Category: Renovation Projects

Oana with hammer, before demolition

Old House, New Home

Published on by Oana Travel (Great Escapetations)2 Comments

When we started our house search in 2021, we wanted to find a place where we could be outdoors most of the time, hopefully in a drier climate than in Tennessee. We really wanted a good community, with diverse and friendly people who liked to hang out together. Unexpectedly, we found the answer right across the greenway from where we had been renting for a year in Colorado: a brown 70’s house in a peaceful and friendly neighborhood, with access to and a view of the park.

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Honey, We Bought a Fixer Upper!

Published on by Oana Travel (Great Escapetations)6 Comments

If you’d told me I would end up buying a 70’s home, much less a fixer upper, I would have laughed you out of the room. But what a fool I would have been!

Here we are now—having bought when the COVIDey housing market still ran hot—proud owners of a 70’s ugly duckling (pricey by Knoxville, Tennessee standards—our former home for 18 years, but not so by Colorado standards). But make no mistake: we are happy to have secured this diamond in the rough (no bidding involved!) and relieved to have a place we can call “home.” Now, it’s time to roll up those sleeves and get to work on renovations.

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Serendipity Has Its Way

Published on by Oana Travel (Great Escapetations)4 Comments

July 24, 2021

Precisely one year ago to the day, we moved into our rental apartment in Colorado and today we are moving into our new home! Yes, in the midst of the housing market frenzy, we managed to get a house!

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Kitchen lower cabinets - before and after

Let’s Reno that RV

Published on by Oana Travel (Great Escapetations)2 Comments

We kicked off our RV renovation project a little later than I had hoped but now it’s on! I’ve been giving the side eye to the ugly beigey carpet for a while now and I couldn’t wait to rip it out. Continue reading “Let’s Reno that RV” →

Honey, We Bought an RV!

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Sometime this February my husband and I bought an RV. Meet Lexi, our 29 feet future home on wheels while we explore the great USA:

With my husband’s early retirement around the corner next year and my decision to pursue a different path in my career, topped with our joy of travel, we decided to bite the bullet and invest in an RV. Continue reading “Honey, We Bought an RV!” →