We are really very excited in between the moments of being overwhelmed by our cute little foreclosure. We got it knowing it needed work. It seemed to be the perfect amount of work for the price and our skill set (or, our collective parental skill set that we both wished we had taken advantage of learning a little bit better before leaving the Lone Star State). So far our assumptions have proven to be true with only a couple of exceptions. We're having issues with our hot water heater (it's not producing hot water). And the electric system installed by the jack of all trades who owned the place before us leaves you guessing whether you're turning on the dishwasher or the living room lights (or both on the same circuit... stranger things have happened).
On the upside, after signing our life away with a stack of triplicates that probably took down an entire forest, we have gotten a great amount of work done. After a year or so on the market, there was a a year or so of grime to scrub off of every surface. I swear these houses would sell so much faster if the realtors would spend some money to get a cleaning service in there. It smells better, it's shinier, it's more homey. And then we brought in the furniture!
We agreed that it didn't seem real until the furniture got in the front door. It was actually relieving that our couch didn't dwarf our uniquely-shaped living room. I took measurements early on and put our floorplan in CAD, but I will freely admit I was stumped by this living room. Once I get it up to photographic standards, everyone will be able to see the oddity that is the plan of this house. Don't worry, that's totally the fun of it! We are having a blast finding all of the nooks and crannies that are magically perfect for those little pieces I've had since my first apartment in college. I'm excited to have everything painted and cohesive so everyone can see what we saw in our house; grime, metallic wallpaper and all.
So, now it's clean and we have furniture. Before our boxes that are in our storage unit make it in, I'm determined to get everything painted. Thanks to the help from my mom, the wallpaper is stripped from the kitchen and mostly from the bedroom. Sunday night I began painting my kitchen cabinets. I know it seems oddly cosmetic to do this when there are still so many other things we need to get done before moving in completely, but seriously, it will never happen if our stuff gets unpacked first. Right now I have empty cabinets and drawers and empty countertop space for a workspace. And soon, I will have my pretty blue cabinets! The idea is inspired by a home featured in a Wacoan from a couple of months ago. I'll post pictures when I'm done. I'm very excited about it!
So, after a weekend full of stressing and manual labor, Charlie and I were both exhausted today at work. We both crashed when we hit home, and now I'm awake at 11:30 with no real sign of wanting to sleep again soon. Oh well... that just means more blog to read. Hopefully I'll have updates on the house progress soon!