Operation Beautification


The “for sale” sign is up in my front yard. The listing will be available online today or tomorrow. To prepare for what we hope will be a steady parade of potential buyers, yesterday we launched Operation Beautification.

Because keeping this house was never in the cards, most of the work is already done. Five years ago we decided to get it ready to sell so we could buy a place closer to campus. Since then we’ve painted inside and out, simplified the landscaping, installed hardwood floors in the great room/dining room, and replaced the carpet in all three bedrooms. Our next project would have been to remodel the fifteen year-old kitchen. Otherwise, the inside of the house is in great shape.

It helps that I’m one of those highly-organized neat freaks that keeps the house more or less spotless all the time. That’s just how I was raised, and since I had chihuahuas instead of kids, there hasn’t been a reason to lower my standards. Before I go on, let me clarify. That’s a statement about having time for perfection–something parents generally let go for more important issues. Other than washing the woodwork and cleaning the ceiling fans, getting ready for potential buyers to walk through mostly comes down to keeping things picked up.

The guy is coming Thursday or Friday to pressure wash the outside of the house–an annual chore because of our high humidity. Once that’s done, I plan to wash all the windows.  I don’t know about you, but clean windows make a big difference to me.

Yesterday we picked up forty bags of mulch and a few baskets of mums. I finished mulching this morning, and as time permits over the next few days, will do what I can to make my neglected flower borders look a little more controlled. It’s a good time of year in the garden–everything is grown up, the ornamental grasses and mums are blooming, and the smell of tea olives in bloom fills the air.

My former partner (aka my best friend) has been a huge help. I hit a wall earlier this week and have been feeling kind of down in the dumps. It’s not about him–it’s more about things taking longer than I would like. Rather than running around with friends, he stayed around here this weekend to help me out, and I really appreciate it. He fixed a couple of things we’ve been meaning to repair for ages, made the mailbox beautiful again, and did tons of work in the yard.

Things between us are good. He’s buying a condo and is excited about having a place of his own. It’s easy for me to be happy for him. We’re both ready to move on. Yesterday we changed our relationship status to single on Facebook.

Yes, I’m still a little sad. But with each passing day, I get a little more excited about the new life that’s waiting for me. Until then, I’ll be biding my time here in…

My Glass House


4 responses to “Operation Beautification”

  1. Most of the Top 10 problems are home selling issues you can correct without spending a lot of money. Do it now, before you put the house on the market, because if your house develops a reputation among agents as the house that smells, the house with the huge barking dog or the house where the owner won’t leave people alone, it will be too late. Your house will be last on their list to show potential buyers.