Our House

The past few weeks have been crazy. We signed a contract on a house, we prepared to close. At the last minute, two liens from 20 years ago popped up on the records and our title company wouldn't let us close (for good reason). Our title company which wouldn't let us close, also didn't help much by way of figuring out what to do with the liens. Fortunately, Dan did some sleuthing and we closed one week later than planned. (Sept 19)

I spent the next few days coming over to the new house and cleaning it after I'd drop Sam off at school just a mile away. We moved in that Saturday, but only with the stuff from our apartment. Once that was done, I had to go BACK to the apartment and clean it so that we could officially check out. After that, I focused on the house. Thankfully, my awesome parents offered to come over and help me clean and get stuff prepared. Mom has been dubbed the Queen of Clean and Dad is Mr. Fix-it. We moved in eight days ago. I'm still trying to get this place organized but for now, here are some pictures of the house before almost any changes.

 I guess it was dusty out? My nice camera's lens broke so I'm using a less fancy camera for now.

 Dining room to the right as you walk in. Gawdy chandelier.

 This will be our study/living room.

 Front door from entryway. Another gawdy chandelier.

 Powder room.

 Family room.

 Kitchen.

 Breakfast area.

 Laundry and garage door.

 Master.

 Upstairs hallway.

 Upstairs bedroom. The curtains have since been taken down. The ceiling fan in this pic is new and beautifully installed by Dad, who said the old fan was only being held in by two tiny screws.

 Jack and Jill bath. Let's get a better look at those light fixtures.

 And how about another?

 This is our guest room and play room. Dad had just added that ceiling fan, as well. We love the new fans!!

For now the kids are sharing the above room. The light in there has also been replaced by a ceiling fan.

I actually looked at this house fairly early in our hunt, but had passed it by because it was outdated and dirty. Later, our realtor suggested that we give it another look and this time I looked passed those things and focused on things that mattered more - a good layout, good location, good schools, and easy cosmetic changes. We'll be doing some updating, that's for sure, but most of it will be small things.

So far we've replaced three ceiling fans and added two more. None of the fans matched before and now they all do. Dad spray painted a light fixture in one of the bathrooms, we had the trim painted, and Dad put in a new smoke detector. Lots more to come! And more pictures as we go, too.