Hi guys!

Well, the packing, hauling, carrying and backaches are over -- we are ALL MOVED IN!! And now that I'm looking at all our boxes of STUFF littered around the house, I keep wondering: "How on earth did we ever fit into our tiny apartment?" I swear someone stuffed our moving boxes en route -- we are just two people plus two dogs...

But anyway, now starts the fun part: UNPACKING! It's going to be a little slow for us as we paint rooms and then populate them. Plus, while we do have a lot of stuff (bikes, kayaks, skis, do you see a pattern here? ok, so maybe there are some shoes in there too...) we don't actually have much furniture. I guess you could make a bench out of the skis and scoot the kayak in the middle of a room for a table.... But I think that's part of the fun of creating your own home, right? YOU pay the bills, so YOU get to design your digs. I'm getting used to this idea....

I also wanted to share a couple of tips/lessons learned from our move into the new house. Some of them may seem obvious, but trust me; you will likely be so excited that you may forget the obvious (at least I did, ha!):

1. If at all possible, move boxes and furniture into the rooms you intend those things to eventually go. This will save you hours and bottles of Aleve, especially if you're like me and often find yourself unpacking and arranging things on your own. (Note: The Huz is a HUGE help, but he's been busy finishing the fence and organizing the garage, so I'm happy to take on the organizing and decorating.)

2. Create one room that is "done." Most of us won't be moving into a home that has nothing to fix or change -- you will want a place you can go to get away from all the paint cans, random ladders, missing light fixtures, etc. I made our bedroom the "done room," but yours may be somewhere else.

3. Understand that you will find additional issues/things to fix, and don't freak out; your to-do priority list will change as you settle in, and not everything can get done in the first month, or even year, that you are there. Example: I gave one of our dogs a bath in the guest room shower last night, only to realize that what I thought was a decent shower head was actually a piece of junk. A little duct tape took care of that for the time being, and a new, extendable showerhead is on the Home Depot list for this weekend; off goes the cute soap dispenser I've been eyeing.

4. Take a deep breath, realize that this is YOUR home. It's all yours, every inch of it. (Well, actually, the bank technically owns most of it, but whatever.) AND NOW ENJOY IT!

I've received some great questions from you guys, but while I work on answering them (and then posting them here), check out some recent pics of the move and the house:

Our living room on Moving Day #2

The backyard is coming together -- however as you can see, a hammock is more of a priority for me than filler bushes :) LOVE THAT NEW FENCE!

The sitting room (just off the kitchen).

Tucker hanging out -- note the giant air compressor that goes with our indoor lawnchairs....

Drowning in cardboard boxes,

Shanti

Timberrrrrr!

Hi guys,

Sorry for the delay in posting -- it was an INSANE weekend working on the house and then I was down for the count for a few days. Anyway, we got a TON done Saturday and Sunday, including nine dump runs of clean green from all the trimming we're doing. This is definitely where the sweat equity part of homeownership comes in! In total, it cost about $250 and 10 hours of work for five people, but we gained at least another couple hundred square feet on our lot and it looks so much cleaner and well taken care of. If our house was located near a curb, I would say we added "curb appeal," but given we're on a flagged lot (i.e. located in the middle of the block), I guess you could just say it looks a heck of a lot better when you drive up to it :) Here's some pics from one corner of the lot:

Lot corner BEFORE

Lot corner AFTER

However, I wasn't thrilled about having to cut down one of our mock apple trees ..... But, it had to be done; it was diseased and not thriving, likely because when it was first planted, the other trees around it weren't nearly as big and it probably got a lot more sun.

Here's where we started:

And here's how it went down: (advance apologies for the kink in your neck...I need to learn how to flip videos!)

Now it's off to paint the master bedroom and bathroom ("Skyline Steel" and "Chocolate Froth," respectively) so we can MOVE IN THIS WEEKEND!!! (FYI -- I am cursing whoever thought it was a good idea to use guacamole-colored paint on the walls AND ceiling...). I also need to find a light fixture for the bedroom as the previous owner had an old fan/light combo...I'll post pictures ASAP.

