Pimp My Closet

Our closet before.  Not too shabby but a lot of wasted space.

I've always thought of our closet as the little walk in that could.  It's small but has so much potential.  I mean, look at all that wasted space.  It's still a walk in so I felt I was moving up in the world because the closet I came from was even tinier.  So tiny my clothes were perpetually wrinkled from being crammed and jammed in there.  I don't know how those people back in the day survived with so little closet space.  Oh yeah, I guess they didn't have much!  Well, now we have tons of stuff so closets are super important.  I was hogging our closet in typical woman fashion but that's what we do because we have the greater need.  I've got work out gear, tanks, bras, long sleeves, short sleeves, skirts, dresses, scarves, pajamas and it just goes on and on.  Don't even get me started on the shoes.  There are flats, pumps, open toed, close toed, sandals and those darn boots.  Men don't have nearly the excessive wardrobe needs that we do.  Despite my feelings of entitlement to more space I at least had the common decency to feel bad for shutting him out so I rearranged some things so he could at least fit some of his stuff in there.

Our brand new organized closet

Mj's double hang rod and Eight drawers

Women love closets.  Men love closets.  And if you have a lot of clothes and shoes like most of us do then you really love organized closets. Enter Closet World.  They pimped our closet and it turned out even better then I thought it would.  I was thinking it might feel cramped after they put everything in AND we put in all of our stuff but it actually made it look larger somehow.  I took the opportunity to get rid of a lot of stuff and tried not to allow just any old thing to make it into our new and improved closet.  Everything got scrutinized and I'm glad to say not everything made the cut.  It was time to cleanse and make a trip to the Goodwill donation center.  I staked out my territory first and tried not to be too greedy!  The double hang section to the left is all mine but there is room for Mj to hang things too if he needs it.  Turns out he only has about 9 pairs of shoes.  How sad.  So most of the shoe shelves are taken up by me of course.  We have 11!  I have  7 which fit 4 pairs across and he gets 4 which fit 3 man sized shoes across.  All the shelves are fully adjustable so I can make it taller for boots and shorter for flats.  There is also room at the top and the bottom for more shoes or whatever else.  We added belt racks and tie racks that slide in and out too.  I was able to fit a lot more into our bedroom set dresser drawers because my clothes are smaller so I'm only getting 2 out of the 8 closet drawers and he has a whole wall of cubbies to himself.

It's been a week and he still hasn't put all his stuff in.  Is he scared I'm going to shove him out?  After seeing the way he awkwardly tried to cram a bunch of his folded shirts and chunky sweatshirts into one of his cubbies I told him he might as well let me organize all of his stuff.  I'm so much better at it.  He agreed.  The only other thing I want to get for storing clothes is a pretty white end of bed type storage bench/trunk, which I'm having a hard time finding.  I've been on a pajama shopping freeze for years because I have a ridiculous amount of pajamas, mostly from Victoria's Secret, that are currently residing in a bin that doesn't quite fit underneath our bed and they could all go in the trunk instead. 

Show wall on left and Double row of hanging rods. 

The cost is actually almost double what I was hoping to spend but we figured if we are going to do it we might as well DO it.  We had them design it in the way that would best fit our needs.  We didn't want to build our own closet so it cost us but I think it was worth every penny.  I feel like I can actually SEE my clothes and there is a place for everything.  Even my giant Uggs have a home in this closet. I love it!

 My dream closet inspiration.  Ours doesn't look 

exactly like it but close enough!!

We landscaped the backyard last year.  Crown molding was home improvement project #2 and the closet was project #3 for this year with our tax money.  Project #4 is rain gutters.  Not nearly as much fun but necessary.  We'll put that off until after Summer.  Project #5 is kitchen and flooring and hopefully that will  happen sometime next year.  Mj claims that this is our starter home and that we won't be here forever but I love this house and every time we add to it I love it even more.  I am glad that we are doing some of the things that we want instead of never getting around to it so that we can really enjoy it while we are here.  Even if this isn't our last home I definitely plan to be here for a while.  Really, how could I ever leave my beautiful closet behind?

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Does anyone else struggle with how to store all of your stuff?  Aside from not shopping and donating to goodwill what are your solutions?

House Project:  The Gargce

Our House Has Character

Mj just about drove me nuts in Home Depot on Tuesday night when we were embroiled in our bold vs safe paint color dilemma.  I was nervous about it but I walked out the door expecting to come home with Orange.  Then we got there and Mj started having doubts.  I had doubts myself but was willing to take a chance and just go with it because he seemed to really want to.  Yes, it would be nice to liven things up but oh boy did that Orange seem bright and we just weren't sure if we would like an entire wall that color.  When he started second guessing the choice I told him I could walk out of there happy that minute with Gobi Desert; the neutral or we could go with the Orange if he wanted to.  The problem is that he didn't really want either.  The Orange felt too bright and he felt the Tan would clash with our kitchen curtains.  I could not convince him that neutral goes with everything and it would look just fine.  This was our 3rd trip to Home Depot and I was just over it!  We mulled it over for over an hour, pondered a few entirely different colors and ended up walking out of there with the Gobi Desert which is what we had initially picked after our very 1st Home Depot trip. 

