Mission Accomplished/Crisis Averted

We went to see the other house today.

 I LOVED it. 

I could see myself living there, easily. It has weird quirks and tons of character. And the space! The bedrooms and closets are huge. Three, yes three bathrooms. Built-in drawers with original cup pulls in the closets. Original hardware on all the built-ins. Extra storage space galore. A work bench/room. And the attached garage! Attached, people. This is really a serious thing when you won't live in a house that was built after 1930. The outdoor space was amazing, complete with a pear tree.

The amount of work needed in this home is exhausting, though. The rooms with original hardwoods need to be re-sanded and stained. Nearly every light fixture needs to be updated (ohh and how I nearly died when I opened an attic storage space and spied the original dining chandelier), and there is a lot of questionable electrical work. There were holes in some of the plaster in the closets. One bathroom needs to be entirely ripped out and started over. Plaster needs work in spots on ceilings. One room has teal carpet and a dragon mural. The basement is finished but not waterproofed. And last but not least, the kitchen needs a complete overhaul.

A big part of me wished it could be our next house, but it isn't going to be.

And yet I left the property feeling very happy about the whole experience. 

Six years ago, we would have looked at this home and dismissed it out of hand. We wouldn't have known how to estimate what a bathroom or tear-out would cost. We wouldn't have known what to do when refinishing floors or even what we want and need in a kitchen. We would have been terrified of all the unknowns that don't really bother us now. This would have been an insurmountable project for us back then.

Now that we've been homeowners of a an old house, we know what we are capable of (and what we aren't). As we walked through, Andrew and I were evaluating cost, process, and complexity - all things we couldn't have possibly understood as first-time home owners (and certainly couldn't have tackled while preserving our marriage). 

Seeing all those blank canvases (with old house bones) made me feel excited about our next home - we will certainly be able to find that perfect old house and make it ours, while restoring as much of its original character as we can in the process. We can take on more next time, and it will work out beautifully.

Seeing that old house also made me realize that I want to enjoy what we have and what we've done with this house for a few more years before starting from scratch.

So speaking of that, may I present my messy kitchen:

Oh yes, all that hardware matches.

Here, too.

The fridge doesn't quite fit centered, but it's not as off-centered as it looks here. Just an angle. And please pretend that you can't see my sink full of dirty dishes.

And of course there is a story about those dang knobs. Because this is a long post already, I will summarize a little bit.

Lowe's called in the afternoon that my order was in. So after work, I stopped by (on my way to meet the realtor).

Me: hi, I'd like my order

Lowe's kid: I have no idea what I'm doing

Me: hi, I'd like my order

Lowe's kid: I have no freaking idea what I'm doing. Why don't I make you stand around for awhile, since I'm sure your time isn't valuable.

Me: I'm trying to be nice, but I really hate doing business here.

It went something like that.

Wouldn't it be nice if that was the end?

Do you already know where this is headed?

Wrong dumb stupid freaking knobs.

We returned them, had dinner out, and then went back to Menard's and bought the knobs.

And some dots. 

Andrew has a candy weakness for dots. Since dots are located near cabinet hardware at Menard's, every time we've been there (and Andrew has been grumpy), I've suggested getting Dots. We hope this is the last cabinet-related outing to Menard's, so this time Andrew got his favorite Tropical ones.

I was a little bummed out about "losing" the savings that I'd found at Lowes, but I used my $25 visa gift card that I won in a weight-loss challenge at the Y. So at the end of the day, there was a $5 difference in price, but we wound up with $2 cash savings on out of pocket expenses. So I can still say that we spent only $30 on cabinet hardware.

That's the recap of our evening. One project done (well, mostly done but that is another post for another day), one house visited, and one house to be loved and appreciated by us for a few more years to come.