How the time flies and can easily get away from me…apologies for the delay. Here is the reveal of the garage! Let us know what you think.

Thanks for watching and following along. Many more projects to come!

Cheers!

Chloe & Michael

WHAT IS THE ONE ROOM CHALLENGE?

One Room challenge™ is a bi-annual event and currently in its eighteenth season. Many different design influencers participate in order to makeover one room over the course of 6 weeks (they’ve extended to 8 weeks this time) and share their process. You can check out the event and other participants here. 

We are still at it, clearing the debris from our back yard with another burn. We get burn permits from our local fire station (we are in the county) where we are able to burn as much debris as we can during a designated time. Here are the steps we take to do so:

Step 1:

Clear and cut all debris and get it down to a 3 to 4 foot size.

Step 2:

Find an area in your yard clear of shrubs and trees (10-20 feet) and is far away from the house (20-30 feet). Requirements can depend on fire department.

Step 3:

Call or stop by local fire department a day or two before and talk with the fire marshal who will check the forecast, air quality, and give you the go ahead or not.

Step 4:

Check air quality you can do so by going to https://www.sdapcd.org/content/sdc/apcd/en/ag-burn-decision.html it is required that the air be of good quality for approval to burn on that particular day or weekend.

Step 5:

Let your surrounding neighbors know. It’s not required but especially in California everyone’s awareness is heightened. They will see the smoke and if they know you are burning with approval they will not call in the fire. The permit is on file with the 911 dispatch department so they don’t send a unit but they are very busy so it’s nice to not give them more calls to deal with.

Step 6:

If air quality and word from the fire marshal is promising, the fire department will stop by the morning of and assess you burn area for the final approval. Water hose on hand (turned on) and shovel is required so make sure that is set up. They will sign off and give you a copy of the burn permit and let you know what time the fire should be out (cool to the touch).

Step 7:

Get to Burning! Keep it small and contained, always have at least one person near the fire at all times, and work none stop to get all of your debris burned within the timeframe (we tend to fail at the part because we always have so much!) 😄

Hope this is helpful!

Cheers!

Chloe & Michael

Oh my yep you read that right…weeks 4, 5, 6, and 7 all wrapped up into one video (coming soon)/blog.  I did NOT anticipate this much work to prep the walls and the floor for paint. UGH!

Again, we have joined in with the One Room Challenge to hopefully finish up this room within a 8 week deadline.  We are almost there and still so much to do.

WHAT IS THE ONE ROOM CHALLENGE?

One Room challenge™ is a bi-annual event and currently in its eighteenth season. Many different design influencers participate in order to makeover one room over the course of 6 weeks (they’ve extended to 8 weeks this time) and share their process. You can check out the event and other participants here. 

The Prep Work

Started off clearing almost everything out of the garage.  As I now know from our Master Bedroom Makeover, drywall patching is very messy because once you patch you have to sand it smooth and it’s like dusting powdered sugar all over the place.  So remove all or as much as you can is best. 

Next I scrapped off all the big chucks from the previous drywall install.  And there was SO MUCH chucks and “things” in the walls like staples?!  What why paint over and not remove, they were not used for structural use.  Ugh.  Beyond the walls the low cinderblock wall is a complete disaster!  When they added the concrete and some foam filler to adhere the blocks they were so so messy and didn’t clean or smooth it out so it dried in huge clumps and chucks all over the blocks.

I then decided after talking with someone at Home Depot for advice, who said that is the worst job he’s ever seen, which makes me think what else is a disaster in our house from bad contract work?!?  But yea I decided to chip out the chucks of concrete with a chisel and hammer.

Also, the area that is close to the garage door on the ceiling where the drywall was falling down.  We decided to rip down a portion of it and replace it.  Not planned and a lot more work.  But it does look a lot better and the popcorn ceiling is pretty much fully covered now.

