64 hours to go

We bought supplies for our first few days at our house. Paper towels, bottled water, cleaning supplies. And then at Lowe's we got sandpaper, kneepads, goggles, buckets and I can't even remember what else. I can't believe I have to go to work tomorrow, but it is probably for the best. What else would I be doing anyhow?

building 19 1/2

fourdaystogo! fourdaystogo!

So Chris already said how we went to building 19 but I needed to expound on that a little.

Have. you. been. there??????????

There were some seriously sketchy parts, but THERE WERE SO MANY RUGS! and FURNITURE! and THINGS I WOULD ACTUALLY BUY AND BE SO HAPPY ABOUT! I never expected to find so many things I would drool over, but it was so droolworthy! You probably all knew about this for years, but now I have a house and a need for rugs and things and I have discovered BUILDING 19! I was super glad I had no idea what would look good in my house or what would actually fit or what I would truly need because I could have spent some serious cash. Oh, and I also had a Chris who kept me in check. Thank goodness for the Chris. Is he what I always needed or what? (many nods from all who have known me and helped me try to make a budget or soothed me as I cried over impulse purchases. I feel the nods, friends.)

4 days to go

So I woke up at 6 am. But it was 2 1/2 hours later than normal.

We were very busy today. We went to two estate sales. Both were kind of sad and had nothing we were even remotely interested in. We were hoping for rugs for our house.

We then we went to Building 19 in Haverhill, expecting very little. I found Table Talk pies (plural) for 25 cents each. Oh, and we both found a rug for our dining room.

We went to the paint store near our new house. We got samples of the colors we want so we can paint a section of our walls and see what we think. They have lots of paint tools and the people are friendly. We sat on our front porch (no keys yet) and drank Coca-Cola while we looked around. Erin very wisely observed that we will need to go to the paint store very often.

We just got back from the movies. We saw Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. We also stopped at the Bed Bath Beyond. We had $100 in gift cards. We grabbed a shower rod and a few odds and ends. When we got to the register, the total was $100.31.

Our excitement is building as the big day gets closer. We were glad to stay busy today.

5 days to go

I showed our apartment today. There is interest out there and we are hopeful to find a new tenant.

I talked to Tim, our realtor. He wanted to make sure I am not freaking out. I don't think I am. It was a very short conversation as everything is all set.

We plan on staying in tonight. We both have the weekend off and want to relax while we can. We are going to some estate sales, we think, unless we sleep in really late. Chances are we will be up by 7am.

6 days to go

It's getting closer.

Today we both worked. Our insurance agent sent our offer binder to the attorney showing that we have home insurance. I visited our house after work and couldn't quite grasp that soon it would be mine. I'll have to practice thinking about it more. I then went to the Benjamin Moore store (conveniently located 3 blocks away) and got large size color panels of our planned 1st floor colors. We like the way they look together.

We are now trying to find a tenant for our apartment so we are not stuck paying an extra 5 months rent. We have had 3 people respond to our Craigslist ad. Our ad has no pictures yet, but has gotten responses just because I mentioned it was the Fort. We are optimistic that it will work out for us.

Lastly, I tried to convince Erin we needed a bearskin rug (with head) from Craigslist for our new living room.

All in all, it was a mostly successful day.

Floors

So, we have decided to refinish the floors ourselves.

We got a price from a company that we knew would be the high end of the scale. We were prepared to go to $1800 with the budget we have made. It came in at $1800. For one floor.

The whole point of us doing the floors now wasn't because it was a priority. It is as much because the house will be empty and we won't be living there yet. So to spend most of our initial remodel budget on floors seemed like a poor use of money. Only getting half the house done also seemed equally pointless.

We knew we could get a lower price, but that we would also get a lower quality of work. Which led to us discussing whether high quality was important to us. Normally it would be, but the floors in our new house are not perfect. They are patched, they are stained, they are worn down. Trying to make the floors look like a showroom floor would be near impossible and is not something we necessarily want in our house.

Once we talked about not hiring the best, we quickly decided to hire the cheapest - ourselves. We feel like we will do well enough, thanks to anecdotes from friends and YouTube. We also know the worst that can happen is we have to hire someone to come in to fix what we have messed up.

