At The Beach With Kris, Beach Investment, Flipping, Remodeling

A Greek Inspired Exterior

May 14, 2012 By Kris Moran

When I think of Greece, this photo represents what I envision. Husband and I had a deposit on a Greek Cruise for a recent birthday – but as the date approached, I decided I couldn’t leave the kids for 2 weeks so we cancelled. But SOMEDAY I will take that cruise through Greece. Or one of thoese photography tours where you follow a photographer around all the great spots. Don’t you love the bright blue contrasted with the crisp whites in pretty much every photo of Greece?

Last week I met Mr. Contractor at the Beach House. Good news – our kitchen has arrived. Bad news – work has not progressed enough inside to install the kitchen. Sad face! We zipped through my list of what needs to be done and stressed how much I want this to be complete in May so we can work on finding a tenant in June.

Remember when I told you our neighborhood has Greek roots? Well, I want our home to have that Greek color palette. One of the Gulf Front homes in our neighborhood has the perfect color scheme. I told Mr. Contractor this – so we drove to the house and he pulled out this nifty little computertized tool from Benjamin Moore – you point it at the color and it reads the color back to you in a Benjamin Moore color! Voila! And better yet – there’s an app for that! I thought when I found an app that tells you in real-time how long the waits are for each ride at Disney World that I had seen it all. This will come in handy:

This home was the color inspiration – and hopefully imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

How cool is this little tool?

So what colors did it choose? (Insert drum roll…)

The main exterior color is a creamy white – it showed up as Benjamin Moore Fog Mist:

And it gave 2 readings for the blue trim – Blueberry and Bermuda Blue:

On the paint swatch I prefer “Bermuda Blue” but I think I will sneak back to the inspiration house and hold up the swatches before I fully commit.

Can you picture the Beach House with new doors, windows, shutters, landscaping AND the new paint colors? She is not going to look the same! I met with a landscaper today and they are going to start on Phase I – removing the jungle so we can paint the exterior. Phase II will be sprinklers, sod and some palm trees. I also had the glamorous job of shopping for toilets today – Kohler Highline elongated toilets in case you were wondering.

And a few more pictures from the real Greece…

Click here to read “Picking the Perfect Paint Color“

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Have a great week!

~Kris

Filed Under: Decorating and Design, Real Estate, Short Sale Project, The Beach House Leave a Comment

Happy Mother’s Day!

May 13, 2012 By Kris Moran

Happy Mother’s Day, Peeps! A special shout out to some of my favorite mothers…of course my own mom who just drove 3 days cross country by herself, hopefully entertained with the 3 road trip cd’s I made for her. (Yes, we still kick it old-school with cd’s.) I guess you don’t really appreciate your mom fully until you have kids of your own. Then you appreciate and apologize. Profusely. And for Sister…who has the patience of Jobe with her child and who is raising one of the best citizens of the world that I know. Kudos for that – it was ALL you. And for Sister-in-law…who never raises her voice or loses her cool and who is raising three of the best kids that I know. I love my niece and nephews exactly 1 degree less than my own children. And for my other relatives and friends – mothering is a tough job and thank you for doing it so well and for being my role models.

XO,

Kris

Filed Under: About Me, Grammy, Parenting, Sister, Sister-in-Law 1 Comment

First Communion & Cinco de Mayo

May 11, 2012 By Kris Moran

These two occassions seem an unlikley pair – but this year they fell on the same day…May 5th! Son, a second grader, made his First Holy Communion on Saturday night and we had a dinner/pool party after for our family and some of his friends’ families. It was fun to see Son all dressed up – for a boy who considers jeans TOO DRESSY for formal night on the Cruise, it was nice to see him in a shirt and tie instead of basketball shorts and sports team t-shirts. In our church, First Holy Communion is a very special time – it would bring tears to any mother’s eye.

Two years ago when Daughter made her First Communion, I hired a professional photographer who did a full shoot of her in her dress and veil and she created custom invitiations for the dinner after. For Son, I quickly rushed him to the back yard and snapped the world’s fastest photo and then found an invitation online that could ship quickly. Lucky for me, the picture turned out pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself:

And here are a few photos from the Service:

After the Mass, the Church had a reception for all - two HUGE cakes with each of the communicant’s names on it (they each got the piece with their name) and lemonade. After that we went back home for a Cinco de Mayo themed dinner party and the kids all swam like fish in the pool all night. Here are some party details and recipes:

Sources: Paper Flowers, Tissue banners and salsa bowls here, tablecloths from Walmart, large beach towels from Target, Tissue Pom Poms from Party City and all ribbon and tulle from Hobby Lobby.

