Sharing my Secret News - I Bought a New House!

31 August
I've been keeping a little secret and I decided it's finally time to share my good news!

I sold my house and am buying a new one!!! Well a new-to-me house anyway... it's actually a 1960's ranch house that needs a little fixing up here and there... just my cup of tea! Closing for both houses is set for September 22nd... which is also my birthday! I thought you might like to see the new place. Some of these pictures are from the listing and some I took during the inspection.

Let's look around outside first shall we? :o)

Fixer upper house tour


I wanted one level and I really wanted a garage. This is one level with a one-car garage... I won't be using the garage for parking, it will be my shop. And there is room next to the garage for my vintage trailer!


This house has all the major things taken care of... vinyl siding, newer roof, newer heat pump, new carpet, underground sprinklers. That's all good because I didn't want to have to deal with any of those kinds of things. Isn't that front landscaping cute?!


If you walk around the side of the garage you can see the backyard. It really needs a new fence and that might be one of the things I actually hire out. You may remember I put up a new fence at my current house and I am still SO over building fences! You can see the back fence is what they call a good neighbor or friendly fence. You can see your neighbor's through it and while I'm not unfriendly or anything I really like a private back yard.


 I kind of love that it's basically just a blank slate back here but that the curbing is already in place!


There's a funny little covered deck structure out there... I think they probably used it for wood storage because there is a wood stove inside the house... I'm thinking it would be a really cute area for a swing!


This is standing out in the yard looking back at the house (sorry for the blurry picture, this is one of the listing agent's pictures). So the door on the far left goes into the garage, the sliding glass doors go into the dining room, and the door on the right goes into the laundry room.

Let's head inside!


As you walk in the front door you see nice new carpet :o) in a nice neutral color :o) :o) I'm not really diggin' the wood stove... I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do. I've been thinking of taking it out... but I've also been thinking of trying to make it look better and living with it for awhile... something on the wall behind it... painting the stove itself, etc. We'll see.


If you walk toward the stove and look to your left you'll see the dining room with the sliding glass doors out to the backyard. I was SO excited to see that dated 1980's looking ceiling fan! I've got a plan for that and I can hardly wait! ;o) To the right of the glass doors is the door out to the garage.


And standing under that lovely ceiling fan you can see the kitchen and the laundry room back there. These cabinets actually don't look too bad in this picture but they are very dated and ugly looking in real life. This is one room that needs updating and I've got plans a-brewin' in my little head!


Here's a closer look. It has a dishwasher that isn't wired properly and a garbage disposal that doesn't work along with a non-working range hood. Those things all need to be fixed.


Turning to your left you see the adorable little wall-mount oven. It is tiny guys! But I love it ♥ And see that tall skinny cabinet?


Check out the awesomeness that hides within! Pull out drawer/shelf things and a built-in spice rack in the door! This is the ONLY cabinet in the kitchen that is nice like this inside. I'm thinking it must have been added later.

Now if you walk through the opening toward the hot water heater you'll be in the laundry room.


Standing in that opening and looking to the right (that's my inspector James... he would be so thrilled to have that flattering picture posted all over blogland!) you see that third door that heads out to the backyard. The doorway that James is coming out of is a half bath that goes on through to the master bedroom! But we'll get to that in a second.


Look the other direction and you'll see that it goes back out to the living room! The whole house is like a giant circle and that is one reason I love older homes... they are weird... kind of like me! And if you look closely at that opening you'll see a weird accordion-folding door thing... that's definitely going bye-bye and I've got such a cool idea for that doorway!


And there are some more ugly cabinets in here. I may take the doors off and paint them, I may remove a couple of cabinets, or I may remove them all completely! I'm pretty excited about the laundry room... is that weird?! I've always loved laundry rooms, don't ask me why. Right now mine is in the basement and it's not my favorite spot of the house, this one is right smack-dab in the center of the house and you can see it from all angles so it will definitely be C.U.T.E. :o)

Now for that half bath that you saw James walking out of.


