San Diego Interior Designer Susan Sutherlin Designs |

Our new favorite remodeling tool, the Sharpie pen.

I can’t encourage you enough to do weekly, if not daily, walk through’s of your remodeling process.

As usual, we made our way back to our San Diego house remodel this past Saturday and found a few areas of concern.  After the trades people left, we noticed that the contractor, electrician and plumber had been using a Sharpie pen to make notes on the wall.  We figured if it was good enough for them, then why not us!  We proceeded to grab our Sharpie and go to town.  You will notice on the picture below that we noted where our dog door should be placed.  We then hit up the bathroom and marked the bathroom shower ceiling where the rain head was to be placed, along with something I’m looking forward to, the in shower lighting.

So . . .go to town, get out those childhood frustrations . . . write on the walls and leave a few “love” notes for your contractor.

We wrote on the wall and it was great! The contractor now knows where to place the doggie door for our little Macy.

Related posts:

Bathroom Remodel {Guest Bath} Tile Selections Bathroom Remodel {Master Bathroom} Crown Moldings – Appliances – Sewer Lines (Yuk!)

Our home away from home for two months!

So … you may ask where I’ve been.  Together with my husband, we’ve been living the life of my clients.  We have sold our home (in three days) in San Diego and purchased an ugly duckling “new” home in San Diego in the Ranch Bernardo area.  We are in staying in a hotel in Orange County.  You asked, “why Orange County”, well it’s because my husband is presently working in downtown Los Angeles and we also have a few children and precious grand children in the area.

With the home we purchased we are in the middle of undergoing a major remodel.  Presently the “new” home is now down to the “sticks” as we have removed walls, are redoing all of the electrical, some of the plumbing, and installing air conditioning.  All of the carpet, linoleum and tile floors have been removed and the ceilings have been scraped  You can just imagine, it presently looks like a bomb has gone off  in our “new” home.  Next we should start putting things back together . . . can’t wait to see that happen!  I’ve been capturing pictures of the process and will share with all of you over the next couple of weeks.

We make weekly, and sometimes twice a week trips to San Diego to oversee the process, select items for the house, see our other children and grandchildren, and to meet with my clients.

Being in the design industry, and always on a mission to help my clients, I’ve decided to include you on our remodel adventure.  I will be making posts about our process and what we’ve learned along the way.  We’ve now been in the Residence Inn in Anaheim Hills for five weeks, and with probably four more weeks to go, we’ve certainly gained a lot of knowledge.

Thank you for your patience with us as we go through this process.  Please leave me a remark if you have any words of wisdom for living through a remodel.

Our communal dining room for the last four weeks.

Where we can relax when needed.

Related posts:

Document! Document! Document! Countdown – 2 Days to Move In Making It Easier Living Room Windows