Dinner was a taco bar with beef or chicken and all the fixings. Instead of plates, I used these foil to-go containers that I bought at the Dollar Store. If you plan ahead, you can buy these much cheaper at an on-line restaurant supply company. The downside is you have to buy 200, but only $20! Everyone loved eating from these and it was less mess with the tacos.

I served individual layer dips and displayed them on top of a sombrero.
I made these the night before and trust me, they were delish.

The dessert bar – yum! I served lemon cupcakes (on a sombrero), brownies, strawberry pound cake trifle, chocolate chip cookies and sopapilla cheesecake (not pictured.) The recipe for the amazing trifle is at the end of this post – super easy and you can make the day before!

Water bottle labels and food label table tents from Etsy - awesome, last minute service!

Every single Coronoa was consumed…when in ~~Rome~~ Mexico!

Make-ahead Mason Jar Margaritas. I love anything in a mason jar so when I found this reicpe on Pinterest, I had to try it – muy bien!
See the full recipe below.

Last but not least – I bought some stick-on mustaches at Party City and hot glued them onto skewers and put them at the head table along with some sombreros – people could then pose for pictures using the mustache and hats – made for some funny pics of our friends!

RECIPES

Strawberry Pound Cake Trifle

- 1 Sara Lee Pound Cake, thawed (this dense cake works best for this recipe so it doesn’t get mushy)
- 2 or 3 pints of fresh strawberries – sliced and tossed with 1/2 Cup sugar
- 1 1/2 Cup sugar (1/2 cup used above)
- 2 eight oz packages of cream cheese, softened
- 3 cups whole whipping cream, whipped to make 4 cups

1. Slice the pound cake into 1 inch cubes.

2. Beat the cream cheese and 1 C of sugar until smooth. Then add then whipped cream and mix lightly.

3. Start the first layer of your trifle with pound cake and place along the bottom of your trifle bowl.

4. Layer the pound cake with the juicy, sliced strawberries.

5. Top the strawberries with a thick amount of the whipped cream mixture.

6. Repeat layers one more time until top layer is whipped cream.

7. Garnish with a whole strawberry or even white or dark chocolate shavings.

*You could also add blueberries and make this dessert look patriotic for Memorial Day or 4th of July!

*This recipe can be made the day before – this will give the pound cake time to absorb the strawberry juices.

Make Ahead Mason Jar Margaritas
I made 3 batches of these margaritas which filled 24 1/2 pint mason jars. Save your packaging and freeze the jars in it to save freezer space.

- one 12oz can frozen limeade
- 1 C Tequila
- 1/3 C Triple Sec
- juice of 2 limes
- 4-5 cups of ice

In a blender, combine all ingredients except the ice and blend. Then fill the blender to the top with ice and blendy until slushy. You do not want any big ice chunks. Pour into 1/2 pint mason jars and screw the lids on tightly. Freeze until ready to serve. The margaritas will thaw to a slushy consistency in about 5-10 minutes. Do not put them immediately into an icy cooler like I did – the ice will stick the the mason jars and is hard to remove. I would recommend putting them into a cooler or drink bin without ice until they have thawed.

Next up – Daughter’s dance recital and her birthday party. Then I am taking a nap. A really, really long nap.

~Kris

Filed Under: About Me, Cooking and Recipes, Entertaining, Family, Kids, Parties, Son 4 Comments

A Beach Condo Before and After

May 8, 2012 By Kris Moran

Here at the beach I sell mostly investment properties – and mostly condos. I absolutely love selling condos – it is easy to sell what you love and believe in! I was lucky to meet “Mr. and Mrs. C” and spend a day of their spring break showing them condos in April. And less than a month later, they are now the owners of a stunning 3 bedroom Gulf front condo. And they had well over $10,000 booked in rentals before they even closed! The condo was great when they bought it, but Mrs. C spent 3 short days after the closing updating it with her own personal touches and next thing you know, she worked her magic and turned the condo into something truly special. Her ideas are inspiring.

The Living Room Before:

And the Living Room After:

Wow, what a change! I love the color pallete Mrs. C chose – very soothing and beachy chic!

Sources and prices:

-Reclaimed wood coffee table and side table - found at a local consignment shop (Ava’s Attic), $400 and $300, respectively

-Painted secretary and coffee table – consignment shop (Ava’s Attic) , $425

-Original artwork, two ship photos and frames - consignment shop (Ava’s Attic), $159 and $339

-Rug – Rug Decor $370

-Commercial grade sleeper sofa and love seat (upholstered in Sunbrella fabric) – Factory Direct Warehouse in Panama City Beach $989 and $625

The Dining Room Before:

And the Dining Room After:

I love the tranformation to this room as well. The light fixture is so lovely in person and such a great price!