We'd already painted the wall to the right green but had them
re paint it neutral and we extended that color right into the kitchen

We had already painted our Master Bedroom but it needed some major touching up so we had them do that in addition to the kitchen, a few areas of wall left white downstairs, the stairwell and common areas upstairs.  The only white walls left to tackle are the bathrooms and the 2 spare bedrooms.  We can totally do that....at some point!! Our house looks warmer and more inviting without all those boring white walls.  We got the crown molding all downstairs including the half bath, our master bedroom and the common areas upstairs.  We also had them add a really pretty border underneath the three windows in the living room.  It looks so beautiful and makes such a difference in the overall look of our house.  Now it has this so called "character" that people are always talking about on HGTV.  By the time I got home from work and the gym on Wednesday they were still working but almost done.  Our house was a mess!  As soon as they started packing up I ran around like a mad woman putting everything back in it's place because it literally pains me  to see everything in disarray.

the loft area to the left and our hallway to the right

master bedroom

I love it!  I can't stop looking at it and I have no regrets about forking over such a large chunk of cash.  Next project; our closet!  We're getting it done next week and I am just as excited about that as I was about this project.

 Today is my birthday so I skipped out on work.  Mj took a half day off and we are spending today together then tomorrow my family will come down.  April birthday weather can be hit and miss but this year it's just gorgeous.  The sun came out early and it's supposed to be 80 degrees.  Time to get out there and enjoy this beautiful day. 

Home Project:  Closet Make Over

Paint: Go Bold or Play it Safe?

We painted our downstairs living/dining area, upstairs loft and master bedroom not too long after we moved in.  Everywhere else has stayed what I call basic builder white.  It's so boring and adds nothing to our decor so it's time for it to go.  I'd like to say that we are going to do it ourselves but that is not the case.  The first time around was really labor intensive and turned out to be a full day project.  Painting is a lot harder then it looks!  We will do the bathrooms and extra bedrooms ourselves later someday but since we are having crown moulding installed we decided to pay a little extra, leave it to the professionals and have them do some painting this time around.  We can't reach the high areas in the hallway as you go up the stairs anyways and me on a ladder or using an extended roller on stairs is an accident waiting to happen.   

3rd and 4th down are our neutral picks.  #3 would
be for the kitchen and #4 would be for everywhere else.

Picking the neutrals was not too hard.  We didn't agree on our favorites initially but were able to easily narrow it down to two using the darker one for the kitchen and a lighter one for everywhere else.  Then Mj decided he wanted to get bold for the kitchen.  Which is fine because I would love to liven things up with a bright color too but bold can be scary.  We went back to home depot and picked some brights.    We stood there staring at our sample colors on the wall for a while and couldn't decide.  We walked away, came back and looked again but still couldn't decide.  The Behr Paint app said that this shade of  Orange would go well with our curtains but it just looks so bright!! We actually don't have a huge amount of wall space in the kitchen.  It's so hard to visualize how it's going to look all over and once it's slapped on every inch of our walls we're stuck.  We don't want to have to re do this.  Especially since we are paying to have it done.

The bright orange is sort of scary!!  We did not like the mustard
in the middle but the Peachy one at the bottom is an option.

The crown molding will be installed tomorrow so we have to decide tonight. Do we play it safe with a neutral, go middle of the road with a lighter peach or do we go bold?  We have to make a decision very soon and I still have no idea!!!!

The Bench Debacle

More Mud Bench on display at Cost Plus World Market

We don't wear shoes in our house so I've been looking for a cute little bench to put inside our front entry way that will make it easier for guests and myself to take shoes off when coming in.  A couple weeks before Christmas I saw this beautiful $229 bench on display at Cost Plus World Market.  I love that store.  It was not in the budget right then but I had just signed up for their club and figured that after the holidays I might have some coupons by then or it might even be on sale. 

A couple days after the new year I looked up the bench.  They are having a furniture sale and there it is on sale for $129!  I even had a $10 off coupon that I could use and I would use some money got we for Christmas to pay for it.  I went that very day right after work and bought it.  They didn't have one on display but I had the item name and they were able to find it for me in the back.

This worked out perfectly.  The bench I wanted AND in stock and on sale!  I got the very last one.  I triumphantly walked into the house and said to Mj, "Yeah, I got that bench we liked.  It was on sale!"  I go through my pics on my lap top to check out the bench and the dimensions again.  I am startled to see that the bench that I took a picture of before Christmas cannot be the same bench that is now sitting in a box inside my front entry way.  I zoom in on the pic and see that the not only are the dimensions different but so is the item name.  In my excitement over seeing this cute bench I thought it was the same one as before when in fact, it's totally different.  How lame am I?  Seeing the pictures side by side it's obvious that they are different but I absolutely did not realize it until I did this.  Feeling a little deflated I try to find the More Mud bench on the website and it's actually nowhere to be found.  It's almost like it was a figment of my imagination except I happen to have picture proof that it was not.  Strange.  I like the "new" bench but I'm thinking that I would have liked the other one better.  It's been difficult finding one we both like that is in our price range and quality that I can trust.  The Malay bench is very similar and I certainly don't feel like lugging it back to the store so I decided to keep it.

