I've always fancied myself a do it yourselfer...

He loves his power tools...

When I was in high school, I already was in love with design.  I toyed with going into some aspect of the field in college, but took the easy way out.  I pondered career changes.  I even considered becoming a house flipper.

I watched all the shows and quite frankly, the challenges they faced seemed like rookie mistakes.  I figured I could do better.  I watched all the shows.  That was the same, right?

So, my ex-husband and I bought our first house.  It was a 1980s contemporary ranch.  I fell in love with the open floor plan.  All it needed was a little updating, and for the bathrooms to be remodeled, then it should be good to go.

Only, it didn't quite work out that way.  My ex husband was not...handy.  Handsy, but that is so not the same thing. 

I was on my own in the remodel department.  And I swore, after struggling with heavy lifting and removing not one but two antique tile floors that I would have a man to help me with future remodels. 

Enter my new almost husband.  (It will be official, 09/10/11!) 

Sam is a contractor.  He has been working on all aspects of home remodeling for roughly thirteen years.  He is a third generation remodeler.  And when I had projects, I sort of confided in him.  He was, after all, experienced and did conveniently live just down the street.  Poor, Sam.

He patiently helped me with projects.  And because I enjoyed doing projects with him, we started working on his home even before we were dating.  Our first project was a tiling project.

The original owners had remodeled the bathroom, sort of.  And they had taken a few shortcuts with the plumbing.  Sam hates that kind of thing.  So, he hauled out a jack hammer, drilled out the slab, and replaced the tiles. 

I came in for the grouting part.  We worked together.  I grouted, he  wiped.  We had the entire room knocked out in no time.  And soon feelings had developed.

The more I worked on the house, the more I wanted to share it with him.  And now, here we are, three years later, about to get married and have that life I imagined so long ago. 

We still love working on projects together.  We make a great team, the do it yourselfer and the professional.  What I lack in actual skill, I make up for in enthusiasm.  That's our joke.

Come back often to read our adventures in remodeling, see some of our projects, and get advice and help from the professionals.  We have our own company, Carolina Home Enhancements.

Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.  Connect with us and let us know how we can help.  All projects should run smoothly.  We can make it happen.