House Update

We’ve just passed the 1 year mark since moving into the house so I thought it might be interesting to see how things are coming along.  We still have a long list of things we need to do.  The outdoors is especially in need of attention and it’s frustrating that things are slow.  It grows faster than we can keep u with. But looking back (here and here)  it’s helpful to see how far we’ve come.  Lots done but still lots to do.  Such is life.

Things we’ve done/bought:

-New AC

– New roof

-Painted whole interior and exterior and ceilings (so happy we did ceilings)

-Ripped out all the flooring ourselves and then bought all new flooring

-Installed new baseboards (still a few odds and ends to finish there)

-Bought and installed garbage disposal

-Bought and installed dishwasher

-Stair renovation

-Pressure washed and repainted pool deck area

-Ripped out leaky shower

-Molding in living and dining room

-3 new toilets

-4 new sink faucets

-New electrical switch plates

-Made and repaired garage ceiling hole

-Added closet organization systems in two bedrooms (best thing we did!)

-Pool safety net

-Installed new fan in master bedroom

-Tore into the stairs and created a door so we can use the dead space under stairs for storage.

-Removed wallpaper in master bathroom

 

Still need to do:

-Downstairs shower is still incomplete!  It’s been demoed and plumber has installed new plumbing but we need to purchase tiled and hire someone to finish the work.

-I’d still like to do something with the master bathroom and shower.  It’s pretty blah.  I doubt we’ll do much if anything, though.  Probably new glass shower door eventually.

-Landscape exterior and perhaps level the backyard a little

-Update or replace light fixtures

-Under cabinet lighting and backslash in kitchen

-New hardware on kitchen cabinets – we’ve bought two kinds but disliked so we returned both

-Perhaps add molding and paint the kids’ rooms.  I think white rooms helps with resale value, though?  So, not sure.

-Ben still dreams of adding built-ins to the living room but I like our setup and I’m tired of construction.

-Put up pictures on several walls

-Buy new rugs

-Buy new blinds

-A few spots need touch up paint

-Find another green bed for McKay.  I bought Jax’s off craigslist and went to buy a second to match it from IKEA but they no longer carry them so his mattress is just on the floor.  Poor kid.

 

It’s been a really fun process but I’m at the point where I just want to be done.  I’m tired of the projects taking up all our free time, and I’m tired of all our hard earned money going into the house.

Our original plan was to buy and flip this house.  When we were house hunting we felt like we couldn’t find a home in a good neighborhood and in our price range that felt big enough for our growing family.  This one, however, is totally adequate at this point.  I think we could make a decent profit if we decided to sell but I’m wanting to stay for a little while.  Not sure how long?  Ben thinks about selling next summer but I’m inclined to stay 3 – 5 years.  He likes to the idea of selling while everything is new – roof, AC, flooring, paint, etc.  I’m just so happy right now so I have no desire to move.  🙂 Who knows?  We don’t have a long term plan.  We may be here a year or a decade.  Time will tell!

Mediocre pictures in no particular order: