixtures? What wine cellar? What media room? What carpet and wall covering and cabinets and flooring?
Blog in and find out. We're dressin' up this ranch and sellin 'er in June. Yeehaw!