davejenbarnes
David has been quite the handyman these days. This house was a foreclosure and part of that meant that it came “as is” which meant we had a kitchen missing a drawer, a section of the fence outside down, a broken trash can (one of those big special ones from the city), no garage door opener, dirty walls. In other words, we couldn’t ask for anything to be done before we agreed to buy it or to use as bargaining in getting a good price. But we got a good price. Really, I think this house is worth more than even the appraisal, but I’m not going to argue with them.
I was thinking this morning that it seemed like horrible timing — finding out we’re pregnant again on April 7, closing on April 9 (and paying waaaaay too much in closing costs, don’t even ask how much it was), moving in on May 10 and all the while David having band contests and 5th grade recruiting and festivals and high school duties and an extra-long-seeming school year because of the late start last year… but now, I think it was great timing. I get to be tired and pregnant with the move already over. The boys get to adjust to their new surroundings with Daddy home for the summer. We get time to put little projects up around the house. It’s been great.
The house came with all brass light fixtures (probably the cheapest ones the builder could get) inside and out and one by one they are all going away. I have nothing against bright yellow shining brass — in Burger King — I just don’t like it inside my house. It doesn’t fit my style, so out it goes. We’ll probably save up all the fixtures and freecycle them as a set for someone who, say, might be redoing a rental house or something.
That beauty is a 60″er from Lowe’s and is now cooling us off in the livingroom.  We, of course, opted for the darker side of the blades. I love that it came with a remote control which we have mounted to the wall by our bedroom where I always thought a light switch should go. For the ceiling fan in the boys’ room, we got the $18 special at the grocery store. Hey! It works, though!
In our kitchen, to use some wasted space (why there isn’t a cabinet above the fridge space beats me — the fridges that would be taller are also too wide for the alloted space… ) we went to IKEA and picked up a very basic pot rack. David loves it. I love it but I think he loves it more.
We’ve also added some 2″ faux wood blinds to the front room and replaced a sconce in the hallway. These are all little things but they sure help to make this place feel more like “ours.”
