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By candace kramer, October 12, 2011 5:36 pm

Hello friends! I’m back! Summer was busy, busy and my time spent with family and friends was top priority! Now that Fall has come and everyone is getting settled back into their schedules, I have found time to work on my blog once more. As I mentioned in a past post, my son and I worked on rejuvenating the garden of my rental home and we were also in the process of building a storage shed. Both projects turned out brilliantly and here are some of the pics to show our fabulous results!

First up, the garden. It was so long neglected, full of weeds and completely overgrown but we brought it back to life!

And yes, that is my “new old shed” back there! Cute right?

Even though our summer was extremely mild, Peter managed to pick a ripe tomato from the vine before heading back to school!

Okay, now for my shed! As you know, I researched sheds online, in stores and just about everywhere! I wanted just the right design. Simple, funky and constructed using some of the salvaged materials from the garage remodel (soon to be granny flat) I’m working on.

Finally, I found a shed builder – Justin Marical – that had great ideas and would build to my specs. Check out his great company here. He was very open to using my salvaged materials and helped me design a 12 ft long and 3 ft deep, lean-to style shed that fit perfectly with the scale of the backyard garden.

This old window was from the main house which I had replaced with a new vinyl double hung.

Peter washed down the old door from the garage, which is now the front door to my shed.

The shed threshold was created with bricks that we found on site. Peter did a fantastic job laying these in.

The beautiful red stained cedar siding was left over from an old condo project I worked on! This siding is usually very expensive but I got a great deal on it and Justin was drooling! ha ha! I added an old flower box that had previously been installed on the main house and the lovely trellis was installed by my very talented Russian carpenter – Eli! He has done some gorgeous work on my beach house too. Even the roof was done with left over composite material. Isn’t it cute!? I’m so happy with the result and it felt good to use materials that most likely would have ended up in a landfill.

What projects did you complete over the summer?

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By candace kramer, February 25, 2011 9:43 pm

After my last post where the Feng Shui cube was featured, you could say that boxes have been on my mind. In fact, I found another fabulous article in the New York Times with these teeny tiny micro homes created by Derek Diedricksen. How cool are these? Talk about designing in a box!

Using salvaged materials these shelters are constructed for around $200.00. This one is called the Gypsy Junker. Take a look inside at the bunk bed and heater that runs on vegetable oil, of course!

Here is Diedricksen, cozy in his model, aptly named, “The Boxy Lady”. Here’s the interior shot…

Images via New York Times

For more pics and the full article go here. Want more info? He has a You Tube segment here and interviews Jay Shafer of Tumbleweed Homes here.

For the past three days, I’ve been pretty much existing in a box (a conference room) from 8 am to 7 pm!  But it’s all good because I’ve been learning about Ninja Selling.

No, not that kind of Ninja…lol.

Ninja Selling (named after the creator whose nickname is Ninja) is taught by Larry Kendall and it is a fantastic Selling program to bring  out the best in you, so you can pass on the very highest level of service to your clients. He also teaches how to maintain your active lifestyle while still being a dedicated and successful realtor! Many of you know, that I juggle tennis, skiing, biking, remodeling and real estate, so this program was perfect for me!  It has been a fascinating course and I highly recommend it!

Last year, was one of my best in Real Estate at Windermere – thanks to all my downsizing clients who were ready for a new lifestyle but I want to continue to sharpen my skills and knowledge so I can best assist the next wave of “Downsizers”.

So let me know if you have any of your own downsizing dilemmas, concerns or ideas. I’m here to assist you with all aspects of the transition!

Have a fantastic weekend!