The end is in sight?

I'm getting tired of dealing with all the different people who are part of a closing, and I'm ready to be done. Recently, there has been a lot of . . . time-consuming, but useless, conversation. It looks like we are finally past that, and the people who need to be getting things done are getting things done. If everything goes without a hitch, we might be able to close on Friday (day after tomorrow).

It would be wonderful to finally have a place to be settled. Right now we are living in a small hotel room. We have a dog, cat, and bird, and way too much junk all around us. The mess drives me insane, but we can't really clean it up right now because the storage unit is full. Once we have places to put things and projects to do, I will be so much happier.

Kitchen Reality Check

Lets be honest. After the costs of closing, the cost to replace the carpet, and the cost for the new appliances, we are going to have to wait a bit to tackle the kitchen. We are "cash-money" people, meaning, we don't want to borrow money to buy things we want. If we don't have the cash, we don't spend the money. So, I need to come up with a way to make the kitchen work for now, until we've saved up enough for a bigger update.

The first thing that is going to need attention is the range hood. I don't know how long I can cook with a non-venting range hood; I need the bad smells to have a way to get out of the house. I'll have a post about this down the line.
I'm planning to tackle the kitchen drawers next. The drawers and cabinets are ugly right now; just that purely functional, glossy white formica cabinet from the 80s. None of the drawers have tracks either, so they just don't slide well at all. Sometime down the line, I'm going to replace all the doors and hardware (and build a few new cabinets). To hold me over until then, I'm going to add tracks to all the drawers so they slide eaisly, and super-clean and degrease the cabinets. I will probably also start moving the cabinet boxes around as well, and adding some open shelving.

I am contemplating painting the formica countertop as a temporary solution. I found this great tutorial:

http://www.remodelaholic.com/2011/08/painted-formica-countertop.html#more

I think for my counter top, I'd make the counter have less contrast. I know from crafting that those pour-on protective coatings are extremely durable, and extremely messy! I think it would definitely be worth it to change the look of the kitchen for the cost of some paint and supplies. Plus, I'd love a reason to buy some of that glitter!

Sometime when the money starts piling up we can do the kitchen for real. ;)

Would you ever paint a countertop? What hold-over fixes have you done in your kitchen that worked well? Do you have a great source for new cabinets or cabinet doors?

Checking out the Yard

Today we visited the new house with our dog! I figured out where I am going to put my greenhouse, and I discovered 4 young fruit trees in the yard!! The only one with a label on it was a D'Anjou Pear. They come in a couple different colors, so it will be so exciting to see what we've got there! No fruit on it right now.
The other three trees are unknowns. Probably fruit trees though, they have that look. They're planted in a really shady, dry part of the yard. I will be moving them first thing into a sunnier area; I hope they survive! I hope they're not all apple trees...

We also discovered some fence that needs to be repaired (of course) and i have an area that I want to flatten out to make it easier to walk. Those will be fun things, though. I can't wait to start digging again!

I found a nice spot along the south side of the house for my garden. I think it will warm up quickly in the spring because of it's proximity to the wall of the house, and it will be easy for me to put a little rabbit-and-deer-repelling fence around it without making it really ugly. It will be fun to prepare the garden space and plan for next year's garden! So excited!

I can't wait until we move in so I can start showing actual pictures of the place!

Begin Again

So the house is back on the market. There are 2 showings today, which is a good start. Much slower start than when we listed it the first time, but that's to be expected considering how late in the year it is. We have also had 2 people show interest in renting. Right now we are following up on all leads, both selling and renting. Obviously we'd rather sell the place but, if we can't sell it, renting it is the next best thing.

Now we sure are glad we decided to buy a cheap foreclosure instead of a more expensive finished house. If we are stuck with 2 mortgages, having one be on the small side will make a huge difference for our financial security.

Say some prayers that the right buyer walks through the door ASAP! :)

NoooOOOooo

We got really bad house-selling news today. Our buyers could not get financing. Basically, we wasted 2 months dealing with these people. Now it is too late to find renters since all the nearby graduate schools start in the next week or so, and late August is definitely not ideal house-listing time. The buyers have royally screwed us.


