Making Plans

Oh, where to start? We have rented this house for a year and a half and hope to buy it this summer. A year and a half of wondering if this was The place for us. A year and a half of thinking about all of the things we would change.

The house was built in the early 90's. So it has the typical dark oak wood everywhere, mini-blinds, carpeting, worn vinyl flooring, laminate counters and more country blue and mauve than you can shake a stick at.

So here is The List. Brace yourself. It's a long one. It's going to take some time. Okay, a lot of time.

Short Term Projects:
~Replace two exterior doors with divided light doors to let more natural light in.
~Install wide-plank wood floors. The sculptured mauve carpet has got to go.
~Paint all dark oak white
~Paint the walls in all of the rooms. The entire house is white because apparently it goes well with dark oak.
~Remove mini-blinds and install updated window coverings.

Longer Term Projects:
~Kitchen remodel: Tear out pantry. Reconfigure layout. Install additional cabinets and island. Replace appliances.
~Turn outbuilding into garage. Frame and insulate two bays now and the other two bays later when the girls start driving (Oh Lord help us).
~Turn current garage into family room.
~Tear down wall in hallway to open up between the kitchen and new family room.
~Turn current living room into dining room.
~Build covered pergola/porch off of dining room with French Doors.

Here are some before pictures:

The hallway between the garage (our future family room) and the kitchen. The doorway straight ahead will be taken out. The door at the end of the hallway to the left (not shown) will be replaced with a door with divided lights to let natural light in. The wall on the left is the pantry wall that will be gone. Right now it's very dark.

The pantry that I can't wait to take a sledge hammer to. I love the storage but this thing takes up way more space than it's worth.

Oak, oak and more oak. I can just hear the paint calling my name.

Did I mention there is a lot of oak in this house? The layout is funky too. There are some space-hogging design choices going on here.

The current living room that will someday be our formal dining room. Until then, we will pretty it up.

Our current garage/future family room. The door will be replaced with a wall of windows. The ceiling will be removed and replaced with a vaulted ceiling. A double-sided/indoor/outdoor fireplace will be added on the right side wall so that we can enjoy it from inside or outside on the patio.

Our bedroom with the lovely, mauve sculptured carpet. This will be our first project. Nobody should be forced to live with carpet like that. EVER.

A close up view just in case you need proof.

Our hall bathroom. I want to do some wide horizontal stripes, replace the vanity and replace the bone colored toilet with a more efficient model.

Trust me. As soon as we sign the papers, the paint brushes are coming out.

Dear Santa, Is it too late to add something to my list?

Okay, that's it! I am adding a nice camera to my must-have-wish-list. I have a point and shoot digital that just doesn't cut it. I'm ready for a Nikon or Canon so I can shoot in manual mode and get my creative on. Check out the blog below to see examples of different shots. All of the shots that they show in the 'auto with flash on mode' look like my pictures. Ick.



http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/12/snap-even-more-photography-tips/

I'm not sure why I'm having trouble with the link above. You may just need to copy and paste it.

Falling in Love Again

I'm not sure what happened last month. I was all settled and cozy in this house and then decided that when it came time to buy, I wanted something different. Well I'm back to feeling like this house is truly home and the best place for our family.

So I've officially written my 2011 goals and #1 is Buy This House. Which of course means that #2 is Save Down Payment.

So I'm back to my dream book of remodel ideas. Because, although this is a great place and feels like home, I'm dying to get my hands on some paint and new flooring.

A Room for Living

My First Mood Board

I created my first mood board, a fun, energetic dining room. I LOVE this program!



Kendall's first mood board. So easy a 7 year old can do it.

Isn't it funny how the universe works? I had just posted my last post about wanting a ranch-style, one level house when I found a house that just went on the market. I really shouldn't be looking right now. But it was just listed and it's darling! We go to view it on Sunday. I'm trying to be realistic and not mentally move in. But at the same time if I just visualize us living in the house....well you just never know.

So I've been stalking the house. Is there such thing as a restraining order for stalking a house? Not only am I stalking the house, but I've been redecorating the inside, even though I haven't even seen it except in pictures.

At the risk of other people stalking "my" house here it is:



I do know that the exterior is darling and the interior needs some updating. I love a project, or two, or three.

This is what I'm loving recently:

This cozy, elegant dining room from this great designer. http://jentrified.blogspot.com/2010/07/dallas-palace-is-done.html (just copy and paste it into your browser. I can't get my links to work)



These great built-ins to make the best use of a small space found here
http://ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com/the-grand-tour/



This ultra-glam beaded wallpaper for a stunning powder room from here
http://wallpaperweekly.com/?tag=glass-bead-wallpaper



There is more, much more. Oh the possiblities.

Conflicted

The home we live in now is not ours, we rent. The owner would like us to buy it but we are conflicted. He hasn't told us the asking price but we do know he is a bit upside down in the house which is probably the biggest reason we hesitate to mentally buy this place. I've put a lot of thought into it and here are my pros and cons:

Staying Here:
~No moving expenses
~No moving hassle (isn't that worth like a million bucks?!)
~We feel comfortable here
~We know what we would do to update the home, we've (okay, I've) got it all mapped out in my head.
~Land and space so we aren't crowded.

Moving:
~Land. I'm not sure I want to be responsible for almost 3 acres. And I kind of like living in a neighborhood.
~Less expensive options. Maybe.
~Less updating. Maybe. Although, for some reason, I am usually attracted to the ugliest house on the block and have lots of great ideas. This drives Dylan crazy.
~One level. I've wanted a one level house for a long time. The last three homes we have lived in have been two levels. I would like a spacious rambler.

Something along the lines of this!


Right now we are in a house that looks like this:


The house needs a ton of updates; all new flooring, walls moved, kitchen redone, bathrooms redone, light fixtures redone, exterior lighting installed. I could go on.

I tend to obesses about things. I'm trying not to obsess and trying to allow things to happen as they are meant to.