House Pictures

Home Sweet Home

Living Room

Living Room

Downstairs Half Bathroom

Very Very Green Dining Room

Kitchen

Bonus Room/Office

Bonus Room/Office

Backyard

Backyard

Laundry Closet

Bedroom #3/Storage Room For Now

Bedroom #2/Guest Bedroom

Very Very Green Guest Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

So that's our house!  We have lots of plans for it, but for now we're just happy to have our stuff unpacked.  This weekend we are starting to paint, so that should be a big improvement when it's done.  The previous owners really liked bright colors.  I'm looking forward to personalizing this house and making many great memories in it!

I don't like making decisions about paint

Picking paint colors for our house is stressing me out. 

First we had to decide what the general color scheme was going to be.  I know what colors I like, but I am worried about flow.  If I get too many colors going on one floor, it could look disjointed and weird.  If I use too much of the same color, it might look boring.  And I really don't want all neutral walls; I've had enough of that from apartments. I need color in my life.

Once we talked it over and vaguely agreed on colors, James and I happily brought home paint chips to tape up on the walls, only to discover that we both have very different opinions on what shades look good.  He likes dark, I like...less dark.  He prefers more primary colors, I prefer muted colors. 

Then, once we hash it out and finally decide on a couple of shades that we can both live with, I go to Lowe's and get those little sample jars of paint, just to see what it looks like on the wall.  I have done this three or four times now.  Every single time the paint color looks completely different than the swatch.  I even tried the same color paint in the kitchen and again in the living room and they look completely different from each other. 

I don't know if it is the lighting or the color that is already on the wall or what, but I don't understand how the same paint can look so greatly different in two different rooms.  So now I'm wondering if I need to prime the whole house first, even on the more neutral walls.  But then if I do, the paint that we have picked might look different and then it's not what I wanted.

Bah!  It's not supposed to be this hard.

The Shepherds: Homeowner's Edition

First I just want to apologize to anyone who might have been offended by my last post about Chick-Fil-A.  If I came off as judgmental, I am sorry.  I understand why some would disagree with me and I truly do not judge anyone who supported CFA appreciation day.

Ok, now that I've said that, on to the meat of this post: WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!

It's been a whirlwind of a week, and I still can't believe we own a house.  I'm sure it will hit me once the first mortgage payment is due.

We had a stressful moving day because we were supposed to close on the house at 10 a.m. but at 7:30 a.m., we got a call from our realtor saying that the title company had never received the loan package from our lender.  Several phone calls later and all was resolved, but we had to move the closing time up to 3 p.m.  This was a problem because we had planned to start moving right after lunch and we had friends coming to help.  Fortunately everyone was flexible and willing to help us into the evening, and all went well.  We even had friends load our truck for us while we were gone at closing!  Our church family is awesome.

Since then we've been unpacking boxes (so many boxes...how do we have this much stuff?), organizing piles of stuff, and enjoying our new digs!  I am especially loving the nicer-than-apartment-grade appliances and extra cabinet space in the kitchen.  We had to make some big purchases recently as well; a lawnmower, microwave, and new door locks.  And we've been deciding on paint colors!  We pretty much have to paint the entire house.  The previous owner really loved bright colors, and they are not working for us.  But I'm excited to really make this house reflect us through paint.

Also, we have a yard!  With a shed!  Casper hasn't figured out that he is supposed to do his business out there yet, but we're working on it.  He's been programmed to do his business while on walks, so it will take some re-training, but I think we'll get there.  Meanwhile, I am enjoying it for its garden potential.  I have grand dreams of growing herbs and veggies next season.  I might kill them all, but it will be fun to try!  And the other awesome thing is that we now have curbside trash pickup so we don't have to walk our stinky trash bags a block to the dumpster anymore! 

Of course, we have discovered some less fun things about the house.  I love the look of the laminate hardwood on the first floor, but it doesn't hide Casper's fur at all and he sheds.  A lot.  Vacuuming is probably going to be a daily task.  And we also found out about the fun of trying to cool two stories with one AC system.  When it is comfortable downstairs, it is warm upstairs.  We have a ceiling fan in our bedroom, so that has saved us from having to set the thermostat really low at night.  We'll have to see how our first electric bill looks and adjust from there.

When we get the house a little more settled I will post pictures.  Until then, you can find me scampering around with a mile-long to-do list.  I am so excited that we won't have to think about moving for a long while!