Malay Upholstered Bench

We opened it up and put it together on Sunday and it looks good.  It's not the More Mud Bench but I like it.  Even if I feel like a bit of an idiot for getting all excited about the wrong one.  It didn't come with the baskets like the other one did but it's made to hold them so I can get some if I want.  I actually kind of like just having the shelf and this bench is longer so it actually has more storage and sitting space then the other one.  It's cute, functional, the price was right and I can check one more thing of my list of things we need to get.

Let There Be Kitchen Tiers

I mentioned my all out hunt for kitchen tiers in a previous post.  I finally gave up and called JC Penny's to look into getting them custom made.  Might as well see if there was any chance in hell that we could afford it and if there were any patterns on earth that we actually like since the stores sure didn't seem to have any.  I didn't want solids and I just wasn't all that thrilled with having tiny little teapots and rustic bowls of grapes dancing around my kitchen.  After the rep came out deciding on a fabric wasn't too hard.  There were actually 3 that I really liked.  Mj was out of town but I narrowed it down to a few selections and we agreed on one.  The price was more then I expected to pay but we needed some curtains already and I didn't want to settle for some I didn't really want so that was that.

It's so hard to visualize how those squares of fabric are actually going to translate into a window treatment but I am very happy to say that I really like the finished product.  It was nice that we didn't even have to put them up-the guy came out and did it in about 30 minutes.  They are bright and modern without being too obnoxious.  Our kitchen is open to everything else so we had to make sure they wouldn't clash.  I love stripes but I wanted something different.  Originally I was going for Reds and this isn't primarily Red but I still got some in there.  The colors go well with the light green walls we already have going in the living and dining areas and we even found wall art for the dining area that compliments them well.  They are good colors that we can easily build around.  The curtains themselves are very full and I love the hardware.  Those large silver balls (also known as finials) at the ends of the rods give them a nice touch of elegance.  We opted for a simple tension rod for the bottom tiers.  I never imagined that it would take six months to get kitchen curtains in this house.  Just one more thing to check off our list of household projects....and many more to go!

Backyard Landscaping

I am still getting my honeymoon posts together but in the meantime I thought I'd post about something that happened before that.

Our backyard which until recently was an ugly dirt lot was finally completed two weeks before our honeymoon.  This was hubby's project from start to finish and it took a little bit longer then originally planned but he got the job done within the 6 month HOA time frame.  We were just fine with having a small backyard.  We really didn't want the maintenance and upkeep that a large one would require.  We definitely didn't want to worry about watering grass or sprinkler systems.  We could have done concrete like just about everyone else on the block but we wanted to do something different.  Our landscaping concept was so fancy in fact that the HOA required an architectural review.  They made us submit our plan, documentation and get 6 of our neighbors to sign off on it before approving.  Then we get this little letter in the mail from them kindly letting us know that they had not received our $120 payment for architectural review.  Huh?  I suppose that was in the fine print somewhere in that thick book of rules and regs but I sure didn't see it.  

 After initially considering the cheaper possibility of having Mj and friends attempt to do the work and five estimates later we hired a professional to lay pavers and build us a fire pit and stone planter.  The fire pit required a gas line which we didn't want to take any chances with and he and his friends really have no experience with landscaping.  They were just going to wing it and who knows how long it would have taken considering it took the pros 3 long days of hard work.  After the pavers were done we contacted a rock company to come out a few days later.  A big red dump truck pulled up and unloaded $425 worth of rocks in our driveway.  Who knew that something you get outside for free and kick with the bottom of your shoe could cost so much? Mj's friends who thankfully work for beer instead of cash came over and helped him lay down plastic and haul the rocks onto the sides of the house and the back corner of the yard.  Our house is no longer surrounded by dirt.

$425 bucks worth of rocks.  Our garage and everything in it is now coated in dust

 Of course I tried to talk Mj cheaper options like concrete but he was adamant about what he wanted so I stopped fighting it and just let it happen.  If it cost this much for our tiny yard I can only image how much it costs to have pavers in a large yard.  It was the more expensive option but I can't argue with the results.  Our yard may be small but now it looks nice and inviting.  It's opened up the space and made it appear so much larger.  We are going to add some potted plants around the edges and plant some in that handy dandy planter we had built.  If anyone has any ideas on plants that are hard to kill let me know.  I am really, really bad at remembering to water plants and in keeping with our low to no maintenance theme we want  tough plants that can stand up to our neglect.

We left this corner without pavers to fill with rocks

An inviting outdoor space for relaxing

 I can already see us sipping on wine cuddled up around the fire pit on a chilly night or enjoying some BBQ and beer outside on a sunny day.  We are going to have to spend even more money to get there.  Will it ever end?  Aside from the plants we still need to buy a grill and a small table with chairs to totally finish off our outdoor space.

Home Project:  Crown Moulding

16 Things I Love About Our New House

We have been in our new house for about 4 months now.  We painted the main living areas, we have kitchen tiers on the way and have hung our first bit of wall art.  We plowed through our savings buying furniture, appliances and window coverings. There are still lots of plain bare walls that need to be decorated and too many white walls that could use some color but we have what we need and I'm really just glad to be here.  It takes money to decorate a home and therefore it will also take some time.   What a journey it has been from house hunting, home building to house closing.  We stuck it out in my tiny studio condo for 6 months but it was well worth the wait.