And remember I said I wasn’t going to do the floors well we decided it would be best to pressure wash the old paint off now before putting up nice new paint and so yup more tasks to the list.  The paint didn’t come off very easily, ended up having to use paint stripper and then power wash it all off.  Edges are still messy but at least the majority of the paint is removed for now.

Now on to mudding.  Pretty straight forward with the walls but definitely added more than I planned which means more to sand.  Lol.  As for the tops of the cinderblocks.  Talking with the Home Depot guy he first suggested add a topper cap and cement that in but I would have to cut them because the lip is only about 3 inches and not 6 or 8 which is a standard cap size.  So that means renting a wet saw and trying to learn how to do that but then he realized the drywall is touching the cinderblocks and because of that we couldn’t go that route because it would be too wet for the drywall and end up moldy.  So I decided to just mud over the top of the cinderblocks.  I know this is not the best solution but I think at least it will look nice and insure the drywall will stay dry and not mold because it will all dry completely like normal when mudding drywall.  But because of the huge patches and it’s also been surprisingly humid lately, it’s taking the mud forever to dry.  What would you have done?  I would love to hear different ideas on how to patch the mess.

Next up will be to paint, add the storage solutions, & organize! 

Check back next week for the FINAL REVEAL! Can’t wait to be done…almost there.

Cheers!

Chloe & Michael

We’ve actually done a lot even though it may not look like it.  Now I want to take you back over the past couple years to show you just how we got to this point.  So stay tuned for the next few blog posts as we breakdown our progress on our property.  Now on to the front yard!

We found our dream home but after a few months the yard began to grow and grow and take over itself see the property has many well-developed plants and trees.  As a majority of sellers do you do a quick cleanup to make things presentable but underneath the trimmed hedges and weed-whacked beds are these giant plants waiting to take over their space.

We also began to find a lot of junk items in the yard as well.  Michael was deployed so I employed the help of my parents and we began to clear out and replant the front retained hillside.  But low and behold after awhile the weeds took over the space and gophers ate the ice plants… we were back to square one.

2019 was the year we got a drone and we’re finally able to see our property from a whole new perspective but 2019 was a big year for us with travel and planning our wedding in Italy so minimal forward progress was made.

2020 the year of staying home and tackling home projects.  Well by this point due to our lack of time to dedicate to the yard it had really grown and became a headache that we could no longer ignore.

So we got after it again and truly started the kickoff to our backyard and garden dreams.  At first we would cut down debris to put into the green bins that were taken in our weekly trash pickup but that was soon overwhelmed and we looked to other avenues for removal.  We decided to get approval from the local fire department to burn the cleared debris.  Yep you read right, I said burn and yes California is known for wildfires and being very dry, however in designated areas with control and permits you are able to burn so that’s exactly what we did.  Burn baby burn!

Weeds are still our never-ending story but little by little we will get there in the end.

Up next we will be taking all of the junk that we found in our backyard and hauling it away!  There is A LOT of junk so stay tuned!

Cheers!

Chloe & Michael

Welcome back to week 2 & 3 of our garage makeover with the One Room Challenge.  This is our second challenge we’ll be participating in.  If you didn’t already catch it last fall, we did the one room challenge for the very first time and we showcased our master bedroom.

Week 1- I showcased the space in its current unsightly state.  These weeks I’m talking about the plan.  Yes, I did have to combine weeks 2 & 3 because, well, I went to Mexico last week for a Bachelorette party weekend. Ain’t nobody got time to blog, vlog, and renovate a room during a bachelorette weekend! So I skipped a week.  Now that I’ve recuperated from the festivities it’s back to work!

What is the One Room Challenge?

One Room challenge™ is a bi-annual event and currently in its eighteenth season. Many different design influencers participate in order to makeover one room over the course of 6 weeks (they’ve extended to 8 weeks this time) and share their process. You can check out the event and other participants here. 

Our Garage

Here is our garage in its current state.

