Happy New Year!

It was a big year for us.  We did this:

and built this with help from A LOT of people:

We really looking forward to 2010 because for the most part, there won’t be a lot of planning.  We can’t wait to have large Sunday dinners again, evenings free from necessary crafting and last minute visits to various tile or kitchen showrooms.  We know we’ll still be making plenty trips to Lowe’s and have lots of progress pictures to share since we live in a construction zone. 

We don’t have internet access yet (shaking our fists at Comcast) but come Monday, watch out, because we have tons to share. 

We hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!

M & C

The First of Many

Ah, we enjoyed the first of many weekends in our new home.  We moved in Friday night after enjoying a celebratory drink with a few friends.  We both were so exhausted after a long couple of weeks that the only real progress we made on Friday night was putting together our bed and hunting down sheets (any set) to put on it.

After a restful night sleep, we woke up and just took the whole experience in.  Here we were, waking up in our own bed (finally) in our very own house (finally x2).  This was the view from my side of the bed.

Since everything was still in boxes, we decided to meet my sister for breakfast at one of our favorite neighborhood joints.  After breakfast, we ran around picking up things we needed (shower curtain hooks, grout, etc) and headed to Sears to set up our cable and internet.  Yes, Sears.  I tried setting it up with Comcast online but was told because our house is a new construction, we had to do it at one of their kiosks.  Turns out the kiosk was at Sears.  It was fairly painless and we also found out that when you open Comcast accounts at Sears, you are eligible for a $75 Sears gift card.  We’re not usually Sears shoppers but we did eye a few lamps we wouldn’t mind having in the house.

Most of the rest of the weekend involved cleaning, moving things around and hunting for boxes.  The guys only worked a half day Saturday, so there isn’t huge progress, but they did get some important stuff done.

The grey tiled fireplace is on our master bedroom.  We had a box of the tile leftover from the master bathroom project and we thought the tile tied everything together nicely.

The white tiled fireplace is in the living room.  Again, we had a few feet of white tile leftover, so we decided to go white here.  I wasn’t sure I’d like it (it was a Micah and Mom choice) but turns out I do.  They still need to patch up a few holes on the mantel and we need to paint the fireplace a nickel color, but then it’s done.  YAY!

We also decided to use the white tile for the kitchen backsplash.  I debated going with a glass subway tile in grey or white, but they everyone convinced me this would look just as good.  It’s hard to tell how great it will look, but so far, I don’t hate it.  We’re hoping Augustin will finish all his projects before the end of the week.  It’s not that we don’t like having Augutin around (he’s pretty hilarious), we’re just not thrilled with him walking all over the house in his dusty, muddy shoes. 

Especially when the stairs from the 2nd floor to the 3rd floor are finished.  Everyone (including Dadtractor) tried to convince us to do carpets on the staircase but we really lobbied for the wood despite the extra cost.  We’re so glad we put our foot down.  It really does add a little something to the house.  This is an awful picture.  Once we find our camera, I’ll do the stairs and Jose’s work justice.

We also got about half the handles on the cabinets installed.  We got these at Ikea and really like them.  We went with long handles on the pantry and lower drawers and the short handles everywhere else.  Now we just need to figure out how we want to organize the inside of the cabinets. 

We did manage to clean the place up a little bit and make it look more like a home than a construction site.  We moved all of the boxes from the middle of the living room to the craft room and to the wall near the kitchen.  I decorated the tree and even got a few presents wrapped.

I put the dining room table together and Micah took care of the chairs.  I think we should replace one of the white chairs with something with a little more color.  We had hoped to paint one of the walls but it’s proven to be a little difficult.  I’ll explain later. 

I want this chair in Pewter from West Elm but I can’t justify the $500 and it never goes on sale.   Or better yet, maybe something with a print to brake up all the white.  We do want to get a rug which may help with all the white.

I also cleaned off our Ikea couch but left it on the cloth so it would be easier to move around.  We’re still playing with how we’ll set up the space and that thing is heavy.