1.  Overall Space.  I can be at home and not see Mj all the time. What a concept!  People need space and we absolutely did not have it in the tiny studio. We were on top of each other and it magnified clutter and anything else that bugged me times 10. He can be upstairs in the loft doing homework and watching baseball and I can be downstairs watching House Hunters. We can be apart and then come together.  Mj's untidiness is spread out so I can tolerate it for a little bit longer then usual.  Peace.

2.  Decorating fun. I now have all of these rooms to decorate which is great once I figure out what the heck to do with them. I may not know exactly where to start but I love the possibilities.

3.  King size bed.  We squeezed into a little double in the studio.  I wanted to save money and hold onto the old Queen bed of Mj's that came out of storage but he really wanted to up size so I agreed.  Most of the time we end up on one side or the other but it's nice to have the space.  I can lay spread eagle on the bed with room to spare and I actually have to roll over a few times to shut of my alarm if I'm on Mj's side!

Plenty of room and I love that we each have our own night stand.

4.  Double Vanities.  Again, space.  I have my own side to do what I need to do in the bathroom and he has his.  We each have our own cabinet under our sinks.  Mine is full and his is not.

I like having my own side

5.  Toilet Room.  Our bathroom has a separate little room and door for toilet.  It even has a window-don't ask me why!  Not that we've never seen each other on the toilet but we love the extra privacy.

6.  Thermostat.   Sometimes it gets a little chilly for me because I am chronically cold but that's what blankets and sweaters are for.  I no longer have to sweat through summers with only an AC Wall Unit or hope for a cool breeze to come through the windows on hot nights while trying to sleep.   When we come home from work it does not feel like walking into a sauna.

7.  LG fridge with ice maker. This sucker was not cheap but I have to say it's worth it. I still can't figure out how this unlimited supply of water magically comes out of my fridge but access to ice cold water anytime without having buy bottled water and keep up on our water supply is great. I think I'm even drinking more water because of it.  And I kinda think ice is cool.

This fridge is the BEST

8.  Sectional with Ottoman.  We searched high and low for this cozy yet modern couch.  When you push the little square ottoman into the corner of the sectional it creates this lovely little bed like area which is perfect for cuddling while watching movies.  I can't get enough of cuddling with Mj so this works out quite nicely for me and I think he's OK with it too.

Modern, comfy and cuddle friendly

9.  DVR baby! I know I'm a little behind on the technology here but this is the first time in my life I have ever had this and I love it. I don't have to rush home to watch anything and I can watch various TV shows at my convenience-and fast forward the commercials. Online viewing of shows helped before but this really takes it up a notch. Not that I watch a ton of TV but it's just super convenient to have.  It's also the first time I've had a flat screen TV which of course was an Mj contribution.

The TV console has lots of storage to "hide" crap.  So does the coffee table.

10.  Dining room space, Bar Area & Kitchen.  We actually have a place where there is room for us to sit down and eat dinner together the good old fashioned way.  It's not right in front of the TV but we can  still see it because we have an open floor plan.  When one of us is in the kitchen cooking (ideally Mj) the other one can sit at the bar and chat.  The condo kitchen had next to no counter space and was really not functional.  I was totally uninspired to cook there so I didn't.  I vowed I would start cooking when I actually had space to do it and I did.

A table to enjoy meals together

Functional cooking space

11.  Garage.  No more searching for a parking space and having to pass up most of them because I suck at parallel parking.  I no longer have to worry that my car will be vandalised yet again.  No more carting loads of grocery bags from the car down the street, through the gate, and up the stairs into the condo.  We don't have to get into a hot car and we don't have to haul our trash out to a stinky dumpster because our trash bins are right there.  It also provides more storage for crap that we should probably throw away but won't.

12.  Extra closets & rooms.  Yes.  Back to space-which is quite a  beautiful thing.  The clutter in the condo was driving me mad.  The master closet could use a Closet World make over to make better use of the space but it is a walk in and way bigger then I have ever had before.  There is now a whole extra room for Mj to leave his folded laundry for weeks at a time and toss his clothes on the floor instead of hanging them up.   I don't have to see it so I don't nag him about it.  Well,  not as often anyways.  Win win situation.

13.  Laundry Room.  I used to do laundry once a month.  Or even longer if I could get away with it.  I know it's terrible but I was so over hoarding quarters, staking out the washer/dryer, and carting loads of heavy laundry up and down stairs to the laundry room.  Laundry is fun easier now.

The bobble head bride and groom was a wedding gift.  Really.

14.  Backyard.  It still happens to be a pile of dirt pending landscaping.  This project has been totally left to Mj and he assures me that progress is being made.  We'll actually have a place to sit outdoors and relax.  It's small but we did not want any grass cutting so that's fine.  There is room out the front door too where I can actually stand there in my pajamas and check the weather and not be seen by every single neighbor.  The condo didn't even have a balcony.

15.  Recess Lighting.  This was what I felt was an Mj upgrade splurge but like most everything else I'm glad I agreed.  It came included in some areas but we addeded it every where it didn't except the 2 spare bedrooms.  I like the modern look it gives the house and we don't need lamps.  Some of our lights even turn themselves off after a certain time period if we forget.  The light switches are all on dimmers which can save energy and is really good for setting the mood...if ya know what I mean!

