A Work innnnnnnnnn Progress

So far, we have completed a few projects around the new homestead. We still have a great deal to go, but it is looking and feeling like ours!

The Living room before and after. It got a lot of new blinds, shelving, and I am still working on the walls. 

 The dining room is currently my work in progress. We didn't even have a dining room in our other house so it has been a real work!

 Asa and Jude's room before and after.

The Twins bathroom before and after. It just needed paint, the shower sliding door removed and some decorations. Titus' it needs more. Everybody is sharing right now!

 

 The office space upstairs...still a work in progress

 One day this ugly chandelier will be transformed or replaced...one day!

 This bathroom is my next project. Coming September 2015! Will probably be blogged about in 2016 at the rate I go:)

Before and After of Titus' Room

 Titus' Bathroom....Still hasn't happened....

 Before and after of the kitchen. The cabinets were 50 shades of brown stain that literally wiped off on your hand and the island was dark brown and chipped in a million places. I redid ALL wood in the kitchen and antiqued it a little.

 Master Bedroom Before and After

Master Bath. The corner of the counters is showing in the before(left) the whole thing was white. The wood was chipped. It looked terrible. I stained the vanity. Painted the walls and replaced the shades on the lighting. We also added blinds above the tub, scrubbed the grout back white and painted the toilet room.

Master Bath HIDEOUS green walls and shutters that some animal had shredded and were from the 90's...BEFORE. After.  The picture is dark, but the walls are a silver grey and we have a custom set of wood blinds that fit the window!

 Laundry Before and Yellow. AND laundry after.

 

Front door color change. 

Before and after of the porch. I painted it a dark grey, added a rug and some curtains. We repainted the swing. It is eventually getting new screens, a new swing and different furniture!

Before and After of master bath toilet room

We painted, added hardware, scrubbed, painted, peeled, painted, caulked, scrubbed, painted, changed out fixtures, added, covered, bought blinds, bought more blinds, bought more blinds...we are getting there. We knew there was work to be done. It is a fixer for sure, but we love it. Oh, and the backyard. That is Davids territory. So far, we have lost some trees and I have planted around the patio and porches. I am working on creating front flower beds. He has tree and weed duty:)

The Front Door

The front door on this house was red. I liked it, but honestly I did so much red in the old house that I was sick of it. I needed to change it. It was scratched so bad. It was faded in spots. It looked terrible. The steps needed some help and so did the planters. Here are the before and after pictures:

We are still working on the landscaping part. It needs some help too. We are not leaving the bushes to take over the house! 

The Kitchen

So, I felt like if I could get the kitchen cabinets fixed at this house, I would have accomplished a great task. At some point, someone decided they would do something to the cabinets. I am not sure what they were going for, but they wiped wax all over them. The didn't sand them, just wiped and I guess hoped it would dry? It was a mess. Every time you wiped with anything, some came off. It was terrible.

They were about 50 shades of brown. The island was brown. The other side that you can't see had been scratched to death by something. Who knows what. The room had been painted recently and was in good shape, but the cabinets and island...MUCH help was needed. 

I used Annie Sloan chalk paint to do the cabinets. They were such a mess mos of them required three coats. I was able to do it with a little over 1 1/2 quarts. The paint goes a long way and good thing, because it is ridiculous expensive. I did a clear coat of wax over all of them. Then, I sanded the edges, borders, and some corners. I put dark wax in the sanded spots. Next, I put another coat of clear wax. In the cabinets that we use alot, that are directly by the sink/stove or the ones the children use, I put an extra coat of the clear wax for peace of mind. 

For the island, I wanted some color. I didn't want to pay for Annie Sloan again. I asked around and googled and made my own recipe. I actually like the way it went on better. The texture is a tad grainy at first. When I added the wax to seal it, you could not tell a difference. I love the way it turned out. It looks SO much better!

The pictures are not wonderful because they were all with my phone, but they will do. 

New House

So, we bought a new house.

We bought it knowing it needed a lot of work. The people had it listed ridiculously high. We went back and forth for about nine days until we finally came to an agreeable price. We got it for what we thought to be a fair amount. So, let the remodeling/fixing/fun begin! 

Patience Is Not My Gift

I am not patient. I like to make things happen. You know what is really fun when you are not patient? Selling and buying a house. Everyone doesn't work on your time table. Imagine that.

When the twins were about 18 months old, we put the house up for sale. It never sold. Then, we had Titus. Then Titus could walk and we were all running into each other. We put the house up for sale about a year ago. We were actually talking about renting it or taking it off because it wasn't selling and we were tired of trying to keep it clean, plus tball was starting.

March 7, we get a call for people to come late that night. I said no because we were going on a date for our anniversary. They called back and wanted to come early on March 8. So, we went for breakfast at waffle house for our anniversary and they came. We got a full price offer that day.

The following week, we started looking all over for houses. We knew we wanted to stay in Remlap or be closer to an interstate for David's commute. That left Morris/Kimberly and Springville. I really didn't want to be in Jefferson County and I had my reservations about Blount County schools. I really have been impressed with everything I have researched/heard about St. Clair. We looked at every house in Springville in our price range. Nothing. I had been searching for rentals. We went to the last three houses in Springville on the 18th of March. Hated them.

The boys and I got there a little early so we were driving around a neighborhood. I saw a house. I said, "That is our house." I just knew it. I had not even seen the inside but it just felt like it was ours. I told the agent and she said, "but it isn't for sale and it is probably higher than yall want to pay." I kept pointing to it through the trees telling David it was our house. He was looking at me crazy. We had searched and searched and searched and it had never come up. Our agent even looked for me and couldn't find it while we were there.

We got home that night and I did my usual search. The house popped up. It had literally been listed while we driving home I guess. Yall, I was in love. It was beautiful. We set up a showing for the next day. Much to our surprise, it didn't look like the pictures. It was empty and needed some love. I saw a blank canvas ready for us to work on.

My uncle inspected it. He crushed me when he started saying all that was wrong. We got three quotes on fixing the outside, we are doing the cosmetic insides. We went into a bid war and came out at a price that we could buy and fix the outside comfortably. We are now waiting on the appraisal and then we are good to go.

My point here, God's timing is always perfect. Especially for those of us who do not possess patience and are eager beavers. Our house sold. They wanted to close quick. We literally looked at every house in Springville and then "accidentally" stumbled on the one that was ours.

I will be blogging through our renovation. I am so excited. Our agent keeps telling David to make money because I have big plans. Ha. The boys are so excited. We have lovingly named it the White House. It is a big white house. It is fitting. David laughs at us. Whatever. We will in the White House if that is what they want to call it. We are so excited and thankful for this home that God is giving us. We can't wait to share it with you. Well, I can't anyway.

So the timeline:
We got an offer March 8. We had a clean inspection the next week. (Like there was absolutely nothing that we had to do). We had a higher than offer appraisal three days later. We closed on the 31st. We have to be out on April 7 and we hope to close on the new house around the 15th of April. It has been fast for sure.