The place is still coming together.  We’re on the fence about the chandelier in the living room.  We might just remove it, cap the hole and go with floor lamps for a while.  The electrician misplaced it and right now, it’s not in the greatest spot.  We’re hoping to do wall touch-ups once they are done with the mantel and call the space done.  Not done, but more complete construction wise. 

The other side of our open main floor space looks like this.  I was promised all this would be cleared out today and everything but touching up the paint on the second floor would be done (besides tile work).  I’m really hoping this it true because we’re both really anxious to set up our new dining table. 

I guess our two big To Dos this week besides unpacking are a) install the closet organizer in the master bedroom closet, b) figure out an organizing system for the cabinets (and buy it) and c) get the walls in the open space touched up.  I guess that’s 3 things.

Anyone have suggestions about kitchen cabinet/panty organization?

Today Feels Like Christmas

We move in today!!!  HOLLA!  We’re very excited.  Tonight, we plan to grab some takeout, pop open a bottle of wedding bubbly and set up our master bedroom.  If we have some time, I want to find the boxes with our Christmas presents, bust out the wrapping paper and decorations, and start making the place feel more Christmasy.  I know the guys will still be working there until at least Tuesday and have to work around the presents and decorations, but I think they will appreciate hominess. 

Plus, I need something to put under this.

Last night when we were moving boxes around, I found my mini Christmas tree from DC.  I lugged that little thing back with us when we moved.  I decided to set it up to make the place feel warmer.  Since we didn’t have wrapped presents ready, I put a Christmas card we received that day under the tree.  The card was the first piece of mail we received at the house.  Thanks Hamster!

We also found this in the guest bathroom:

and this outside:

(we still have the deck to install and another coat of paint to apply)

and this in a kitchen drawer:

A good present right?  Under-the-tree worthy indeed.

Oh, have we showed you this? 

Have a wonderful Friday!  I know we will. 

Heads Up!

Greetings from a still ridiculously excited Catherine (and Micah)!  So, while we have had permission to live in our house for 2 days, we haven’t actually moved in yet.  Since no one was expecting the good news so soon, no one was prepared for the house to be occupied until today.  The place is still really dusty and I didn’t get to clean much yesterday.  Turned out my sister flew in from Italy yesterday instead of today.  I spent the morning at Lowe’s and the afternoon catching up with her.  It was a good thing I had planned to be off. 

We decided tonight would be out first official night in the house.  We cleaned out the master bedroom and plan to do a quick sweep and mop of it tonight before we set up our bed.  Exciting right? 

I’m still working on our inspiration board for the master bedroom which I will share with you soon, but in the mean time, I have headboards on my mind.  I really want a headboard.  Because of the way our old apartment was set up, we had to have our bed against the window making it our head board.  Every time (or almost every time) we got into bed, I’d mention wanting a headboard.  4 years later, we finally get one.  The only thing now is to decide between the millions of fun options out there.

Option 1 : Purple Lust

Look at this from Living Etc.  I love it. I want it.  And if I had the skills, I’d make it.  

Option 2: Tufted Luck

image

Yes please to either.  The top one is really bright, but I think the contrast between a bright color and our grey wall would give the room a good pop.  I also love the texture of the velvet headboard from Urban Outfitters.  Would it be weird if I rubbed my cheek up against it every morning like a kitty?

Option 3 : Kink Free

OK, don’t get the wrong idea about this look from Sunset Magazine.  I just love the mosaic mirror tile.  I think it looks classy without looking, er, kinky.  I can just see how it would brighten the room and make it look huge.

Option 3: Pieced Together

I really like this one from Chictip.com.  It looks fairly easy to make and it’s got some nice simple lines.  I like the way the white and Granny Smith green pop against the charcoal wall.  You could give this option as much color and texture as you want.

