There is so much work to do to make my new home meet my vision. It’s sometimes hard coming from a fully renovated home to a “fixer upper” . Dont get me wrong- the house has the potential to be perfect:  the Beltline is my neighbor! Great schools (KIPP Strive), MARTA at my door, an active Westview Community association, spacious inside and out! But…. why is the street a dumping target? It’s just unbelievable EVERYDAY either someone dumps trash on my property (not just 1 bag or a little bit of litter-I’m talking several contractor bags) and if not the trash- I wake up to a stolen vehicle parked at my front or back door.  I would like to think the construction of the Beltline path would give indication that Muse St is not an abandoned street but I guess criminals dont think– then again, if they did, they wouldn’t be criminals.. lol  My husband is on a wireless surveillance camera mission to add to the trees-lol which is a good and bad thing. I dont want to be a prisoner in my home nor watch footage all day to see who tossed what. I’ll start with putting out some “No Dumping” signs  and making the outside of my house look more homey and occupied. Which reminds me, if anyone has extra Hasta plants or Mondo(Monkey Grass) I can use some.

That’s the outside. Where to begin on the inside? LOL… let me just say that the people who bought the home (some really good friends willing to part with this gem so that I can have a better quality of life- my last home mortgage was killing us) the previous owner are visionaries, brave and do not let anything deter them from their renovation/restoration goals and had a plan for this home.  I, on the other hand- have the vision but am a PUNK when it comes to work!! I try though. I really do try …..before I resort to hiring a contractor.    I did say the house is a “fixer” right? ……….well, I now know the true meaning. LOL.. The house was one caught in the mortgage fraud scheme and was flipped at ridiculous prices. Get this:  Dec 2005 sold for $206K, Sept 2006 $326K then it went to the bank in 2008… I’m sure in between there were private hard money sales to investors who caused the mess inside.  It’s as if they had blind contractors working without braille rulers … walls are crocked, archways are a tad shorter on one side, and my ceilings appear smooth ode to sloping dry wall. They were going for more of a “modern” open floor plan feeling so they knocked out walls and made huge opening between the kitchen and diningroom/great room… Apparently they didn’t think plaster would fit into their plan so they added drywall over the plaster walls. It was crazy to me to be laying in bed, look up and notice that the window molding are even with the wall.  Usually the molding would be sticking out,  right?  I jumped up to figure it out- are the windows sinking in? I see little round circles around the walls edge and started to pick the paint off…to discover nails-nails holding down drywall. *hilarious*

We have a huge renovation project for the many years we plan to live here. I’m finding the house to be a good conversation piece and think in the midst of some renovations I may just leave a crocked arch as a reminder of what happened to our homes during the dreadful years of mortgage fraud in the West End.

Here are few pics of views I enjoy. I’ll have some inside pics soon- right now you wouldn’t see anything  except boxes.