My Story
I literally never thought I was “creative.” In fact, I thought the exact opposite for almost my entire life, until just a few years ago I realized I WAS creative, not the - my drawings look like photographs kind of way, but the resourceful kind of way! Since I was a little kid I loved that moment when you could finally take a step back and look at your finished product! I’d color for hours, just to see how meticulously I colored within the lines, I’d mow, rake, and mulch endlessly, in order to stand back to see a pristine yard, I’d paint, and paint, and paint, to see a room transformed in a day! (IYKYK ;))
I can’t emphasize enough how your project becomes PRICELESS when you’ve created something from your own two hands; something you never thought you were capable of doing, something that was always left to the men, to the professionals, or to whomever else you put ahead of yourself. Now, the phrases running through my head are DIFFERENT! No longer do I say to myself: “I don’t think I can do that.” Now I hear: “I’m going to figure this out!” Then after researching, designing, and making mistakes, I finally figure it out!
I realized working with my hands was my passion when I started sewing and locally selling handbags in the early aughts; having never used a sewing machine before! This was before “influencer” was even a term! In 2008 I bought my first rental property; a duplex, which needed a little “TLC.” When I say a little, I mean A LOT, I mean, demo-ing it to the STUDS! It was bad; almost condemnable! And I was scared - I cried when I stepped inside after the closing of the sale. The smell of cat pee was gut wrenching, I was so fearful that I had made a HUGE financial mistake.
I dove in; I spent a year gutting it and piecing it back together floorboard by floorboard on nights and weekends, while I worked a full-time job. Being green, yet determined; I came away with a cash-flow positive rental property, a slew of newfound DIY skills, and a distinct intrinsic confidence. Through creative vision, sweat equity, and some “on the job training,” I found my passion for making the most of a space on a shoestring budget.
I found my next project in 2013, when I purchased my second duplex. I’ve renovated a total of four rental units, and now I am renovating the 1990’s out of our current home, room by room! Come follow along and learn with me as I transform this 1990’s colonial home in northern New England! Sometimes it just takes that one person to show you what is possible! I got you!
“If you avoid failure, you also avoid success.”