Option 4: A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place

This one, also from Chictip.com, is the more manly of all the options but I still really like it.  It’s so mid-century modern.  My only worry is whether it would be too much wood in the room.  The floors are wood.  I’m also worried that we can’t afford a piece like this.  I guess that is two worries.  I wonder if our table maker Aaron offers layaway.

Option 5: Textured Love

This to me says, “get into bed and relax.”  I could see this behind our heads as we’re cuddled up, reading the newspaper or doing the crossword puzzle on Sunday morning.  **sigh** Apartment Therapy always has good suggestions.

What do you guys think?  Which would you go with?

An Important Conversation

I had an important phone conversation while boarding the bus today and it went like this…

M: Hey Dad, what’s going on?

D: I have some news.

M: What?  Are the electrical changes done?

D: No, not that.  The building inspector just left and he said you can’t move in for 3 weeks.

M: WHAT!!!! 3 WEEKS??????

D: No.  I’m kidding.  He said you can move in today.

M: WHAT!!!! TODAY??????

D: Yep.  The inspector came by about 30 minutes ago to just look over the progress of the house and he said it looked really good.  He said that as long as we pass the electrical inspection tomorrow, you can starting unpacking tonight.  He said we didn’t need to call for a partial final inspection tonight, he’d use this visit as one.  I think he likes me.

M: Huh?  Really?  We can move in?  Is this legal?

D: I asked and he said yes.  He said everything was legitimate.  He even wished me a happy holidays.

M: Holy Sh*t!

D: What?

M: I said, “WOW!”

D: I have to go, I’ll talk to you later.

Did you get that everyone?  We got the OK to move in today and weren’t even expecting.  It’s a Christmas miracle!  I was so excited, I nearly passed out.  I ran up the hill to my parents house and when I got there, Micah was already home.  I literally hopped around for 20 minutes.  When my Mom got home 15 minutes later, I started hopping around and shaking my booty all over again.

We decided we wouldn’t actually move in tonight.  The place is a mess and is super dusty.  I took tomorrow off so I could clean for the inspection Friday but now I’ll be cleaning so we can move in.  We did head over with beer to celebrate with the guys.  They’ve been working really hard and needed an early night.

Tomorrow will involve a lot of cleaning, a lot of shopping for miscellaneous items and a lot of unpacking – I CAN’T WAIT!  

An Update!

The good news?  We got the partial pass on the plumbing inspection!!!  Woo Hoo! 

The bad news?  We failed the electrical inspection.  POOP!  There were two minor-ish problems.

1. No outlet for the dryer.  Apparently the electrician forgot to install an outlet for the dryer.  Dadtractor said it was his fault because he put the washer and dryer in the closet before the electrician came to do outlet installation.  But here’s my question, when he installed the outlet for the washer, why didn’t he assume we’d need one for the dryer?  Hmmm….
2. We have track lighting in our master closet.  I guess you can’t have track lighting in a closet.  Not even one the size of a bedroom.  Again, I have a question.  Why didn’t our electrician know this?  If he did know this, why didn’t he say anything.  I guess that’s two questions.

Lucky for us, these two changes are very minor.  Dadtractor said the electrician will be done with the changes by 1pm (which is in 12 minutes).  They are calling for another electrical inspection tomorrow. 

Oh, we have goodish news also.  The building inspector told Dadtractor he’d stop by today to look over the house and let us know if he sees anything that wouldn’t be up to snuff.  Is our building inspector coming around?  I hope so.  This is goodish news because it gives us a sense of work that may not pass the inspection.  This isn’t completely good news because there could potentially be a lot of things the inspector believes will not pass the inspection. 