Sources and Prices:

-Shell mirrors – Homegoods $50 each

-Dining room table and chairs – Factory Direct Warehouse $659 for table and 4 chairs $149 each for wicker chairs

-Barstools – Factory Direct Warehouse – $170 each

-Chandelier – $99 from Lowes

-Pendant lights – $80 a piece from Home Depot

-Rug – Rug Decor $370

The Kitchen Before:

And the Kitchen After:

New cabinet hardware, new pendant lights and the barstools make an already remodeled kitchen even better!

The Master Suite Before:

And the Master Suite After:

When I saw this bed, I wanted to jump right in! Mrs. C said they have studied a lot of beds in high end hotels and have re-created that experience. The sheets are a high thread count and covered with a simple lightweight white duvet. The duvet is covered with a crisply ironed 450 thread count Wamsutta top sheet from Bed Bath & Beyond. I might have to do this to my bed at home!

Sources and Prices:

-Headboard – Pier 1 $500
-Mirrored Nightstands – Kirklands $200 each
-Side chairs – Pier 1 and consignment shop,$200 each
-Painted dresser – consignment shop $700
-Lamps – Homegoods and Pier 1 $125 each
-Bedding – custom made patterned pillow everything else was from Pottery Barn, Target and Bed Bath and Beyond

The Guest Bedroom Before:

And the Guest Bedroom After:

Mrs. C moved the furniture from the Master Suite to the guest bedroom. Most renters love having 2 King sized beds in the property they are renting – I can’t stress that enough! And with decor like this, you can bet they are booking here again next year!

Sources and Prices:

Lamps – TJMaxx $40 each

Dresser – Homegoods $200

Chair – Kirklands $170

Bedding – Target, Bed Bath & Beyond

The Third Bedroom / Bunk Room Before:

And After:

Just adding some nice throw pillows and a dresser makes all the difference in this room!

If you are planning a beach vacation to the Destin area, you can rent this gorgeous condo here!

Here are a few of my tips on what will make your beach property rent to its fullest potential:

-Make sure the kitchen is fully stocked. Consider what you would need if you were on vacation for a week or a month. Make sure you have quality pots and pans, muffin tins, cookie sheets and even items for cooking seafood.

-Personalize your space – lightly. Include one or two family photographs. This makes your renters remember they are renting someone else’s property and not treat it like a hotel. Leave a guest book with a note to your renters telling them how much you love your condo and you hope they enjoy their time too! Ask your renters to write about their favorite restaurants and entertainment to share with future guests. Leave a folder with paper menus from your favorite spots to eat and ask your renters to leave theirs.

-Buy high quality mattresses – no one is going to re-book a property that has uncomfortable mattresses.

-Consider the children of the renters – leave a pack-n-play and a small high chair in a closet so the renters don’t have to rent these baby items. Have a video gaming system in the guest bedroom. Leave a few books and dvd’s in a drawer, all marked with your property name and a note to leave them behind.

-People love to rent properties that feel beachy. I see many condos decorated in a West Indies theme with dark walls and heavy, dark furniture. Pretty? Yes. But renters wants to feel like they are on vacation – and they probably have dark furniture and walls back home!

Click here to see more great decorating ideas from the Beach House I spotlighted earlier this year in Crystal Beach.

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Have a great week - I am working on a post from son’s First Communion and our Cinco de Mayo party with some great recipes!

~Kris

Filed Under: Decorating and Design, Look for Less, Real Estate 4 Comments

The Days Are So Long, The Years So Short

April 20, 2012 By Kris Moran

Busy. Busy. Busy. That about sums up my life these days. The kids either have a practice, game or tournament every day of the week. Today I thought was our first day off in 15 days and then daughter’s team called a practice and son’s coach signed him up for a hitting camp. Rewind to February. I am sitting in the cold rain at son’s first travel ball tournament. It was miserable and I confess I complained all morning that the tournament wasn’t canceled – bad weather was looming – and I just knew we’d get all the way there and it would get rained out. But it didn’t. As I’m sitting on the bleachers - cold and wet – my phone rings with a real estate related call. Another agent wanting an appointment to show one of my listings. I told her I was sitting outside in the rain at son’s baseball tournament and she got real excited and said “Honey you are SO LUCKY. I would give ANYTHING to have those days back with my children. Now they are grown up and moved away.” Wow. It took that one silly phone call to give me some perspective. Enjoy life while you are living it. Pretty soon these kids are not going to need me or even want me to be around. They aren’t going to snuggle at night or give me kisses goodbye at school. I won’t have any rainy travel ball tournaments to go to and cheer on my kids. Cherish the moment – in the moment.