The Plan

The main focus for the garage is to get all of our boxes of storage and fun outdoor items off of the floor and up into actual storage spaces.  We really want to be able to utilize this garage as much as possible.  We store a lot of items in here clearly, but we also want to be able to do things like projects and gardening, working out- putting our equipment down here will be lovely and maybe one day park our cars in here! 

But our garage is tiny…it’s one of the smallest layouts for a 2-car garage.  It is 20 ft deep by 19.5 ft wide and the ceiling is only 8.25 ft tall.  There is also a cement lip at the base of the wall that protrudes out 3”.  That’s not a lot to work with! 

Here is the layout of the garage and the breakdown of what we are planning on doing with the space.

Shelves

I was originally thinking of building my own storage shelves and have them attached to the ceiling and wall.  However, it looks like our ceiling is a popcorn ceiling and the previous owners covered it with an extra layer of drywall.  I don’t know if I want to remove the drywall and try to fix the popcorn ceiling.  Actually, I know I do NOT want to do that.  That is a lot of work and possibly toxic (no to asbestos), our home was built in 1971.  So, for now I will leave it how it is and just spruce up the walls and ceiling with paint.  Let me know if you would remove everything or leave it, I would love to know!

For the shelves I’ve decided to go with a brand called Fleximounts. You can find them on Amazon. I decided to purchase 1 set of FLEXIMOUNTS 2-Pack 2x4ft Bike Storage Rack Garage Wall Shelves, 24-inch-by-48-inch, White and 1 set of FLEXIMOUNTS 2-Pack 2x6ft 24-inch-by-72-inch Wall Shelf Garage Storage Rack Floating Shelves, White. The shelves are mainly going to hold our storage boxes and coolers. Fingers crossed these will fit perfectly!

I got the idea from Jenna Sue Designs.  If you don’t already follow her, definitely check her out, she’s amazing at transforming spaces and budget friendly DIY.  She rocks!

Tool Storage & Work Bench

We have a lot of tools, thanks to my dad and a friend of ours but no storage for them.  I would like to hang the essentials and commonly used and then have the rest in easy to find AND PUT BACK locations.  That’s the number 1 problem when you’re done with an exhausting day of yard work you don’t want to then hunt to figure out where to put back the tools you’ve used.

Also, we want to configure a proper work bench.  We have a miter saw and would like to have that up off the ground and in a good place to quickly use.  This one looks like a dream 😍

You can find the plans for this over at Bitterroot DIY from Tylynn. Looks amazing and not sure if I will be able to pull this off but here’s to hoping!

Storage for Surfboards

These will be one of the few things we store on the ceiling most likely using this bracket StoreYourBoard SUP and Surfboard Ceiling Storage Rack, Hi Port Overhead Mount, Home & Garage Organizer Hooks.

Temporary Storage for Gardening Items

Now we also have a lot of garden items and tools.  For now, they must be stored in the garage but in the hopefully near future they will be moved to the greenhouse we build.  Stay tuned for that!

Workout Area

We would like to bring our cycle bike and weights down to the garage as well as purchase a retractable bench for lifting.  The bench will most likely be a future purchase but for now we can get the space ready.

Stay tuned for the next few videos, blog posts, and Instagram posts and stories.  We’re going to transform this space.  I’ll get to painting, organizing, and mounting storage solutions.

So, stick with me, take a minute, and SUBSCRIBE over on our YouTube channel, because over the next 6-8 weeks I’m going to be posting a video of the progress of this whole space and its complete transformation.  Thank you so much for watching and/or reading.  We’ll see you next time.

Cheers!

Chloe & Michael

Who are the Curious Lees?

For those of you who don’t know us Curious Lees- my husband and myself, we created this space online to showcase a few different things of our life.  We film cooking experiences where we showcase a place that we’ve traveled to before and we recreate a meal that inspires us from that place and showcasing the whole trip. It’s a great way to capture our past memories but then also travel while we’re stuck at home.  We also showcase all of the renovating we’ve been doing to our half-acre home in San Diego, California.  It’s a 70’s build it’s got a lot of work needed.  It was partially renovated from the previous owner, but the outside has not been touched.

