New Home

I have to say I am very excited about our new home. We are allowed in Thursday at 5, so we will be eating dinner there that night. And then Friday night we promised the kids we could camp out there. We will not be moving in for a while. Every wall needs at least paint. Most walls are wallpapered, so they need to have wallpaper stripped before painting. We figure the work will be easier without our furniture in place. The carpet also needs to be replaced. While I am sure it is beautifully decorated, it is just not my style.

On top of all the decorating issues, the basement has high levels of radon gas. We are having a mitigation system installed next week, which will solve the problem. The homeowner was apalled that they did not know about the radon gas while they were raising their kids there. And the realtor just about had a cow because she used to own the house across the street, which also has a radon issue. Anyway, the mitigation system continuously monitors the radon level in the basement and sends it to the rado monitoring company. Their work is guaranteed for the life of the house, so if it is ever out of whack, they will come fix it. It also has a display on it so we can always know the radon gas level.

Our current house is on the market, but not under contract, yet. I am sure it will sell soon. It is in good shape, although the kitchen could be updated. We may do a little work on the kitchen to help the marketability. (Is that a word?) I am not all that worried about it. Well, maybe a little.

The new house is bigger and in a different school district. Both of those were factors in deciding to buy that house. We bought our current house when we were in our 20's and only had 1 child. Now we are in our mid-thirties and have three kids. Our needs and, quite frankly our income are different now. I love the floor plan, as it emphesizes the family room and really has a very small formal living room. Actually, I think the living room is probably bigger than I imagined because the sellers had a baby grand piano in there. My small cabinet upright piano will take up a lot less room. The living room also has a fake fireplace, and I am not sure what that is about. We'll see what I do with that. Back to the family room, it is large, has a fireplace, and windows that look out over the wooded backyard. It also has French doors onto the large deck. Since we have kids, we spend a lot of time in the family room.

Our current house was built in 1975, which means it has a lacking master bath. The new house has an incredible master bath, if you look beyond the purple plaid wallpaper and purple carpet. I plan to tile the bathroom floor. I know everyone says they never use their jetted tub. However, I am a bath person, and I am sure I will use it. (I'll get back to you in a couple of months...) The master bedroom has a fireplace, which I think is romantic. But, I am not sure how much we will use it. I have this idea in mind to have a fake bearskin run in front of the fireplace. My husband just rolls his eyes. Maybe I do have a little bit of romance in me...

The house has 4 1/2 baths, which is two more than we have now. I have told the kids it is time they learned to clean bathrooms. The seller offered me the name of her cleaning lady, but I think I will still be cleaning myself...

The seller had a room in the basement where she made and furnished doll houses. It has great light and she was delighted that I would be moving my quilting stuff in there.

I am hoping to entertain a little more in the new house. It has a great set up for that. Of course, it will be a while before we are ready for that. I am hoping to do a big party at Christmas.

After Thursday, I will have pictures to show you. Keep your fingers crossed that someone will buy our house soon.