More to come.

Kitchen Dreams. Part 2a: Inspiration!

We are inclined to do hardwoods in the kitchen, because that will allow us to carry the same hardwoods through the whole first floor, which will be great for letting the space floooow.

We're thinking dark hardwoods right now. They have a rich feel. I love the super-blonde floors that are in style these days, but I worry they might be a little trendy. And a dark wood floor really grounds a room and makes light colored walls luminous! I love a little contrast in a room:But that dark-floor preference is subject to change. Check out this stunning bamboo floor:

To make a dark wood floor work in a kitchen if we want wood-tone cabinets, the cabinets should probably be a lighter version of the floor color. If we had a reddish wood floor and yellowish wood cabinets, it might be clashy (at least, that's the impression I've been getting from looking at pictures).

This room works well because the cabinets are a medium version of the dark wood floor:


Everything is still in flux, though. I noticed the other day that black granite countertops are cheaper than quartz, so we are leaning towards that. I just don't think I can create a nice open-feeling space (since the kitchen is smallish) with so much wood and black granite, so if I don't find a better granite deal somewhere, we may end up with white/cream cabinets. It will all depend on how the wood floors look in the space.

Do you have hardwoods in the kitchen? How do you like them? A nice ceramic tile is a classic choice, would you go with that over hardwoods if you had it to do all over?

Progress & Man Caves

The house passed the last two tests with flying colors. Dye test - passed! Radon test - super passed! :D One step closer to closing.


I am watching Man Caves online on DIY Network. I've been inspired, so I'm planning to turn the basement into a man cave of sorts. The hubby doesn't have many demands (Me: "What do you want besides a TV?" Him: "Computer. Babes. Hmmm, fish tank."). I know he will appreciate a great space, though.

The basement is a small space with no windows, so I'm planning to embrace the cozy, low-light feel. Down the line, we might change out the door into the garage for one with glass to bring in more light. For now, I'm planning to create a modern-rustic lodge feel with plenty of lamps. This room has a lot of the features I'm looking for. I like the stone fireplace, the chunky mantle, and the dark furniture. The fireplace makes the space super cozy. Our downstairs doesn't have a real fireplace, but we could bring in a faux fireplace to give the same feel (but cheaper than the real thing).I think that stove-look fireplace is nice, and since it's not too thick, it will slip nicely into the corner, while still being substantial enough to hold its own.

The wall I'd like to put the electric stove against has a center area that needs to still be accessed (the water main is hidden in the wall there), so the electric stove will have to be off center (in the corner). I think it will work though, because the side of the room with the staircase is more of a walk-through to get to the laundry room. Here is the current, temporary plan:
The basement has carpet, and it's in ok shape so we'll leave it. I'll put a rug on top of it to delineate the fireplace/lounge area. We already own an awesome wood slab coffee table that will be great in there. So, I will build the stoop/ledge that the stove will sit on and cover it and the wall with stone veneer (without covering the access to the water main). Then I'll paint the room a nice warm color, and bring in a leather (maybe) couch.

I'm pretty excited about this plan. It's a small enough space that it's easy to think about all the different elements, and it won't be too expensive to pull off. The electric stove up there is about $150.

I also totally want to include one of these fake deer heads:

What do you think of the man cave idea? Any suggestions on other things to include in the man cave? Suggestions on paint colors that give a cozy but not truly cave-like feel? What fish should we put in the aquarium?

A Bit of Inspiration

I've been watching old Design Star episodes. It's pretty fun to watch, because I know who wins. It's cool to see the winner develop through the show, and watch their successes. Unexpectedly, it makes me long to be in the art world again! I can't wait until I can carve out a little studio in the new house.

Leaving you with an inspirational living room picture:
As I look through pictures of inspirational spaces, I'm realizing I really like rooms with some contrast. I don't love a lot of super strong colors all over the place, but some good contrast with neutrals and then strong color in sprinkles works like a charm for me.