Not This Game Again

The electrical inspection didn’t happen yesterday.  The inspector never showed up.  Sound familiar?  Poop is right!  We’re hoping he’ll show up today.  Our electrician made a few calls this morning to confirm the inspection.  The good news?  I heard Dadtractor talking to the plumbing inspector this morning and it sounds like he’ll be by at noon today.  I hope everything is in order and we get the partial pass.  The so-so news?  Dadtractor decided he like to schedule the partial final building inspection for Friday.  This is the inspection where the inspector checks all the finishes (vent covers, doors, etc).  With 3.5 floors, there are a lot of finishes.  Dadtractor spoke to the partial final building inspector this morning and he mentioned work needed on our downstairs door.  Dadtractor said it’s no biggie, but I’m a little worried.  This is the same inspector that had them pull out all the stairs in the house 3 weeks after he gave them the OK.  I hope this will go as smoothly as Dadtractor says.  I’m glad he’s taking his time to make sure everything is as perfect as possible.  Fingers crossed…and maybe toes too.

Very Superstitious

The New Year is right around the corner so I’m already thinking about all the New Year’s Eve tasks we’ll have to do.  Actually, I say New Year’s Eve tasks but you’d probably say, crazy Filipino superstitions.  I agree, but would still call them tasks.  Here are my 3 biggies:

• Place coins on sill of every window on New Year’s Eve and Day for good luck and prosperity.  Money will flow into your house all year long.
• Keep plenty of cash in your wallet or pockets to have plenty of money for the year.
• Fill up your canisters with rice, sugar, flour, salt, etc. on New Year's Eve. You'll have plenty for the coming year and never be hungry.

Seriously, we do this every year.  We put money on EVERY SINGLE WINDOW SILL.  No joke.  We’ve never been completely broke and I don’t like to tempt fate.  This year this could be a problem since we have one window over 6 feet off the ground. 

I always wear something on New Year’s Eve that has a lot of pockets.  A lot of pockets mean a lot of money to put in pockets.  Again, I don’t like to tempt fate.

We do also like to keep the fridge stocked and canisters full.  We didn’t do it going into 2009 and while we never went hungry, I swear we were always running out of something and always having to go to the store.

Unfortunately, we’ve already broken a few house/home superstitions.

• Make sure the master bedroom is constructed so that it faces the east or has a window facing that direction.
• When moving into a new home, see to it that rice is brought in first.

Hmm, will the west do?  What about the north?  We have no windows in our master bedroom that face the east.  I also have no idea what was first moved into the house.  I think it was box of books.  I’m thinking that means we’ll always have a wealth of knowledge in the house.  Yes, I like that.  That’s exactly what that means.

There are also a few home superstitions I’m going to skip.  Like these for example:

• Have a statue of Christ the King, Sacred Heart of Jesus, and Immaculate Heart of Mary or a statue of the Infant Jesus in the house. Make sure they face the door to greet your guests.

I’m not so sure about this.  Do these count?

 

I actually kind of like them.  They are colorful.  I’d probably stay away from the Pope ones, but I think the Our Lady of (insert place or event here) are always really pretty.  I can pick these up for less than $2 a piece. 

• Hang braided/strands of garlic to drive bad spirit away.

I might also avoid this one.  Garlic hanging in the house?  I’m not so sure.

Luckily, I’m not too worried about skipping a few of these traditions.  I skipped a couple of the wedding ones and I think everything turned out OK.

• Never try on your wedding gown; it's a sign that the wedding may be cancelled.

Nope.  We were both there and happily got hitched.

• The Bride and groom shouldn't be traveling to distant places before the wedding; they are accident prone at this time.

I was in Ethiopia few months before the wedding, and I have to say, it was one of the safer trips I’ve been on.  I didn’t fall into a hole or was chased by an elephant or herd of goats.  Yes, that happened.

So in addition to the New Years tasks, I’m thinking seriously about a few housewarming “tasks.”

• Have your home blessed for safety and good fortune

Yes, a housewarming with a blessing.  Funny thing is, I’ve never been to a housewarming that didn’t have a blessing, priest and holy water, and Micah has never been to one with any of those things.  We’ll have a housewarming, but with a blessing?  Not sure.  I know how my parents would vote though.

• Toss coins on housewarming day for good luck.

I’m all about good luck.  Who or what could it hurt? 

