Sometimes life presents us with challenges that require choices which, under other circumstances, we would never, ever make.  Like buying a second house in this economy.  Who in their right mind would do that?  For most of us, it’s a challenge to pay and upkeep one abode, let alone two!  But life never checks your bank account balance before challenging your status quo.

In our case, we are proceeding with the purchase of a second home.  My Dad is ill; he lives all alone.   We want him to live with us, not only for the sake of helping him through his current health regimen, but also for the special quality he brings to our lives.  Unfortunately, our current residence cannot comfortably support another full-time inhabitant.  And worse, the current real estate market does not favor selling that house before buying another.

We were lucky to find just the right property in a location that is close to heaven.  Better still, the price is right!  The house is a foreclosure, and has all of the space and most of the amenities we all need to live comfortably under one roof.  Unfortunately, it is not an attractive place at this time.  On the outside, for some reason, the house reminds me of a saggy, baggy elephant!  Inside, it is dim and depressing.  But that is just the kind of challenge I can never resist…

When we decided to purchase the place, I started wondering how to squeeze lemonade from this lemon.  Coincidentally, I had also just purchased an online course in social media marketing, thinking I could use my newly acquired knowledge to promote my design and decorating company, Everything By Design, Inc.

Ironically, in a previous corporate life, I had been a product marketing manager for a large computer company.  In those days, products were promoted on paper, using software like Microsoft Word and Powerpoint!  The current class of “ethereal marketing tools”, like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are like a foreign language to the uninitiated.  Becoming adept at blogging and tweeting is no longer an option, if you run a business.

Then it hit me like a brick!  Why not combine the 2 things I am best at:  writing, and turning ugly ducks into swans, and write a blog that describes the transformation of the new house?  Not only might it help me financially, if I can obtain advertising from the companies whose products I will use and promote.  But it might also help my readers, by giving them tips for transforming their own homes, using creativity and “elbow grease”, on a limited budget.  Finally, I confess that a major goal of this blog is to shamelessly promote my business, in the hopes of gaining clients who don’t have the time, or inclination, to do the work themselves.

So, I hope you will join me on this journey.  It will be fun (probably hilarious, at times) and enlightening.  In the course of the transformation, you will meet the whole family.  (If you think I am doing all of the work myself, you are wrong!)  Decorators are sometimes the kind of people who point and say “I want that color there”.  I am not one of those.  I am a blue-collar decorator, who rolls up her sleeves and gets dirty.  However, I do draw the line when it comes to things like hanging doors, working on the plumbing, and climbing tall, tall ladders.  :>)

Until we close on the house, I will post a weekly entry here.  Once the work on the house begins, this blog will be updated twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays.  If we make extraordinary progress on a particular project, there may be additional entries.

Your feedback regarding the content and readability of this blog is essential.  Please send any and all comments you have.  Tell me what you like and dislike.  Is there more information you need, or too much?

Video will eventually be included with the narrative, thus giving you a better feel for the location of the house, its challenges, and the successes that are sure to follow.

We roll up our sleeves and go to work on May 6^th.  Hope you are part of the action!