Our House!

This is the first time I've sat down all day! It's been a crazy weekend and we are as tired as can be. It started Friday - we were able to officially get into the house. Below, Mike is turning the house key that is now offically ours!

It's written all over his face how excited we are. Since he's a DIY-man (and of course we planned a lot of projects), he's VERY excited. I even got to be carried over the threshold - just like the movies! I love when Mike indulges my crazy whims.

I know that I haven't posted pictures of the house yet. So below are some - in the midst of my excited I forgot to take pictures of the entire 3rd floor (our house is a tri-level). So those pictures will have to come another day.

Our house!

The Living Room
This room is off to your immediate left when you walk in through the front door.
You can see the glorious windows in the the picture above!

The Kitchen

The other side of the kitchen
(also the stairs that go to the 3rd level) 

Family Room
(on the lower level)

Another view of the family room

And the other side of the family room

The entrance to the bedroom off the family room
(It also shows the bathroom door to the far right)

Downstairs Bedroom
(Whoops! I forgot to take a picture of the closets and such off to the right)

Downstairs bathroom
(on the other wall is a shower - again, I forgot to take a picture)

So that's the the house tour for now! Tomorrow I'll try to post pictures of what we did this weekend - which includes ripping up carpet, laying down laminate hardwood flooring, and sanding/priming/painting the kitchen cabinets white. Oh, and we painted all the ceilings as well as the walls on the entire first floor ....and this is why my legs are EXTREMELY tired.

Say a prayer for us - we may be slightly ambitious new home owners.

Kitchen Sneek Peek

I don't have a lot of time to tell you about the adventures and antics that already ensued so below are 3 sneek peek pictures. I'll have another post to follow with more before pictures and what we've all accomplished!



Before - Kitchen

How we left the kitchen LATE last night



After the first coat of prime (isn't it amazing how well it covers?!)

Well, that's the sneek peek on our adventure so far. We've been pretty busy (you don't even WANT to know what we've under taken in the next room)! More details to come but I wanted to share our evolving creation thus far!

Ready, Set, Go!

Today is the day - we're starting our house projects! The last 2 weeks the sellers have rented the house from us to have more moving time for themselves. It worked out quite perfectly because it gives Mike and I enough time to do our house projects and adds some extra padding to my lighter than usual purse (considering we're still paying for our apartment too).

So at 5:00PM today we are officially starting the move into our new home. Our plan is to do some major painting and other cosmetic work to the house, including painting all the cabinets white and laying down new laminate hardwood floors. So today's schedule is to sand the upstairs trim along with the cabinets. After this, we plan to degloss all the surfaces and prime them.

Below is the detailed schedule Mike layed out for us by day and floor (thank goodness he's a Project Manager - I love organization).

I'll write more tomorrow about how toady goes (eek!). By demand, I'll post before pictures of the house too (now that the seller's stuff is all gone). As for now, say a prayer for us - it'll be an interesting and exciting couple of days (I'm just hoping for not too much paint in my hair)!

Could we buy anymore stuff?!

Yesterday, Mike and I took the plunge - the paint plunge. We bought all the paint for ALL the rooms in our house. Our first stop was Sherwin Williams - thinking back I should have tried to find colors that were sold at Menards or Home Depot. It probably would have been cheaper. But I found "our colors" at Sherwin Williams - and do you know how hard it is to pick out paint colors?!

So we made our way to the store. We picked out a Semi-Gloss finish because we liked that look best. The employee at Sherwin Williams told us that the most common are Flat and Semi-Gloss finishes so I figured it was a safe bet. Then we picked out the HGTV brand of paint - it was cheap because it didn't have the highest rating for coverage but since we're painting over all white walls we figured that was fine.

So I wandered myself up on to the counter and slid my list of 6 different colors that totaled 18 gallons of paint over the counter, saying "I need a lot of paint." Eyebrows raised and the man went to work mixing together the paint colors. I had never seen the paint machine that measures the correct amount of dye to put into the white base - VERY COOL. Clearly, I walked behind the counter to watch (Mike was embarrassed).

The man helping us brought gallon after gallon to the counter for us. That's when I started to have a panic attack - it's what happens to a cheap person when they have to spend a lot of money. Thank goodness Mike was there reassuring me that I had painstakingly budgeted the days before. All I can say is thank goodness for sales, too. Each gallon was 30% off (making it about $27 a gallon) and I had a coupon for an overall discount! Either way though, I had to close my eyes while swiping my card.

Below are the colors we chose for the house ...hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

But don't think we stopped our house spending adventure there. Oh no! We then traveled to Menards. I should have mentioned from the get-go ...WE LOVE MENARDS. I grew up there, following my dad through the aisles and pretending to be handy. And Mike - well he likes anything that sells hammers and encourages DIY projects.

At Menards we had to buy our cabinet makeover supplies. So we bought sandpaper, deglosser, and primer. Also, after much consideration we decided we should paint the ceilings too, since all the other walls would have fresh coats of paint. How awful would that be to go through all the painting just to realize how dingy the ceiling looks?! (This house hasn't been painted in at least 10 years). So we also had to buy ceiling paint for all of the rooms. It was cheaper to buy the 5-gallon bucket at Menards then to do so at Sherwin Williams. We also bought some paint brushes and such. All-in-all we looked like regular DIY-ers. Or just 2 brand new home owners getting themselves in way too deep. It's yet to be determined.