We expect it to cost us about $500 after renting sanders, buying sandpaper, poly, supplies and beer. We plan to do the sanding the first weekend in our house. We will see how it goes...

paint paint paint!

Oh my gosh we have picked paint colors that I am in love with. We still need samples and to stick swatches to the walls and live with them for a few days, but the fact that we have something settled means that I might be able to stop dreaming about it! Benjamin Moore, check them out:

Living room: Dark teal

Dining room: Chelsea gray

Kitchen: Da Vinci's canvas

Hallway/stairs: Providence olive

and we might paint the kitchen cabinets too, maybe a celery green but we don't know how the red countertop would look with that so we'll be waiting for a bit to do that. I am so excited!

My friends asked what I was doing this weekend and I said "nothing" and they said "ENJOY IT WHILE YOU CAN! YOU WILL NEVER HAVE 'NOTHING' TO DO ON A WEEKEND EVER AGAIN! BWAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!" and lightning flashed and their faces glowed with an evil, knowing light and I felt scared.

And still insanely happy.

Waiting

There is so much to do and nothing to do. We close in 3 1/2 weeks. We have signed everything we need to sign. We have ideas and lists of things to do. We have contacted contractors and window shopped at shops. We have boxes to pack and nothing to pack yet.

We are waiting. But at least we are ready.

How did we get here?

It occurred to me that many people do not know how we have arrived at this point. Let me tell you the story...

We had started visiting open houses in October just to see what was out there and start educating ourselves, and we were having a great time. After my initial dread, and after learning how to have a bit of a poker face (shockingly, very difficult for me) it turned out to be totally fun! There was this old farmhouse--so fun to dream, soooooo much work, so far from civilization--and another grand piece of land with a stream and winding granite stairs--needed all new windows, oh and floors, and walls, and do I really want these to be my neighbors?--but it was so fun to visualize life in this place or that place and play house in other people's houses. I looked forward to Sundays and our little property-hunting game.

We had seen a house in this neighborhood of Ipswich that we had liked, but had decided for several reasons that it wasn't quite perfect for us. And we weren't planning on buying a house until spring/early summer, so what was the rush? So when we went to see our Lafayette Rd. home in December, it was just a fun run through a house in that same neighborhood.

When we pulled up to the front, I hated the backyard. In fact, I believe I said, "I hate that backyard. I'm going to hate this house." And Chris, kindly, said "We're just looking." And there were lions on the front steps and that seemed silly. And a parking lot next to our house and who wants that. And then we walked in the front door and I sucked in my breath and tried not to comment on the beautiful front door

and the built-in in the dining room

and the crown molding in the living room

and when we got to the kitchen the realtor said "Obviously this kitchen needs some updating" and I thought, stop insulting my kitchen, and I just nodded and said, "mmmm" and continued holding my breath. And by the time we got to the attic I couldn't talk or look Chris in the eye for fear I would burst.

And then we walked into the backyard and I loved it. I had a vision of what it could be, and I loved it.

And we made it all the way to the car and shut the doors before bursting.

In short, it's the perfect house for us, and we couldn't resist it once we walked through the door, and even though it was Christmas and six months too early and who buys a house in December? it was just right and good and right.

And parking lots come in handy for Christmas parties and the like. Just sayin....

Making Lists

Today we are making lists. Each item is assigned to a month - January is short so far. February and March we will get the basics done. April will be dedicated to all things outdoors. Everything else will be on our After April list. We hope this will keep us from feeling overwhelmed by all that we want to do.

Our planned closing date is February 1st. Right now, we plan to move in on March 10th, which is the anniversary of the day we first met.

Kitchen Love

We visited our cute house a couple of days ago to take measurements and show our friend Alex. I also snapped a few pictures while we were there...isn't our kitchen so lovey?

First steps

I sent emails yesterday to contractors to arrange repairs we want to make before we move in.

The pipe bringing water to the house from the city is lead and needs to be replaced.

The kitchen sink drain pipe is leaking and needs to be replaced. While we are doing this, we will install a dishwasher and disposal as we start to remodel our kitchen.

Lastly, we need to have the floors refinished. We hope we can get a price that we can absorb right now. If not, we may only do part of the house or wait until a later date. So much better to do it now while the house is empty.

We have people lined up for everything except the floor refinishing. Any recommendations?

January 1st

We are starting a blog to chronicle the story of our home.