To some this may be a uncool, but we are actually doing our first garden this year! It seemed like a fun summer project for the kids, and to be honest, I buy fresh veggies and fruit a few times a week because it goes so fast around this house!
With the oldest kid being only five, I give us a few more years until I need a full blown farm with orchards and all :) I would be thrilled if we get enough produce to cut out just one of the three trips to the store!
Tearing up part of the yard or building big raised beds just seemed like too much work and a big commitment to me. Plus, I hated to give up that much backyard space! So we decided on a container garden & it is doing great! Just to give those here in the local Dallas area an idea of some things to plant, we chose:
red bell peppers
yellow bell peppers
green bell peppers
three different varieties of tomatoes
container full of strawberries
couple of jalapeno plants
They seem to be growing wonderfully and are so easy to maintain. Since they are in containers they can easily be brought in the garage, indoors or rearranged with a moving dolly (big advantage over standard gardens). So as you can see, there are so many benefits of doing a container garden, plus don't forget the obvious - no weeds and no aching back :)
This would really be pushing it for some of you, but we also started a compost pile today. I know, I know, a lot of you are thinking YUCK!! We may try it once and be done, but the kids love recycling and I thought this would be a neat way for them to recycle all on their own (of course, I will have to help...).
I will keep you posted in the coming weeks on our "green progress."
Who else does a little gardening here and there? Any suggestions for other things to plant in containers?
Buying a Lemon is a Good Thing!
It's official, my kids are opening a one day lemonade stand right here in Dallas! They are tickled pink yellow at the idea of making some extra money to take with us to Disney World in a few days. And what more can entrepreneur parents give their kids than the knowledge and experience that have gotten us so far in life.
To get involved, check out LemonadeDay.org and buy some lemons (or lemon juice, in our case). It's never too early to start teaching children about business and money. No excuses here. What? You don't have any kids you say? Find a kid on your block, at your church, maybe a niece or nephew. Just look around and see who you can help!
Just like any other business, you're going to have to do some marketing :) Let's the kids help make flyers, call friends and family. Don't forget about Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc... Get the word out and teach our children marketing and business 101.
Who's in? I can't wait to hear your results!
Dallas, Where Even Home Tours are BIG!
Saturday marks the beginning of the second weekend for The Big Home Tour, where over 100 homes are featured in this parade. This is a huge event spanning each weekend through May 17th.
Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Go:
1. It's free!!!
2. Check out the latest products for building green.
3. Drool over the gorgeous luxury homes.
4. Get great ideas on things you can do to increase your home's value.
5. Since you will be out and about all day, it's a great excuse to get your latte and Route 44 (massive sized fruity slush drinks from Sonic for all of you missing out...) and try out new restaurants around town.
Have you visited any of the homes on this tour yet?
Which were your favorites?
Do your clients have clutter in their home?? If so here is a FREE resource that is every stagers (or every person's, really) dream.
I started "flying" 3 years ago just before my second child was born, and let me say - IT WORKS!!! Check it out at www.flylady.net.
I don't get anything for posting this, but I just wanted to share a very valuable tool that has been a blessing to our family.
We don't have a housekeeper, and even with a growing family of 5, our home is ALWAYS ready for dinner parties, overnight guests and even unexpected visitors.
- ALL beds are made EVERY morning
- There are NEVER dishes in the SINK
- I wash, fold and put away at least one load of laundry everyday
- Bathroom is cleaned DAILY
Think I am crazy??? Just check out the website and you can live like this, too. I will say that for the children there is a great program called the HOUSEFAIRY. This program does cost but it is less than a dollar a month I believe. It has the kids begging to clean & you can't beat that!
Hopefully this can help some of you, especially during the stress of school starting up and all of the wonderful extracurricular activities that go with it - seems there is never enough time to just sit down and relax.
Plus you can take a nice vacation with all of the money you saved by not hiring a housekeeper!
