When we moved in, our house had been empty for about six months. We were lucky to buy it in turn-key condition-- ready to move in, with new floors and a new roof. There were a few things that drew us in the first time we saw the house-- the beautiful brick, red doors with black shutters (Go Dawgs!), the vaulted ceiling in the main room, the nice wall and trim colors throughout the house, and, most importantly, the amount of shade provided by the front yard trees. Our informal house searching list included an established neighborhood with plenty of tree cover. There were a few benefits to that-- first, power savings, and second, the quality of construction. We looked at so many newer homes with no foliage to speak of and cookie-cutter construction that looked like the house might just blow over in the first strong wind. Give me a house with some personality already!
The house is 1,250 square feet, and it is laid out really well, especially in comparison to our previous apartment. Somehow, the architects who built our apartment managed to create a 1,200 square foot, two bed, two bath apartment with only ONE KITCHEN DRAWER. What a breath of fresh air to move into our house with five drawers, six closets, and an attic!
Although we did buy our home ready to move in, the previous work wasn't done to the best standards. We've got a few things we'd like to do throughout the entire house.
Re-paint every room.
- We loved the beige when we moved in (much better than the drab white in so many homes), but the seller didn't leave us any information about the paint colors. So any time we have damage to the wall, we don't have much flexibility in fixing it. Like the 3M stocking hook that made off with a chunk of our living room wall after our first Christmas in the house. Oops.
- We also have plenty of painted-over wallpaper to deal with. I can't wait to rip it off! We're crossing our fingers that whoever installed the wallpaper thought to prep the walls first instead of just slapping it on bare drywall. [We are sort of grateful, at least in the short term, that they did paint over the wallpaper-- we discovered some remnants of the kitchen wallpaper when we were painting the cabinets last year, and let me tell you: it was horrendous. Remember this house was built in the early 80s? It showed.]
Spray paint or replace the door hardware (it's all 80s-tastic bright gold), just like we did in the kitchen reno. [More about that later!]
New windows! Or heck, even just screens would be nice. Our bathroom window is the only glass in the house that has a screen. Unfortunate when we actually have nice Georgia weather.
Replace carpet in the bedrooms. Thankfully, the seller replaced the carpet in the front of the house with hardwood-style laminate (easy to take care of). However, we're not quite sure why she didn't just go ahead and replace the carpet in the two bedrooms. It's pretty gross back there, and I can't wait until we can remedy it!
Next stop, the dining room!
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