Cheers and paint spatters,

Shanti

Hello, drill seekers!

Last week I mentioned in my inaugural Lefty Loosey Righty Tighty (LLRT) post that with the purchase of a new home comes the need to use (and learn about) power tools. And I am no exception to the rule; regardless of the fact that my family is quite talented in all things related to house building and repair, I remain the black sheep who has so far preferred to choose paint colors over hanging drywall. (Still a smart choice in my mind…)

Anyway, while I haven’t gotten my hands on a skill saw or nail gun yet, I did use the all-purpose DeWALT drill over the weekend. However, it wasn’t for anything house-related…..



Yep, you are seeing that correctly! In the middle of making homemade tamales on Saturday, our cheap-o hand mixer died a slow and grinding death. About to panic and make a Target run, some ever-so-handy and crafty ladies showed me that you simply have to detach the beaters and click them into the DeWALT. WHO KNEW??

Now, which is more surprising: the newfound use for a DeWALT drill or the fact that I was making tamales? :) :) :)

Drill ON,
Shanti

Cleaning + Yard Work = Free Therapy and Workout in One

I’m not sure if it’s my subconscious way of avoiding the mess that is dealing with utility companies (more on this later…) or if I’m just plain anxious to move into our new digs (hot water or not!), but lately I have been tirelessly scrubbing, spraying, raking, hauling and weeding. And I LOVE IT.

The satisfaction I felt after slicing and dicing our front and back yard after a year of neglect is almost embarrassing; the pride I take in our now sparkling fridge and kitchen cabinets makes me want to show it off to people when they come over. And after all the hard work, my mind is clear and my muscles are sore like no friendly vent session or gym workout can produce. Perhaps house cleaning is the new stress buster and yard work is the new gym membership?

Tree before...

"Clean Green" Pile

... Tree After!

Housework High aside, as you can see we got a TON done yesterday, and even started on our new fence. It’s been a great way to meet our new neighbors and make a good impression (“Hi, we’d like to tear down this old crumbling eyesore left by the previous owner and build a beautiful cedar fence instead”) and hopefully we’ll have it done by the end of the week so we can move in with the dogs.

New fence on the left, old on the right.

I’ll keep you posted on our progress, but in the meantime stay tuned for the next blog, where I’ll dive into some creative tips on cleaning and disinfecting different rooms in your home and how to make your own products for way less cash then those cutely labeled but overpriced bottles.

Scrubbing Bubbles,
Shanti

Welcome HOME! Now you get to pay a mortgage!

As the dust started to settle and exhaustion overlapped our excitement last night, it occured to me: WE OWN A HOUSE.

You would think this wouldn't be a shock given we've been househunting for over a year and have had our bid on this specific house for four months. But, in the darkness that typically accompanies 3 a.m. panic attacks, this was all I could think about.

Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to have found a house that both my husband and I adore, one that needs some TLC but already has "good bones." I can't wait to unpack my kitchen and set up my hammock in the backyard. And let's be honest, I am chomping at the bit to organize my walk-in closet. But the fact that I am now treading on some very new territory (hello power tools and easement agreements!) is scary, and the fact that this new territory comes with a mortgage, utility bills, changing property taxes, homeowners insurance, etc., that is really scary. There's no landlord to call when the fridge breaks in Homeownerland.

So, I figured I'd throw all this fear out into the universe (a.k.a. the Internet), in hopes that others out there who are just starting their homeownership adventure or are already well-seasoned home renovators could have a common place to swap ideas, share lessons learned, or just plain vent about whatever real estate or mortgage issue has popped up now. I'll start with some of my own experiences, and we'll have some guest bloggers join us along the way, but please post a note or let me know if there's a specific topic you're interested in.

Let the adventure begin!

Cheers to mortgages and paint samples,

Shanti