Friday, May 02, 2014

Dreaming

I just can't help it. Whenever I go and look at houses, I mentally scan my pinterest board and come up with solutions to these old people/vanilla houses. For example, this house that smelled exactly like the old carpet looks (In my favorite school district, and in one of the most charming, kid-friendly neighborhoods I've ever seen with my own eyes):
 Basically we'd have to change out all the flooring and paint every surface before we moved in, but I was seeing lots of potential. You know, to make it a little more like this:

Then there was this kitchen (different house). Beautiful. Perfectly passable in every way, but I couldn't help but draw a parallel to one of my favorite Pinterest kitchens of all time ever. How easy it would be to convert this...

...into something a little more like this? That corner was screaming for a breakfast nook! Plus this particular house had five bedrooms, which is so hard to find, and a major plus in my book.
 I've gotten a little less enthusiastic about looking at houses ever since the basement floor had to be ripped up to replace the corroded drain coming from our kitchen. Somehow, our basement always finds a way to bring me back to reality. :)
 That patch on the wall is from the burst pipes this winter. It still needs to be painted.
 Oh, built-in! So, so glad you were spared!!!
 The emptied out storage room, where most of the shelves had to be ripped out.
I was almost ready to give up after this episode. Our whole house smells like a sewer, and it's going to take about a month to get it all back to back to how it was. But we will get through this, and our house will sell. THIS summer. We have a great realtor, who is great at bringing me back down from my roller coaster of emotions. We're getting so close!

4 comments:

Rachel Sorber said...

Wow, Sarah. What a mess. I am so, so sorry. You've done wonderful things to that house, though, so I'm sure it will sell. I just hope things work out all right for you, and that the timing of everything will go smoothly. You'll find a beautiful house to move into, and you'll make it your own. :) Sending good wishes your way...

Becky Lowe said...

This is just awful. And I can just imagine the smell. How kind of you to leave that house so much better than you found it!
Once when we lived in our little 1948 house and I was pregnant with you, my family came to visit - 6 of them. It was too much for the septic tank, so every day as we showered and flushed the sewage would back up into the laundry sink in the basement. It was SO gross! We had to fill buckets with the yuchy stuff and haul it upstairs and out to the forest and dump it over and over again so it wouldn't overflow. Finally we had to shower at the Dittmers and do laundry at the laundromat. We were so happy to hook into the county sewer line a few years later, no matter what it cost.

Becky Lowe said...

Oh, and your ideas of how you'd change the houses you're looking at are amazing! You truly are a decorator. And you remind me of my Mom!

Jeannine said...

That house you were looking at really does have potential! And you've got some awesome ideas to make your future home gorgeous! Seriously, you're so good at this... I have so many good ideas on pinterest but I'm not nearly as good at following through with them.

As for your basement mess... wow. I'm so sorry. It's almost over!!