We did the closing this morning. Shortest closing ever! We had gotten the funds over earlier in the week, so today was just signing paperwork. We only had to sign 3 documents, can you believe that? It was sort of anticlimactic. Then the lawyer told us we could not take possession of the house until the selling bank forwarded written confirmation. Really? We were already to jet over to the new place right after closing. If we didn’t have a realtor involved that would have gotten in trouble, I would have said ‘screw you’ to the bank and gone in anyway. 😀
We didn’t have to wait that long, though, just about 1-1/2 hours before we got the call we could go in. Yay!
It doesn’t look like it from here, but it is so overgrown in the front. There are maple trees growing up into all this shrubbery. I need a machete. 😀
Here is a video of the kitchen with me talking a little about it.
Our plan for now is painting the cupboards (cream), sage colored walls, getting butcher block countertops and cork flooring. Some of the lower cabinets need a little more help that we thought, but we should be able to salvage them. The electrical is a challenge because the walls are cinderblock with plaster over them, so you can’t just easily pop a hole in them like drywall to install outlet boxes – which is probably why previous rennovation didn’t do that because it is a lot of work. We are thinking about running the lines behind the cabs and doing counterop popup recepticles. Like so:
We have a little thinking to do. Plenty of time to think about that while removing platoons of wallpaper, though.
So, I guess this blog will be a rehab blog for a while LOL!
We spent the early afternoon at the house (what work??) and got a start going. I pulled up the linoleum, which I think is vinyl and not linoluem because it was soft and flexible. On top of being ugly – it has it all! Guess what was underneath? More linoleum!
I peeled up a bit of this wondering if there might be wood, but this room was not a kitchen originally and I think it was some porch or something like that and it seems to be just cement underneath, so we will go with our original plan and now need to order the flooring.
Lookie at the mess we made in just a couple hours!
😀
I think poor John is a little…. a lot… overwhelmed. Once we get the kitchen past the “it gets worse before it gets better” stage, I think he will feel a bit better. It is a huge amount of work to do while working our jobs and getting the old house ready to sell and thinking about moving, not to mention the stress of owning 2 houses.
We will still be biking and such over the weekend, but not all day rides since there is a lot of work to do!
Those pop up electrical outlets are cool. So excited to watch your progress. I wish I could tell the neighbors how lucky they are for you and John to be moving in and doing your fix-ups.
That’s very sweet of you. I hope we have good neighbors, but we haven’t met anyone yet.
I would also love to have those pop up electrical outlets.
House sounds like it will be a lot of fun — a big project — but fun.
Those are cool, aren’t they? I just hate the thought of drilling holes in the counter, but I might get over that.
Yay! Congratulations. How exciting for you. I’ve been out of blogland for a little while and came back to this news. Had to scurry back through and catch up on your posts to find out what was going on. So happy for you. I hope you make a wonderful life for yourselves there. Can’t wait to see the unfolding progress.
We put in the offer on this house the day after Thanksgiving and it has taken this long to close. Crazy!
Wow, that is a pretty nice kitchen already! It will be fun to see what you do with it. How did you decide on cork floors?
Well, the kitchen has problems, the electrical being the biggest issue and a a sink base cabinet that is unusable. Plus the countertop aren’t even connected to the cabinets (bonus because that makes demo easier). We are going to put the counters on craigslist and hope someone wants to take them.
We decided on cork because I didn’t want tile and hardwood would have looked funny trying to match the rest of the house. I have always wanted to try cork and this seems to be as good a time as any. You just treat it like you would hardwood. Plus it is eco friendly, which I love.
So happy for you guys! I wish you could take a nice two week vacation and really go at it but I know that’s near to impossible when self-employed. I’m curious to see how you handle the electrical stuff – as you know I have an older home too so I’m always interested in seeing workarounds.
I wish I could take time off, but now we need the money more than ever owning 2 homes and paying for the rennovations! It’s okay, though. We just need to get used to being exhausted LOL
Congrats! It’s a beautiful house. I’m just wondering, though – that looks like a very big house for 2 people. Is there a reason you wanted such a big house? I would be worried about all the cleaning and upkeep-though you don’t seem at all lazy like I am. 🙂
It is bigger than we need for living, but John runs a business that needs a lot of space. This house fit that bill and was in our price range.
The kitchen is such a nice size and I love the nook attached. I just want to come over and have coffee in it, you know?
You are welcome any time (once we have it finished LOL )!
So excited to read a reno blog!! 🙂 The house is great and looks perfect for rehabbing. Congrats and looking forward to seeing the process.
Love the way you’re tackling this project head on! Yay, you guys!!! It’ll look so nice when you’re done. Just keep closing your eyes along the way, reminding each other to continue the dream. 🙂
Congratulations!!! So happy that you finally have your new house – it is gorgeous!!!
Love your ideas for the kitchen – those pop up electrical outlets are awesome!!! Good luck with the work!
Congratulations! It sure looks like a lot of work ahead but you are so good at taking on projects and getting them done. I am looking forward to seeing all of the before and after photos!
WOW!!! So exciting but yes some stress in all that still needs to be done. You and JOhn are so great at that though but it will be tiring while working & having the other house too… I can’t wait to watch the progress & glad I am not doing it! 😉
So excited for you!! Yep, this blog will be like I am watching an HGTV show – love it! And that wallpaper – what were they thinking?
Yeeeeha! I am so happy and excited for you, congratulations at long last. I hope exhaustion while making progress is a much happier place to be than frustrated with no control and no progress.
So excited for you and John!!! I can’t wait to see how Radiance Manor develops!!
I am so happy for you and John that the house is finally yours. I love it and I really look forward to the renovations. It will look great once you are done with it.
Lori, so glad you and John finally got into your house. I look forward to seeing what you both do with it. I love the look of the house, it is going to be beautiful.