Ok... first things first... that oak toilet seat will be like one of the very first things to go! And you can walk right through this room into the master bedroom... which then goes around and out into the hall back to the living room!


This is the master bedroom... OH! I see a boob-light hanging down there! That will most likely be replaced with something more... ME!


Here we are in the bedroom looking back toward the bathroom. You can see there are no closet doors. The previous owner's had purchased new ones but they don't fit and at this point they don't want to try and order new ones. I'd probably be moved in by the time they got here anyway. They are giving me money instead... works for me! I'm not sure that I want those stupid bi-fold closet doors anyway... maybe I'll hang a pretty curtain here instead.

You can also head out of this room and down a hall to the other 2 bedrooms, bathroom, and back to the living room. I don't know why this big circle/walk-all-the-way-around-the-house-in-one-fell-swoop thing makes me so happy... maybe because it reminds me just a little bit of my grandma's house. You could walk all the way through her house like this too.

Let's check out that hallway and other bathroom. I'm not going to show the other 2 bedrooms at this point. They are just little square boxes with a closet and a window... nothing fancy there!


We are standing in one of those bedrooms here though looking down the hall. Right outside this doorway to the left is the master bedroom we just came out of, there is another bedroom on the right and across from that on the left is the bathroom... a little bit further is that doorway with the accordion door to the laundry room.

Let's check out this bathroom! Are you guys ready for this? I'm not sure you are... brace yourselves! ;o)


 Wait a minute! Are you seeing what  you think you're seeing?!


Oh yah! It's a blue bathtub!! lol... I think I'm just going to embrace it! My bathroom now is decorated in a beach/sea theme so those things will fit right in here and make that bathtub look like I picked it on purpose!


I am going to ditch the blue sink though for a nice pretty white one. and that medicine cabinet/mirror combo thing with the mis-matched doors has GOT.TO.GO.


What are you thinking of that lovely wallpaper?! lol! Ick!!


Come out of the bathroom, make a left and you're right back in the living room. I'm happy there is a coat closet.


And here is the view back down the hall from over by that wood stove again.

There's just one more room on the tour... that garage. Only one picture though, sorry. Let's just say it needs work too!


It does have these nice built in shelves though! They will be perfect for holiday decorations! That's James again heading out that door into the backyard.

Well what do you think? I'm downsizing a little bit. My house now is 1,860 square feet and this one is 1,269 square feet. I've been selling a few things here and there and the buyer of my house has bought a few things. I'm so excited, I can't wait to get started on this new project!


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  1. I am SO excited for you!!!! I can't wait to see what all you do with the new place! It has good 'bones' and will be looking like YOU in no time!! We are both September sisters! My birthday is the 24th!

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  2. Do you mean to tell me I was in on the secret?!! So cool, love the potential, love that you've done it and are so thrilled by all your plans for this new home. It's going to be fab!!!!

    Can't wait for you to get in. Wish I lived closer, I'd help too!

    Enjoy your new home. SOOOOO thrilled for you xoxox

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  3. I was wondering when you were going to let the cat out of the bag...lol! I can't wait to see what all you do with the place. You are definitely downsizing too. My place is about 1,250-1,300 square feet though and it's big enough. I'm so excited for you and what an awesome birthday gift! Have a wonderful week.

    Blessings, Vicky

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  4. Great house and many best wishes!

    Do NOT get rid of that wood burning stove. Even if you disconnect it from the wall and close up the vent hole, that stove is a TREASURE!

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  5. Wow! This is super fabulous good news and I'm SO HAPPY for you! I love houses from this era as they seem made for convenience. I agree, keep the wood stove for awhile and see if it grows on you, or get one that is more visually pleasing. I cook on mine and you're super snug if the power goes out--still can heat water for coffee, cook, and stay warm!

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  6. How exciting! I think about moving into a fixer upper all the time, but with two kids at home and being a single mom, it always feels too overwhelming. One day though... Can't wait to see what you've got in store for this house!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Sharon! I totally understand the single mom thing. Your time will come :o)

      Tania

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