House shuffle

For those of you who have asked about all the house transitions and transactions, glitches and gaffes... we're getting closer to being in the clear.

We closed on the house in C-U on Wednesday, 7/30, so we are currently not homeowners. It feels weird to say goodbye to that place, especially since we didn't really say goodbye. I thought we'd go back for closing and have some kind of ceremonial last picture or something, but we had an attorney handle it all for us, so we didn't make the trip. I'm glad it's over, but that place will sure be missed. I hope the new owner enjoys it and uses the heck out of that pool! I'm actually sending a card to the new owner today with a "congrats on your new home" kind of thing. Just thought it would be nice.

We will be closing on Abbey on 8/12. We got a GREAT deal on the house and the sellers also gave us a nice credit for the repairs that needed to be made, so we're in really amazing shape, thank you God! Maybe I'll put a few pics below since the deal is solid and everything's in place. After we close, we'll be having a week or so of some demolition, construction, remodeling, and minor repairs around the house. We'll be getting the new appliances delivered, and maybe, if we have time, I'll tackle some of the wallpaper that simply must be removed. (It might have to wait...we'll see.) We hope to get moved in over the 3rd and 4th week of August, not sure what the "big stuff" day will be yet. (The house is less than a mile from our apartment.) But by the end of August, we have to be all out of the apartment and the other storage unit, so that's the ultimate deadline.

The demo/construction/remodeling stuff is basically two projects to start with. There will be another soon, but not right away. (New bath added in the basement.) The most important one prior to move in is complete removal and rebuilding of the wall between the living room and the garage. There's currently a wood-burning fireplace there that doesn't work properly and is actually considered a hazard. The wall is also not code for a few reasons, so we opted to take it all out and re-do. I'd rather have the wall space since the room is SO small anyway, so it's all good. This is the wall that will be gone. (Yes, that's the whole wall.)

I can't decide if I want to re-use that bookcase on the right somewhere else. It's new, but I'm not so much into oak. But it is good storage, so we'll probably find another place for it. (Sorry the pics are iffy...phone pics. Camera batteries died.)

This is the other side of that wall. Part of the issue for us was how much space this takes up in the garage too, preventing us from getting both cars in. (It was previously an exterior wall before the garage was added on sometime back.) We're big believers in the fact that garages are made for cars. So this will be just a smooth wall.

Then this wall, in the kitchen eat-in corner, will have a rectangle hole cut in it so that it's open some to the living room. (Love that border?? Not! And see...more oak!! That's for a later project.) It'll be most of that space that is currently white. I think it'll really make for a nice bigger feel in the living room and kitchen, and it's a super easy project for the valuable results.

So that's the plan for now. Monday the 4th we go meet the contractor/project manager at the house to get the official measurements and get the dates scheduled for the work, hopefully right after closing. The mortgage stuff is done, the down payment is ready (thanks!!), the contract is signed. Now we just wait 11 days.