It has been a crazy last few days.  Thursday, the next batch of prototypes for my eco friendly line of upholstery were delivered.  They are better than I could have imagined.  We had to scramble to finish putting the beds together and get the house cleaned before my parents arrived that afternoon.  It was chaos.  In the middle of the cleaning, hanging the last pictures, and getting things finished, the photographer arrived for the pre brief (we are shooting tomorrow).  To say we were stressed would be a gross understatement. Even the kids looked like they were in a labor camp.  We have *&*&^#@ finished.  I've blogged about the challenges of this move, finding a house to live in, then making an older home work with my furnishings, and of course there is the whole starting over, AGAIN.  There is another part of this story.  The woman who owns this house originally lived in it and lovingly restored the 1890 part and built a large addition.  She was a former funds manager who, for the past few years has been renovating older homes.  She, her husband and their little girl are also our neighbors and quickly becoming friends too.  She was working on a project two houses down the street with plans to sell when it was finished.  When the real estate market slowed, they decided to move into that house and rent this one until the market came back.  If you have ever put tenants in a house, you've renovated or added an addition too, you know how hard that is.  I had a similar situation with the house my husband and I own in Florida.  It is difficult to see others peoples's stuff in "your" house.  So back to the story.  The first family that rented the house from my neighbor were very nice people, but the house required many repairs when they moved out.  So along comes Kristin.  I can't find a house in the area and I'm (my husband to) freaking out. My neighbor needed a tenant and a makeover for the interior.  It was a mutual save.  I told her I'd make the house look amazing and she gave me cart blanche to do so.  Saturday night, I had a party to unveil the house.  I had a couple of our friends who live in the area over and she had her friend from NY come too.  It also just happened to be my birthday.  I had not let her in the house to see any of the progress as it unfolded.  This was her first time to see everything.  I knew she would like it, but I didn't know her personality well enough to know exactly  how she'd react.  It was the flipping best.  Every room I took her into she was so excited.  Her friend from NY was an absolute trip.  I don't know which one was more dramatic.  My friend's line of the night was "put on your depends" (for the pants wetting moments).  It was the best birthday present ever.  It must be how the designers on TV feel when the people see their redesigned rooms for the first time.  I did get a shot or too of the reactions even though they are a little blurry and the lighting wasn't great.  I'll of course show y'all the professional shots when they are done.  It is the facial expressions that I love.  How about the hand on the forehead.  That is just the best.

Next week I'll post some shots of the transformation.  I have some really great (as in "not so great") befores.  I'm also posting this to Met Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch.  Check it out.