What works for you in a room? Strong colors? Architectural details? Does it make you feel like God watching a show while already knowing the outcome? ;)

Inspection Day!

Today we had the inspection of the foreclosure house. Overall, not bad. I'd say the house gets a B+ on structure and a D on cosmetics. Lets do the good, bad, and ugly. Ugly first, gotta get it out of the way.

Ugly
The biggest issue that has to be fixed immediately is the furnace. It doesn't work at all, and winter is fast approaching. The second biggest issue is that one of the walls in the garage has a ton of cracking. The inspector feels pretty strongly that the cracks are old settling cracks, but it's definitely not awesome.

Bad
Mold in the basement closets. Mold in the laundry room. Mold in the kitchen. (Shutting up a house for 12+ months doesn't do good things for microbe control.) Carpenter ants. Retaining wall falling down. Wood rot in various places (window frames here and there, door jambs). Cracked, lumpy patio. Cracked, lumpy driveway. Rusted gas line. Sealant and caulk needed all over everywhere, inside and out. Fireplace damper doesn't work. I could go on.

Good
Roof is 5-10 years old and in good shape. Attic is dry and well-insulated. Windows are double pane Andersen, all but one are in good shape. AC works and is about 8 years old. Fence is in good shape. Interior stairs are all in good shape. Water heater works. Bricks on the house are all in good shape, no cracks or anything looking shifty. Thats all I can think of...

Radon test is still pending. We have just a few more days to think about what we're going to do.

So Far, Not So Good

The Gas Man came today to turn the gas on at the foreclosure house. I will tell you right off the bat, nothing blew up or burned down. So there, you can stop holding your breath.

But . . . there were some unpleasant surprises.

First, the gas line that connects the meter to the line to the street is very rusted. The Gas Man suggested we get gas line insurance (for something like $3/month) so that we are covered should the line decide it's done playing the game. This is a minor surprise.

Second, the furnace doesn't work. Gas Man wasn't sure why, but there are several contenders for the cause. The chimney is full of water for some reason (the chimney is capped, we checked!). It's probably condensation, but it's rusted fully through the chimney at the bottom, so that piece would need to be replaced. The part that is supposed to cause a spark to start the furnace doesn't spark. And a "pressure valve" was also mentioned. This is a major surprise.

There were also some more pleasant surprises!

We had a torrential downpour this afternoon, and the basement and garage were both dry! I think this bodes well for keeping that basement dry in the long run.

I left the front door standing open for the 15-20 minutes we were doing Gas Man things, and the house already started smelling a lot better. I think that's promising! With new carpet and some paint and fresh air, I think the house will be totally livable! Yay!

So Far So Good

Water and electric came on at the foreclosure house today. Nothing burned down, and nothing flooded. Phew!

Being in the house today made me worried. The house has such a bad smell, and such a unloved feeling inside right now. I worry if we're making the right choice. I'm worried we won't be able to craft it into a home. I worry about the costs. I am a worrying person by genetics, unfortunately, I have to fight it consciously.

Tomorrow the gas company turns the gas on, and Wednesday is inspection day. Crossing my fingers that all goes reasonably well!

In will leave you with this inspirational landscape photo:

Wood floors

The foreclosure house has really ugly flooring on the main floor. Some is laminate and some is carpet (including the dining room...). So we are going to rip out all the ugly and replace it with hardwood. I found a place with some great, fairly inexpensive options. Here are some of my thoughts.

Yellow Pine
Wide-plank yellow pine floor is lovely. The room in the picture has a beautiful wide plank floor. The problem with pine is it's soft. We just aren't sure if our dog-cat-heels lifestyle is gentle enough on floors to make pine work.

Red Oak
This is a more classic choice for a floor. I don't like the yellowish hue that oak can take on as it ages, but red oak seems like it would trend away from that.This wood probably fits our lifestyle better (high heels, dog nails, etc, don't ding these floors up as much). And I think the color is pretty--oak has a lot of natural grain variation, which can be good and bad. A darker stain will minimize it.