(I had to get an action shot of Mike. He loves taking pictures in public!)

So at the end of the day we're still on budget but my purse is feeling a tad lighter. The picture below shows all the home makeover supplies we've bought this far. Yikes!

More to come on our budget/schedule. Mike just revamped it - like only a Project Manager could do. It's color-coded and everything!

Couch Recap

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! Today, I thought I'd recap the couch experience. I know it was just a TREAT for Mike. We got there early afternoon and I thought it would be an easy trip to buy the couch, after we had thought about it for a couple days. However, after discussing the couch with the ladies in my office the afternoon earlier, I was having second thoughts.

The original couch we were going to get was beige. According to one of the ladies in my office, her beige couch has now been destroyed by her 1-year-old and 2 dogs. Clearly, Mike and I would both eventually like a dog and a child. I'd also still like to like our couch after those 2 things come along. So we sat down on the couch (see below) and pondered.

Because of my original idea, the color was perfect. And I loved the detailing on the arms, which also traveled along the bottom edge of the couch as well. It was traditional with detail. LOVE.

However, the color still made me nervous. So out of the corner of my eye what did I spy?! A great charcoal gray couch! It was made out of more durable fabric and was quite comfortable. The color is also one of my FAVORITE for furniture and other home textiles.

For the next hour we traveled within about a 20-foot radius testing these two couches. At one point I found a great vantage point to see both couches at once. So there I was - standing in an area between the dividing wall - visualizing (tilting my head back and forth, even closing my eyes). I think Mike pretended not to know me at this point. He even tried to corner me and force a quick decision. I believe his exact words were "Quick, Kristin!! Pick a couch!! Which couch?! Which couch?!" as if it were a life or death choice. To his defense, I was giving it that kind of thought.

So after all that time. We (I) decided ..........GRAY COUCH! Best part about it was this couch was even less expensive than the other one (which my dad said should have been the best decision maker), especially because of the 4th of July sale! (Note: July and January are some of the best times to buy furniture because most retailers are trying to get rid of the inventory that's currently on the floor to make room for the new stuff.)

This couch is inviting, durable and more modern/updated. Mike and I both agreed we shouldn't buy furniture that can't withstand being loved and lived in.

Living Room Couch. CHECK.
(Don't mind the ruffled couch cushions in the picture - I think Mike jumped for joy after I made the final decision)

Maybe I should have warned you...

First and foremost - HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA! To celebrate, Mike and I bought our first piece of furniture for the new home ...a couch! Because it was 50% off for the 4th of July, of course!

And as the title of this post says, maybe I should have warned you that I'm one of the most indecisive people in the whole world. I went in for a cream colored, traditional couch that I would have selected specific people to sit on to keep it in quality condition. We left with a charcoal gray couch with a more modern simplistic feel that is inviting to all to sit on.

Ergo, my entire image of our living room has changed. I created a VERY rough and simple trend board to capture my crazy thoughts.

I'll go further into detail tomorrow about the excursion that was a hour and a half of only two couches and "visualizing" them in our home (yes, complete with eyes closed and weird hand gestures). As for now - enjoy the fireworks!

Mike's Turn to Shop

So we're at it again - except this shopping was a little more Mike's excursion than mine. We're looking for a lawn mower. We've price-compared Menards, Home Depot, etc. and always seem to find the best deals at Menards. Also, 4th of July sales always help!

We ventured into the lawn mower section and it was like walking into the Twilight Zone. Who knew there were so many different kinds of lawn mowers?! The biggest surprise to me is there's such a thing as a "self-propelled mower." I thought all were push mowers (maybe because that's what my dad had)! Apparently I'm behind the times.

First, I tried to sell Mike on this one... vintage right?!

Clearly I knew that wasn't going to fly; then I suggested a normal push mower - more up-to-date and it's a great work out! I figured that was my best way to sell it to Mike. Still a no go. So as Mike wandered around, I took pictures - good thing the lawn mower section was tucked away and I couldn't embarass him too much.

Finally, we found a mower. It's a Brute lawn mower 3-in-1 and self-propelled. And it was on sale - and I am a sucker for sales! Especially, because we budgeted $400 for a lawn mower and it only cost us $280 with the sale.

Note: The budgets that I create for myself always tend to have upper-end estimates. This helps us get a better idea of a worse-case-scenario and cover all our bases. With this being said, the budget is still realistic for our financial situation (i.e. I know that we can't afford a $1500 loveseat). This type of budgeting allows us to buy the higher-end products if necessary (with the higher-end prices) and gives us a better picture of what the project could end up costing.

After finding the lawn mower, we had to find an employee to help us find the right boxed-up version of said lawn mower. Unfortunately, we found the one man that had about as much strength (and height) as me. Good thing I have Mike! Even when loading it into the car, Mike just bear-hugged the box and put it into the trunk. I held the cart still.... clearly it's an equal partnership.

All-in-all, a successful trip. I have a feeling if I can learn this much about lawn mowers, I'm going to learn A LOT about A LOT of other things I never cared about...

Lawn mower. CHECK.
(even thought it hasn't rained in weeks and the grass looks like hay)