Welcome to our garage!!! Eeerrrr wait the garage?!?  Yep, our garage… our next One Room Challenge.  This is our second challenge we’ll be participating in.  If you didn’t already catch it last fall, we did the one room challenge for the very first time and we showcased our master bedroom.  Really enjoyed the process because it keeps my feet to the fire, so to say, to focus on one room and get it done in a timely manner.

What is the One Room Challenge?

One Room challenge™ is a bi-annual event and currently in its eighteenth season. Many different design influencers participate in order to makeover one room over the course of 6 weeks (they’ve extended to 8 weeks this time) and share their process. You can check out the event and other participants here. 

Why the Garage?!?

I really wanted to focus on our garage.  I know it’s a little out there it’s not the first thing you go to when you think of like let me make over a room because for one especially even with the master bedroom hardly anyone ever sees those rooms when they come over.  

Same with the garage no one goes in your garage for the most part and they are never showcased in real estate properties when you’re buying and selling a house.  

It’s just kind of like an overlooked room of your home because they mostly look like this- a hodgepodge mess galore. 

For us and our current situation we have a lot of projects to do, and I want to do a lot of DIY and in order to do that I need a great space where I can really work.

Who are the Curious Lees?

For those of you who don’t know us Curious Lees- my husband and myself, we created this space online to showcase a few different things of our life.  We host cooking experiences where we showcase a place that we’ve traveled to before and we recreate a meal that inspires us from that place and showcasing the whole trip. It’s a great way to capture our past memories but then also travel while we’re stuck at home.  We also showcase all of the renovating we’ve been doing to our half-acre home in San Diego, California.  It’s a 70’s build it’s got a lot of work needed.  It was partially renovated from the previous owner, but the outside has not been touched.  Lucky us! Haha

Wants & Needs

The main focus for the garage is to get all of our boxes of storage and fun outdoor items off of the floor and up into actual storage spaces.  We really want to be able to utilize this garage as much as possible.  We store a lot of items in here clearly, but we also want to be able to do things like projects and gardening, working out- putting our equipment down here will be lovely and maybe one day park our cars in here!  I mean it’s kind of a crazy thing to say right!?!  Who parks their car in the garage?  We definitely don’t have space…for now.

Stay tuned for the next few videos, blog posts, and Instagram posts and stories.  We’re going to transform this space.  I’ll show you the whole design, what I have planned.

So, stick with me, take a minute, and subscribe over on our YouTube channel, because over the next 6-8 weeks I’m going to be posting a video of the progress of this whole space and its complete transformation.  Thank you so much for watching and we’ll see you next time.

Cheers!

Chloe & Michael

Here is a look at our full 1/2 acre property and the current state it is in, in January 2021. Over the past couple of years we’ve done some major clearing and still have much more to go. Hope you enjoy!

Cheers!

Chloe & Michael

Welcome to Our Home

Welcome, Bienvenue, Benvenuta— to our home!  A little back story…Michael and I met in Redondo Beach of Los Angeles, California.  We continued to date and live separately there until Michael received orders that would bring him back to San Diego and me traveling further south to a brand-new city.  Next stop- Mexico?!?

Michael’s kids live in the San Diego area, so this has been his dream to get back there as soon as possible.

Since we still enjoyed each other’s company and saw our relationship as a permanent thing we decided it was best to buy a home and not rent. 

House Hunting

Over the course of: 9 months, 10 different cities, 50 house tours, and 5 offers…in the summer of 2017 we struck gold in our humble neighborhood, fixer-upper, on a HALF acre property with great views!

When looking at the outside it is definitely nothing to rave about, and we actually passed up this home in our search multiple times.  It wasn’t until we were in the area finishing up our last home tour early that we thought we had enough time to hop over and check it out before heading back to LA.

