Yes, the next step has arrived.
We are buying a house!
A couple months ago we were given the opportunity to buy a house in Leavenworth, KS. This is important because it is much closer to where Steven works. Right now he’s driving 45 minutes to work each morning (then back at night of course) so having a home in Leavenworth will give us a good two extra hours with him each day and that itself is enough reason for us to take the plunge. Another huge reason we needed this is that we’re running out of space. Better said, we ran out of space months ago and this is exactly what we need. I’m a massive pack-rat / border-line hoarder so this is a great chance for me to get organized and get rid of things I really don’t need anymore.
About the House
Here’s a little about the house we’re buying. It’s in Leavenworth (duh) and a California style split-level with 3 bedrooms and a basement. A basement!!! That is amazing. We also will have an the addition of a family room/den and a yard! Oh, and a garage. It has a cute yard and awesome back decks and updated exterior. Not exactly my style but in fantastic condition. The interior has been kept really clean and well-taken care of. Some of the color and features are a little dated for my taste, but most of the things I want to change are cosmetic, so yay for paint!!!
Getting Ready for the House
This means we are in full swing getting ready for the house! We won’t actually be closing on the house until the end of the month, but we have a lot to do before then. I’ve been trying to slim down our possessions a bit. I went through the contents of our bathroom cabinets and discovered I have at least 15 bottles of spray-on hair color. I got rid of 3. That is progress, right? I have a laundry basket and 3 shopping bags full of garage sale items and the purge has only just begun. I’m having so much trouble knowing where to start. I have a few boxes packed but the place is still a disaster and I literally find myself walking around in circles unsure what my next step should be.
To get the new house ready we are working on a few cosmetic updates. So far we have managed to prep a previously wallpapered wall in the den, remove the painted popcorn ceiling from 1/2 the den (torture) and sanded about 90% of the trim in all the rooms. In the remaining time we have this month we plan to remove the popcorn ceiling from all the rooms with unpainted ceilings, wipe down all the walls and ceilings completely in an attempt to reduce the cigarette smell that still lingers throughout the house, primer EVERYTHING from top to bottom, then paint all the rooms and trim. That’s the fun part. In the coming months we also plan to replace the light fixtures (Ikea can’t arrive soon enough) and possibly replace some flooring in the next 3-6 months.
The plan is to move in the last weekend of March, so that leaves a limited amount of weekend hours to accomplish these tasks. It’s daunting, but I feel confident we can do it. Also, we don’t really have a choice, because we need to be out of the apartment by the end of March. The good news (other good news, I guess) is that I am have finally reached a break in my workload for silverdoves, leaving me free the rest of the month to focus entirely on the move. Once I have my computer set up in the new place (in it’s very own office!) I will resume my activities as usual. I have a few stunning sessions that are hibernating in lightroom and tempting me. Those will be tackled in April.
I hereby announce March 2014 as move-in month and will do my absolute best to update you on the progress.