Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Upstairs Paint and Bed and House Updates


I love some good before and after pictures, don't you all?

Last week, we had our stairwell and upstairs painted which is actually a pretty large space even though it's only one bedroom and one bath.    

Before:

After.  It looks really yellow in this picture...it's not that yellow.  We had the walls, ceilings and trim done (including baseboard and crown molding).  It got a complete refresher which was much needed.

This is the room upstairs - old lady pink walls and ceilings and very white trim.

After....including our new mattress and bedding.  The high gloss trim makes a big impact.  The white ceiling really opens it up.

Before...

After...so we are deciding what to do about the foosball table.  We are talking about building a two car garage with a man cave/Kevin's office above it.  The foosball table could go in there.  That project probably won't happen until next year...as you can imagine, it'll be a pretty penny.  But since this room is so big, it really is fine to stay in here for now.  Plus, this room won't get used very much anyway.  Our main guest room is still downstairs.

Last after picture.  We are going to probably move the bed frame from the downstairs guest bed up here because it would go well with this bedding.  Then we will get a new bed frame for the bed downstairs.  We need to get some side tables as we see them but I'm not going out and getting matchy matchy everything.  I hate matchy matchy.  As we see things, we'll pick them up.  I want to find a couple coral pillows to jazz things up.

Overall, I feel like we gained the whole second floor to our house.  It's a real bedroom now!  

If you all will remember, we moved in 2.5 years ago and moved a one bedroom, 750 SF condo into a 3,500+ SF house (we still have Kevin's condo fully furnished uptown).  Yes, we had a lot of furniture to buy and things to make our house a home to us.  I tell all of my friends who buy a house...be prepared to make the hefty 20% downpayment for the loan but also be prepared for $5k-10k in moving costs plus $20k for STUFF you need when you move in (ie - new fridge, washer/dryer, bar stools etc.). 

We have accomplished SO much over the last 2.5 years.  Maybe I should make a list one day...

Our house was in great shape when we bought it but we wanted to do things to make it ours.  I'm a big believer that even if you buy THE PERFECT house, you're still going to want to do things to make it yours...whether you don't like the backsplash or the front door...you're going to change things.  It's just normal.

The lady's husband had died a couple years prior so she was left with a large house to care for by herself.  She was so sad to leave the home but had to because she couldn't get around by herself any more.  She was 91 for goodness sake!  Sadly, she ended up dying a few months after we bought the house from her.  I will still hang on to the picture of the three of us at closing and the memory of her daughter bringing her back over to visit once we had moved in.  That was special!  At closing, she told us how happy she was that a young couple like us bought her home.  She said there were many years of love and happiness in that home (and only golden retrievers had ever lived there!).  We promised her we'd continue the traditions!

Anyway, I have no idea why I'm reliving this today but quite frankly, I'm proud of all Kevin and I have been able to do to our home.  Recently, we've been sitting on our back patio having dinner or playing with Mills talking about all we want to do to our backyard.  We have big plans and over the next few years hope to make some of them happen.  

6 comments:

  1. That just made me teary! So sweet the seller was...

    Maybe throw a piece of wood on the foosball table and make it a changing table??? ha.

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  2. I loved this story years ago and I love it now :) We're already going through a big list of the things we want to do immediately and then the things we want to do once we don't feel quite so broke :) But yeah - going from 900~ sq ft to 2300 sq ft is going to look really empty for a bit! Luckily both of our moms want to downsize from their big houses in the next few years so I'm sure I'll have a hutch or a mattress heading my way - my MIL promised us her baby grand piano!!!

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  3. I feel you! Buying a home is work and costly! We will hit three years in early June and we've got so much more we still want to do...some of which won't happen for years, so I can relate to what you're saying! And the furniture...it all just costs so much!

    We are adding a garage this summer (hopefully!). We've just started to meet with contractors and this will be our first BIG project! I'm excited to really get the ball rolling.

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  4. I love that sweet story about the previous owner! I think it is completely normal for furnishing and remodeling to take time ( we will be in the same boat). Plus things always come out better when you take your time.

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  5. Most of our marriage, the budget's been tight. 5 kids, downsizing, life happens. A few years ago, I wanted to freshen up our master bath and decided to paint it myself. I had never done any painting, but it turned out great! Since then, I've painted almost every room, and my mom has had me paint much of her house. I love it!

    Martin Moran @ Buyers Agent San Antonio

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