Drip. Drip. Drip.

That's the sound that came from the family room whenever someone took a shower in the master bathroom.

Fortunately, plumbing issues are covered under our home warranty.

Turns out, it wasn't a plumbing issue, but a home maintenance issue. The caulking in the shower was so old and grody that it had cracked and separated where the tile meets the shower pan. This left an exposed gap that just happened to be right in line with the stream of water coming from the shower head.

$120 later, we have a hole in our ceiling, all for a problem that could have been prevented with $5 worth of caulking.

Home ownership is glamorous!

Chillin'

The house did not come with a fridge. This wasn't really a big deal to us. In fact, we were pretty excited to buy our own. We were both excited to buy a cool new appliance (pun intended!) until we realized how underwhelming it really was. We checked out several different stores, but nothing really stood out as being THE fridge.

We were going to commit to a closeout model at Best Buy, but it would take a week to be delivered. I didn't love that fridge enough to wait that long, so we stopped at Sears. There it was- the one. The fridge of my dreams. What made it the fridge of my dreams?

This:

 It's  an interior water dispenser. I didn't want a through the door water or ice dispenser. I could just picture Adam making a huge mess. This tiny little button sold it for me.

 

The space inside is wonderful! 

 

We're already loving the french door functionality. I don't think I could ever go back to a conventional fridge again!

We also went to a few garage sales in our new neighborhood and snagged a few things for Adam. He's loving the new train table we picked up for $20. We also bought an outdoor playhouse that looks practically new for just $20. He's loving all the space he has to spread out and play now. 

Homeowners

We're homeowners again. Closing was uneventful and as smooth as could be.

We've been busy.

The wallpaper borders are coming down.
The mirror in the mini wheat room has been removed.
Paint has been purchased.
Cabinet hardware in the kitchen is halfway replaced.

We've discovered a few quirks, too.
Adam's room smells like a cat litter box.
The dishwasher doesn't drain.
And the bathtub in our bathroom leaks through the family room ceiling.

It's been an interesting few days around here, but it's already starting to feel like home.

14 days til closing.

In honor of that little bitty number, 14 things I am looking forward to, in no particular order.

1. A garage to park in. No more dashing to the car in the rain, scraping ice or snow, or trolling for a place to park.

2. A water softener. The house came with one, but it didn't work when we had the inspection. The sellers replaced it, so we have a new softener waiting for us. I am super excited! The water here is really hard.

3. A huge closet to fill with clothes and shoes.

4. Glass front cabinets. I can not wait to unpack all the Fiesta that has been in storage for the past year.

5. A patio! It was one of those things we never got around to adding to the old house, and I'm excited to have one waiting for use to use. First things first... Roundup and a power wash.

6. A yard where Adam can play. Little boys need space to run free.

7. Adam will be able to walk to school eventually. There's a little access trail one street over that leads to the elementary and high school buildings.

8. A wood burning fireplace. There's something about the crackling of logs on a cold winter night that just feels cozy.

9. Huge windows. Lots of natural light.

10. A soaking tub. We may not use it often, but at least it's there when I'm ready for it.

11. Space. Lots and lots of space to spread out.

12. We didn't have a lazy susan in the last place. Silly thing to be excited over! I'm looking forward to the pullouts in the lower cabinets. It was something I really liked about our old home.

13. Quiet... as quiet as it can be with a three year old, that is. No neighbors above to deal with at 3 am.

14. Having a place that is OURS. We picked it together, and we'll make it beautiful together. It doesn't get much better than that!

The tour continues

Onto the second floor!

Master Bedroom

I liked the double doors leading into the master bedroom. It was a nice touch.

 

I am not really a fan of the color and wallpaper boarder. It's an easy fix, but I really hate painting. I'm not very good at it. Overall, the bedroom is the smallest of the three houses we looked at. It's an okay size and we shouldn't have much trouble arranging the furniture.

I wasn't expecting to find a pocket door leading to the master bathroom. It's a little noisy, so I'm hoping a bit of WD-40 will take care of it.

And speaking of the master bathroom... I am in love.

 It has a soaking tub! We didn't have one in our old house. Just a boring old shower stall.

 There's one sink with extra counter space..

And and identical one next to it! I really like this set up so much better than a double vanity. There's more than enough counter space for each of us.

 The closet doors inbetween the two vanities. Aren't they cute? I want to fling them open every morning and pretend to be fancy.

The new closet puts our old one to shame. I'm looking forward to eventually putting in organizers and making the most of this space. I think I may need to go shopping to fill it up.

Bedroom #2

I've affectionately dubbed it the Frosted Mini Wheat room. Yes, that is a mirror on the wall. This will be my husband's home office.

Bedroom #3

 

This will be Adam's room. It's the largest of the secondary bedrooms and has a walk-in closet. It looks small in photographs because I'm a terrible photographer.

Bedroom #4

The smallest bedroom and at the furthest end of the hall. This will be the guest room. It'll still comfortably hold a double or queen size bed.

Guest Bath

Once I got over the inital shock the decor gave me, I liked this bathroom. It's a very nice size with lots of counterspace and storage. It'll be getting a makeover ASAP though. My husband calls it a stripper's dream  bathroom.

The second floor also has a large linen closet and a laundry room. I'm excited to have the laundry on the same floor as the bedrooms. It just makes sense!

I saved the best part for last.

Bonus Room

This is the bonus room over the garage. It's a bit of an awkward shape, but I have big plans for it to become my dream sewing room.

And that sums up the grand tour!

A little peek inside

We're waiting to close. I am not a patient person. While we wait, I look over photos and daydream about all the changes I want to make.

Here's a little mini tour of the place. It needs a lot of TLC, but I think we can handle it!

The Foyer

 

I love the foyer. It was something on my wish list. Our last home didn't really have a dedicated foyer. The front door opened directly into the great room. I really liked the impression this two story foyer gave me when I first walked in the door. It's just something small, but I still love it. Isn't that outdated light fixture super sexy? Eventually the tile will be replaced as well. 

Formal Living Room

 

Excuse the over exposed photograph. Admittedly, this room was one that I felt a little hesitant about, We're not formal people. We don't have many people over very often, and even if we did, they're not formal people, either. This room felt like a waste of square footage to me. I'm not entirely sure how often we'll use it, but we do already have furniture for it. The plan is to use it as a quiet reading nook of sorts. You know, because quiet happens so often with a three year old hanging around. I like the transom windows in this room, and I wish the rest of the house had them. Something else I didn't like about our last home was the lack of natural light. This house gets a ton of it!

Formal Dining Room

 

I had grand plans for this room. Our last house didn't have a dining room, and I've always wanted one. I picked out a table and chairs, but we decided the pricetag was a little steep right now. Eventually we'll furnish it, but for now it's going to be toy central. It'll be a nice place to corral all the little guy's toys until he's old enough to play quietly in his room. They do do that eventually, right?

I was attracted to the transom windows in this space again. The rest of the room is a blank slate, and eventually we'd like to add chair rail and crown moulding. And a new light fixture, of course. 

Family Room

This room is a mess! Forest green carpet, cracked fireplace tiles, a billion outlets on the fireplace wall, and a really ugly ceiling fan. Still, the space is good and has potential. There's lots of natural light thanks to four large windows.The fireplace is wood burning and has a blower. We're hoping to replace the carpet with hardwood flooring, re-tile the fireplace, and add bookcases to each side of the fireplace.

Kitchen

 

The kitchen also needs a fair amount of work, but it's in mostly good shape. White cabinets and trim were at the top of my wishlist, and I wanted a place to display all of our Fiestaware. This kitchen fits the bill! We'll change our the knobs and add trim to the top of the cabinetry for a more polished look, but overall, there isn't much to do here.

 

The eat-in area is large enough to accomodate a large table, and the space gets tons of natural light. The tiles are all cracked and will need to be replaced within the next few years. The previous owners also painted over the wallpaper border. Gee, thanks!

 

The pantry is a fantastic size, too!

Stay tuned for the second level :)

More waiting.

We were on day eight with no word from the sellers about the repairs we had requested. We made arrangements with our agent to go back and see the other house we had looked at earlier in the week. Just as I was heading out the door to meet her for the showing, I received a phone call- the sellers accepted our requests! It wasn't in writing yet, but it was still good news. We still decided to go and see the other house, but to make sure that we had made the right choice.

The house was still lovely and well cared for, but we knew it wasn't for us. We realized that larger closets and bathrooms were pretty high on our wish list. They had been things we disliked about our first home, and we weren't ready to compromise. Seeing the house again made us even more sure that we were doing the right thing by moving forward with the home we were already under contract on.

We were still nervous about the repairs, but our nerves were calmed when we finally recieverd the seller's response in writing a few days later. They had agreed to fix the roof and siding, service the furnace, repair and replace the drywall damaged by the water heater leak, raise the front stoop a few inches, and repair the GFCI in the garage. The water softener was replaced with a new unit as well. They had agreed to remedy everything we had asked for!

One step closer to closing!