We're home owners! As you may remember a couple weeks ago, I lamented how we had just about lost our dream home, and we were kind of rightfully bummed about it. There were some issues with the appraisal and those issues were directly related to the listing agent dropping the ball and our agent not holding her accountable, and I could go on a pretty nasty tirade about it all if I allowed myself, but I can't imagine you would enjoy that much. Regardless, things did turn around and we closed this past Friday morning. We move in a couple weeks, give or take. We have a lot to pack, a lot to buy, a lot to sell and some minor things to do around the new place once the electricity is turned on today. Mike and I have already fought 76 times over paint colors, couches, decorating styles, etc. I thought buying the home would be the tough part but apparently moving in without killing my husband is going to be the true test.
I've been reluctant to talk about the house because you will never meet anyone in your life more superstitious or more in fear of The Jinx than me, but now that we have the keys in hand and the mortgage in our names, I think it's safe to say we can discuss our home!
We don't have much to do in order to make it move-in ready, but I'd like your opinion on a few things, Internet. Perhaps you can help curb the number of times I growl at my husband, "You have the worst taste on the planet."
First, here's the exterior:
I've blacked out the listing agent's name and number. I will not give her business if I can help it.
There isn't much to do in terms of landscaping, thank god. Have I mentioned Texas can get a wee bit warm in the summer months? Have I also mentioned our summer months run from May through November? But the entire yard is about a half acre, so we have to fix the broken riding lawnmower the house came with. Or hire a mowing service. Guess which one I'm for?
We'll be painting the front door red and adding a bench to the front porch.
I don't have a picture of the side yard, which also has a porch (with a swing) that runs the length of the house (it's just to the left of the trellis).
I would like to eventually plant both a vegetable and an herb garden somewhere.
This is the detached garage to the right of the front door. It has an unfinished loft atop it, and we'd like to eventually add plumbing and convert it to a guest room or, eventually, Kyle's room when he's older and needs to avoid his parents as much as possible.
You can also, just barely, make out a red shed that sits in the backyard.
This is the living room, and the room you first walk into from the front door. The wall color is a deep mustard yellow, and I like it. But I'm wondering what color couch to purchase for the room. We're getting rid of the Craigslist couch and love seat we've had for more than two years that were worn out and old when we bought them and now are nicely accented with spit-up and crusty formula stains! Lovely. We want to replace the couch with something affordable, comfortable and compatible with the unique colors of the room. We'll probably take down the curtains that came with the house (in this room, at least), so ignore those.
This is the middle room, and I've taken such a horrible picture, you can't tell that it's a somewhat awkward layout, and we're going to have to get fairly creative here. We're moving the fireplace somewhere else in the house, and we're putting Mike's fish tank (seen here) in that space instead. I'd also like to add a bistro table or a chaise lounge or something to add a little substance to this room so it doesn't end up being the landing spot for all of Kyle's toys. What do you think? (The wall colors are staying. We're going to be bold up in this home.) The room extends to the left where there are double doors leading to the side porch/yard, and there are also stairs to the left of the kitchen and to the right of the double doors that lead upstairs to a loft, an exposed wardrobe and a full bath. (Nothing needs to be done upstairs, thankfully.)
Our kitchen. I really love this room although some semi-major updates have to be made. We'll eventually (or soonish) need a new stove and dishwasher. We're changing the cabinet hardware, as well. Also, there's a wall of cabinets to the right of the entrance that I completely cut off in this picture, and, MY GOD, could someone teach the 27-year-old how to take a decent picture? Those cabinets are an awful bright yellow/almost neon green color that we will definitely change. But, to what? White to match the other cabinets? Or an accent color that goes with the kitchen color palette? Personally, I'd like to use chalkboard paint on those cabinets and use them as a creative outlet-type space where we can leave passive-aggressive notes to one another ("Wow, the trash doesn't smell at all! We should leave it where it is FOREVER."). Or love notes. Whichever. What do you think?
And I'd also like to eventually add a nice, eye-catching backsplash to the wall, but what won't clash with the floors?
This will be Kyle's room, and not much is changing in here except the purple will be changed to a lightish green that matches his room's decor and hopefully much more sleeping will go down in this new home. Sleeping through the night sleep. RIGHT KYLE?
And our room. We're changing the yellow to a light neutral khaki with a brown accent wall. We're also painting our adjacent bathroom a light, light cream and steel blue/gray combo (there's a chair rail in the bathroom so the two-toned color combo will work well there). We fought long and hard over these colors, so no input needed here. Sending us back to square one is NOT GOOD FOR THE RELATIONSHIP. Trust me.
But, we're getting rid of our head- and foot board. I'd like to get really creative with what will go above our bed. Either a line of hanging pictures or a ledge (both looks I can't find pictures of, of course).
Better pictures of everything to come, so your input can be based on things like actual photographic proof of our home and not my poor descriptions of things.
Regardless, we're all pretty stoked about this new chapter in our lives. Especially Kyle who thinks if we bought him a house for his four-month birthday, what the hell are we going to produce for month five! (Hugs, Kyle. That's all Mama and Pops can afford now.)