The Anticipation Is Killing Me

Is it killing you too? You won't have to wait much longer because we just had the house painted, new windows are going in today and we just have to paint the shutters, trim and doors. Can you wait another week for reno pics? Hang in there, it will be worth it I hope.

So here's a little bit about the area. We live in an older area just north of the Seattle city limits. Downtown (City Center) is 15 minutes away so it's a hop skip and a jump to be in the hustle and bustle of things. We live a few blocks off of a main street (like Reisterstown in Baltimore or State St. in UT) so I can walk to the grocery store, Jack in the Box (I totally never go there :), Subway, Baskin Robbins, Walgreens, the bank, etc. Pretty darn convenient and I use a lot less gas if you can believe it. We are on a dead end street with only 3 other houses so the kids ride their bikes outside and I don't have to be right there, I can hear them from inside the house. All of our neighbors are super nice although I'm sure they hate us right now with all of our noise and construction vehicles that are constantly at our house. I'm planning on having them over for a nice dinner party when all is said and done. We are 5 minutes from a beautiful beach on the Sound, where you can see cruise ships and sail boats go by and it is absolutely GORGEOUS. Just 5 minutes away! We absolutely love our location and think it is perfect for us. School is a mile and a half down the road though it is on a busy street so if I want to drive them to school I'll have to do that. Not bad though!

The house is a lovely (just a tinge of sarcasm, it will be so when we are through with it!) 45 year old split entry home. The previous owner was elderly and nothing had been updated for 45 years except some electrical and plumbing things. So far we have refinished the wood floors, totally redone the kitchen only keeping the cabinets and refinishing them, put in windows, new baths up and down, painted the house, dealt with NUMEROUS water/plumbing emergencies (we're talking mushrooms growing on baseboard type things), ripped out an overgrown backyard, painted, blah blah blah. We still need to finish painting the outside trim, stain the deck, get new garage doors and put some sort of landscaping in the backyard. That should keep us for the next 10 years or so! Ella says the house is small but I love it. I don't need baby monitors, we have 2 fireplaces and there is just enough room to have privacy but also not get lost in the house. What do you think?

PS Check out those gorgeous Rhododendrons in the front yard, the lady trimmed them up the trunk so they look like trees! Check out the one on the far left, it's as tall as the house! We also have a beautiful dogwood tree and laurel bushes.

PSS This is a BEFORE picture, when you see the red door you will know it's an AFTER pic!