Engineered Floors
These floors are made with a layer of real wood on top of specially-designed plywood. They are very durable and are a good choice for wet areas (bathrooms, kitchens). If you want under-floor radiant heating, you pretty much have to go with engineered floors. They are beautiful, but can only be refinished a limited number of time because the layer of real wood isn't very thick. Usually refinishable 2-3 times, it's fairly moisture resistant.

Here is a link to a very useful wood-hardness table:
http://www.woodfloorsonline.com/techtalk/hardns.html

Prefinished vs Unfinished
When i think about finishing an unfinished floor, I get nervous. Doing it right requires extensive sanding, then careful stain application, and then coats of poly ... the more I think about it, the less I think I'd be able to do a good job. So, we've decided to go with a pre-finished hardwood. I think it's the perfect solution! Instead of install-sand-sand-sand-base coat-stain-stain-poly-poly-poly it's just install.
This is a pretty "butter rum" oak floor.

Hand Scraped
One option for long-wearing floors is to choose a "hand scraped" floor. That basically means "pre-roughed-up in an artistic way". It's like pre-torn jeans. They have a lot of texture and are interesting, so we will also be considering these. I can't decide which would drive me more nuts: wrinkly floors, or the occasional scratch on smooth wood floors.

Have you installed hardwood floors before? Did you find it easy to get the hang of? Any pro tips? What do you think of the hand-scraped floor?

We will keep you updated as we go along!

Kitchen Dreams. Part 1b: Desires!

It is so exciting to plan projects for the new house! It will be months and months before we start work on the kitchen. But in the meantime, here are more things I love in a kitchen!

Stainless Appliances
I know some people are already talking about how they are "over" stainless steel, but I disagree. I think stainless continues to look rich. I like the look of it. I do think that any color has the potential to look nice, though. We had black appliances in our old kitchen and that actually worked well; black still looks sophisticated without the glitter of stainless. White works with white cabinets. Stainless appliances will probably make an appearance in the new house. I just hope our local Blue Hardware Store will still be having their appliance sale when it comes time for us to buy appliances!

Desk Area
I think these are a cute addition. It's nice to have organization central located in a central location like the kitchen. I actually kind of love everything about this kitchen...
I don't know if we will find a place to put a kitchen desk in the new house. That's ok though, I'd choose a beverage center over a desk anyway :)

Double Oven
I love love love to bake and cook. I love having tons of people over to eat my food. I can't *wait* to beautify the new kitchen and fill the house with delicious smells of food. So it stands to reason that my ideal kitchen would have plenty of places to make food happen!I actually like the color of the cabinets in this picture, too.

Pot Filler
Such a small detail, but so helpful! If you're filling your labstah paht, you don't want to carry that bad boy all the way across the kitchen.
The only problem I have with these is that often they are not very well-hidden. They are plunked right down in the middle of the pretty backsplash tile work. If we had one of these, I'd make sure to tuck it off to one side so it wasn't visible when not in use.

What things would you love to have in a kitchen? Do you have any of these and love them? Do you have more things in your kitchen that you love?

Kitchen Dreams. Part 1a: Desires!

I'm excited to start thinking about the kitchen! I'm making a list of all the things I've loved in other peoples' kitchens. (Later, i will start thinking about how to do everything cheaply)

An Island
I love a good island. If you do it right, people can sit or congregate there and it increases the usable counter space exponentially. Not to mention increasing the storage space with cabinets under the island. Second-best would be a peninsula with seating. The foreclosure house probably doesn't have room for an island, but it would be perfect for a peninsula.

