CanDoGal

In September of 2010, I bought my first house, smack in the middle of New Jersey. It’s got 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and a mess of problems. Too bad I don’t have a mountain of money to put into it. What I do have is some crazy idea that I can do most of the work myself, even things like gutting a bathroom and putting up drywall. Why do I think I can do it when I’ve never even held a hammer? I don’t know, but I’m not intimidated (for now). I figure I’ll learn as I go. What’s the worst that can happen? (Em, famous last words…)

Other bloggers are a wealth of information. And there are books. I’ll read some books. It helps to know I can take my time. If I start ruining the house, I can always call in a pro with a real tool belt and everything.

Then once the “canvas” of a room is complete, I’ll decorate it with paint and furniture. I’ll be sure to give you the details of what I’m doing and how I’m doing it, in case you want to try it yourself.

In between the rubble-making, I go to my full time job as an art director in an advertising agency in ol’ New York City, and I bake in the slivers of free time I have left. (Stop by my other blog, where I do step-by-step baking tutorials.)

I also have a boyfriend named Scott, who’ll make an appearance here once in a while when I ask him to do things like move furniture and haul debris.

So let’s get crackin’, ‘cause those curtains aren’t going to hang themselves. I hope you stick with me to see the progress.

Here, you can see what the house looked like when I first moved in.

If you want to shoot the breeze, or give me some pointers, or ask me any questions, feel free to drop me a note anytime. And if you’re new to this blog, please introduce yourself in the comments. I’d love to “meet” you.