inside update

we are much more moved in now.  about 99.9% of our stuff is unpacked and placed where it belongs. The real accomplishment of the week was that we cleared out the garage enough for us to get both our cars in. It's still a mess - maybe i'll take a picture of it some day for you - but they are in and the door closes so i'm satisfied.

At any rate, i know the masses have been wanting more pictures of the place so, here are the photos you've been waiting for Mom!

view from the front door in the foyer

Prior to Moving In

here's a nice little photo dump before we move in - this is the calm before the box-filled storm.

The project isn't finished - i mean, is any house ever really FINISHED, but our contractor isn't done with everything - however it's done enough for us to move in TODAY!

they put paper down for the movers - we also still have to repaint that wall to the right of the door - it needed more evening out after the painters had gotten to it. 

5 reasons why we bought this house

After seeing the before pictures you may be asking why we bought this house.  Well, we HAD spent a long time looking at homes, in many different areas and in many different states of move-in-readiness.  We came to the realization that 1) we didn't really want to leave our neighborhood and 2) we didn't really want a move in ready home, as all the ones we found in our budget had too many 'quirks' to them, and were't necessarily done to our style or, to be honestly snobby, standard.

There are so many details about this house that won us over.  So, aside from the right price, the right size, the right location and the right opportunity, here are my top 5 finer points of the home that convinced us to buy.

1) this ceiling:



i just love the original plaster coved ceilings in the living and dining rooms.  It's hard to capture in a photo, so i'll keep trying, but when i'm asked what i like about our new home, this is always one of my first responses.  I'm glad we'll be able to preserve it with our design plans.

2) doors and 2a) doorknobs



This house is not short on charming paneled wood doors with intricate door knobs.  They may need some stripping, and painting and polishing, but i know it will be worth it.

3) separate basement entrance

one thing we wanted in a property was potential for an income generating space.  We feel that with this extra basement access, we may be able to build out a nice little guest suite or rental that can help cover the cost of more renovations

4) hardwoods

there are beautiful hardwood floors throughout the house, including upstairs in all the bedrooms.  Those may have been hidden under cat-pee-soaked-carpets, but they are exposed now and ready to be refinished.

5) old fashioned flow

I may be an outlier in my generation for this one, but i am NOT a fan of the great room style of homes these days.  i don't really like ubiquitous open-concept where all the lounging, cooking, eating and tv watching happens in one big room.  i like those activities broken up and organized into their own neatly divided spaces.  This farmhouse has just the kind of old-fashioned divided layout i'm into.  That's not to say it feels choppy, there is definite flow to the space, but each room has a separate purpose, and each purpose has a separate room.