Breakfast nook/Eat-In Space
One of the things I love about the foreclosure house is the area in the kitchen where a table would go. That area has floor-to ceiling windows and it's a bowed shape, which is really charming. We will have to see what we end up doing with that space. This is how that space is shaped:
I think a pedestal table like this would work beautifully there. Maybe my M-I-L can help me shop for a nice antique one to go with the antiques I already have:Wet Bar/Beverage Center
This is kind of a luxury, but it's so cool and flashy. I totally want one :) Makes a kitchen look rich. If we want a true wet bar, we will probably have to have a little more plumbing run to the sink, but the potential wet bar area is in between a powder room and the rest of the kitchen, so that shouldn't be too pricey. It could be similar to this (but a little bit narrower):Solid Surface Counter
Granite is obviously awe$ome, but Quartz, or even Corian would also be fine. I love those counters that are made from recycled glass, but I think they are too taste-specific, since we probably do need to sell this house eventually.

Recycled Glass Counter (comes in 900 colors, glass mixed with concrete):
Corian (basically upgraded plastic) Countertop:
Quartz (basically man-made "stone") Countertop:
Cabinets to the Ceiling, Crown Moulding
Tons of houses in this area have a soffit on top of the cabinets. I hate those things, such a waste of space. Sometimes there are things in there. Usually they are just empty space. Wasteful! Rip 'em out! Cabinets for miles!
Blogger is stressing out about all these pictures, so I will stop for now. Next time: more discussion about the kitchen! :D

What things do you love in a kitchen? What things have you done in your remodel and loved? Any regrets? Any friendly advice about planning, or helpful books/websites/programs you have used?

HOORAY! :D

Our counter-offer was accepted! Yay! There is a lot of up-front cost with a foreclosure. The buyer is responsible for having all the utilities turned on, and scheduling the desired inspections, as well as researching back taxes, etc.

This time around, we are going for a home inspection, pest inspection, and radon inspection. We didn't bother with radon inspection in our last house, because our previous area was not known for high radon. This new area is pretty radon-y, so we are covering our bases. If we are going to be here a while, we don't want to be marinating in lung-cancer juice the whole time.
I'm nervous about having the utilities turned on. The water will come on on Monday. After work on Monday night, I'm going to pop over and make sure the house isn't filling with water. If it is, I guess I can at least turn off the main shut-off thing. I suppose the house could also be burning to the ground, since the electrical will be turned on on Monday as well... at least the leaking water will put the fire out, haha!
The area we are moving in to requires a type of test called a dye test, which checks to make sure the sewer lines actually go into the sewer. I know. It's weird. But since it's a foreclosure, we have to pay for it.

Basically, a foreclosure is good for several reasons. Usually, you can buy way more house for way less money (which means the mortgage is small, so you give less money to the bank in the form of interest). This is the case for the house we are purchasing. Other good-condition houses in the neighborhood go for 30-50% more than we will spend. That's real money people! You also don't have to feel bad about tearing things out and putting them in the way you want them. Usually everything is crap-tastic and deserves to go.

On the negative side, foreclosures are a lot more work and money up front. There is more work before closing, there are more costs associated with closing, and there is generally more work to do and money to be spent once the house belongs to you. And that's all real money, too, cash-money, instead of loan-money. (If you do it right, the money you have to spend makes sense for the expected value of the house. For example, we will not be putting in a 50k kitchen.)

To us, this is worth it. Since the mortgage will be so small, we will have a lot more cash-money free to hire people to do work for us. Not all of it, though, because I love a good DIY, but there are always things I don't want to or shouldn't DIY.What do you think? Would you tackle any DIY project, big or small? Would you ever consider buying a foreclosure? Do you think the upfront cash-money is worth it, or would you rather pay more mortgage to avoid paying those up-front costs?

Thinking About Carpet

We are still waiting to hear back about our counter-offer on the foreclosure house. I have already started thinking about the renovations, though. This is because I am currently without a garden to occupy my obsession.

The first thing we have to do is carpet. We are going to choose a carpet based mostly on cost. We don't want to spend a fortune... but I also don't want to look down at the carpet 4 years from now and regret choosing such a cheap carpet, because it didn't hold up.

