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The Florida house allowed for my first venture into outdoor holiday decorating. Clearly a trip to every
home décor store within a 10-mile radius was warranted. Ever the bad influence, my mom goaded me
on with choruses of “you work hard, you deserve some fun.” I spent more than one should ever should
on fabric poinsettias and sparkly knickknacks for a window box, but it was great fun.
I opted for a non-traditional color palette that would match the coop: shades of teal, silver and blue. I
promptly regretted my non-traditional palette when the neighbor came outside and asked, “Is there
some occasion?” I thought the garland and lights would have given it away. Apparently not.
Not to be deterred, I forged ahead with my wrapping and lighting. I hung wreaths on the windows
flanking the house, decked out the window boxes, strung lights around the columns and added lighted
garland to the arch. The end result is below.

For the window boxes, I used white poinsettias as a base and purchased some silver, blue and evergreen tchotchkes. I also added silver pinecones, which were collected by me and my mom and spraypainted by the so-called “Picasso of Spray Paint”, AKA, my father. I flanked the boxes with two oversized plastic ornaments. Finally, I wove teal ribbon throughout the boxes. I also used the ribbon to hang the wreaths above the windows and to top the front door swag. 

Finally, we got a little creative with some native FL flora. I’m not entirely sure what one calls these, but they are essentially the stems that hold seeds on a palm tree. They dropped out of a couple of my parent’s trees, and we noticed that they looked like Christmas trees in miniature. Cue Picasso with the silver spray paint. I “planted” the trees in two white pots, put pine cones around the bases and added battery-operated lights.

I’ll let you judge for yourself whether these look like Christmas decorations or trimmings for some unnamed “occasion”, but regardless, I very much enjoyed my first foray into exterior Christmas decorating.

Floridians are obsessed with fall. I think that’s hysterical. It was literally 90 degrees outside, and Michael’s was sold out of large swaths of fall décor. Now, I recognize the hypocrisy on my part –  let she who is without gourd on her FL porch cast the first stone, but there does seem to be a certain disconnect between a sweltering early September day and a pumpkin spice latte.

Floridians got payback for my mocking. I decided that using white pumpkins as pots for mums would be a swell idea. Perhaps it is… in Vermont. I cannot begin to describe the smell of a rotting pumpkin in the Florida sun, its juices spreading across the porch handrail and attracting a swarm of flies and ants. Yes, the joke is on me. 

Before things took a turn for the worse, the pumpkin-mum-pot idea was adorable, so if you live in a cooler climate, I suggest this idea. If you live in Florida, buy some cute pots or fake pumpkins and call it a day.

If you fall (pun intended) into the former camp, all you need are a couple of mums, pumpkins and some potting soil. I cut the top off two pumpkins and cleaned them out – of course saving the seeds to butter, salt and roast! I then added potting soil and replanted the mums in the pumpkins. I put them by the front porch pillars for all passersby to admire.

I’m regretting not capturing a better photo, but you get the idea

To spice things up for early fall, I also switched out the window boxes and the front door wreath. You can find fake florals and vines at any craft store. I resorted to the internet for the cabbage flowers that I set my mind to. I also added a (fake!) pumpkin, gourds and pine cones. If you are able to regularly water your window boxes, you can of course purchase the real McCoy and use live flowers.

When Halloween gets closer, I intend to go a bit spookier, but I liked the idea of a subtle early fall palate. You’ll note that I avoided bright reds and oranges, as I feared they would clash with my gray and seafoam palate. There are a wide range of fall color palates, so you can adjust for your design style. Also be sure to learn from my mistakes and adjust for your climate as well!

If I were a poet, I would write an ode to the garage. Given that I am lyrically challenged, I shall instead dedicate a blog post to this humble backyard storage vessel. When I purchased the house, the garage was structurally sound, but ugly and underutilized. A former owner had bolstered the structure and added an automatic garage door, overhead lights, and more outlets than a professional woodshop would necessitate.

I therefore dedicated myself to the aesthetics. We painted the garage to match the rest of the house. And the garage served as my testing ground for removing the vinyl covering over the original vents. A wooden slat was missing, so when I had my handyman on site with his saw, I had him cut a piece of wood from scraps to fit into the sunburst. I then removed nails, sanded it down, filled in holes with wood putty and applied a fresh coat of white paint.

For all of the starbursts, I was sure to apply critter protection to the interior of the starburst. I opted to use two layers of wire mesh, a thicker wire to prevent larger creatures and a thinner, tighter metal weave to keep out smaller pests. I used wire cutters to trim appropriately and employed a staple gun to secure behind the starbursts. I love these original craftsman details and found this effort to be deeply worthwhile. At times I expect the house to break into a chorus of “I feel pretty, oh so pretty…” as we reveal all of her original beauty.

I have also discovered wreaths. My NYC buildings never allowed exterior decoration, so I didn’t give much thought to these glorious floral displays in the round. Oh, I have realized the error of my ways. I am already collecting a burgeoning seasonal wreath collection, which my garage supports with its incredible storage capabilities. I have furthermore learned that wreaths are ideal for any exterior door, including on the garage. The end result is a structure that resembles the house in miniature, which absolutely tickles me.

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In addition to being adorable, the garage is also functional. It allows me to store the many toys that homeownership necessitates. For example, I have a new collection of battery-operated machines, including a lawn mower, weedwhacker and blower. I can even plug the batteries into the garage outlets in preparation for the next round of yard beautification.