So now you know, I’m a wee bit superstitious.  Any one have any new house/home superstitions I should be mindful of?  I don’t discriminate.

It’s Cold. We Lied. He’s Sick. We’re Delayed.

It’s Cold.  OK, today isn’t cold but last week?  It was cold – for Seattle.  It never made it above freezing for most of the week.  What does this mean?  If you are a plumber, it means CHA-CHING!  Frozen pipes galore! Dadtractor isn’t a plumber, but he is a preferred local contractor/handydude for a national bank who owns a lot of properties in the area.  The chilling temperatures last week meant that Dadtractor had a lot of high paying gigs (we don’t pay) and that progress on the house was slow.  Dadtractor can’t say no to the bank – they are his bread, butter and pickles.  If he said no, he’d lose his preferred status.  We TOTALLY understand that, and that we wouldn’t get enough work done on the house to call for the final inspection last Friday.

We Lied.  Way back when, we told you that we only had the final inspection left before we could move in.  We sort of lied about that.  Well, maybe it’s not lying, more we were misinformed.  It’s true we only have the final inspection left, but what we didn’t realize was that the final inspection actually consists of 3 final inspections.  You have to pass the final electrical inspection and plumbing inspection before you can apply for the final building inspection.  You collect all your previous passing report cards (structure, sewer, foundation, plumbing, etc), and give them to the inspector during the final inspection.  He or she does a final once over and gives you one of three grades: pass, partial pass, or fail. 

We’re going for a partial pass.  The house isn’t done, there still quite a bit of work needed.  That’s the bad news.  The good news? It’s done enough to live in.  Did you know you only need one working bathroom to get a partial pass on your plumbing final and that’s good enough to request a final inspection?  You don’t even need a working sink in the kitchen.  So we’re at that stage where we are trying to get all our ducks in a final inspection row.  We have the electrical final today and we’re hoping for the plumbing final tomorrow. 

He’s Sick.  The plumbing final inspection was suppose to happen today but it didn’t.  Our plumbing inspector was sick.  He’s suppose to be back tomorrow and (hopefully) conduct our inspection.  Here’s a weird thing I learned about plumbing inspections.  They are operated by The City of Seattle’s Department of Health which is one technological step behind DPD.  I know.  Hard to believe.  Everything is done via phone.  You can’t even look up your special plumbing/gas project number online.  The other thing I learned, the inspectors are really flexible and mindful of each others dealing.  What does that mean?  Well, you can negotiate something with inspector A and if he’s out, inspector B, will not take on his cases just incase the home owner/builder and inspector A had worked something special out.  Inspector B doesn’t want create confusion for inspector A and the owner/builder or to make more work.  An interesting concept.  Also, someone from the Plumbing/Gas office calls and tells you when your inspector is out sick, even if it’s just for a day or two.  Isn’t that BANANAS?  No one called us from DPD when one of our permit reviewers was out for a month. 

What this does mean though is if your inspector is out sick, your project waits.  We were hoping to have the plumbing final inspection today and the final (FINAL) inspection called for tomorrow, but now we’re another day behind.  Poop.  I hope our inspector is feeling better and can come out tomorrow.  Our one finished bathroom is looking pretty fierce.  Plus, I’ll be in the house to witness my first inspection and to clean for the final inspection on Thursday.

We’re Delayed.  You add up all the stuff above and it adds up to one FATTY delay.  We’re still hoping to get into the house by Christmas, but we know now it won’t before Friday.  Poop, poop, and more poop.  We’ve had our move-in date changed before (previously, August 18, Halloween, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, December 1st and December 15th).  It was a downer to hear last night and I was mopey, but what can you do?  We can’t control the weather and we can’t keep someone from getting sick.  We’re hoping this is our lucky week and we’ll pass the electrical final (today), partially pass the plumbing final (tomorrow) and partially pass the building final (Thursday) so we can move in Friday.  We only need a partial pass on the building final to move in. 

We have our finger crossed and are focusing as much positive energy towards DPD and our inspectors as we can.  Wish us luck!