Here is what I've learned about carpet:

Cut Carpet
Plush: carpet for softies, and for looking pretty but not for using.
Textured Plush: carpet for medium traffic
Frieze: ugly carpet
Multi: your basic apartment/basement carpetLoop Carpet
Level: good for wear
Berber: good for wear, great for spending a lot of money on carpet

Honestly, I hate carpet. Who was the first person to think of making a floor fuzzy? But, if we buy the foreclosure house, the whole upstairs is carpeted (and replacing all of that carpet with hardwood just doesn't really make sense). I suppose bedrooms are one place where carpet can work.

What do you think of carpet? Ok in the public spaces, or just for bedrooms? Any friendly advice about which carpet wears best?

In My Dreams

I know the perfect house doesn't really exist, but I can still daydream about it! Here is my list of things the perfect house for me would have.

Located in a great neighborhood, friendly neighbors, no weird people
Good school district
1/3 acre or more, flat-ish, private, sunny lot
Fenced yard, or at least a fenced area
4+ bed, 3+ bath
1+ bathroom on each level
2k sq ft or greater
Front porch
Sunroom
Defined entry (none of that walk-right-into-living-room business)
Open floor plan
Big kitchen with an island AND an eat-in area... and a breakfast bar
Tons of light--lots of big, triple pane windows, skylights
High ceilings
Master suite
1+ wood-burning fireplaces
Solar panels on the roof
Hot tub
Greenhouse
City water, city sewer
2 car garage
Mudroom
Laundry chute. Friggin' love these things!

Hahaha. Not that I have all that many demands or anything :P Actually the real problem isn't that the house doesn't exist, I just can't afford it!

What about you? Do you think my list is too demanding? What's on your dream-house list?

Third Offer

We've placed our third home-purchase offer. It is on a foreclosure. The first house we made an offer on was a pretty good fit, at a great price with a great yard, but we were outbid. The second house had been on the market for a year, but the owners were nickle-and-dimers, and we couldn't come to agreement about the price. So here we are, making an offer on house number 3.
We are both a little sad about not being able to find the perfect house. I guess when your expectations are high, you have a long way to fall to hit reality.

This house is pretty good. Like most foreclosures, it needs work.

The Pros:
The price is perfect. You can't overestimate the value of a small mortgage.
It has nice space inside: good flow, big rooms, high ceilings, big windows, lots of light.
The master suite has it's own, big-enough bathroom.
Lots of closet space all over.
The roof appears to be in good shape (no leaking visible in the house).
The yard is already fenced in and is fairly level and nicely sized.
In a very residential area. I guess this is both good and bad.

The Cons:
The house reeks, and will need all the flooring replaced.
The windows are single-pane, so we will need to buy storm windows or otherwise make do.
The yard is shady.
The kitchen was stripped and doesn't have any appliances.
The railroad-tie retaining wall is sagging and needs to be replaced.
The patio is sloped the wrong way, and lets a small amount of water get into the basement.

So you see, the house is both yay and yuck.

The Plan:
1) Even before we move in, we will need to replace some of the flooring. The upstairs is wall-to-wall carpet and the downstairs is a mix of ugly things. I think the carpet upstairs is the cause of the stinky smell; it's trashed. I called around to some local carpet places, and we're looking at between 2k and 5k to replace the carpet. We would be going with the low-to-middle carpet, so we're looking at about 3k right up front.

2) Also before moving in, we will need to buy a suite of new appliances. At minimum: fridge, stove, dishwasher, washer, dryer. Lowes is having a sale right now, so I think we can get all the appliances around 2k.

3) ASAP after moving in, we will need to paint every wall. This is mostly just to help with stinkiness, because the wall colors aren't bad. I do love choosing paint colors though.

4) Eventually, replace all downstairs flooring with hardwood. I'm excited to DIY this!

5) Fix retaining wall (the wall isn't structural for the foundation, but it's tall and sagging).

6) DryLock basement

7) Redo back patio and adjust gutters to move water away from the house

Thats a pretty ridiculous list already, so I'm going to stop here. There will be other things we want to do, of course, but if we can get 1-3 done, the house will be comfortable to live in.

And now, we wait . . .