Gotta go, my computer time is up for the night - but I hope some of you can benefit from becoming a FLYBABY!
~Jessica
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Jessica Cox ~ Perfectly Polished Home ~ Dallas, TX www.theperfectlypolishedhome.com Staging homes in the DFW metroplex ...because every home has the potential to shine...
The Perfectly Polished Home
Welcome to my Active Rain profile! I'm Jessica Cox, founder of Dallas' premier home staging resource: The Perfectly Polished Home.
I love houses, decorating, and shopping. My husband and 3 kids can attest to that!
After staging homes for several years with Showhomes of America, I didn't know what to do with myself when we finally purchased our own home. No more would I be moving from house to house, setting up all of my own furniture to stage the home, and living in it while keep it perfect for every showing.
I can't deny that it was challenging to live in and maintain a staged home with 2 young toddlers and a third on the way, but I don't regret any of it. In fact I wouldn't be creating a profile here if it wasn't such a blessing to us.
After selling homes within weeks of moving in, I started to recognize that I was better at staging than I thought. And now here I am offering my savvy style and marketing skills to you.
Here is a sample of a redesign on a zero dollar budget:
WHAT WE DO:
polished: refined, flawless
Staging is the process of preparing a home for sale so that it attracts to a diverse group of buyers. Furniture layout, traffic flow, lighting, repairs, aesthetics and decluttering are all addressed in order to create an environment that buyers never want to leave. As a result, your home will be the one that shines above the rest. You may be thinking, my home doesn't need to be polished, but just because it passes the white glove test doesn't mean it will sell both quickly and for a premium price. Whether you are buying, selling, or updating your current home, we will be happy to speak with you.
The Perfectly Polished Home caters to both occupied and vacant homes preparing to be listed and currently on the market. From verbal consultations to hands on staging, I work with the seller or investor to meet their needs.
* Curb Appeal
* Decluttering and Depersonalizing
* Furniture Editing
* Emphasizing Focal Points in Rooms and Creating Focal Points if none exist
* Hands On Staging and Redesign
* Shopping for additional items that may be needed to complete the rooms
* High quality digital photos that can be used for MLS listing and Marketing Brochures
Jessica is a certified Home Staging Expert through Center Stage Homes. She belongs to the Real Estate Staging Association and is a member of the Energized Seller.
The Perfectly Polished Home
Dallas, TX
Jessica Cox
817.886.2265
jessica@theperfectlypolishedhome.com
THE PERFECT CHOICE!
Serving the following Dallas area cities: Dallas, Addison, Richardson, Garland, Mesquite, Rowlett, Desoto, Duncanville, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, Fort Worth, Irving
Serving the following Oklahoma City areas: Oklahoma City, Edmond, Norman, Bethany, Mustang, Del City, Midwest City, Tuttle
You can view our profile at the Engergized Seller website by clicking here. Please feel free to download the 101 Home Selling Tips while you are there! And if you have any questions regarding the tips or if you need assistance in accessing the material, please contact us right away. We are available by phone at 405.234.7618 or by email at jessica@theperfectlypolishedhome.com.
In the coming weeks we will have even more content available as well as the new tips we will be sending out via email to our subscribers. To be added to our email list, please send us a ADD request.
The Perfectly Polished Home is available through various social networking sites such as Twitter, Naymz, Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace and ActiveRain. You can find our profiles on those sites by clicking on the icons below:
“It's all about the first impression, you're setting a stage, literally. Buyers make their mind up about a home within the first five minutes, so it better look good." - Washington Post
“ When getting ready to sell a home, investing a little money into sprucing it up can result in big dividends in the final price tag...in general, home staging could increase the final sale price by 5 percent to 20 percent.” - Good Morning America
“...picking up clutter, hiding dirty dishes in the dishwasher, brewing an aromatic tea -- to make prospective buyers feel comfortable. But effectively preparing a house to show at its best goes well beyond such obvious tips.” - The Wall Street Journal
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
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