16.  Community.  I still don't know any of my neighbors but our little neighborhood is like an oasis in the middle of the little city we live in.  There are only about 42 houses spanning 3 private roads.  I don't walk out my door onto a busy street.  I feel comfortable taking a walk if I want to.  There aren't random hoodlums roaming around or broke down sofas in any front yards. I feel so much safer.  We have an HOA in full effect that I might come to hate at some point but it does wonders for curb appeal.  We are only about 5 minutes from the condo but it makes all the difference in the world.

Are there some things on my wish list that we didn't get?  Yeah.  We couldn't do all the upgrades we wanted like granite or hardwoods.  We could use a little bit more counter space and cupboards in the kitchen.  I wish we had a linen closet but there is room to build one.  I also wish we could have afforded to buy more centrally located.  And while I'm at it, I would really love it if I could get my mortgage sliced in half!  But really, I'm not complaining one bit.  It's brand new, it's OURS, and I love it!  According to Sandra Rinomato on HGTV's Property Virgins, whom I trust completely, if you like 90% of the house you should really consider making it your home because no house is perfect in all ways and there will always be something that you wish you could change.

Building the Home

Home Sweet Home

Home Renovations

The Hunt For Drapes

We put blinds or shutters on all but two windows in our house.  We left the downstairs sliding glass door and the kitchen windows open to add some texture and color to our decor with curtains.  It took us forever...well about 1 1/2 months to find curtains for the sliding door.  I didn't want a solid.  I wanted something bright and with a modern print but it turns out that is virtually impossible to find.  Contempocurtains.com has some really cute prints but none of them were quite right and unless I absolutely LOVED them for our house I couldn't justify spending that much.  We finally ended up with a neutral striped curtain we found at Bed Bath & Beyond two days after our wedding.  The greens, tans, and golds match the walls and our couches and will go with everything.  I also love the grommets.  Underneath we layered white sheer panels with gold circles.  I really like them but am now even more determined to add some color into the kitchen window treatment. 

There are a lot of really ugly kitchen tiers out there.  Garish plaids, funky fruits and tacky teapots is what I came across most often and unless I am decorating grandma's kitchen that is just not going to work for us.

Really?  Do people actually buy these?

It is becoming increasingly clear that the kitchen tiers I want do not exist.  I have scoured countless websites and catalogs only to find nothing.  The closest I came was Countryporch.com.    This place is awesome!  If you are interested in totally color coordinating your life look no further.  You can match your bible book cover, to your place mats, to your curtains, to your oven mitts and rugs.  They've got their share of really awful prints but I found a few striped ones that incorporated some of the colors we want-namely red.  Good thing I sent away for fabric swatch samples.  They were way darker and kinda drab in person unlike how they appeared online.  Back to the drawing board.

A new pattern popped up on Bed Bath & Beyond in my latest search that I thought might work.  But the more and more I look at them the less and less I am so sure that it's what I want.  There is definitely red but I don't want anymore stripes.  At only $19.99 for the valance and $19.99 for the tier pair the price is certainly right.

I like the bright colors but.....

I would really like the option of being naked in my kitchen if I want to but I can't do that without curtains.  Kitchen tiers require a lot less fabric then full drapes so we explored the custom option. Last Saturday I had JC Penny's over to see about custom tiers.  These are the top picks.  I'm really trying to envision the way they will look as curtains in our window.

A modern bright floral print

Nice bright red and a modern floral print

Has the variety of colors we want.  A pastel rainbow

I went for the design basics.  No fancy swags.  The price started out at around $400 for tiers and valance but I told her I needed to be in the $200's.  By cutting down on the fullness and using less fabric we can get a 14" Valance and a 24" tier pair for about $220 plus our hardware.  Never in a million years did I think I would feel the need to buy custom curtains.  That's just for rich people in their big fancy houses right?  Well, I'm not rich and my house isn't huge but I am trying to make it fancy so if what I want doesn't exist then I guess I gotta get someone to make 'em.

what we picked and how they turned out.....

Home Sweet Home

 When you buy a house that moment where you get to really celebrate and take a deep breath kinda gets lost in the shuffle.  People would ask, "Aren't you excited?" and I really didn't know what to say. I was but I wasn't. Yes, we were going through the process but there are so many variables, unanswered questions and hoops to jump through along the way that it felt like the deal could fall through at any moment.  You have little mini celebrations at each step only to have to hold your breath again as you wait for the next piece of the puzzle to fall into place.

We started out house hunting and bidding on existing properties which is a battle in itself especially in our county. I have heard horror stories of people bidding and getting rejected on house after house so at least we didn't have to deal with that.  You have to get pre approved (sometimes my multiple lenders depending on where your search takes you), find the house, sign the contract, obtain and lock the loan, sign closing docs, get the keys and finally after months of hoping and waiting and wondering you get to move in.  Our house was still being built so all of this uncertainty stretched out for 5 months which was not only stressful but makes me wonder how I ever closed on my condo in 30 days.  There was so much hoopla this time around and those loan officers are relentless.  By the time you move in you know you made it but are so overwhelmed and consumed by the moving process that you still don't really get a chance to celebrate.  There is still too much to think about.  Too much to do, buy and organize.  We were worn out.  Then next thing you know you're in, and that celebratory moment somehow got skipped over.  We still have champagne sitting in our refrigerator given to us by the builder on the day we moved in.  We steamrolled full speed ahead right into our wedding-adding another bottle of champagne to our stash-so it's not until now that I'm really getting to reflect on everything that went down. 

