After...

The painters finished painting Thursday.  I took a few pictures (with my phone).  I had planned to get more pictures  today, but we've got a dusting of snow!  As you can see, the base paint is brighter, the trim is painted an accent color, and the shutters are barn red.  We are very happy with it.

Last Friday we had a plumbing problem, because isn't that when all plumbing problems begin, at the end of the work week!  The husb noticed water in the basement, and dry wall damage. He called 6 plumbers before he could find one that would come that day.  The plumber determined the seal was bad on the powder room toilet - that was an understatement since he could lift it off the tile floor without unscrewing any screws.  He said it would be less that $200 to reset the seal.  When he got in there he determined he could not reset the seal because the sub flooring, under the tile, had rotted away.  He said we were lucky we hadn't fallen through the floor.  He gave me the name of a handyman that could replace the sub flooring and the tile.  So, our plumbing problem is now a powder room reno. 

The money pit continues to earn it's name.

Before the Facelift...

The painters finally arrived!  Here is a before picture of the house.  I don't think the house has been painted since the late 1990s. 

The house is currently green but looks grey in some light.  You can see where I tested a few colors on the front of the house and on one shutter.  I think the house would look nice with a contrasting trim.   We finally settled on a slightly perkier green, cream trim, and barn red accents.   If the sun shines today, I will take pictures of the finished project.

 

Next, we plan to do some landscaping before the ground freezes... which means soon.  

 

 

The woods are so pretty!  It is my favorite time of the year.

 

Slowly Making Progress...

The new house has been keeping us so busy.  The original house was built in the 1890s and then updated in the 1990s.  Here is a picture of the what was the front of the house.

This is the north side of the house and the "new" front (seen here) is on the west side of the house. 

The very first thing we need to do is replace the roof.  And while we are reroofing we plan to bump out the area between the two dormer windows to put a shower in the Jack & Jill bath upstairs.  Lately we have been meeting with contractors and reviewing bids. 

I also have picked out and purchased appliances for the kitchen.  After reviewing roof bids I scaled back a little and went with KithchenAid.  I think they will be perfect for our needs.

I have also been keeping our current home ready to show so we can get it sold.  Between that, my part time job, and a little knitting there is little time for anything else.

I did finish listening to Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn and I've almost finished The Shape of Mercy, by Susan Meissner.  I'd recommend both books but I had slight book hangover with Gone Girl.  I needed better closure.  Still, I would highly recommend it.

My ten thousand steps a day plan has gone out the window.  My goal this week is to get out there again.  Fall has arrived in central Indiana and I am loving it.

A Few Before Pictures...

September has been busy, busy but today am I going to try and slow down and recount where the month has gone.

We have our home on the market and that means keeping the house very tidy. I don't mind it too much. We are clutter bugs {read slobs} and it is so nice to have a clean AND tidy home. Wouldn't it be great if I could keep this up in the new house? A girl can dream, right?

Mom was here last week and we had lots of fun shopping and making plans for the new house.   Let me start out by saying we must replace the roof... and this is our #1 priority.  But when we replace the roof we are going to do a bump out to accommodate a shower in the guest bath.  Here is the guest bath now.  It is a Jack & Jill with no shower.

And Mom's rooms are a priority too.  We ripped up the carpet in her rooms and our sewing room.  Here is a before picture of our sewing room.

Yes... our sewing room was an exercise room.  It will get a lot more use as a sewing room!  And the mirrors will come down.  The 1990's Berber carpet was nasty... complete with pet stains.

 

Mom's room had the same dirty carpet. But the good news is that we found this under the carpet...

the original wood floors from the 1890s!  These should clean up very nicely.

We shopped for kitchen appliances.  Here is a sneak peak of the kitchen from the stairs.  The cabinets were made from trees on the property when the addition was added in the 1990s.

This built in refrigerator has to be replaced.  Even though it was plugged in, it hasn't worked for over a year.  Remember... we bought this home "as is" just before the home went into foreclosure.  The former owners said when this refrigerator broke, they just started using the one in the garage. 

I am hoping to replace this with a stainless counter depth model and have a carpenter add a little moulding or something.  I have been looking at a Viking model that has a water dispenser inside.  Built in refrigerators are about 3 times as expensive as regular refrigerators.

Here is a shot of the wall oven and 2 cutouts that hold a microwave and a convection oven.  I would like to raise the wall oven and add a built in microwave.  I am considering a GE Monogram wall oven and Advantium microwave.  If you  have any experience with these appliances I would love to hear your thoughts.

I'd also like to replace the sink with a stainless under mount.

And I'd like to replace the back splash tile, paint, and refinish the maple floors.  The cabinets need waxing or finishing or something.  I wanted to paint them but all the men I mentiond this idea to freak out.  I am not sure if the husb had bought off on all these upgrades... but I will continue to work on him. {wink}

I have started working more hours at the yarn shop and have considered going back to work full time.  But for now there is a lot to keep me busy at both houses.  Which reminds me, I need to dust and vacuum so I'd better get busy.

The House...

More than a year ago my husband decided it was time to buy some property with land.  He grew up on a farm and I don't think subdivision living was ever his thing.  We looked and looked, wanting to stay very close to the friendly little town we live in.  We also wanted to find a house that would accomodate us and my Mom. We lost out on a beautiful property with a crummy little house.  Then we fought one another over a piece of odd property with 10 acres of woods.  I hated that house (clearly in a flood zone) and finally had to tell the husb if he wanted it, then buy it, but I had no intention of moving into that house.  He is soooo seduced by a piece of land with trees.

In January I found a piece of property with a house on a hill and nearly 10 acres of trees.  The price on the property had just dropped so I took my friend Mary and we went to take a look.  I was happy to see that this was a house that could work with a little love.  Plus it had a bedroom, sitting room and bathroom on the first floor, perfect for my Mom.     

In February we made an offer on the property.  By doing so we had entered a Short Sale process.  "Short" has nothing to do with the time it takes to make an agreement.  Finally, at the end of July we heard that the offer was approved by the bank.  We closed on the property a week ago.  Now we are to proud owners of 2 homes.  YIKES! 

Time to sell our current home and hire a contractor to work on the new house.  This is going to be an adventure! (That is me trying not to be stressed and looking for the silver lining.)  Honestly the house will take more than a little love.

Here is a "before" picture.

We have to start with a new roof and a bump out in the guest bathroom upstairs to allow a shower.  I will have more to show you during the process, plus this house has a very interesting history.