Monday, September 22, 2008

The House Wars

From the front door into the living room

From the living room to the dining room

Le' Kitchen (nice French huh?) can you see the dining room behind it?

From the kitchen to the 'un-named room'. I have been calling it the fireplace room, but that sounds stupid. This used to be the 'gathering room' until one of the owner's put an addition off of it. Now this room is the... Buffer Zone? Nope, still sounds stupid.

From the 'un-named fireplace room/Buffer Zone' into the family room.

Matt and I have been busy, busy, busy, trying to get this house into shape. It's going pretty slow. We closed on the house September 10 and got the keys the following day. Unfortunately we didn't actually get to start working on the house until Tuesday, 15. And we're now realizing just how fast our actual move in date of Saturday, 27 is coming. There is MUCH to be painted before I'll start feeling comfortable calling the house ours.

This is what the previous home owner's left us with. Nice tile and hardwood floors. The house actually has good bones, we just need to do a little cosmetic surgery on them. Matt and I have been busy painting trim, ceilings, and will start on walls this week.

The kitchen is going to be a huge project. If you can see from the picture it's a pretty 'customized' look. Yes, customized is what I'll say (instead of what I really feel, which is something along the lines of *wretch, vomit, blech*). Don't tell me you don't like the broken plate mosaic countertop in the red-blue-green colors, or the 'Bombay Mahogony' stained cabinets with BLACK doors. Good bones, good bones… that's what I have to tell myself when I think of the kitchen.

I know I don't seem excited, but I really am. I hope that comes through more than the overwhelming sense of doom I've cast over this post. Matt, Leah and I went to our new ward yesterday and LOVED it! Everyone was so friendly (and I don't say that lightly) to us. We met a few of our neighbors and everyone seems really excited to have to new blood in the ward. There's about 10 kids in the nursery (that Matt, of course, had to attend with Leah) and a slightly larger primary than we're used to. Matt and I are just glad that there are more families in the ward than older members (that are getting ready to kick the bucket).

The bottom line is, we're excited and happy about the new neighborhood and house. I've never been more happy to be so poor.

Oh and by the way… we will figure out something to do with the kitchen counter AND that mantle is going to be painted black!

8 comments:

Katy said...

yeah! I love the pictures... thanks for sharing. SO exciting!! Wish I could help paint... or do something useful

Thueson Family :) said...

GREAT!!! Let me know if you need anything!! =)

Nicole said...

Oh Mel!! The house does have great bones and I love it. That kitchen has got to go. I would like to know who in their right mind would have taken that beautiful wood and paint it black. At first I didn't look closely enough at the countertop to realize what it was, I thought it was a black and white marble. Let me know what else I can do to help!

Dynamic Chiropractic said...

Yeah! I love the pictures! The adventure begins, now, the kitchen is very interesting... painting over black can be a challenge. You should do some searches on the DIY website that might give you some ideas. As far as the unnamed room goes, I think that or the family room becomes Leah's personal play room. There is nothing better than having one space dedicated to toys. You can say things like no toys out of this room, stay in the toy room... many other wonderful things have I uttered followed by toy room. It as far as I'm concerned is a must have in the next place we live in.

Amber said...

The house is great, but that kitchen is really, really bad! It's worse in person! I can't wait to see what you and Matt do to it!

Tracy said...

So much great space in the house and I'm so excited to see it with your improvements! I think the mantel will look great in black.

Katy said...

Your place looks fantastic. How exciting!

Joanna said...

Ooh! Very fun and exciting! COngratulations!