I have not lived in an actual house-or a place without communal laundry rooms for that matter-since I moved out of my parents house over a decade ago.  Gosh I feel so old being able to use the word DECADE that way!  I went from college housing for 2 1/2 years (excluding summers) then back to mom's house for about 2 years. After graduation I got my first apartment with the Ex in 1998.  Then, we moved down to the city and lived in 3 different small and sometimes not so great city apartments over the next 7 years.  After the divorce I bought my first place. A brand new tiny condo where I stayed put for the next 5 years fully expecting that I would stay there forever.  On a single income and with ridiculous housing prices where else was I gonna go?  I finally had a space of my own where no one could raise my rent or decide to convert to a condo forcing me to move but with very little in the way of amenities and it's small size it didn't take long for me to outgrow it on my own.  Then when Mj moved in and well..... let's just say the place got even smaller. 

We have been in our new house for about 2 1/2 months now-since May 21st.  Getting back to the 'burbs" and owning a detached home is something I always wanted but I didn't believe it was possible for me. The house hunting and home buying process was a roller coaster ride from hell at times.  Thank goodness Mj keeps a cool head 'cause I was freakin' out half the time.  The idea of being responsible for a juicy mortgage especially on top of my condo is scary but I don't think we bit off more then we could chew.  Every bit of anxiety along the way has been worth it. Even in this sketchy housing market this was something that we needed to do. I craved space and a functional home where I could feel at peace.  Where I could do my laundry without going outside and not have to search for parking when I get home from work! And I finally got it. 

Still wondering when we will get around to that champagne.  Guess it's never too late to celebrate.

What I love about Our House

Making A House A Home

I hate leaving unfinished business.  When I do something I want to finish it so I can have closure, enjoy the fruits of my labor and check it off of my to do list.  What a mess I was.  Barely moved in and going, going, going from store to store and errand to errand like a woman possessed.  I wore Mj out with my relentless planning and need to do so much so fast.  He said, "Take a break, relax."  I think I was driving him crazy.  I wanted everything to be perfectly organized and I wanted it NOW!  I'd walk into Wal Mart knowing I needed so many things but I was practically paralyzed with indecision over what to buy.  I'd walk down aisles staring at this and that.  I'd pull out my mile long list of things to buy but still not know what to do.  What color?  What size? Should I check another store?  I'd spend all weekend going from one store to the next and still feel like I had accomplished nothing.  You can't walk into Target and Bed Bath & Beyond one day and expect to have your house fully decorated and furnished the next.  No siree.  Not gonna happen.  You might be able to do that in a studio.  In fact, I think it took me about two weeks to set that up, but I can't expect to do that now.  Not with a house that is 4 1/2 times the size.  Duh!

Making a house a home takes time.  It doesn't happen over night and as soon as I realized that I was fine.  Room by room, piece by piece it all comes together.  In time.  Now I don't worry so much about the fact that I know I need some rugs but I don't know which colors to get or that I definitely want bright pillows for our sectional but can't get them yet until I decide on drapes.  The garage is totally disorganized and in need of some shelving and we need to get our closet done so Mj can actually fit some of his clothes in with mine but there is plenty of time to get to it.  There is still those last few stubborn boxes filled with stuff you don't know what to do with but at least most of them are finally cleared out and we have all of our necessary appliances and furniture. We haven't put up any pictures on any walls yet and the two extra bedrooms are sort of a mess but I do have a color scheme for the guest bathroom and a cute rug and shower curtain to go along with it.  We can't afford to get EVERYTHING at once even if it was possible.

We got our dining room table and TV console delivered. Oh, did I ever agonize over this table. The sales lady just pulled up a chair and waited as I walked back and forth between our two top picks staring at them as if I was hoping the table itself would tell me what to do. But once I saw it in our house I knew I'd made the right decision.

  The shutters and blinds were installed too and they look great. My mom was down visiting and we just oohed and awed over how pretty the plantation shutters are and how much they change the look of the room. 

It's so much fun watching as each addition transforms the space and helpful how each new piece gives way to ideas for the next.  I watch a lot way too much HGTV.  I'm no designer but I see all these beautiful rooms on there and now that I finally have a home of my own to decorate I want to do it right.  I know how I want my house to look but I just don't quite know how to do it.   I've decided not to worry that I am hopeless and won't be able to handle the decor which Mj has left me in charge of.  My over ambitious attempt to get everything done at once made me feel like I wasn't capable of doing it at all but I realize now that's not necessarily the case.  Just because I don't already have a color scheme in mind for the living room yet doesn't mean I never will.   

Buying the house was stressful but this is the fun part and it isn't going to happen over night.  Like most everything else it's a work in progress and rather then worry about what I think I don't know I've decided that I am just going to enjoy the process.  We already love our house so when you really think about it our house already is our home and anything else is just extra.