The garage is my storage unit, shop, gardening shed and holiday staging area. At the risk of this post going beyond mere quirkiness, I will end my dedication here. That said, I won’t swear that the garage postings will permanently cease, as I’m contemplating some exterior string lights along the top…

One thing I’ve experienced in 16 years of selling real estate in New York is that every deal has a story. Some of them good, some of them bad, and some of them downright strange. It’s usually the latter two so one tends to remember the good ones.

My most recent sale was one of the rare good ones. I recently had the pleasure of working with a lovely young couple who were moving to New York from San Francisco, with a temporary living situation in Virginia. Over the course of one Sunday afternoon we viewed a number of apartments on the Upper East Side.  We were looking for a one bedroom with an alcove with the potential to convert to a home office or second bedroom.  There was no shortage of apartments to see that day and we finally Came Upon a beautifully maintained pre-war building st 245 East 72nd Street. However, the buyers were only in town for one weekend and had to go home to Virginia. A few days later we came across an apartment in that building, but wasn’t exactly what they were looking for; it was a one bedroom with no dining alcove.  There was a large eat-in kitchen but it could not be converted and the kitchen needed extensive renovation. But the impression the building made on them was so strong but they took a chance and opted it to submit an offer on the apartment sight unseen. I did a tour of the apartment with them through WhatsApp, and while I painted as accurate a picture as possible for them it’s hardly a substitute for seeing an apartment in person. Nevertheless, my buyers who are a lot braver than I made the bold decision to move forward on a home they had never set foot in.

The process after that was fairly easy. It was a quick negotiation and their application process went swiftly and smoothly. A few attempts were made to come to NYC to actually view the apartment in person were made, and then canceled. Finally, 3 months into the process, their closing day arrived. We were to meet that morning before the initial/final walk-through. I couldn’t wait to see if the apartment in person lived up to the apartment they fell in love with online or if they would instead be disappointed (not that they really had a choice at that point anyway. It was too late to back out now). They finally walked in but instead reacting like “what have we done?” they loved it! As we walked around their future home for the first time they reveled in the space, the light, and the possibilities for their kitchen renovation. 

After that, they closed that afternoon and they moved in the following week. They are now newly-certified New Yorkers and are very happy to be here. It may not be the most exciting real estate story but it’s one worth remembering, because few people buy real estate based solely on faith, and beyond that, usually nothing is ever that easy.

As Lana indicated in our initial post, we are longtime real estate enthusiasts and I’ve been lucky enough to take my interest and parlay it into a career in real estate sales. I’ve been a NYC-based real estate agent for 18 years – focusing mainly on co-op and condominium sales – and along the way I have met many interesting people, collected entertaining real estate stories, and – most of all – have seen a lot of really great apartments.

I’ll share some of my experiences here to help give a sense of what purchasing real estate in Manhattan is like (not for the faint of heart!) and to discuss the many properties the city has to offer – some unique, some cookie-cutter, but all deeply personal to both their owners and to the people hoping to get them.

Less than a year ago, as we sat in utter boredom in our NYC living room, I posed one of Randy’s most dreaded questions, “What if we….”. This is often the beginning of one of my “harebrained schemes.” I’m not sure how seriously Randy took my idea at the time, but a few months later these longtime New Yorkers became proud owners of a St. Petersburg, FL craftsman bungalow. We are now some of Florida’s youngest snowbirds.

At the time of purchase, the house definitely radiated snowbird, especially the aluminum awning exuding from above jalousie windows on a carpeted front porch (why???). Both interior and exterior were covered in seemingly endless shades of brown, a color scheme we referred to as “rotting avocado”. I’ll delve into the individual projects in subsequent posts, but the exterior before and after is below.

Given that this 1930s cottage would never be sprawling, I decided to lean into the cute, playing up the craftsman details by opening the porch, revealing the original attic vent details, and adding window boxes. Aside from accent colors, I stuck with a relatively neutral palate for resale purposes, though I couldn’t resist a pop of classic Florida seafoam green on the door and window boxes. A big shout out to Randy and my dad, who sprayed most of the exterior while I enjoyed endless Zoom calls. Randy prefers to keep his feet firmly on the ground, so in the evenings I painted anything above window height with a paintbrush.

As an impatient New Yorker at heart, I hate any unnecessary trips for paint, but I strongly suggest picking up several samples first. Lighting can dramatically change a paint color. Another insider tip is to step outside with paint chips; big box stores have horrendous florescent lighting that alters the look of paint colors. Be warned that if you stand out there too long, you may be asked about the cost of the riding mowers, as I was.

Also be sure to get the right paint for your exterior material. I find that experts at smaller paint-focused stores are more willing to share best practices and suggestions, though making friends with the more knowledgeable people at big box stores has also proven successful (thanks, Patty!). My neighbor’s father would be thrilled that I included this caveat; I enjoyed a protracted conversation with him while on the roof, and despite his concerns, I’m happy to confirm that you can indeed paint vinyl siding.

We tested multitudinous greys in several spots before landing on this relatively neutral grey with blue undertones (Gray Screen by Sherwin Williams). The door and window boxes are Dancing Mist +50%, by Valspar. Many similarly-aged women will understand my goal of capturing the sweetness of Miss Honey’s cottage in Matilda. I hope I pulled it off!

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