1. Best Coffee Shop – Fido – I should own stock here although I do hit up Frothy Monkey and Ugly Mugs too depending on where I am that day.

2. Best BBQ – Judge Beans – Don’t love the new location because I’m not in Brentwood often but the food more than makes up for it!

3. Best Live Music Venue – 12th and Porter – Home to the best Local, Regional and National acts.  I love it because it’s big enough for full production shows but small enough to still be intimate.

4. Best New Restaurant – The Local Taco – Just plain good tacos, chips and salsa, and margaritas!

5. Best Burger – PM – Just trust me on this one. Once you’ve had one, you’ll crave another… often

6. Best Date Night Restaurant – The Acorn – Romantic atmosphere, incredible food and wine and the service is top notch (I’m big on this, I once was a server in another life)

7. Best 2 for 1 Night – Melrose Pub (Thursday) – Go early if you want a table. The secret is out on this one.

8. Best Wine Bar – Rumors – Summer is the best time to go to sit out on the patio and enjoy a nice Red. It’s cozy in the wintertime too with an exciting revolving menu.

9. Best Quick Cheap Eats – Calypso Cafe – I eat here once a week, never gets old. Healthy, Cheap, Fast, Good!

10. Best Meat and 3 – Arnold’s – This is my weakness, Southern food. From fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and green beans with a sweet tea, corn bread and banana pudding to finish it off.  You need a wheelbarrow to roll me out after that!

This week marks a milestone in our “Involuntary Remodel” because our house is getting the little details put in that make it feel like home.

First, the electricians installed our new light fixtures in the kitchen and I LOVE them! We picked antique styled beaded glass fixtures that are very unique from Hermitage Lighting Gallery. They feel perfect in keeping with the 1920′s bungalow style.

Also, Allie and I had been talking about installing bead board and trim in the master bath before any of this pipe-burst-flood mess happened. We wanted to give it that craftsman feel too. We figured there won’t be a better time than now. So, we had the carpenters who were building our vanity (which looks great!) install it. It will all be painted white and the walls will be Sea Salt which is a soft Restoration Hardware green. Hard to describe but it looks good.

I’m really starting to envision how it all will look even though we probably have about 3 weeks left till everything is done. Still to come: floors (not gonna be fun), countertops, more paint and all the finishing touches. As always, Brad Skipper at H.O.M is holding it together for us. I’ll keep you posted!

Please send me some feedback via comments, twitter or email (josh@bestmovenashville.com) on what you would like to see on the Best Move Nashville Blog. Dream BIG, the sky’s the limit. It doesn’t have to be about Real Estate or even Nashville for that matter (though I do love writing about this city)

This is YOUR blog. I just write it. Help me make it better… Thanks!

WOW, I cannot believe it has been over 2 weeks since our pipe burst, sending us in to this adventure of remodeling our home.

Brad Skipper of H.O.M. is keeping this project rolling right along.  The drywall crew has hung all the drywall and sanded it (leaving an inch of dust on everything!).  I’m not kidding, there is even dust in the kitchen drawers and cabinets.  Allie has been cleaning nightly to keep it all manageable.

They have now finished the first coat of paint on most of the walls and it’s starting to feel more like home again.  Tomorrow Marvin and his crew should finish up.  Also, our new vanity should be built tomorrow or Tuesday.  We’re pretty excited about that too. Unfortunately, there’s still no floor but that’ll be here soon enough.

Allie and I have decided to upgrade some things in this process to add value to our house.  As a Realtor, I’ve wanted to change just a few things in our house but figured we’d get to it eventually.  Instead, we spent the weekend figuring out the budget and picking out things because it’s happening now!  We are going to upgrade the light fixtures, counters, sink and backsplash in the kitchen and add bead board in the master bath. I think we went to every home store in Nashville Saturday and now we have a room full of things waiting to be installed this week.

I’m starting to be able to envision the end result and I’m super excited about it. Allie is too. Updates may not come as often now because there isn’t daily change.  Like they say, “There is nothing more boring than watching paint dry.” I will post as things change though! Stay tuned for more adventures…

With everyone further tightening their belt as far as finances go this year, I think this article is a good read.  Hope you enjoy!

RISMEDIA, January 20, 2010—(MCT)—When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, thrift is in. Surveys show that in 2010, a majority of Americans want to skinny expenses as much as they want to whittle their waistlines. But living on a budget doesn’t have to mean doing without. A little buying savvy can result in big savings, if you know how and where to trim costs, stretch resources and find deals.

CLICK TO READ MORE

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So now we have a blank slate thanks to Servpro, Ryan, Dean, Kevin, and Jimmy.  It’s time to rebuild.

I have never seen anything like it.  Yesterday a drywall crew descended on our house and went to town putting it back together again.  There were about 10 guys moving at a speed I’ve never seen before.  I’m not kidding, I went upstairs to grab my coat and when I came down, they had half the hall drywalled.  Unreal.

Once all the drywall was hung, two guys stayed to do all the mudding and finish work (which will take about 3 days total).  One shorter guy did the mud on the bottom half and another guy did all the tall parts on stilts!!! Check out the pictures above.  He walked around like it was no big deal. I wish I had stilts, that would be cool.

As they are working feverishly, Allie is picking out paint, a carpenter is building a custom vanity that Allie and I designed and Brad Skipper is keeping everything running smoothly.  We’re very excited now that we’re to this point and visible progress is being made.

That’s all for now.  As always. I’ll keep you updated!

Demolition is done!!! Servpro however is not. With most of the walls now gone, Servpro is attempting to dry the remaining walls from the inside and out. There are still fans on the main floor pulling the last of the water out of the walls.  Dean and his crew did a great job today.

Also, they pulled up the kitchen floor and found the most awesomely bad vinyl flooring underneath (see the pictures above). That floor is dry and VERY attached to the subfloor so we are just going to level it and lay new flooring on top.

The worst part now is probably that several sections of the hall and bathroom are exposed to the roof with no insulation so it’s pretty drafty in here.  Also, the kitchen is pretty unusable so we’re eating all our meals out. Trust me, it’s not a great as it sounds. We’ll make it though.

I think drywall crew is going to get started this weekend, so that’s good. We are trying to keep this project moving and I feel really good about the progress and the team. Allie is already getting ideas and pulling pictures from magazines for the new vanity, flooring and paint colors. We are staying positive and making this “Involuntary Remodel” as fun as possible. Stay tuned for more…

P.S. – Thanks to all of you who are following our progress here and on Twitter and Facebook. We are learning a lot and hope you are too!