Livingroom Decorating Plans I

Well, it has been a little while since I've posted pictures of the house. Honestly, I wish I could say that we have accomplished more, but in between our vacation, family visitors, and keeping up with things that need immediate repairs, (ie: AC and Plumbing). I just haven't done that much as far as decorating is concerned.

Yet. :)

Once again I thought I would share my ideas and ask for some feedback and suggestions from you all! So, here is a picture of my living room now...

First: Window Treatments
I would love some input on what type of curtains to put up in the living room window. I was originally thinking some white long panels but am not sure if that would look alright with the sectional pushed up close to the window which is certainly the best arrangement for it in the space. I could scoot it away just enough for an end table and lamp on that side, but think it might look awkward. I've also considered getting panels that are only as long as the window itself??? I'm not settled on anything. Should I go with color or pattern here instead??

Second: Wall color
If you can recall, I painted our dining and kitchen area basically the same color as the living room couch. This is beginning to tie the two rooms together, but I would like to introduce another color in this room to contrast with the couch. I'm thinking of paint matching the light steel blue from the accent pillows on the couch and using that for the wall color. I can't decide if I should commit to painting the whole room or just the back wall where the piece of art work is hanging.

Third: Wall Decor
I'm going to focus on just the wall behind the couch right now. I've got the one piece of art hanging, but still think the wall lacks a homey touch. Our family photos are hung in the hallway so I'm trying to think of what might look nice surrounding the areas around this art on both sides. Cast iron decor? Give me some ideas!

Fourth: Accent chair
I snagged an accent chair and ottoman at a garage sale for ten bucks that I am going to attempt to reupholster myself. This seems like a big, scary job! The accent chair will take the place of the dining chair I have in the picture. Of course reupholstering means I have to pick out fabric which is FUN, but there are a ton of choices! Match the curtains, blue like wall, combo it with blue and curtains or some pattern?

There is soo much to do! I probably should have broken this up into separate posts, but I didn't. So, yea, just leave me long comments on ALL of your ideas pleease!

The House of Pleasant Potential

...Is about to become a home!

We are so excited to say that we have a house!! Though I can't speak for Caleb, I know that I feel like God has directed our steps throughout this home buying process. This home is exceptional in that it hadn't even been listed long enough to appear on the MLS listing, but our realtor had caught wind of it being on the market.

It is a one story, 3 bedroom, 1.25 baths (I say this because the .5 bath is really about the size of half a half bath :)), 1030 square feet, two car garage, and large back yard. It is in an older neighborhood and still located in Mckinney close to 75. Caleb's commute to work will still be fantastic, and church will be even closer!

We are scheduled to close on the home on the 23rd of April. So, we should be moved in by the beginning of May. This means that between now and then we need to get rid of about half of our belongings. We began this process last weekend by holding our first garage sale. We will also be selling some furniture on craigslist closer to the time of our actual move. It is amazing how freeing it is to get rid of "things" once you start!

There are definitely repairs that will need to be done to this home,but it seems like we may be able to handle a lot of them ourselves. And, it is livable in the current state...though I do understand that everyone may have a differing opinion about what that might look like. So, it is livable enough for US. :-)

Here is a list of repairs:
1. Electric work- Replace Fuse/Panel box so the home doesn't burn down, get all the electrical outlets grounded, and convert kitchen outlets to all be GFCI (done before move in, I'm a housefire phobic which has a story behind it, I wasn't always!)
2. Get a new AC Compressor, and have extra insulation blown into attic
3.Seal up doors around Heating Unit and Water Heater so we don't get Carbon Monoxide poisoning (easy fix, will be done immediately, can't chance that either!)
4.Replace plywood that is rotting on the eaves, and put up new gutters
5. Patch up various holes in drywall
6. Paint
7. Plumbing-Repair leak under bathroom sink...could end up being costly if the metal pipes are corroded and fragile and continue "breaking" as the plumber tries to fix the leak..yikes.
8. Reverse the door that opens up to the garage.
9. Replace broken bedroom door
10. Fix garage doors so that they open
11. Replace tiles in bathrooms, install real sink vanities, replace tub
12. Install new windows throughout

List of possible improvements for later...
1. Hardwoods throughout...(minus the bedrooms if my husband gets his way;))
2. New countertops and sink/reconfigure kitchen layout maybe
3. Wood fence around backyard instead of metal
4. Convert garage to Master Bedroom/Bath or second living space,den/office/bath
5. Add a nice patio, or screened in back porch with roof and ceiling fan
6. Add crown molding
7. Replace any remaining paneling
8. Update ceilings with a more modern finish (it is swirled with plaster currently) some in circles, others in streaks...just random

Yes, this list is long and large. And, considering that this is a five year plan house maybe we won't even get beyond making all of the repairs that the inspector suggested, but I am really hoping that we can meld the two lists together, and somehow get everything done before we sell it. And then, do this all over again! We figure if we do this two times with an increasingly more expensive house, if the Lord so blesses us, we will be able to by our last house and have it paid for in full by the time we are 55. Move at 30, 35, and then 40 to a home with a 15 year mortgage...

In regards to plans, we keep these in mind...http://www.scripturemenu.com/Appetizer.html?id=1

I'm sure all of this was far more than you could possibly be interested in!
I think I might need to start a home improvement blog just for the house. Woohoo!!

Here we go...again!

Well...beginning on Monday we will have TWO offers in on two different homes. Offer one is "The Impossible House" and has been in the works with the bank for almost two months. This house got its name from God showing me that the kind of home I thought was "Impossible" to find at the price range we were looking in, was not impossible for Him! Needless to say, ever since then, I have been a little bit more picky, and a little bit more patient because I am trusting that God will guide us to the right home-whether it ends up being this on or not.

Offer two I'm calling "The House of Pleasant Potential ." Though the Impossible House has a ton of potential it has an equal or greater amount of hazardous situations that would need to be taken care of in a relatively short amount of time. The House of Pleasant Potential has very few hazards that we can see outright, a huge backyard, and is still within an acceptable price range. Granted, it isn't directly across from the park, or equipped with granite countertops, but it is still undeniably a fantastic deal for the price. It also has a garage that is 572 square feet which we would probably consider enclosing to add that extra square footage to the home. It is a total of 1030 square feet currently. It's a foreclosure as opposed to a short sale so it wouldn't take months and months of waiting for the bank to accept our offer. I'm excited about this home too, and can't wait to get the offer in!

The "Impossible" House Part 1

I am titling this post Part 1 because I just think there might be more to add as we go through the rest of this exciting week!

I'll keep it short, and say, our offer for the house got accepted today! It came through fast, and still felt like ages. :-) We go for an inspection tomorrow. So much is riding on the inspection...

I posted on facebook today that it sure seemed like a looong day, and now all of the sudden 7 days seems like it is going to fly by! We will have inspections, a loan to secure, a contract and etc. probably all within the next week.

I'm going to try to take pictures of the house tomorrow when I go for the inspection and get them posted up so you all can see them.

Please continue to pray for us to have discernment and follow God's direction on this home.

Side note: Caedmon seems to be doing much, much better today. His fever only reached about 100.5 during the middle of the afternoon today. Way better than the 103.5 or higher that he has had! He slept better last night as well, so I'm sure that helped. I think tomorrow the sickness will be gone!!

The Offer

Caleb and I submitted an offer on "the" house on January the 19th. We were told that we were the first people to show interest in the home. They have no other offers, or didn't as of then. The bank did say that there is an investor that would be willing to purchase the home, but that they much prefer to make a residential sale instead. So, we are looking good in that regard. However, we have a long way to go! It may be months before we hear if the offer we put in has even been accepted. In the mean time, we wait. If we do get an acceptance from the bank on the offer, we will move forward with an inspection, possible counter offer, a back out altogether, or an agreement to take the home as is and go with it.



I feel like my family is sitting right where we need to be-content with God's plan and time frame. Though I have to admit that if I were in charge, I would want to know now! I'm hoping that we really do hear back from the bank before the end of February. We would like to give our landlord a decent amount of notice before we leave this rental, and we would like to have time to gradually move since we will be doing all the moving ourselves this time. (Well, ourselves and our friends that will be forced to do manual labor along with us!) Plus, any extra lap over in time will allow us to paint and do some minor renovations before moving all of our stuff into the new place.

So, please pray and hope along with me that we will hear something back soon. I'm no good at being patient! The anticipation is what is so consuming. I'll reiterate though, God's timing is perfect. He has been right on time everytime so I'm going to trust that He will be again!