A few before pics ...

So now that we have this dream home of ours, we thought we would post a few pictures from the original listing as well as a few of our own.  Take a look!

Front view of home

Front room

Living room, dining room, kitchen

Kitchen

Living room

This is the granite counter top for the island in the kitchen - it may just have to go!

This is the current master bathtub - ya it's going.

This is the vanity and toilet in the master bath - yep - they are going too!

See that lovely green tile on the floor - we are keeping that ... just kidding!

This is the shower in the master bathroom - the structure will remain, but everything else will be changed.

Ewwww!

Linen closet in master bath.

This is the tub in the kids bath.  There is no shower - weird huh?

Kids bath

Playroom lighting - can't wait to change this!

Laundry room/powder room

Playroom fireplace

Home sweet home!
 

Well, there you have it!  As we get to visit the home prior to our possession, we will take a few more, but you probably have a pretty good idea of what we are working with. 

Rebecca & Pete

How do you spell Moley?

HOLY MOLEY!!!  We got the house!!!  We actually found out on Monday, but I was too in shock to write about it!  When our AMAZING realtor called to say that we got it my reaction was "Holy Moley" and he asked - "How do you spell moley?".  Needless to say, we are super pumped but also feeling scared out of our minds!  What did we just do?  Well, there is no going back now!  We move in, in just three short months!

We had been dreaming and planning ever since we laid eyes on this house, and now that it is real that we got it, the pressure is also real!  What do you mean we have to make decisions!  Yikes!  Thank goodness for HGTV and the internet!

Okay, now for a sentence that does not end with an exclamation mark (can you tell I am still freaking out?).  My highschool English teacher would be horrified.  As soon as we got the news we printed off a calendar and started a timeline.  We already knew we would be needing to hire in some pro's to renovate the master en suite bathroom, as well as have professionals come in to replace the windows and install carpet.  But we also wanted to figure out how long we would be living with ... wait for it ... my parents!  Love you Mom and Dad!  It actually won't be too long.  We just need to get the kids rooms painted, and carpet laid, to make the space livable.  Well - adequate.

Here is the LONG list of work that needs to be done.  I have tried to list the jobs in the order of which they will take place.  Here we go:

-Get keys!
-take before pictures
-prep walls in kids rooms for painting (walls are covered in pin holes!)
-paint both kids rooms (walls and ceilings)
-paint bedroom hallway
-make extra panel for curtains in Gracie's bedroom
-paint playroom walls
-paint playroom fireplace
-find screen for fireplace in playroom and paint it
-make curtains for playroom
-install carpet in bedrooms, hallway and playroom
-purchase, paint and install new baseboards for bedrooms and playroom
-Pete to demo master bath
-hire a contractor to renovate master bath
-do finishing touches on master bath: board and batten, chandelier, accessorize 
-rip out old built in appliances in kitchen
-hire a cleaning crew to do a once over everywhere as well as a deep clean of the kitchen and powder room
-install new appliances
-install new furnace (and possibly new a/c)
-install new windows in the front room
-Pete to demo kids bathroom
-Rebecca and Pete to figure out how to put kids bathroom back together
-hire a roofing company to replace roof and fascia
-paint exterior siding/front door/garage door
-remove old kitchen light over island and replace
-patch large gaping holes in living room ceiling
-paint ceiling in living room/kitchen/dining room/front rooms (all connected)
-paint living room/kitchen/dining room/front rooms (all connected)
-install hardwood floors in living room/kitchen/dining room/front rooms (all connected)
-install back splash in kitchen
-paint kitchen cabinets
-paint master bedroom
-make curtains for living room windows
-paint front hallway and laundry room/powder room
-remove shower stall in laundry room/powder room
-create cabinets to hide laundry room in powder room
-put up board and batten in front entry, stairs and bedroom hallway
-change lighting pretty much everywhere
-create storage cabinets in storage room
-create work bench space in garage
-remove ugly broken hot tub in back yard
-remove ugly metal shed in back yard
-remove pine tree in front of house
-install sump pump in basement
-enlarge basement windows
-finish the basement

Holy Moley!  That is not even everything!  Let's stop there before I sprain a finger.  Maybe we will keep this little list and blog to ourselves until we cross a few off - told ya - we are nuts!

Rebecca & Pete

How it all began ...

Hello!

You probably think we are nuts!  Yes, we, our little family of (currently) four have decided to put an offer on a house that is a total mess!  We have been on the hunt for our dream home for a just a little while now, but we feel that we have come across something with mega potential.  So what it needs is a new ... new... well EVERYTHING - that's right - it needs a new everything folks.  Here we go!

The first time we walked through the house we were with our realtor, who out of courtesy usually suggested we remove our shoes, so as to not track in mud and snow from outdoors all over the homes we were viewing.  Well this lovely future dream home of ours was a burn your socks after kind of house.  I truly hope the current home owner never reads this as I don't mean to be rude, but come on!!!  You do own a broom!  We SAW it!!  Anyways, after burning our socks later that evening, we just couldn't get the house out of our minds.  We were in love.  To be honest - I was in love, Pete on the other hand needed to warm up to it a bit.  I love the messy houses with all the loads and loads of work needed - he has an easier time getting excited about a home when he knows there won't be as much work to do.  Never the less, here we are now, both in love and in dream mode.  Bring it on!

We did put on offer in on this home last week, but because of an unfortunate family emergency for the current home owners, they decided to not look at any offers until this coming Monday.  Shoot!  Well, it wasn't all bad.  This gave us a chance to make our offer stand out from the rest.  We found out there were already two other offers that came in that day, but ours was the best number.  The sellers were afraid that if we got a home inspection done, that we would run in the other direction as fast as we could.  Little does he know how excited we are to do some DIY projects and really get our hands dirty.

Our realtor had a plan.  He suggested we get our house on the market to see if it would sell super fast and get a contractor to come look at the house (one that would be doing a reno for us anyways) instead of doing a proper home inspection.  We were willing to do just about ANYTHING to get this house.  We were all in.   This would mean that we would offer the same amount of money but this time with no conditions attached.  Now how in the world could you say no to that!?!

I cleaned the house for three days straight and got it in tip top condition in preparation for showings and for pictures to post our home for sale online.  This was STRESSFUL ... did I mention we have a busy toddler and a newborn!??!  Now you REALLY think we are nuts!  Every time I would make a bed or clean up our toddlers toys Gracie would undo all my hard work - ugh!  Oh well.  All my hard work paid off!  Our home sold in less than a day!  Yahoo!  Now what?

Our fancy shmancy realtors put a clause in our acceptance of the offer we got (for ASKING I might add!) that our house is only available for their offer if our offer is accepted on Monday - get it?  Kind of confusing I know.  Thank goodness for clauses and loop holes or we would be homeless right about now!

Anyway - now we wait ... ugh - ask anyone who knows me.  Patience is not my strongest suit!  It is what it is.  Hopefully we get it or this blog is DUNZO!

Rebecca & Pete