Here's another picture of the flooring we have chosen.

I got the samples in the mail and I love the cork flooring. The darker color is Richory, the lighter is Bella Notte. I like them both. They come in 1 foot by 3 foot planks.

Planning ahead for renovations!

So, we've been working on planning what remodeling we want to get done before we move all of our new stuff into the house. We've decided to redo the kitchen and floors and do some painting. Above is the flooring we think we've decided on (we're still waiting for a few samples to come in the mail before we make our final decision). It's a click laminate so it will be easy to install and at $2.39/square foot it's a great price and it comes with a 30 year warranty. We looked at hard woods, bamboo, cork and everything else and were surprised that the one we liked the best was a laminate. I was against laminate at first but consumer reports had good things to say of them.

We've been designing our new kitchen with the ikea kitchen planner. We decided to go with them because it's cheap and we can do it ourselves. Also, consumer reports had good things to say about the quality and again, a great warranty. We are going with the Liljestad doors which are solid wood and look great. Here are some pics. The first is someone else's install and the second and third are basic pics from the ikea site. We are planning on going with black appliances, lighter on the counter tops and back splash.



I also plan on using the Utby open shelving unit which I will top with a matching counter top to create a baking station in the area of the kitchen where there is currently a bar top and stools. I want to put shelves above it to store flour, sugar, etc in jars. It will be my mad scientist baking area and I can store my pots and pans on the open shelving underneath.

Really the only hard part of all of this is going to be knocking out part of a wall and putting in a support beam, which we will need to hire someone to do because I'm afraid to mess with a load bearing wall myself. Everything else will be time consuming but within our capabilities.

Basement and Patio

Here's the basement. It sort of has three sections. When you first come down the stairs you see this section

then this one
and then the last section which has an outside entrance to the patio.


Here is a bigger shot of the latter 2 sections:



Here is a picture of the patio and the entrance to the basement.

Bedrooms and bathroom

At the top of the stairs are the 2 smaller bedrooms on the left then the bathroom, a hall closet and the master bedroom on the right. Here's a picture of the master bedroom:



The closet is on the wall to the right of the bed. It's a standard sliding door closet. On the wall opposite the windows is a doorway to a dressing area with a vanity/sink on one side and a set of built-in shelves on the other side. You can also enter the bathroom through here.

Here's a picture of the main bathroom. On the left hand side is the vanity/sink, a linen closet, and the bathtub. On the right is the door to the master bedroom dressing area.




Here's one of the other bedrooms. There is a standard sliding door closet on the wall opposite the window.


Here is the other bedroom. There is a walk in closet and on the wall opposite the window there is a nook that is about 6' wide.

Living Room and Deck

When you enter the living room from the kitchen this is what you see:

From another angle:



Here's the other half of the living room:


And the deck:

Kitchen and Dining Room

You enter the dining room off of the entryway. It looks small in the picture but is actually pretty good sized. The short wall on the far left is actually 6' to give you a better idea of scale. On your left is the entrance to the kitchen. When you enter the kitchen you see the c shaped half on your right.

On the left is a long counter/bar with cupboards above and at the end of the counter is the fridge.




There is an open doorway to the living room between the fridge and the stove (the pictures above and below are taken from that doorway).

Entryway, Hall, and Powder Room

When you walk into the house you are greeted by the stairs and a hallway. On your right is the entrance to the dining room (not shown), followed by the door to the coat closet (shown) and the door to the powder room (shown). On the left you can see the door to the basement stairs and straight ahead is the living room.



The powder room is small. You open the door and to your right is the toilet and the left is the vanity. It serves it's purpose and is very nautical.

Home Inspection

Well, we finished the home inspection process. Overall, the house is in pretty good shape. No structural damage. There were a few minor plumbing repairs here or there and a few tiles that need to be taken care of on the roof that we will ask them to take care of, but nothing else that needed immediate attention. One big thing to consider, though, is that everything that makes the house run will need to be replaced within the next five years: the roof, the furnace, the water heater, air conditioner, and the appliances. Everything is in working condition now, but they are all towards the end of their lifespans. We also got the radon report back and there were high levels so we will have to figure out what we will need to do with that. My understanding is that there is a pump system that you install that will remove the radon from the basement and make it safe. We are thinking about asking them to take care of that as well. We have to go over the numbers again and figure out how we want to change our offer, but we are still going to go forward with this house.

And now, for pictures:

Hello!

Hello everyone!
Eric and I have had so many requests to see pictures of the house we are buying that we decided it was about time that we created a place to share the happenings in our lives with our family and friends. So here it is, a blog to share photos and updates of what we are doing.

Since everyone wants to know about the house, I will start there. We are buying an end-unit rowhome/townhouse that has .1 acres of land in Phoenixville, PA. We are set to close on Friday, November 27th. We completely lucked out and snagged an awesomely low interest rate of 4.75% (yay for credit unions!).

The description from the real estate site:

Beautiful end unit townhome with brick and vinyl siding facade, 2x6 exterior wall construction. Features two story foyer entrance with sky light, newer hardwood flooring, powder room, formal dining room with ceiling fan. Modern eat-in kitchen with oak cabinetry, breakfast bar, electric cooking, vinyl flooring and ceiling fan. Great room with neutral wall-to-wall carpeting, sliding glass door to large rear deck. Builders finished walk-out basement with laundry area, storage, walk-out to rear patio. Good-sized secondary bedrooms with ample closet space, wall-to-wall carpeting. Modern hall bathroom. Main bedroom has dressing area with sink and vanity, ample closet space. 200 amp c/b service. Vinyl tilt-in windows throughout. Private drive with two assigned/deed parking spaces. Home shows extremely well.

Living Room 21 X 13 Main Level
Dining Room 10 X 14 Main Level
Kitchen 10 X 10 Main Level
Master Bedroom 10 X 17 Upper Level
Second Bedroom 10 X 12 Upper Level
Third Bedroom 10 X 11 Upper Level

The best part about the house is the location. We are within walking distance to downtown Phoenixville with the Colonial Theatre and all the cool shops/restaurants. We are also right next to a park and a big educational/business center with a cafe. Here's a link to info about phoenixville: http://www.downtownphoenixville.com/
I think that's about all there is to say about the house for now. We have our home inspection on Monday and we will take lots of pictures to share then. And now, since you really need pictures of something, here's a picture of Selina in her new Halloween costume: