Adventures on a New Road!

Our little treat to ourselves for being such hard workers last year :) 

Closing Day!!!

Ending as we began, with way too many people crammed into a tiny office, signing reams of paper. A year and two months from start to finish. But it's not really over. Although it's the end of our involvement with hammers, saws, and long laborious weekends (at least for the moment), all of the paper signing is really more about beginnings: new neighbors getting to know each other, a new owner for the house we've loved so much over the past year and three months, new adventures for me and my man.

Cheers! 

Y'all know by now that we've managed to hook ourselves a buyer, after only 10 days on the market! And 'they' say it's a tough market. All I have to say is THANK YOU CRAIGSLIST. The buyer saw my savvy posting. And thanks to our fantastic realtor, who penned the flowery advertisment.

Obviously we're pretty excited to get a new neighbor, thrilled to have our lives back- though a bit sad and wondering "What next?" and spending the last two Saturdays aimlessly wandering around our own house without focus. But honestly...we're waiting for the other shoe to drop. This marketing and selling process went wayyyy too smoothly, and if we've learned anything on this project we've learned that when things go too smoothly WATCH OUT! Something's gonna topple, or burst, or leak, or crumble, or snap, or trip the circut breaker, or poke you in the eye.

Tentative closing date is for the end of May, so we have a few more weeks of walking around with knots in our stomachs, wringing our hands, beyond belief.

The House keeps surprising us by giving up little gems, even now as we're finishing the project. When I first discovered these porcelain knobs with the vine motif stem and keyhole, I have to admit I was really, really, really tempted to take them for my own Eastlake Victorian. What if the new owner doesn't appreciate them and paints them over again? Or, worse yet, chucks them in favor of a contempory Home Despot model. When I should have been finishing up last minute paint jobs in preparation for an Open House, I took on a four hour side project to clean as many handles as I could get to.

Ultimately I decided that what came with the house stays with the house. That's that. My personal house philosophy, especially with old homes, is that the one never really 'owns' the house...one merely guides it into it's next life. It's next life should include the few ornaments that haven't been stolen over the years.

Cooking in the Kitchen!

I wasn't kidding when I implied that we're taking full advantage of the fabulous new appliances, and the immaculately clean, large kitchen! Just yesterday C used the upper oven to braise a beef roast in red wine and herbs, while I used the lower oven to make lemon souffles. We're getting spoiled! 

Evil Skanky Basement Stairs

They look more inviting, or rather, less uninviting. 

SECOND FLOOR LAUNDRY

Still a work in progress, which will have to be finished by 5:30 tomorrow, which is the moment the house goes on the market. Give or take a few minutes, or maybe a day. Work, work, work!!! 

SECOND FLOOR BATH

Home Despot's vanity selection ain't great. The inexpensive ones look cheap, and frankly, the expensive ones look uninspired. So we were forced to make our own shabby-chic vanity, made from leftover shower tile, the previous bath's sink and a cast-off oak dresser.

FRONT BEDROOM



 

LIVING ROOM
(with the oh-so-attractive air compressor as a decorative accessory!)


 

DINING ROOM


 

MAIN FLOOR BATH


 

KITCHEN and SUNROOM

 

The Home Stretch!

We're signing the papers with a realtor tomorrow. We thought about trying to sell it ourselves, since we've done all the rest of the work ourselves- we're STILL considering selling it ourselves. Hard to part with a chunk of the profit when, at the moment, the largest dollar amount we've parted with was $3,000 for the stairs...Realtor's commission will be more than that. Where's the sweat equity in picking up a pen and signing a contract?

But, we're ready to be done: To move on with our lives. To get a decent neighbor. To pay attention to our own home (yes, still in shambles). To have a Friday night date in a bar with friends on a rather than a date with a laundry list and a shopping cart at Home Despot. To get our garden growing. To have something else to talk about with y'all.

We threw the house a party a few weekends back, and we continue to entertain in the house. Underneath the decades of neglect and after the decades of neglect, we thought it most appropriate to let the old gal step out in style- if only for this brief year, she knows that someone cared.

I'm getting to attached. Letting go is going to be hard.

Finished Stairwell 

Clawfoot Tub Before

&

Clawfoot Tub After

Icicles

We had a brief deep-freeze, which produced some stellar icicles on the next-door neighbor's house. 

Cedar-Lined Bedroom Closet

The wood for this project would've cost $500 bucks. Fortunately, it was all salvaged and donated to us by C's Mom and Dad who removed it during renovation of their home. We thought this upgrade would be one of the many selling points. Smells wonderful! 

Front Porch Swing

Got a nifty li'l swing from craigslist for the front porch. It's quite neighborly to be sittin'and swingin' and greetin' the passersby. 

Another View of the Kitchen

Cabinets are up, appliances are installed, plumbing works...all the conveniences of home!

W.C.

The cabin's little water closet sure has come a long way! Here's what it used to look like... 

Dining Room

Installed the $10 buck chandelier and the $25 full view glass door to the foyer (and cleared a bunch of crap out of the way to take this pretty photo).