Come Together Right Now

Over at 4024.  OK.  That was cheesy.  But you know what isn’t?  The progress made at the house today. 

First off, the almost complete guest bathroom.

The shower works.

And the faucet has been installed.  We bought a mirrored medicine cabinet today and it was installed right after we left.  There is about 20 minutes worth of caulking needed, a shower curtain rod left to purchase and a coat of paint to apply before it’s ready for final inspection.  We only need one working bathroom to pass the inspection.

Speaking of bathrooms, our master bathroom is almost done!

Toilet?  Check!

Floors? Check…

And check!

We still need to install all the faucets, sort out the vanity situation and do the final touch ups (caulk and paint).  We don’t need this bathroom to get a partial pass at final inspection, so we’re in no huge hurry. 

And the last bathroom?  Well, it’s moving right along.  Check out the tile work…

The shower wall tiling will be done today and soon the awesome cork mosaic floor tiles will go down.  We can’t wait. 

We also had some progress in the kitchen. 

The range hood was installed.  They need to smooth out the seam, but it works!

Check out the dishwasher – it’s so pretty (because it works!).  I also tested out the garbage disposal and was very impressed. 

I thought you’d all like a close up of our kitchen faucet.  Micah picked out and I’m pretty in love with it.

We also made a small discovery today.  Turns out that we have a built in water dispenser.  We didn’t think there was one because our fridge looks like this…

This afternoon, I went to get some water from the tap when Dadtractor told me to use water dispenser inside the fridge.  Inside the fridge?  I opened it up and saw this…

Who knew?  A built-in water dispenser wasn’t a priority, so we didn’t even notice there was one.  We’re so glad there is one though.  Finding it was like an early Christmas present.

So what’s on the schedule for tomorrow?  If it doesn’t snow tonight, we’ll be at Ikea picking up light bulbs, wood counters to use as a vanity and other odds and ends. 

Besides the water dispenser, we’re surprised by how much we really, really like the wood floors in the master bathroom.  What do you think?  Do you prefer the wood floors or the cork?

We Can’t Wait…

…to see the house tonight.  They installed the dishwasher, kitchen faucet and garbage disposal.  We are SO EXCITED for the garbage disposal and the dishwasher.  Our last place didn’t have a garbage disposal and it had a $65 dishwasher that didn’t really work. 

I heard that the tile in the master bathroom is completely done and the fireplaces work.  I hope that’s true. YAY!

We have a busy weekend ahead of us.  We’re hoping to paint our master bedroom walls, pick up various light bulbs and clean, clean, clean.  We’re hoping to call for the final inspection some time next week.  Could we actually be possibly moving in next week?  Maybe?  I can’t wait!

The Snail Mail Problem

I knew from the moment we decided to stay with Dadtractor and Mom for a few days (now weeks) before moving into the house that we’d have snail problems.  Or rather snail mail problems.  After exploring the USPS site, we realized we had no idea what to do.  Should we have our mail held at our local post office?  Should we install a mailbox and have the mail sent to the new house?  Should we have it temporarily forwarded to Dadtractor’s house then permanently changed to our new address in a few weeks?  We couldn’t decide.  The best course of action would be to visit the post office and ask.

Between runs to the liquor store for boxes, I stopped at the nearest post office and asked them what to do.  They suggested we go with the temporary move now and then a permanent move in a few weeks.  I tried to make the change for both Micah and  I while I was there, but they said I couldn’t because we have different last names.  So I made my change in person and I had Micah make his change online.

A few days after Micah made his change, he got a letter at my parents house saying that all his mail would be sent to the new temporary address.  Funny, I never got a letter like that.  I figured it was because I did my change in person and they already told me everything was in order.  Then Micah started receiving magazines.  We both get a lot of magazines.  Hmm, if he was getting magazines, then I should be too.  A few days after that, I received a notice from USPS saying that there was a problem with my change of address submission and my mail would not be forwarded to Dadtractor’s house.  GRRRR.  The letter said I could pick up my mail at the International District Post Office (way across town).

