Come take a tour of our 2024 double wide! We moved in last August so itās almost been a year. A lot has changed but a lot of it still looks the same, so come check it out!
Check out the tour here
Tag: florida living
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Manufactured Home Board and Batten Siding
Before Weāve been working on giving our home a facelift with some Board and Batten siding, and weāre painting it white to give it that Farmhouse style look!
We started by removing the vinyl siding that came with our home. Looking dingy, I held off on washing it because I knew it would be taken down soon. What bothered me the most was all the different directions of the lines, and how high up the skirting was. We also made sure to be extra careful removing the old vinyl siding because itās getting repurposed on our well house.
James first built a frame to extend the wall down and shorten the look of the skirting. The frame is made with 1x4s across the top and bottom and 1×2 furring strips for vertical supports.
Weāre using the LP engineered panel siding from Lowes. The panels come primed and are light weight which makes them really easy to work with and they come primed with Smart Guard technology helping make them resistant to water damage, pests, and fungal decay. We liked the panels because they didnāt require a special blade and you could cut them with a regular saw.
For now weāre just redoing the front until we decide if the garage will be attached or not. Donāt want to do all that work if itās going to be covered up!
And weāre just cutting down the original skirting and putting it back up, so no animals get under our home, but we do plan to add a brick skirt soon.
Here you can see the height difference on the skirting
In total we ended up spending $1640 but we were able to save a little money by keeping the trim around the windows and top edge of the home.
Hereās a cost breakdown with links showing just exactly how we spent our money:
Wood for frame $96.76
House wrap $36
Caulking $63.84
Flashing tape $28
Battens $111.20
Lp Panels $933.24
Paint $234.32
Screws $102.64
Stay tuned to see what we tackle next, if it all works out we plan to widen the front steps or add a big front porch!
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Home update
Ever since we first toured our home we knew the strips on the walls had to go. At first we were going to rip everything out and put standard drywall, but after talking with our home contractor we decided to keep the VOG walls and just fill in the joints. VOG is a type of drywall Vinyl on Gypsum thatās typically found in these homes.
If you order a brand new manufactured home it is an option to have drywall, and that was around an $8,000 upgrade, but since we got the model home ours came as is.
Right now weāve completed the main living areas, and as soon as my arms recover from all the painting we will start on the bedrooms.
Everything in our home is a different shade of gray, so Iām happy to see it get a little brighter in here with the white.
Hereās everything we used to fill in the joints
After you layer on joint compound, fibafuse tape, and more joint compound, let it dry then sand, reapply, and sand some more until everything is completely smooth.
It took about 3 or 4 layers of paint before the gray walls were completely gone, but the results are so worth it. Hereās how the living room looked before:
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Pineapples in the Greenhouse
I had no idea until they started blooming, but when a pineapple flowers at first it looks like a tiny pink pineapple with purple tube like flowers, then eventually they turn green, and over the course of about 5 months they will ripen and turn yellow.
Right now I plan to keep the greenhouse going all winter, and Iād like to add some other fruits and vegetables!
What should I grow next? šš«š„¬š„š šš„šš
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Myakka Flower Fields
Itās becoming one of my favorite traditions to visit the flower field on Motherās Day. Myakka River state park, Sarasota Fl is in full bloom with Coreopsis around mid-May. This year we were a little disappointed, less flowers but we were still able to find some nice patches.
Hereās a look back visiting the park over the years, and you can see the difference in blooms, I guess it all depends on the weather!
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Earth day
In honor of Earth Day being tomorrow 4/22 here are some fun ways to celebrate! š¤
šŖ“plant a garden
š¦ hold a butterfly
šØ eat ice cream
šļøgo for a hike
š¤ enjoy a boat ride
šŖbake cookies
šŖfly a kite
šgo to the park
šļøwatch a game
š§ŗ have a picnicHow will you celebrate? š
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Workspace Shed Remodel
Do you have a workspace at home?
A couple months ago we renovated the outside of this rundown shed that came with our property, I wanted to turn it into a gym / office, but after getting everything in here I decided it was too small to also be a gym. Itās ok though, we have the other building that has plenty of space for a home gym. Anyway, I love the way it turned out!! Ultimately Iād have one of those cute velvet couches, but my patio chairs are filling that void right now.
Tagged most of the stuff below but I also linked it on LTK Happy Friday!! š¤øāāļøš„šāØ
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Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween from the Boo crew!
Iāve had a sweet tooth for a while now and canāt wait to snack on some KitKats and sour patch kids! Whatās your favorite candy?
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Sold
At the beginning of the summer we decided to sell our house. We spent the next few weeks getting it ready and packing up 85% of our things. No easy task for Harper, that girl has so many squishmallows š¤Ŗ
Next we had to decide how to sell. A few homes in our neighborhood had recently sold, but they were never on the MLS. Turns out they were Ibuyers, the one most used was Offer pad but there are other companies too like Express offer, and Redfin. Offerpad was definitely appealing you can choose your move out date at your convenience, never have a showing, and not have to do any repairs or cleaning! The part I liked most was if you couldnāt find a home you could rent your home back for a small fee until you found something.
So why didnāt we go with the Offerpad offer? Well it was below what we could get if we used a traditional realtor, so much below that I could buy a brand new car with the difference.
In the end it all worked out, we really didnāt need to make any repairs since our house was newer, and we only had to do 2 showings. Buying and selling a home these days sure is different than the past, but nothing to be intimidated about! Now the real fun can begin, shopping for a new home š
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Mark & Day
click to shop Mark & Day is one of my favorite places to get decor. Checkout the new pieces I got to give the patio a little refresh for summer!
Elodie Bohemian/Global Dark Blue Area Rug
Gurkovo Decorative Accent planter
Weikendorf Dark Blue Throw
Zemst Lime Pillows
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Hylete
What do prefer when itās hot out? shorts or capris?
I usually go with shorts š
My outfit from @trainhylete is light weight, sweat wicking, breathable, and itās so comfy!
Iām wearing the Solana Cropped Tank S, Iris Short – Liner XS, and Tempo Capri S š
If you havenāt tried @trainhylete yet you should!! Use my code SIMONEAU20 to save and check out the menās line too š
HYLETEpartner
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Sharks teeth
Have you tried finding sharks teeth? Anywhere along the Venice coast youāre bound to find some, it just takes a little hunting!
Over the weekend a storm came through so we headed out to look for more shark teeth! This time we tried another beach well known for teeth, Blind Pass Beach on Manasota Key.
The surf was rough, too rough for the kids to look but James and I managed to scoop in between waves about waste deep and we ended up finding twice as many teeth as our last trip!
So far weāve just been using these $5 kids beach nets and a sand dipper tool. It would be nicer to have something with a longer sturdier handle but for now weāve totally managed with this!
To find the teeth you donāt have to look anywhere special, just walk in and start scooping! When you go to these beaches the thing Iāve noticed is that no one is really sunbathing, everyone is looking for shark teeth or shells. The beach was not overly crowded at all and we had more than enough room to spread out and search.
Emelia Simoneau 