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Archive for May, 2012

Last spring I purchase an armoire and dresser at an estate sale for $50.  While I hated the color it had potential in the style, quality and capacity, not to mention the smokin’ price.  So the pieces have been patiently sitting in my bedroom, awaiting their face-lift for nearly a year now as the rest of the home was remodeled.  Not long after I purchased the pieces I also picked up a Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations kit which I finally cracked open about a week ago.

The product I used is designed for kitchen and bathroom cabinets but my experiment on wood furniture worked out well. After I bought the kit I noticed they sell one just for refinishing furniture but I have to believe they are quite similar, if not the same. It’s a four step process: First you “degloss” your cabinets.  Then you paint two coats of the primer/base color.  After that you can glaze it (basically brush it on and then wipe it off) to give it a more depth.  Finally, you paint on a sealer which is water based so there are no fumes and it’s easy to clean-up. The whole process took a few days because you have to let the different products properly cure but because there are no real fumes I actually did the work in my bedroom with some cardboard to protect the carpets.  It was pretty hassle-free.

Below are before and after pictures. I highly recommend the glaze and don’t wipe too much of it off.  I had to do a second coat because after the first one I wiped too much of it off and the look was definitely lacking in depth and shine.

Now it’s time to tackle the armoire and figure out accessories like lamps & wall hangings and wall color. I highly recommend this product, it’s super easy to use and the final product is better than expected.

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This is the finished product.

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The Before shot

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CoreLogic has released its March Home Price Index (HPI) report which shows that nationally, home prices, including distressed sales, declined on a year-over-year basis by 0.6 percent in March 2012 compared to March 2011. On a month-over-month basis, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 0.6 percent in March 2012 compared to February 2012, the first month-over-month increase since July 2011.

Excluding distressed sales, month-over-month prices increased for the third month in a row. The CoreLogic HPI also shows that year-over-year prices, excluding distressed sales, rose by 0.9 percent in March 2012 compared to March 2011. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate-owned (REO) transactions.

“This spring the housing market is responding to an improving balance between real estate supply and demand which is causing stabilization in house prices,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Although this has been the case in each of the last two years, the difference this year is that stabilization is occurring without the support of tax credits and in spite of a declining share of REO sales.”

Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: Wyoming (+5.9 percent), West Virginia (+5.3 percent), Arizona (+5.1 percent), North Dakota (+4.7 percent) and Florida (+4.5 percent). Including distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-10.6 percent), Illinois (-8.3 percent), Alabama (-8.0 percent), Georgia (-7.3 percent) and Nevada (-5.8 percent).

“While housing prices remain flat nationally, in many markets tighter inventories are beginning to lift home prices,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and chief executive officer of CoreLogic. “This is true in Phoenix, New York and Washington, for example, which all reflect higher home price values than a year ago. A continuation of this trend will be good for our industry across U.S. markets.”

Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: Idaho (+5.4 percent), North Dakota (+5.1 percent), South Carolina (+4.7 percent), Montana (+3.5 percent) and Kansas (+3.4 percent). Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-7.6 percent), Alabama (-4.1 percent), Nevada (-3.9 percent), Vermont (-3.9 percent) and Rhode Island (-2.9 percent).

Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to March 2012) was -33.7 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -24.5 percent.

The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines including distressed transactions are Nevada (-59.9 percent), Arizona (-48.6 percent), Florida (-48.1 percent), Michigan (-45.1 percent) and California (-42.7 percent). Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, 57 are showing year-over-year declines in March, eight fewer than in February.

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