I left work early on Tuesday to pick up a weeks worth of mail only to find out they didn’t have mail for me.  GRRRR again.  They asked me to come back the next day but I explained to them I couldn’t.  They close at 5pm and by the time I got there on the bus, they would be closed.  I had already taken off early that day.  They said they would have someone look into the situation in the morning and give me a call.  They could hold the mail for me and I could come back on Saturday to pick it up. 

Well, 3 calls later (all made by me) and I find out that our regular mail carrier never heard there was a problem with my temporary forward, so she had just been throwing my mail into the “forward” box every evening.  Because the post office couldn’t find my new address in the system, they returned ALL my mail to their senders!  That’s right people, no Sunset Magazine for me this month.  Because we’re scheduled to move in next week, I can’t temporarily forward mail to Dadtractor.  The only option, have mail sent to the new house.  YAY!  Sort of.

When we first started looking at mailboxes a few months ago (silly us), we really liked this beauty from Chiasso

The color matched our house and we really liked the modern, clean lines.  Someone almost bought it for us off our Christmas wish list too.  We had to nix this style because we found out that everyone on our block had their mail delivered at street level.  We’d need one that could stand up on it’s own and would be big enough for small packages.

We then decided we wanted this one from Lowe’s 

We showed it to Dadtractor and he was a little puzzled.  Why did we need such a huge mailbox that cost $250?  Suddenly it dawned on us that we wouldn’t be getting daily packages in the mail.  For the last 2 years, we’ve kept our mail carrier busy.  The wedding and house building brought A LOT of packages to us daily.  Now we’re married and the building is almost done, we maybe would get a package every couple of weeks. 

We went on searching and finally found this

It’s the same style as the one above (but not grey – poop!), but is about half the size and only $42 at Lowe’s.  It already comes with the post and still has a lock.  We really want it to have a lock since the mailbox with be at street level.

I wish we could have mail delivered to our door, but I guess this is the next best thing.  The mailbox goes up today!  We did learn a valuable lesson in all this, always make USPS changes online.  You’ll know instantly if there is a problem.

A PSA For House Hunters

I (Catherine) was walking to my parents house from work yesterday and noticed a few of their neighbors had recently had their property lines reviewed and property corners staked.  It reminded me of some advice I had been meaning to give about doing your homework when house hunting.

I’m sure house hunters know about the value and importance of having the electrical, plumbing and roof checked out before closing (or making an offer) on a house but do people know about the importance of double checking property lines?  It sounds funny I know, but let me explain.  When my parents’ neighbors decided to do a major overhaul on their yard, they decided to have their property lines checked and corners re-staked.  The neighbors were hoping to get rid of the 40 foot Kiwi vine between their property and my parents’ property.  It never produced fruit and it was a pain to trim and maintain.  They wanted to know if the kiwi vine was on their property so they could just cut it down without negotiating with my parents.  As it turned out, not only was the vine on my parents’ property, but about 2 feet of what they thought was their property.  They talked to my parents about buying the two feet, and my parents’ said they’d think about it.  That was 2 years ago and I don’t think anything will happen in the near future.  My parents aren’t interested in the 2 feet, I think they are just lazy to fix it right now. 

Not everyone are like my parents.  We found out that the same discussion is happening across the alley from our new house.  Turns out someone else is building a house (we won’t be the NKOTB) about 50 feet from us.  When the new project was being discussed the home builders had the property lines check and found out that their neighbor to the north was occupying 5 feet of their property.  The neighbors have been battling it out for several months.  The new builder wants the 5 feet back. 

How does this happen?  I’m told that there are several ways but the most common one is that originally (decades and decades ago), someone owned a double lot.  They built a house on one and kept the other for a large yard, garden or shed.  When they built the house, they didn’t bother to make sure the house was entirely on one lot, and when they sold the house or the adjacent lot, they never bothered to have the original property lines adjusted.  As the house and the lot changed hands, no one checked on these details.  This is common in area that are being redeveloped.  I think nearly every house on or block was once on a double lot.  Our property was considered a double lot until we had it staked by the city and divided. 