House Work

What a busy week it's been.  All moved in so it's appliance time.  We chose an LG and got 10% off at Home Depot. Our refrigerator was the first appliance to be delivered on Wednesday.  We love the bottom freezer design and the fact that we no longer have to constantly buy water because it's filtered and comes straight out of our pipes through the refrigerator.  I have no idea how that happens but I am just glad that it does. 

Then, we finally decided on a washer/dryer which for me was the hardest.  I over researched to the point where I had no clue what to do anymore.  Installation charges vs warranty and delivery fees vs shipping charges and on and on.  I wanted the best deal and the best product but on the same brand one review would say it broke down the first day and another would say it was the best thing that ever happened to them.  I was over it and we really had a lot of laundry piled up so last week on my lunch break we met up at Sears and bought Whirlpools in less then an hour.  We got 10% off for using my Sears Card.  They were delivered on Thursday.  They are Energy Star certified and the washer is supposed to cut down on our water bill.  We qualify for a $100 mail in rebate and I think they are pretty darn cute too!

Whirlpool Duet

Saturday morning we were out of the house by 9:30 am taking stuff to goodwill and finally going grocery shopping after months of getting by on what we had.  Our bedroom set, mattress, and sectional that we picked out a couple weeks ago were delivered that afternoon.  We basically ordered out of a catalog in the store and hadn't actually seen the bedroom set in person and we were so pleased when we finally saw it.  It is real wood and you can see the quality.  It was my bright idea to get white and it turned out to be a good one.

We got this sectional in "Oyster."  We LOVE the modern look to it.  I am hoping it will give me some inspiration on how to decorate the downstairs.

I think there is a very good chance that our neighbors have seen me naked so it's great that we have also ordered window coverings. We had two companies come out and do quotes and went with the one that was cheap enough to allow us to do almost the whole house.  They won't be here for about 2 weeks.  This house has lots of windows which is nice but they are even in places you wouldn't expect like 2 in the laundry room and one in the closet.  There are 12 upstairs and 7 downstairs.  We are doing all blinds and I'll have to come up with window treatments only for the sliding door and kitchen window downstairs.  After that it was out for some more errands.  We got our paint supplies at Lowe's and went hunting for a bedspread.  We got an Eastern European King size bed and apparently it's next to impossible to find that size in the stores.  After Penny's and Macy's we gave into hunger and took a break.

We did something we haven't done in a long time.  Ate in the food court at the mall.  After being busy ALL DAY we were exhausted and hungry, which seems to be the theme of the week.  We happily took a break from shopping for some good old fashioned food court junk food.  Sbarro's Pizza to be exact.  After refueling we went to Walmart where we managed to find some king sized sheets [with a high enough thread count to satisfy Mj] to sleep on for the night.  The bedspread will have to wait.

My Very Own Sexy Pastry Chef

Mj is crazy a dedicated cook and he insisted that he make his Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake from scratch that night even though we didn't get home until after 9pm.  He said he'd do it within the first week of moving in and so he did.  The very first thing ever cooked in our new house was that and he was up until 2 am doing it.  I was up too of course since I can't seem to stop myself from working on organizing and doing things around the house.

So what's next?  Painting of course.  That project consumed our entire Sunday.  Mom was kind enough to come down and help.  She was our very first guest.   Here she is walking in the door.  She was so excited to be here and see us IN our house for the first time.  We immediately put her to work.  That's how we treat our guests around here apparently!!

Maybe I was rushing things by trying to paint so soon after we moved in but I really wanted to get it over with and thought it would be good to take advantage of the 3 day weekend.  I felt the longer we waited the less likely we would be to get it done.  I told Mj a week ago that we'd be doing this.  He was surprised but took the news well and went along with it.  We started around 10 am with taping everything off and laying down plastic.  

Mom came around 12 pm and we went to Home Depot to get the paint.  Our total for painting supplies was about $240.00.  Mj and I did a pretty good job on choosing colors.  We were right on in picking our colors for the Great Room (light green) and Master Bedroom (pale grey).  We got one set of samples and that was it but after seeing our furniture in the loft we decided brown on the walls would be too much Brown.  When mom and I went to get paint we found this great blue color and without even getting a sample we just bought the whole can and slapped it on the walls.  Luckily Mj liked it too and it turned out to be one of my favorite colors that we used.  

 We probably started actually painting around 2 and didn't finish until about 6:30 pm.  We worked so hard but it was awesome that we all just pitched in and did it together.  When you look at the finished product it is  completely worth it.  And now.  It's DONE!!  We did the loft, downstairs great room area and the master bedroom.  Anything else, I can worry about later.  Or not!

Our reward for all of our hard work was pizza and beer.  That was only just to get to Mj's homemade cake which was absolutely delicious.  He really should have saved us $500 and just made our wedding cake himself because it was better then any of the cake tastings we had.  Seriously!  I will be asking for it every year from here on out for my B day cake.  Never mind that I haven't had nor wanted a B day cake in a couple of years but this magnificent cake changes that.  It was moist, tasty, perfect and with an also from scratch Peanut Butter Mousse filling, Chocolate frosting and crushed Reese's Peanut Butter Cups on top-it was the perfect way to end a fun but long, exhausting productive day.

