…still painting, and the floors

My parents came in again this weekend to help out, and here's what we got done:

1. Painted the upper half of my bedroom (above the paneling) a gorgeous dark teal color (semi-gloss). It's Ralph Lauren's Vermeer, VM130.
2. Painted my dressing room a pale shade of pink, Behr's 150E-1, Delicate Blush.
3. Dad pulled the carpet and tack strips in all 3 bedrooms, HOORAY!! The floors are in pretty good shape, there are a few boards that'll need to be replaced on the wall where the laundry area is (must've leaked at some point), but I'm confident that I can sand 'em and stain 'em myself, with the help of this lovely lady.
4. We loaded all of the carpet and pad into the truck and dumped it, it was GROSS.
5. Put up a shelf in the laundry room and moved my washer and dryer from storage in there (sooooo good to have clean clothes!) I'll post photos of that when it's all finished.
   
6. The DIRECTV guy came and installed my satellite. And again, HOORAY! I've got more than 6 channels! However, they don't offer local channels in my area, so I had to file a waiver or something in order to get NY or LA stations. Weird. But yay, I have TV again!
   

I'm nearly done painting, just a few things here and there that I need to finish.

1. Paint paneling with white semi-gloss (hopefully this will only take 1 good coat) and fill in the cracks between the panels.
   
2. Stencil the upper walls in my bedroom (and find a stencil) in Ralph Lauren's Impressionist, VM129.
3. Touch up ceiling and trim, everywhere.
   
4. Paint neighboring west wall in the living room green.
   

And on a non-house related note, the singing group I'm in (Cornerstone) got to sing the national anthem on Saturday at the Ruff Riders game. It was SO FUN, and one of the 30 before 30 things I got to check off my list (which I'll be sharing in a post soon). A busy weekend, but a productive one (with some fun stuff thrown in).

Now back to painting…

And now for something completely different…

Yesterday I received a small package in the mail at work. Now, this is nothing new and different (since I'm the one that opens all the mail), but this was addressed to me, and as I've ordered several things for my new house in the last week or so (wallpaper samples, etc.), I was excited to open it.

Lo and behold, however, it was this lovely box:

Hooray!! My film is here! The Impossible Project has been hard at work for several months, and last week they unveiled their first line of film to replace the no longer available Polaroid film, and I cannot WAIT to use it! I've been scavenging for old Polaroid cameras recently, and hopefully out of the 4 or 5 that I've acquired, at least one of them will work.

Stay tuned!

SOLD!

As of 3pm on Friday, I am officially a HOMEOWNER!! Hooray!!! I tried to keep this one as quiet as possible, after what happened with the first two (see this post).

But now, it's official! And isn't it just adorably cute? I think so. I wasn't all that thrilled with the yellow exterior, but it really has grown on me over the last few weeks, and now I love it!

Mom (God bless her, she's amazing!) came to town and went to the closing with me, and then worked tirelessly all weekend helping me make decisions and paint the kitchen and living room. Speaking of which, I really had refrained from making any sort of design decisions, I didn't want to jinx anything this time. So when it finally came time to pick out paint, I just couldn't decide. And then we went to Target. Thank you Liberty of London, for making adorable things! I bought two of these lampshades and decided on a sage green for the living room and a buttery yellow for the kitchen.

Where did I get the lamp base, you ask? Why, it was a $4 find from Goodwill with a few coats of glossy pink spray paint. And I LOVE it.

I'm really pleased so far, and I can't wait to tackle the rest of the house. Painting first, and then I'll move on to the carpet and the gorgeous (*hopefully*) wood floors underneath.

Stay tuned for lots of before and afters, rants, raves, and overall crazy excitement over my very first house. Woohoo!

Next project: the bathroom.

Happenings

108 days. That's how long I've been on the hunt. There have been several possibilities along the way, but really only 3 viable contenders.

The first.
1400 square feet
Lovely wood floors in several of the rooms
Den with a fireplace
Workshop in the back
A giant yard

This house had so much potential. It was the ultimate DIY/Renovation. Too much to take on for my first house? Perhaps. But I was excited. But then there was the inspection, and the flooded laundry room, and the electrical problems. Sigh. Money pit.



The second.
840 square feet
Fresh carpet and paint
1 car garage
Lovely backyard full of mesquite trees
Great neighborhood with no immediate neighbors

Significantly smaller, but the neighborhood was great, it had a garage, lots of updates, AND they had yet to paint the outside so I got to choose the colors! And the backyard was just begging for a deck to host parties and bbq's. 2 weeks prior to closing she decided she was too attached to the house and pulled it. She was certifiable. And if I ever see her in public...


The third.
1100 square feet
1 car garage
3 bedrooms
Hardwood floors under the carpet
Big kitchen

Could this be THE house? The floors will need to be refinished, hopefully they're in good shape. It's bigger, has new kitchen counters, a recently redone bathroom, and the neighborhood is good, and right in the middle of town. This house could definitely be IT.

I'll keep y'all posted.

Oh, football, how I miss you...

*check out more hilarity here*