Thursday Thoughts: Stucco Painting, Sandbox Dilemma, Fall Kitchen Inspo, HGTV Obsessed Podcast + more

I didn’t have time to get out my Thursday Thoughts yesterday so Friday Thoughts it is! After pondering if we should redash or paint the stucco of our #stuccofarmhousetriplex rental property, we decided for now that it was best to paint. Once we had all the bids back, we pulled the trigger! I’ll quickly break down the process on how we made the decision on our painters.

1. Stucco Painting. We had five companies out to bid. I always recommend having multiple bids and asking lots of questions. Kjell (Brian’s best friend and our business partner on this project) used to own a painting business and had worked with four of these companies and we had experience with the other one. Here are the painters we recommend in the Twin Cities who have experience with painting stucco:

• Stone Valley Painting

• True North Painting

• Paris Painting

• All Pro Painting

• EMC Painting

Here’s what Kjell considered: 1) cost 2) who could start the soonest and 3) be willing to remove the satellite dishes and other stuff on the roof. Based on this info, we ultimately went with All Pro Painting. I always hesitate to provide our quotes because they won’t be apples to apples. Meaning, even if your home is the same sq ft as this, it doesn’t mean you’ll get a similar quote.

Cost fluctuates. Companies provide quotes for that moment in time based on their schedule, the demand, employee shortage, etc. With this in mind, I’ll share our cost.

Cost (house is 2344 sq ft): $6,200 for labor only. We purchased our own paint. The highest bid we received just for labor was $12,500 to give you an example of the extreme variations and why you should get multiple bids!

Look at how beautiful she looks already with a fresh new coat of paint!

2. Sandbox in the City. A few months ago, we wanted to be cool parents and turned the bottom of the kids’ outdoor playhouse into a sandbox. We purchased special play sand and patted ourselves on the back. I shared on my IG stories and got so many feedback to cover it to keep neighborhood cats and rodents out. But I also received some reassurance to not worry so we didn’t cover it.

Welp…we learned our lesson! We got a stinky surprise the other day. Needless to say, the sandbox is closed for the season until we can find time to properly clean, sanitize it and cover it for the winter.

3. Kitchen inspiration that are giving me some fall feels.

3. Garage attic turned band practice + my office space. It’s been a few weeks since I shared this space. We were waiting for the new doors and it was supposed to arrive early September. Then it got pushed to mid September and now we’re just unsure so I’m going to share the space early next week, regardless!

4. Did you catch the Sams’ kitchen episode on HGTV’s IGTV last week? It was a nail biter but turned out so good! You can catch the blog post here:

5. Did you catch this week’s episode with Kasey’s “cloffice”? You can watch it here and I’ll do a blog post with sources early next week.

6. My HGTV Obsessed podcast segment aired yesterday! I chatted with Marianne to share my tips for updating your rental without losing your security deposit and how to approach your landlord to propose making changes to your space. Have a listen here.

7. My latest fall roundup for subtle fall decor here.

8. Looking for boots? Find our best picks for women’s, girl’s and toddler boy’s here!

Wishing you a wonderful and relaxing weekend! Make sure to follow along on instagram for more project updates!

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