Progress to date.....

We got together with some of the neighbors and found out some things about the house.  It was on the market the year before and apparently had pink shutters - bet that was beautiful.  They had a flurry of activity this time around to neutralize the house this time around.  There was lovely green shag carpet in the family mixed with dark blue paint.  Shocking the realtor made them change that.  They also decided to paint over wallpaper - that is for another day to discuss for the dining room project we have started.

So now that you know how we got here - here is what we have done or had to have done so far.

If you have ever done this before even the thing that seems so simple adds up and you end up investing more than you thought you would.  There were some basics that we knew were going to have to be done based on the inspection....so those have been set up right away.

Windows - what to say about those - they are supposed to be windows that slide open side to side, but not in this house they were installed so they are vertical.  What does that mean - yes folks we only have one working window in the whole house.  They are fabulous and original (insert sarcastic tone here), can you say feel cold air pouring in.  To go with the drafty windows is our drafty front door.  Those have been placed on order and we are expecting them in the next two weeks.  All of our cold toes and heating bill will be grateful for that.

Electrical updates - yep the panel needed replaced - we wouldn't tackle any work on the kitchen when the electrical was in bad shape...that has been updated so far - money well spent but of course nothing you get instant gratification from.  This also meant wiring for stacking the washer and dryer.  Ooops they had them side by side and I didn't think about ours being front loaders.  Given the lovely laundry room set-up I mean half bath oh wait no they are the same room we couldn't use the same set-up they had.

Garage door - it is a beautiful dented site - NOT.  This is on order so hopefully we will have that soon as well.  But yes we are old - super excited about a new garage door opener that is quiet and you can't hear throughout the whole house.

Let's see - what else.....oh yes the lovely brass outdoor lights have been replaced with something that is a little more us.

Now to some fun stuff that we can actually see - the kids rooms.  Eli's room was the worst - they had a grown son living there and the room looked pitiful when they moved out.  Eli picked out some paint that we actually really liked as well.  They were "neutral" paint happy though I assume in an effort to sell the house that painting in this house includes now needing to replace every vent, plug and light switch as they have been painted over.  But of course we have decided to replace the base boards and doors because painting isn't enough :) but only paint so far in Eli's room.

Ella's room which was previously known as the green room has been redone.  We aren't sure exactly what previously happened in her room but the walls were pretty damaged.  Brian scraped the walls for hours and lets just say the picture wasn't improving.  We found an application for texture for the walls - decided to apply this and use bead board as well.  Baseboards, door trim, and of course plugs/light switches had to be replaced.  The gem uncovered is that it appears the room was previously green including the door, baseboards, and walls.  Bet that was beautiful.  Looks much better now.