Our House

Around this time two years ago we bought our house. It was a very stressful time for me because Owen was only 4 months old and I was dreading going back to work after being on maternity leave since April. We had a couple showings at our townhouse which was tough because I had to clean it before each one. I was also in the process of getting a new job.

We moved from a brand new townhouse with a tiny yard and no trees in a not so safe part of town to a house built in 1929 in a very safe neighborhood with a nice size yard and plenty of trees. Our house now has smaller bedrooms and only 1.5 baths with small closets compared to the 2.5 bathrooms, larger bedrooms and walk in closets in our townhouse. We also do not have a garage, but that does not bother me. Some of the things I love about our house is our screened in front porch, big deck, and the fact that we can walk up the street and get on the rail trail which is a great nature trail that goes on for many miles. Another great thing about the location of our house is that Owen will go to the elementary school that both Mike and I went to. We both had such a wonderful experience and we knew that we wanted Owen to go there. Plus, it is one of the top elementary schools in the state which is important to us.

In the two weeks between moving from our townhouse to our new house we had major improvements to make. There was mauve carpeting throughout the entire house so we had to rip that out, get new carpeting in the bedrooms, and have the hardwood floors under the carpeting restored (another thing I like about this house is the original hardwood floors). We also got new toilets because the old ones were bright blue and puke green. The ceiling in the downstairs was wallpapered so we had it drywalled and painted. The upstairs ceiling was a staple up tile ceiling which we ripped down and had drywalled and painted. We also had to paint every room in the house. The living room had brown paneling which we tore down and drywalled. The closet in our room was expanded and the small opening from our living room to our dining room was also expanded. We did all that in two weeks because we could not do it with a baby in the house. It was complete chaos and very stressful! When I say "we" I mean Mike. My job was to take care of Owen and pack.

Since we've moved in we got a new shed because there just is not enough space for all our stuff. We also redid the basement and bathroom which were VERY outdated and yucky. Mike also built a deck off the back of our house which he recently stained.

So while our house is kind of small, it is just right for us, has a lot of character, and the location is unbeatable! By the time we are able to afford a bigger house our kids will be grown so it won't be worth it. Another great thing about our neighborhood is the people. My aunt and uncle live across the street and most of our neighbors are so friendly and keep a watchful eye on everything that goes on.

I wish I could find all the before and after pictures that we took.

I do have a picture of our basement before-
and after-

We finally got a couch. It arrived yesterday and we almost had to send it back because it barely fit through the door and down the steps. We had to take the doors off hinges and some of our walls got scuffed. It took them about 45 minutes to get it down. If we would ever sell our house, the couches would have to stay because there is no way they are coming back out unless we cut them with a chainsaw.

Here's the back of our house before and after.