Home Project:  Backyard Landscaping

Moving Marathon

CLOSING
Oh boy did we ever cut it close on this move.  We were told that it's basically a two day turn around from doc signing, bank funding, and county recording that would signify close and allow us to get our keys.  We planned to move Friday and so Wednesday was to be the big day.  We waited and exchanged e mails all day with the loan processor hoping to hear from the title department that we could go and sign our closing documents only to get home and find out from Jenn at the sales office that there was no way in hell that was going to happen because they didn't even have them.  Thanks BofA for leading us on and causing us to hang onto our cell phones all day hoping and waiting for a call that was never going to come. 

Then we were told that as long as we sign docs and the bank funds they would still allow us to get our keys on Friday even if we did not officially close yet.  Thursday came and there was more waiting and several phone calls back and forth with Jenn.  FINALLY, we get the call that we can go to the title company and sign at 3pm.  We are relieved but still anxious because the bank still needed to fund and it was clear that wasn't going to happen Thursday.  We woke up at 6 am Friday morning to call and wire our closing money to escrow and then walked to U Haul to pick up our moving truck around 10:15am and started moving.  Thankfully, they allowed us to move in since they had our money even though the bank didn't actually fund us until after we moved all of our things in.

MOVING
The marathon began Thursday night when we started boxing things up.  I was so unmotivated.  The very concept of having to pack up every single thing you own and transport it to another location is so ridiculous exhausting.  I looked around at my cramped studio with all of it's stuff and it felt so impossible to accomplish such a feat.  I was glad to be moving out of there but  I hated every single second of packing. 

The words on our truck said "U Can Do It" but there were moments when it sure didn't feel like it.  Up and down the stairs.  Back and forth to the moving truck.  We did not stop until the truck was full and the condo was basically empty.  It took the two of us about 3 hours.  We drove the mile to our new house and started the whole process again but in reverse.  As we drove into our neighborhood in our big U haul I looked around in awe and sheer relief.  This is finally happening.  After all of the months of being put through the ringer and those final anxious days we finally get to live here.  And, we weren't the only ones having fun.  There were about 4 different moving trucks crammed on the street as our new neighbors were doing the same.

The unloading process was infinitely quicker then the loading process and thank goodness because we had only 1 1/2 hours to get it done and get the truck back by 3pm.  We drove it a whopping 3 miles and didn't even have to re fuel which saved a lot of money.  Once the truck was turned in we walked back to our condo and drove our fully loaded cars to the new house and kept right on working.

The place was an utter disaster with everything dumped haphazardly in the great room but I was so glad to be there.  We were finally HOME!!  We didn't stop to eat until about 8:30pm that night.  We called Pizza Hut for delivery only to find out that our development is so new that it isn't even in the system yet.  I was so hungry that I didn't care that I had to go get it even though I was completely worn out.

We worked all weekend non stop-3 days straight.  Clean the condo, run errands, organize, sort, move furniture, throw things away....it just went on and on and on.  We finally got the room cleared out so we could see the floor on Saturday night then Sunday all of Mj's things that have been in storage since 2008 arrived and we started all over again.  I was so incredibly sore.  My body ached from the soles of my feet right on up to my neck.  It was hard work BUT WE DID IT!!  I was once again struck by what a great team we make.  I believe that the way a couple handles stressful situations and hard work together is an indicator of the health of the relationship.  We know when to defer to the other on things and if he is adamant I pull back and vice versa.  We both just pitched in and worked hard.  We did what needed to be done and made decisions together effortlessly.

Monday at work was HELL!  I was exhausted, pre occupied and overall annoyed.   I couldn't focus and I was basically useless.  Today I was better rested and felt a bit more settled.  The refrigerator we picked out will be here Wednesday and we still need to order a Washer/Dryer once we can freakin' decide on a brand.  Our bedroom furniture is on back order and our sectional is still being made so I don't think we will have any of that until June.

There is still so much to do and BUY!!  But the hardest part is OVER and I'm lovin' our new house already.

Home Building Progress:  Lot 55

Home Buying Journey:  Part I Getting Pre Approved

Meanwhile...Back At The Ranch

It's so fun to go by the house each week to see what changes have been made from week to week.  They have been building since February 13th and it has come so far.  I can't believe that NEXT MONTH we will finally be moving into that place!!  I stressed out so much about getting the loan and now we have two offers.  We found out about two weeks ago that the builder preferred lender WAS going to offer us the loan we wanted after all.  They really put us through the ringer asking for letters and documentation and paperwork over and over.  Talk about exhausting especially considering we were working with two at the same time so we'd have a back up just in case. It was never ending.  After all that stress it was a relief to finally know for sure that we will be getting that much needed $6,700 towards closing costs.   I have stressed about each and every step in this process because that's just what I do.  I can't help it.  Thank goodness everything has worked out so far.  I wish I could just save myself some heartache, be more like Mj and stop being such a worry wart all the time.  

OK.  I'm going to start now.  Do NOT worry about not getting a tenant for the condo by the time we move out.  DARN DAMN....It's not working!

April 17:  Counter tops  & Driveway Paving

April 24th:  Flooring, Appliances, Garage Door & Landscaping

House building progress con't