Bravery or Desperation: A Plan of Action

When we first got the lock code for H House, I walked on eggshells inside. I knew technically we were supposed to have contractors doing the work and that we, the buyers, were not supposed to be inside the house. Both our realtor and the listing agent told us they were turning a blind eye at the fact that we were going to do the work. They honestly didn't care.

At first I wandered the house, letting my imagination clean up the dirt off the walls, patch the holes in the wall, peel the dated wallpaper and paint the walls. Slowly, slowly, I became a little braver.

It started with spackle. Just a few holes. Ok, I'll go throughout the house and get the walls prepped for primer. No one can blame me for filling in nail holes, right?

Alright, alright. I'll wipe down the dirty trim and doors. I need to wipe them down to prep them for paint, right?

Ok, fine. I'll just sweep the floors up and vacuum the living room. Its just a little dirt. Who will miss it?

Fine! Twist my arm! I know... the wallpaper is like 20 years old anyway... I might as well start stripping it so I can paint Hudson's room.

Eww, you're right... the curtains are past their date. Take all window treatments down, throw them away along with the inch of dust that collected at the top. Patch the holes where the curtain rods were so that I can paint.

Ok, you're right... the kitchen IS a pit. I'll just get that spic and span and ready for move in.

So... you can see my evolution of braver... or perhaps its desperation to have this house ready to move in the second the keys are legally ours. Good news... the appraiser came out yesterday and we're cleared for closing once our boiler/heater guy sends in a letter stating the boiler is in working condition. We *should* be able to close at the end of next week, but I'm not holding my breath.

Since everything is on the move and the house is pretty much going to be ours in a week, I have a new plan of action for this weekend. It goes as follows:

1. Grandma is going to help clean the two disgusting bathrooms. Those will be all ready to move in (although they're both in desperate need of remodeling... that'll have to wait)

2. Sand Porter's room and paint it "Favorite Socks" blue. His room will be all ready.

3. Paint the downstairs hallway that runs between the living room and kitchen. Its yellow. The trim is disgusting. Paint it "Fresh Biscotti" aka... color of our old living room.

4. Paint all the trim throughout the house a fresh coat of "Whipped White". That way I'll just have to tape off the trim to paint the walls when I'm ready.

5. Beg...err... recruit Leslie to help strip the wallpaper in Hudson's room. If that gets stripped, go ahead and paint it.

I know we probably are not supposed to be doing anything at all in the house. Really, I doubt we are even allowed in the house now that the actual required work is finished. But I Do. Not. Care. I want to get this house as close to done as I can so that when we close, we can move our beds in and just start living there. I don't care if we have furniture. I'll sleep on the wood floors HAHA!

Since the boys' rooms should be painted by the time we close, we'll probably go ahead and start staying there. However, the living room will be a big project once we close. Here's my plan for that:

1. Primer the dark green walls.

2. Paint them "Jute"?? Or maybe a lighter shade of tan....

3. Rip out the nasty, stained carpet in the living room

4. Sand down the living room and hallway floor.

5. Put on a coat (or two?) of Dark Walnut stain

6. Polyeurothane. Like 2 or 3 coats says the Menards girl.

So... we can gate off the livingroom and let the boys (ok, Porter) have access to the foyer, diningroom, kitchen and upstairs. I think it'll work. We'll work on that WHILE living in the house. I'm so so so excited!

Anyhow... sorry bout the long BORING post. Here are some pictures. A small reward for sticking through this post?

Such a cute smile, don't you think?

The haircut. About 4 inches off.

They were doing some construction work near the park. Porter liked watching the trucks.

Getting some chub...

"Hi Hudson Bessie! Hi Big Bass!" (don't ask why he calls him Big Bass... I have no clue)
Chaos. Don't I look like hell?
The many faces of Hudson.