Brother, sister-in-law and their 3 little nuggets came to visit for a week during Easter. We had glorious weather. But my kids had that pesky thing called school. We soaked in as much time as we could with the cousins and cried lots of tears when they left. Daughter actually locked herself in her bathroom when we were saying good-byes. She was crying so hard that sister-in-law had to knock on the door holding the “Bug” coaxing her out for a hug and a goodbye. I wish we lived closer. Actually, I wished THEY lived closer because I don’t do snow. Here is a picture I snapped of the Bug on the beach in her cute little Janie N Jack swimsuit ensemble. She is the cutest, smartest 2 year old I have ever met – we have holes the size of Texas in our hearts when they leave.

We got the new swingset installed! Its pretty great. I told the builder I wanted it sized for my tall kids. Well, he took me to my word and it was so tall that Husband actually had him lop off 3 feet. Can you imagine this 3 feet taller? We had to go buy extra chain so the kids wouldn’t need ladders to get on the swings. Some day if I ever have some free time I need to stain or seal it. The posts were dug 3 feet deep in the ground – would have gone deeper but we hit water. Darn sea level. The swings and hardware are all from Home Depot…the swings can support up to 350 pounds. Before extra chain:

And the ”after”:

Things are moving slower than I’d like at the Beach House. Just like everything there, the walls are schitzophrenic. Some have beachy wood paneling (not your Grandma’s 1970′s paneling) and some have an almost stucco finish. So we decided to panel all the walls in the living room and kitchen. Well, one batch of wood was bad and had to be re-ordered, bringing the work to a halt. My contractor said the Kitchen might arrive this week – that would be great news. We are getting close. Picture it painted the perfect shade of white.

Yesterday I stopped by Home Depot to pick up some flowers and herbs to plant. Son is making his First Communion on May 5, so we are having our family and a few of his friends over for dinner after. Well turns out that day is also Cinco de Mayo so the party is going to be just that. Mexican food, mojitos, sangria and some fun decorations I ordered from Etsy and an authentic Mexican Fiesta store! I am planting my own basil and mint, using Miracle Gro soil and fingers crossed it will grow enough to use in time for the party. Herbs grow so well in pots by my pool – it has a screen so they are protected from bugs and creatures. The herbs must love humidity because they grow the size of a small tree by July. I also bought some new cobalt blue pots at WalMart – less than $30 for the largest size. They look JUST like pottery and then you touch it and its lightweight plastic. I carried them to my car and I got more than a few stares of wow, that girl is STRONG to be carrying those huge pots to her car.

And some photos of my Cinco de Mayo Party inspiration, from my Pinterest Parties board:

The sangria filled with chopped up fresh fruit like strawberries and apples and yes, basil from my garden. Grow basil, grow!

I know a margarita would be more fitting, but my fav drink is a mojito. For the two times a year I actually drink! I am trying this recipe from the Food Network because it makes an entire pitcher and it gets great reviews. Grow mint, grow!

Don’t forget to subcribe to my blog and receive e-mails with new posts!

~Kris

Filed Under: About Me, Brother, Daughter, Family, Kids, Parenting, Parties, Short Sale Project, Sister-in-Law, Son, Sports, The Beach House 1 Comment

Pain Au Chocolat

April 11, 2012 By Kris Moran

That’s my fancy pants way of saying “chocolate croissant”. One of my girlfriends had a girl’s-night-out Valentines party and one of her many decadent desserts included still warm from the oven chocolate croissants. Ooh-la-la. We were all ga-ga and could not stop eating them. I assumed they took hours to make but she said they were easy. So, I asked for the recipe and decided to make them for the family for Easter dinner. And yes, I served them warm from the oven.

The good news is they really are easy peasy. Only 4 ingredients…2 of which you probably already have in your fridge and pantry. Its almost hard to post this recipe so I can keep it my own little secret, but really…it is too good not to share. Now you can wow and amaze your friends and family with your incredible “French” cooking skills!

Recipe for 24 pastries:

-2 sheets puff pastry, thawed according to package directions
-2 large Symphony chocolate bars (you will have extra)
-1 large egg mixed with a splash of water for egg wash
-sugar in the raw for dusting

1. Spread out the puff pastry and cut into 12 equal squares per sheet (this is the hard part – I had some long, some short – but that’s ok!)

2. Cut up the Symphony bars into small pieces.
3. Line each pastry shell with several chocolate pieces.

4. Roll the pastry up tightly and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, seam side down.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours.
6. When ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
7. Brush the tops of each pastry with egg wash and then sprinkle with sugar.
8. Bake about 15 minutes – tops will be lightly browned and the croissant will have risen to almost double its size.
9. Eat until your button pops!