The House

The second we walked in the front door it took our breath away and we were trying so hard to keep a “poker face” on for the other buyers and the realtor showing the home.  The VIEW stopped us in our tracks!  It is a panoramic view – – – looking West a view of San Diego Bay, Coronado Bridge, Downtown, and the magnificent sunset.  OMG WoW, where do we sign?!

After leaving, we discussed and wrote a low offer- the property needed a lot of fixing on the exterior and landscaping.  The inside was recently renovated and the kitchen was beautiful!  But the home had also been on the market for 111 days!  So, we treaded lightly and went low.

After some back and forth with the Realtor we struck a deal and it was way below our top price that we would’ve paid…we were thrilled!

So now we have to just close.  Well, it wouldn’t be the military if they didn’t always surprise you with new orders.  Everything was on schedule to wrap up in a week when Michael received word that he had to hop on a different ship for a couple of months before joining his assigned ship in San Diego, oh and he needed to fly to Australia by the end of the week.  He’d be gone for a few months, until November 2017, again it’s currently July and we were set to close beginning of August!

Now we’re in scramble mode a few repairs had to be completed before the mortgage company could fully approve the loan and we’d still need all the paperwork drafted up and signed IN PERSON by Michael before he left!  Needless to say, we got it done.

Signed sealed delivered…it’s ours!!!

I love you, stay safe, and a kiss goodbye he was off to travel across the world and I was left by myself with our new house, to move-in and unpack it all. Oh my!

Luckily, we have amazing friends and family who came by to help because military movers are fast and it is very difficult to stay on top of them if you’re all by yourself.  After a week or so I had unpacked the majority of our stuff and it was starting to turn into our home.

Renovation Time

Fast forward to 2021 and over the past 3 years we have continued to add to and evolve our style in the home but have yet to put the final stamp on all of the home except our master bedroom.  We finally have found the time to do just that.

Welcome to our home, we hope you enjoy the tour and what’s to come.  We couldn’t be more excited especially because it has been very long in the making.  We would love any thoughts or ideas you have.  We’re excited to finally complete our renovation and make our house OUR HOME.

Cheers!

Chloe & Michael

Why try this marinara sauce recipe?  Somethings are easily packaged and ready to cook with…pasta sauce is one of those things.  Marinara sauce, tomato and basil, four cheese these are always my go to options when I want pasta for dinner which is often.  And why TRY to make something from scratch when the quick option is easily provided and pretty good.  WELL…

Homemade Pasta Sauce

When you have homemade pasta sauce…it’s on a whole new level!  I didn’t realize this until I met Michael.  Michael is truly a wonderful cook and he makes sauce from scratch like it’s no big deal.  Quick, easy, simple.  And it’s DELICIOUS! 

Below is his recipe that includes Italian sausage but you can absolutely make it without.  And if you are still in need of a fast dinner option…marinara sauce is so easy to make ahead of time and store for a later date.  If you haven’t tried to make pasta sauce from scratch I urge you to try it.  You won’t be disappointed.

Print

Spaghetti with Italian Sausage and Marinara Sauce

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Author Michael Lee

Ingredients

• 2 28 oz Cans of Whole Peeled Tomatoes
• 2 16 oz Cans of Tomato Sauce
• 1 Ib Italian Mild Sausage
• 6 Oz Spaghetti
• 1 Carrot
• 1/2 Onion
• 1 Tbsp Oregano
• 3-4 Leaves of Basil
• 1/2 Tbsp Thyme
• 1/2 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Red Chili Flakes to taste
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Olive Oil

Video

We hope you enjoy this recipe.

Cheers!

Chloe & Michael

We may use affiliate links- by you clicking on the links, you do not pay more. Just a small percentage of the sale may go to us for influencing the sale of the item.

The day is FINALLY here, I’ve completed our One Room Challenge of our master bedroom!!!  If you’re new here, below are the past 5 weeks where I show the whole process from start to finish.