While you may not ever go after a neighbor for 2 feet, it’s hard to say whether a future neighbor won’t go after you for 5 feet.  Wouldn’t you like to get that settled before you buy the house with perfect spot for vegetable that’s really on your neighbor’s property? 

I hope this is useful! 

P.S.

They cut down the kiwi vine.  I was a little sad.

Kitchen Confidential

With the final inspection date coming soon, we saw some serious progress in the kitchen today.

Pius (who also made our cabinets) delivered our beautiful countertops today and installed them.  It’s been so long since we actually picked out all of this stuff that I could hardly remembered what it looked like.  Since we never saw the cabinets and countertops actually together, it was going to be a surprise.

Tuesday, the kitchen looked like this:

Pretty nice.  It reminded us why we picked out the cabinets.  These pictures actually don’t do it justice.  The wood is a nice rich brown.

Today, after Pius installed the countertops and sink, we saw this:

 

and

A pretty drastic difference.  But things are starting to come together.   After this picture was taken the faucet, dishwasher, and garbage disposal was installed.

It’s obviously not all the way done.  We need door pulls and knobs.  I like these:

which you can get from a place called “House of Knobs” which is almost reason enough to order them.

Also, these from eknobsandpulls.com:

But these are definitely the frontrunner:

OK, just kidding.  The palm trees are pretty hideous in my opinion.  In a quick look over what’s out there for pulls, there seems to be a strange sub group of homeowners who really want to put their hand on fake twigs, starlings, dragonflies, antlers, and bunches of roses in order to open their kitchen cabinet to get some Honey Smacks in the morning.

After a bad start to the house visit (water + books in garage=bad), the kitchen put us in a much better mood.

Holiday Blues

This is my favorite time of year!  I love the lights, the decorated trees, the sparkle.  We had really hoped to be moved into the house by now but several bumps in the road have pushed the final inspection date further and further back.  We are now hoping for a December 15th move-in date.  Fingers Crossed.

Normally, we’re have a tree decorated by now and presents overflowing, taking any available space.  We don’t have that this year.  Our presents (most of them) have been purchased and are packed up in boxes somewhere.  I hope we’ll be able to find and wrap them in time.

I’ve been blue about the holidays.  I keep thinking we won’t have enough time to get a tree.  We’re headed out of town for some of the holidays.  Micah keeps telling me we will have time for a tree and our house sitter will be able to enjoy it while we’re gone but despite his attempts perk me up, I’m still not so sure. 

Over the last few days, I did find some alternative tree hope. 

I like the idea of this tree I found on Houston’s Weekly Chic.  We have rolls and rolls of painters tape we could use.  It would be quick to put up (and down) and it’s still festive.

I really like this tree featured on Apartment Therapy.  The design style is more country than the modern-ish one we’re after, but I was thinking we could use scraps from out wood floor installation to re-create this tree.  The uniform color and design would make it more modern.  It we don’t make this our main tree this year, I may have to make a mini one for the craft room. 

I LOVE this magazine tree I found on Word Pirates.  We may achieve this desired effect while unpacking without even knowing it.  Perfect for the office right?

We could also make this with all the scraps of building materials we have laying around the house.  Maybe our of HardiPanel?  It is fire resistant.

Lastly, there is this that I also found on Apartment Therapy.  I really want it.  We’d need to invest in a mirror though.  I like the Post-Its, but we could also use the wedding cards and tags I saved from all the presents.  I wanted to cut circles out of all the cards and tags and make garland to decorate our tree with.

We could even use our ring bowl turned Christmas ornament (minus the rings) as a tree topper for the Post It tree.

Real Christmas Tree?  Who needs one?!  OK, I still want one but any of these alternative would due nicely just incase.