Monday, June 17, 2013

Living Room Mood Board

I am sooo excited about our new house that I can't stop dreaming about how we'll decorate every space.  I've been pinning everything I like to specific boards for each room in the house so I could see all the elements together at a glance.  The problem is, my living room board got so full that I had to scroll...not good!

So I did what any obsessed (and pre-nesting)  new homeowner would do: I made my very first mood board!  Some of the items (the sofa, chair, ottomans, and possibly the pendant) are something that I definitely plan to have in the space eventually, but most are placeholders for (hopefully less expensive) future thrift finds/DIY projects.




  1. Winslow Decorative Wall Mirror- $81.99- Overstock.com found here
  2. Existing Fireplace- (similar)
  3. Threshold Mission Log Basket- $34.99- Target found here
  4. Avington Upholstered Slipper Chair- $169.99- Target found here
  5. Existing Floors
  6. Threshold Brass Gorilla- $9.99- Target found here
  7. Console Table- $129.99- Target found here
  8. Navy Geometric Rug- $329.99- Overstock found here
  9. Wire Globe Pendant- $99.99- Shades of Light found here
  10. Curtains- $32.99- Target found here
  11. Karlstad Sofa- $499- IKEA found here
  12. Navy check fabric for pillow(s)- $8.99/yd- IKEA http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90223727/
  13. Green Pillow- $25- Etsy found here
  14. Storage Ottomans- $44.99- Target found here
  15. White Tray- $9.99- IKEAfound here
  16. Paint Color- Benjamin Moore Moonshine
Making the moodboard was more time consuming, but also easier, than I expected.  I saved all the images to one folder, used Picasa (collages) to edit and arrange them, and added the number labels in GIMP (another free, but not very user-friendly image editing software).

The hardest part of the whole thing?  Without a doubt, that would be leaving my debit card safely tucked away in my wallet.  My inner cheapskate always seems to get a bit anemic when I'm pregnant, and Patrick has always been horribly indulgent; if I don't tell myself no, the answer is yes!  So far, aside from the floors and the mantle, this all belongs to me only in my dreams.  Considering how much overtime Patrick's been pulling to get cash together for closing, let's hope we can keep it that way for at least four more weeks!

Happy Monday!
-Kelli

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

It's Only a Matter of Time...

...before I wake up right here.
 I'll brush my teeth (because running water won't disturb Madison anymore)...
then I'll come here to sip my coffee...
 that was made in my new kitchen...
before I go wake up my brain in my new study.
Then Madison will wake up in her new room...
and come watch Super Why in our new living room.
(Since I'm dreaming anyway), she'll probably ask to go to the potty...
and then go in the backyard to play.
 Soon it will be lunchtime, so I'll head to my pantry/utility room to start on Madison's lunch...
 and then put her down for a nap so I can work on decorating her little sister's room.
 Before long (or at least not as long as it takes here in Crosby), Daddy will come home...
 and enjoy the house with us!
 If you haven't figured it out yet, our offer was accepted.  We plan to close on it the Friday before my birthday weekend. (Happy birthday to me!) And our current house is now under contract to close three days after our new one, giving us a full weekend to make the move, but no double mortgage payments!  I've been on cloud nine for about 60 hours straight. 

Now my biggest challenge is to stop obsessing over working on the details of the two closings and the move for long enough to plan Madison's birthday party!  At least she's given me clear direction for the party planning.  She wants a blue circle cake, green puppy dogs, pink kitty cats, pink elephants, blue balloons, and Ms. Lisa (our children's librarian). 

Happy Wednesday!
-Kelli

Monday, June 3, 2013

Selling, Buying, and Pregnancy Hormones: A Recipe for Stress

I posted a few weeks ago about listing our house.  In the time since, we've had five showings to three potential buyers, and one offer.  We weren't comfortable with the offer, so we countered and haven't heard back (in five days...we've stopped holding our breath for that one!).  Our house is still active on the market, and although we've had a decent amount of interest so far, we decided to drop the price (by about 5%) for one big reason:

We found THE house for us!
 We made an offer on it this morning, and are not so patiently waiting to hear back.  The catch?  It's a Fannie Mae-owned property, meaning it will definitely have multiple offers.  If I decided to be very optimistic, I'd guess our chances of winning (that's the best word for what it will be if our offer is accepted), are about 15%.  Instead, thanks in part to my insane hormones, I'm completely delusional and have already decorated each and every nook and cranny of the place (but only in my mind, of course).

I will say that we made our offer as appealing as we could to give ourselves the best chance possible.  We didn't even require selling our current house first, meaning we will probably have two mortgage payments for at least a month (assuming we get the house).  Although we're not thrilled at the idea of throwing $800/month down the drain, we know we're in a place where we can financially handle it, and feel confident enough in our house and the market to not lose sleep over it.  It doesn't hurt that we're saving about $1600 on commissions once we do sell our house, since we found a broker who would discount her commission.  We're also going to save on the buying end, getting a rebate after closing. 

But enough about boring old money...who needs that anyway?  Hopefully not us, since we would be using about 60% of our savings at closing.  Let's talk about (almost-kinda-sorta-please, please, please, God) our new house.

My favorite things:
  • The location-17 minutes from Patrick's work (as close as we can safely get)
  • The location-(yes, I typed that twice)-near so much!  Great malls, stores, Goodwill (yes!), parks...
  • The location-I pulled it up on Houston's crime map...NOTHING.  Wait, there was identity theft one neighborhood over, but I'm not really worried about someone breaking into my house and stealing my identity.
  • The curb appeal (let's hope I can learn to keep that landscaping alive)
  • The front porch (fully paved with brick)
  • The floor plan (not technically split since the nursery and master share a wall, but split enough for me, and so open!)
  • The floors.  I've been trying to reconcile myself to the fact that our price range just doesn't include hardwoods, then BAM!  I found this.
  • The fireplace.
  • The master suite- We've never had one before!  Our own bathroom!  A bedroom that's not 12x13!  A walk-in closet!  These are the things (my) dreams are made of.
  • The nursery- It's the only bedroom with wood floors, and it also has bead-board paneling halfway up all the walls.  Super charming!
  • The backyard- One of the only backyards I've seen in all my searches with a single tree.  It's also landscaped up the wazoo and has a nice sized covered patio.
The drawbacks:
  • The location-45 minutes from "home" (aka Crosby)
  • Kitchen counters- midnight blue laminate.  A one-very-far-away-day upgrade.
  • The floors- need to be either polished or refinished, depending on whether Patrick or I win (believe it or not, I DON'T want to refinish!)
  • The second bathroom- The builder used tile for the tub surround, which is fine.  Unfortunately, they went with white, with black tiles randomly mixed in.  It kind of reminds me of a rorschach test.  But that's what shower curtains are for!
  • The backyard- Although I LOVE the finishes of the backyard, it's not large.  And by not large, I mean it's maybe 800 square feet.  And with Bella now officially an outside dog, I see a LOT of walks in our future!
But the biggest drawback of all:  If we don't get this house, it will be horribly hard for us to settle for another one in the same price range.  Sigh.

We've been non-stop praying for God's will to be done in this, but I've also thrown up my share of "...but if you could go either way, God, please please please let us win it!" add-ons.  

Well, I guess that's quite enough for one post.  See ya!
-Kelli