Week 1 – BEFORE | BLOG or VIDEO

Week 2 – PLAN | BLOG or VIDEO

Week 3 – SHOPPING | BLOG or VIDEO

Week 4 – WALLS | BLOG or VIDEO

Week 5 – MORE WALLS & LAST MINUTE DIY | BLOG or VIDEO

The One Room Challenge, is a bi-annual event and currently in its eighteenth season. In partnership with Better Homes & Gardens, many different designers participate to makeover one room over the course of 6 weeks and share their process. 

FIRST & FOREMOST:

THANK YOU SO MUCH…

– to the One Room Challenge for putting this on and giving me a reason and inspiring me to actually do this because our master bedroom definitely needed a major makeover!

-to my mom who came to visit and helped with the refinishing of the desk and hand paint our intricate vent covers button up this project.

– and to my amazing husband who not only majorly supports our lifestyle financially but who’s helped me on the weekends with those dang walls and with all the finishing touches, for his patience (it took far longer than expected), and given me words of encouragement when I needed them the most.

 BEFORE:

AFTER:

 Ta Da!!!  I think I’ve accomplished what I set out to do…FROM FLOOR TO ADORÉ. I absolutely love the Tuscan/French country vibe I was aim for.  It’s neutral, antique, feminine, and masculine/rustic all wrapped up in one. The walls as painful as they were to tackle I couldn’t be happier…smooth as a baby’s bottom, haha, and 1000% times better than orange peel there and knock down there.

Here’s a list of all the items I used in the space and coming soon I’ll breakdown the full budget:

 Furniture

Mattress: The 3” Purple Hybrid Premier Mattress – here is a coupon toreceive up to $300 off of your first purchase

Canopy Bed: Furniture of America Karis Contemporary Grey Metal Canopy Bed

Nightstands: Jerome’s Furniture (out of stock)

Knobs: http://ow.ly/pNVe50CGqJx

Box Spring: AmazonBasics 7” Queen Box Spring

Chair: Feather Filled Swivel Brynn Armchair

Vanity Desk: Second Hand Antique found on Facebook Marketplace

Vanity Bench Seat: Backless Vanity Stool

Lighting

7″ Rover Adjustable Arm Metal LED Wall Sconce Brass, Jonathan Y

JONATHAN Y Georgina 16″ Crystal LED Chandelier Pendant in Antique Brass

Textiles

Purple SoftStretch Sheets in White

The Purple Pillow

Purple Mattress Protector

Homfiner Faux Leather Throw Pillow Covers, 18 x 18 inch Set of 2

Down and Feather Decorative Throw Pillows Inserts 18 x 18 Set of 2

HPD Half Price Drapes Signature Blackout Velvet Curtain (1 Panel), 50 X 96

Thread Spread European Square 26 x26 Pillow Shams Set of 2

Down and Feather Decorative Throw Pillows Inserts 26 x 26 Set of 2

White Belgian Flax Linen Duvet Cover

Alternative Down Comforter

Rug

Quilt: HomeGoods

Accessories & Decor

 Window Rod (48 to 84 inches)

Sliding Glass Door Rod (66 to 120 inches)

Wall Painting: Homegoods

Sketch Art on Vanity

Antique Jewelry Tray

Rattan Laundry Basket

Tom Ford Book

Louis Vuitton Book

Chanel Book

Six Frigates Book

The Woman I Wanted to be Book

Cast Iron Bowl

Candle Sticks

Mirror: Second Hand from Offer Up

Planter

I will put together a breakdown of the budget and what I exactly spent. So stand tuned.

I really love how all aspects- furniture, décor, rug, and art complement each other and enhance each other and the overall vibe. Let me know if you think so too or what you would’ve done differently. If you would like to see other One Room Challenge participants and their completed rooms you can find them HERE.

Cheers!

Chloe

We may use affiliate links and by you clicking on the links, you do not pay more. Just a small percentage of the sale may go to us for influencing the sale of the item.